Midwest Honor Flight

Curt was selected to participate in Mission #27 of the Midwest Honor Flight to Washington DC on September 23rd. He was one of the 83 veterans who served during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam selected for the trip. Our son, Karl, was his guardian for the one LONG day adventure to see the memorials and monuments in our nation's capital. Curt had not been to Washington DC since the summer of 1977. Karl had not been there since June 1996. Each veteran was required to be accompanied by a guardian (not a spouse). 

There was a banquet the night before the flight and a Welcome Home ceremony when they arrived back in Sioux Falls. I will post some photos from those two events in another blog post.

Karl had specific duties once they landed in Washington DC. I requested he take photos so I (and you) would know what they saw. I was also interested in seeing the extra security that has been assigned to the city. So most of the photos in this post are from Karl. There are a few from the volunteer camera crew that accompanied the Honor Flight.

The flight left Sioux Falls at 4:30 AM.

The Guardians wore white shirts. The Veterans wore blue shirts.

US Air Force Memorial

270' high

The Honor Guard statues at the Air Force Memorial

Washington Monument and the Pentagon in the background

Arlington National Cemetery

 Honor Flight personnel wore orange shirts. 

Marine Memorial

geocaching at the US Navy Memorial

honoring the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, 

& Merchant Marine

authorized in 1980, completed in 1987

Washington Monument

along the Mall

National Guard personnel at the Washington Monument

World War II Memorial

16 million served in WWII

400,000 paid the ultimate price

Korean War Memorial

19 stainless steel figures standing 7' tall, representing 

Army, Marines, Navy, and Air Force

I had three uncles who served in the Korean War

Wall of Remembrance dedicated to all those who lost their life

 Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, 

 Oriental and Native American soldiers are represented 

A group of high school students from Korea were visiting this memorial when the Honor Flight arrived. The students visited with the (I think 4 or 5) Korean veterans and had a group photo taken with our veterans. This photo was posted by a guardian of one of the Korean veterans. 

Lincoln Memorial from the Mall

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam War Memorial

over 58,000 names are listed on The Wall

The Jet Blue plane touched down in Sioux Falls just before 9 PM Tuesday evening. It was an amazing, impressive, and well-organized trip. Groups of people with signs and flags met them at the Dulles airport and at a number of their stops. They were offered snacks and water throughout the day, along with their three meals. Curt had a packet of cards and letters to read from well-wishers he did not know. So did all the Honor Flight veterans.

It costs around $200,000 for an Honor Flight. There is no cost to the veterans. The guardians consider it an honor to pay for their flight. Mission Flight #27 was sponsored by the Gary & Connie Grittner Foundation. All flights are privately funded through donations. If you would like more information, consider checking the Midwest Honor Flight webpage. 

Kansas Wildflowers

 Kansas is the Sunflower State. I was expecting to see fields of sunflowers, as in the grain. Instead, this is what I saw. 

Sunflowers, wild and like the weed, growing in ditches and unfarmed areas, but never at the location of a geocache. I really wanted photos of sunflowers. 

On our last day of geocaching, we headed down a minimum-maintenance road looking for a geocache at a bridge. Now, a bridge on a minimum-maintenance road can mean water, mud or even washed-out roads, or other unexpected obstacles. Since we were back in hill country, we could not see our destination, but Hubby forged on. We found the geocache and were able to turn the truck around and head back to the highway. The reward for driving the less-traveled road was Kansas Wildflowers!

Common Sunflower (with unidentified bugs)

Biennial Beebalm

Biennial Beebalm

Chicory

Periwinkle Blue Chicory

White Chicory

a bumble bee at work

Morning Glory

Blue Morning Glory

Firethorn (at a location in Leavenworth)

Goldenrod (also in Leavenworth)

Red Clover

Russian Sage (also in Leavenworth)

Sawtooth Sunflower

Sawtooth Sunflower

Northmoor Castle

 As I often do when we are driving in unfamiliar places with many major roads, I put the final coordinates for a nearby geocache to get us headed in the correct direction and on the right road. When I looked at the geocaching map on Sunday morning, I saw a geocache with over 700 favorite points. It was nearby, in the correct direction, and just off the correct road. Hubby agreed it was worth the stop.

When I looked at the geocaching description, I knew of this place. It was once featured as the Geocache of the Week on July 30, 2014.

Castle Northmoor was built by Harlan Shaver in 1981-1983. He built the one-man castle in the front yard of his home. (I do not know who is currently living at the residence, but they are gracious enough to allow strangers to come to the tower and 'snoop around' while looking for the geocache.)

from our parking spot, we did not see the circular 

staircase for climbing in the tower

The stone tower is 40-feet tall and features handmade oak doors and oil portraits Shaver painted of medieval knights. (After 40 years, some of the original items on and in the tower are no longer there.)

We walked down the steps and began climbing the circular staircase, which had a very secure and sturdy handrail.

the door was open to level 2

The walls, floor and window sills held an assortment of medieval-themed items from weapons and armor, to furniture and statues.

door to level 3 was closed, but not secured

a telescope for stargazing

helmets above the windows

window sill decor

We climbed the steps to the very top to find this often used gathering space.

a knight guarding the location of the geocache

complete with cannon and cannon balls

and finally, the treasure

a ammo container with the geocaching logbook

Harlan Shaver, a decorated Vietnam Veteran, passed away in February 2024 at the age of 75. This is from his obituary: He was a long-time resident of Northmoor, MO where he was the mayor for 20 years.  Harlan was well known for his beautiful Masonry work where he built many stone entryways and monuments in the Metro area.  Something he took pride in. 

This is just ONE of the many things I love and enjoy about geocaching: the unique and unexpected places and things we see.