Enchanted Rock State Park, Llano

We visited the Enchanted Rock State Park during end of May. The Blue Bonnets season was over and what greeted us were beds of yellow flowers swaying along with the hot summer breeze. The view was simply magnificent!

The Enchanted Rock is one of the largest underground rock formation uncovered by erosion in the United States.

Take a rest... enjoy the hot sun!

On the summit of the pink granite dome

Preparing to...

Fly the kite...

GPS Coordinate:

30°29'42.60"N 98°49'11.40"W

Texas Military Forces Museum, Austin

I went to the Texas Military Forces Museum together with Eugene during the Muster Day or in another term, American Heroes Celebration Day 2010. During normal days, you have to possess a valid US driving license or you have to be accompanied by someone with a valid US driving license to be able to enter the museum. However, the door is open to all during Muster Day.

There were a few shows and exhibition going on and we were lucky to be able to catch the Vietnam Reenactment show which showcased the battle between the American force with the Vietnamese soldiers.

We were told that the laptop used to control the satellite dish was none other than the state of the art Intel 486 (Or maybe 386... i can't remember clearly) :)

The American armies approaching the Vietnamese camp

A helicopter was deployed to help the troop

The "Vietnamese" soldier

Army humour: "Unless you are in the NUDE! Please DO NOT lean on this military vehicle!" :D

The infamous "Purple Heart" medal...

GPS Coordinate:

30°19'8.19"N 97°45'42.80"W

USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Museum, Corpus Christi

Visited USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier Museum, Corpus Christi with three colleagues of mine from Shanghai - Leo, Wu Tao and William.

The USS Lexington was one of the US Navy aircraft carriers built during World War II and was the oldest remaining aircraft carrier in the world. It was also made famous as the filming scene for the movie Pearl Harbour.

The USS Lexington was nicknamed the "Blue Ghost" as it was painted dark blue - being the only aircraft carrier that did not wear a camouflage. Also, several Japanese have reported the USS Lexington to have sunk on four different occasions but then only to return and fight again.

The place where the Japanese flag was shown was where the Japanese Kamikaze plane hit and destroyed most of the structure and causing fire to spread in all directions. The fire was under control within 20 minutes - this should be one of the occasion when the Japanese declared her destroyed.

Aircrafts were actually launched using the catapult system on the aircraft carrier. The photo below shows the system which was situated directly under the flight deck.

F-18 Hornet

F-14 Tomcat

"State-of-the-art" communication device

This was where the crew slept. Can you imagine that? Life is tough on a ship.

Main control room

During World War II, on each ship, an officer was chosen to be the censor. The censor had the unique task of reading each and every piece of mail that left the ship. If a letter contained information that was considered classified, he blackened the inappropriate words and mailed the letter.

GPS Coordinate:

27°48'53.37"N 97°23'19.72"W

Longhorn Cavern, Texas

The Longhorn Cavern is a river-formed cavern. Located in Burnet County, this wonder was created over thousands of years by the dissolving and cutting action of water on the limestone bedrock.

We took a guided tour at USD 12.99 per person and the tour lasted for about 1.5 hours. The cave generally stays at 68 degree Fahrenheit year long but it does feel quite chilly for some part of the cave. So, do bring a sweater just in case.

Cute little bat - it should be the Eastern Pipistrelle bat. They are loners and do not hang out together. If i listened to the tour guide correctly, the little one shown in the picture is already a grown up.

Calcite crystals

What was Ching Leong looking at? :p

That's actually the "Queen's Watch Dog". Some have said this piece of rock was carved out by people many years ago. Geologists from Texas A&M were brought in to examine it for tool marks to prove whether or not humans had done this. They have never been able to find tool marks on it. The most likely explanation is that it was carved by high-flow rushing water. Noticed the center of the rock which was joint together. We were told that a visitor broke the piece and was required to pay a hefty fine for the repair of that piece.

GPS Coordinate:

30°41'5.53"N 98°20'58.59"W