Stargazer's Garage

A short while ago I replaced my wiper blades . They were still useable but I did notice a decrease in their effectiveness. Part Nos: driver-side, 1J1 955 425 B ; passenger-side, 1J1 955 426 B ; rear, 1J6 955 427 .

I’d decided to use Lexan headlight covers rather than adhesive-type film to protect my HIDs ( Let there be light ). I preferred the Lexan covers because I disliked the idea of attaching anything permanent to my HIDs, especially if there was a chance no matter how remote that it could turn yellowish in the future. As a bonus, these covers are OEM. I don’t know about now, but at the time Hillside Imports was the only place in the U.S. that sold them. Bad news—through no fault of my own the driver-side cover was almost immediately cracked after installation. Good news—it was still useable. Despite being useable I would have replaced it if I could have found a place that sold them singly rather than pairs. I took a close look recently and I’m happy to say that although the covers are marked up, my HIDs are still in perfect condtion. The Lexan covers are well worth the cost. Anywhoo, 29 months later someone contacted me regarding the Lexan covers. To cut the story short, we agreed...

Driving from Oacoma to Keystone yesterday was mostly a sight-seeing day with visits to the Badlands National Park and the Wall Drug store in Wall, SD. The kids are a little distracted in that picture because we were talking to some people who were sitting on a bench outside the store. Today will be another short-drive day so that we can spend time visiting Mount Rushmore.

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days--they've been quite busy. We are currently on the last leg of our cross-continent trip, back on the road and heading homeward to the west coast. Here's a brief summary of what we've done. More details and pictures will follow when I get time to upload everything. Because of the intense heat and humidity in the DC area last week, taking the Metro and walking around the National Mall all day long was not that appealing. Also, the National Museum of American History, one of the museums I really wanted to see, is currently closed for renovations and will not be re-opened until next summer.... So what we did instead was take a side trip (3 hours one-way) to Ocean City, Maryland and taking a dip in the Atlantic Ocean. We spent the rest of our time shopping at various outlet malls. I liked Potomac Mills the best because it was air conditioned and had a lot of shops. In fact, it was so big, we went again during the week. We also went to...

Built in 1976, the Enterprise was the first space shuttle orbiter but never flew in space. It was used for series of atmospheric test flights including free-flights and landings to test systems and aerodynamic performance. I have quite a few more pictures from the Air and Space Museum that I have yet to upload, and those will come. However, our time in DC is drawing to a close and we'll be getting back on the road soon. Yesterday, to combat the 100 degree F weather, we made a 3-hour excursion to sandy beaches of Ocean City, MD and had a swim in the Atlantic Ocean!

Sixty-two years ago today, on August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-MO dropped the first ever atomic weapon used in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. Over 140,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed. Find more information at The Official Homepage of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and take a virtual tour.

The World War II B-29 bomber, Enola Gay.