Air and Space Hand-Off

Shane and I headed out first thing Tuesday morning to rendezvous with Grandpa at 10 AM.

We all went to the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly!

The plan was to hand off Shane to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa before Christmas. Carrie and I would drive down on Christmas Eve and we'd all spend time together before driving back for Christmas Eve church service and PM chores.

Grandpa wanted to turn the handoff into something fun and educational.

"We used to come here," I told Shane. 

"Really? I don't remember," Shane said.

Yes, really. And more than once. It was right by our house and parking was free the last hour of the day (or something like that). Carrie and I have visited more than Shane, but he'd definitely seen it. Shane has even been to the one in DC, but I guess the perk of not remembering is he'd be able to see things anew! 

Grandpa was clearly looking forward to the museum and sharing stories.

One of the first places we stopped was at a "phrog."

In Grandpa's early Navy days, he was posted on a cargo vessel. His job was to keep things organized and run crews to set out pallets of supplies for the ship's helicopter to ferry to other ships in the flotilla.

A couple of times each week he'd fly in the helo to an island where a large C-130 or other transport would land. Grandpa's crews and others would then unload the inbound and loud the outbound onto the plane before packing back in to the helo and flying their cargo back to the ship.

Grandpa got in a conversation with another tour guide/veteran a little later. They swapped stories and the guide mentioned a time there was a supposed UFO encounter at one of his postings. 

I enjoyed listening to the stories. I've had an interest in history, planes, helicopters, and the military for many years.

Shane was less amused by that point.

Grandpa would've happily talked off his ear if Shane asked questions.

Grandpa knew/worked under someone who had been a weapon's officer on board an A-6 in Vietnam.

I could've told several stories about my favorite plane, too! (It's the SR-71 Blackbird in case you don't recognize it!).

Shane seemed more interested in the missiles, but even that was in passing. 

There were intentionally loud sighs, slow-walking, moping with hunched, and occasional twirling. When I ignored these signs, Shane went so far as to tell me he was bored and he "just wasn't interested."

If he was expecting support, he didn't get it. I told him boredom was the sign of a weak mind. He could find things to be interested in if he tried.

When Shane didn't like that and complained some more I switched to "Knock it off! You're being rude." 

Shane would've been mesmerized by a museum about tornadoes or an aquarium, but in a family you don't always get your first, second, or even fifth choice. It's up to the individual to make the best of it and not drag others down, and that's what I expected from Shane! 

In the space wing, he seemed most interested in a video of Discovery's take-off.

I pointed out some toys that "may look like the original Lost in Space robot (Shane had watched a few episodes of the new show with Carrie, so it piqued his interest.....a little).

However, the most fascinating exhibit of the trip for Shane and Grandpa came in the form of the mothership from Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind.

Shane hadn't seen the movie, but Grandpa was a fan (of the movie and of models in general).

Grandpa showed Shane that there are hidden items built into the model like R2-D2. 

Shane resisted showing interest at first, but then Grandpa found a train signal.....and a graveyard....and Darth Vader's TIE fighter.

It became a game.

They both stayed interested far longer than I was!

When Shane started trying to climb, it was time to move on.

WW2 was one of my favorite topics in History classes, so when we walked by an era diver bomber I tried to pique Shane's interest with some stories.

Shane wasn't rude, but it was clear his interest fizzled quickly and I stopped with the stories rather than bore him.

Shane identified the Osprey as his favorite plane as we made our way through the hangar.

But the next place Shane showed a bunch of excitement was the elevator.

I can't disagree. Elevators are cool and it's fun to be up high!

Grandpa told a fun story and showed Shane a video of a 707 doing a barrel roll on an early test flight (Which got the pilot in trouble!).

That was the final airplane story of the day. We rode another elevator down and then started to head towards the best elevator yet: The one that went to the observation tower.

Only the observation tower was closed.

"That was the only thing here I really wanted to see!" Shane said.

"Sorry," I replied. "That's not something we can control. You can either mope about it or move on."

I'd wanted to go up myself! We didn't know why it was closed, but closed signs we must have walked by earlier started to appear.

So it was on a somewhat sad note we left for the day. The crow sitting on top of the monument saying, "Thanks for the perch, humans!" helped.

We ate lunch at CFA nearby. Shane wanted a kid's meal, so that he could trade in his toy for an ice cream cone.

"Kid!" I said. "Buy a real combo so you won't be hungry, and I'll get you an ice cream cone!"

Maybe I wouldn't have offered the cone normally, but I kinda wanted a cookies and cream milkshake myself (I almost resisted, but when the cashier asked if I wanted anything else....).

After that, we said our goodbyes and Shane walked away with Grandpa. I had the sneaking suspicion that there would be more museums in Shane's future!

I know exactly how long and how far it was to Costco after leaving Chic-Fil-A. 

I can estimate the exact price in gas for trip, too. I filled up the car Saturday and it took me just under a gallon to get home....which was exactly what I was about to do again! The only other driving done was Carrie drove to the dentist on Monday and that's less than 10 minutes away.

Gas was more expensive on the road. Costco was $2.95/gal. I saw $3.14/gal at Wawa near the airport and then $3.27/gal at Sheetz in Madison. Google shows that some NOVA gas stations went as high as $3.50/gal.

When I got home, I gave Carrie a hug and a kiss before hopping back in the car to go to a Vaccine clinic down the road. I got my booster shot (I almost didn't, but the location couldn't be beat and it seemed wise to get it while I had Winter Break to heal in case I reacted strongly!).

Shane and Grandpa stopped at the Marine museum on their way home. Shane wasn't a fan! There was some sort of simulator where you could 'experience' boot camp including being yelled at by drill instructors! I don't think Shane has any desire to join the Corps, ha ha!

I'll talk more about Shane's adventures at Grandma and Grandpa's in a later post.