Silent Valley Club RV and the Silver Fire

We left Acton and the Soledad Canyon Thousand Trails on Tuesday August 6th. We headed above Banning to the Silent Valley Club RV park which is an RPI affiliate park. I have been wanting to come to the Silent Valley Park for about 5 years but it was just not to be while we were working.

We got to Silent Valley Tuesday at about 1:30 in the afternoon and found a real nice pull through site. They had a problem with the check-in system so they told us to go find a site and come back to check-in, which we did. Because it is an RPI and not a TT park we pay $10.00 a night. Still a GREAT deal.

We settled in, and decided we would probably go up the hill further on Wednesday to Idylwild. There is also a TT park near Idylwild, but RV Bill told us it would be really hard to get our rig in there so we came here instead.

We got a late start this morning and decided to go back down to Banning instead to do some grocery shopping. Silent Valley is on Poppet Flat Road just off the 243. Sound familiar? Yep, as we were leaving we some some smoke across the road.

Smoke across the road

The rangers did not really have much information, but said the fire was not large yet. They said it could explode in the dry brush. They would not recommend going down the hill because we might not be able to get back up.

The fire quickly got larger! Soon there was a voluntary evacuation. The fire was heading directly at us! We started getting ready to leave. We hooked up the 5th to the truck and was ready to leave. The voluntary became mandatory. We were ready to pull out, but then both ways on the 243 became closed! We were trapped. The fire had reached Silent Valley!

Saving the campground!

The staff here as well as the brave fire crews fought valiantly to save the campground and the rigs and people in it. The fire got some of the campsites, but mainly the ones on the perimeter. 

E section

We had parked our rig against a hill, but more towards the center of the park. We felt pretty safe, but about 6:00 PM the Sheriff Department came through the park and said they were again forcing a mandatory evacuation, but because we would be going down a dirt single lane mountain road, rigs would not be allowed. We would have to leave our home on wheels! We were already hooked up ready to go, so we decided to move to a more central location away from trees and away from the hill we were against. We hoped we would give ourselves the best chance for our rig to survive without us. Because we were being rushed to leave, I just pulled forward into a "back-in" site, unhooked, and 4 x 4 out of the site.

It is hard leaving your home, not knowing if it will be there, not knowing where you will go, and when you can return!

Hotshot Crews in the staging area

We know God is in control of all! We are safe and the trailer can be replaced, so we left in faith. We went to the staging area and watched the helicopters use the pond at the RV park for refilling to fight the fire.

Chopper drops

The Hotshots also were out in force. Here they are with a dozer cleaning up the mess! A lot of people lost their homes today. So far we have not. Pray for those that have!

Dozeer

They lined us up to caravan down a very rough dirt mountain road called Soboro Road. Many of the senior citizens were very anxious about the drive, in fact at first refused. They were told they had no option! The Sheriff led us very slow down the mountain, but I am glad I had the truck and not a Honda Civic.

Waiting to Caravan

Here we are lined up ready to caravan down the hill.

Ready to go

By the time we actually left it was getting dark. I know it was hard for some of the older people because I saw how they reacted on some of the downhills. We thought later we should had offered to drive another car for someone.

We could have gone to a shelter set up at Hemet High School but we opted to stay at a Motel in Hemet. That is where I am writing this blog. Tomorrow I will need to keep an eye on things and see if we can go back up the mountain. If we have to stay another night here we will.

Well that's it for tonight, it has been eventful and it's time to go to sleep!

God Bless,

Brian and Patty

Blackbird Airpark, Palmdale, CA

On Saturday July 27th, we went into Palmdale to the Blackbird Airpark. The is the world's only display of a SR-71 Blackbird, an A-12 which is the Blackbird predecessor and really the Blackbird's test project, the U-2 spy plane which is what Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Russia in, and the D-21 reconnaissance drone.

The plane in the front is the A-12. It is a single pilot spy plane, while the SR-71 has room for two. You can see the small window behind the cockpit for second person.

SR-71 and A-12 Blackbird Spy planes

These blackbirds set altitude and cruising speed records by being able to fly at over 2,200 MPH (Mach 3.5)  and at over 80,000 feet in elevation.

Left: SR-71   Right: A-12

The D-21 was a  reconnaissance drone and an offshoot from the Blackbird family. It would be launched from a vehicle in international airspace, fly a pre-programmed course, fly back into international airspace and eject the camera and film. It would then self destruct.

D-21 Drone

The U-2 was developed in the 1950's. Although it had a low top speed of 500 mph it was able to fly at 70,000 feet. We thought that would not allow the Russian radar to detect it. Unfortunately they could detect it and shot it down with Powers flying it.

U-2 Spy plane

The shooting down of the U-2 caused us to find another way to fly over Russia. That is what caused the development of the A-12 and SR-71. With it's high tech titanium metals, higher speeds, and higher altitudes we never lost one on a mission. We did loose twelve of them during training missions however. The Blackbird was in service for 20 years but was pulled in 1980 due to budget issues.

Right next to the Blackbird Airpark is the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark. The amazing thing is that both of these Airparks are absolutely FREE to visit! They are truly remarkable and are worth the visit! You can walk on a dirt path between both parks.

Here is a map of the planes at the Airpark.

Joe Davies Airpark

I'm just going to show some pictures of some of the planes. Some of what we thought were the cooler ones. You will just have to come visit if you want to see them all! :)

Here is the C-46 Commando

C-46 Commando

View of the park!

More Jets

Reading about the F4 Phantom II.

F4 Phantom II

And of course here is the F5 Freedom Fighter!

F5 Freedom Fighter

Another view of the park!

Lot's of planes!

Here is the F86 Sabre.

F86 Sabre

The T33 Shooting Star looks like something from an old cheesy 50's space alien movie! :)

T33 Shooting Star

And of course we can't forget the B52! It is a very large plane!

B-52 with AGM-28 Houndog

Underneath the B-52 you can see an AGM-28 Houndog. This is a "Cruise Missile" that is launched from the B-52 that can carry a thermonuclear warhead. It got it's name Houndog from the Elvis Presley song, 

AGM-28 Houndog

Well that's it for today!

God bless you all!

Love you,

Brian and Patty