The Capitol of Wisconsin and a volunteer Zoo?

While Ivy and Izzy play at puppy camp we find we have a day to fill.  So, we head to Madison the Capitol of Wisconsin.  We found the Capitol to be very beautiful with it's resemblance to our country's capitol, Washington, DC. 

 

 The rotundra has a beautiful ceiling

 

Some of the sights from the roof were interesting.

 

 

 

So, while the Capitol was interesting we found our next destination truly well tended considering that all of the care and up-keep is provided by volunteers.  This was our first experience visiting a zoo run entirely by volunteers and we were surprisingly pleased with what we found.  See for yourself:

 

Let's start with the 'King of the Jungle'

 

As you can see he is very healthy.  A beautiful, perfect face free of any blemishes from scratches or insects.  He is obviously comfortable looking a human right in the eye as that is how I got this photo!  Below you see the same well cared for healthy lion - from his nose to his toes!!

 

This is what we found with all of the animals in this zoo.  The love and quality of care by this small fleet of volunteers was amazing and visible everywhere within the fences of this zoo!  Kudos to all of these wonderful, animal loving, hard working volunteers!! Enjoy more of their labor of love below:

 

 

 

 

Well, this little lady below has a few words for us since we are standing here watching her eat her lunch!

 

 

Even the Flamingoes looked clean and healthy!!

And this beautiful black swan!

Check out this porcupine...look closely at the lower left corner and you will see her baby!

 

Prairie Dogs are so cute - and this Zoo has quite the coterie! (Pack of Prairie Dogs.)

 

Below is the Capybara - the largest rodent in the world! But this guy just looks like an overgrown hamster to me ... they are distant cousins tho :)

These little guys are Red Pandas ... but they were to shy to turn around and show their cute little faces!

Every zoo needs 'love birds'!

 

And last but not least - the little guys that swim in their tuxedos!

 

Hope you enjoyed these beautiful animals as much as we did.  More soon .... 

 

 



The amazing Oshkosh "Fly In"

This is Ivy talkin'!!  Izzy is busy playing ... we get to play with our buddies here at Puppy Camp again today because our humans said they are going to an 'air show'?  Hmf, we have lots of 'air' here so we are not sure what they mean!?!?!  So I guess I'll turn the keyboard over to my human to explain!  I'm coming Izzy!!  Save some room in the pool for me!

Yes, while the girls played we enjoyed the Experimental Aircraft Association's annual show.  The
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is the largest annual convention of any kind, any where in the world.  It is a gathering of aviation enthusiasts and is held each summer at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  It is sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Association, an international organization based in Oshkosh.    During the gathering, the airport's control tower is the busiest in the world.  Additional air traffic controllers are called in to assist throughout the week from all over the country.  The show lasts a week, however we were only able to attend for 3 days, but what a full 3 days!!  There are several dealers sharing their newest small craft for all to see and dream, while only a few can actually buy!  Since my partner is a pilot of small aircraft, we were drooling!!  If only we could win the lottery :)  There were classes you could take that involved every possible topic in airplane craft, and booths filled with potential purchases from toys to hats, to plane memorabilia, to plane parts!  Some of the booths were set up as small museums ... like this replica WWII English air base....

 

and this American one....

 

Many fliers bring their tents and set up camp right next to their parked air plane!

 

 

A few samples of what you could buy:

 

 

The one below is called an Auto Gyro, we saw it in flight and close up on the ground.

 



The history of military aviation was also well represented.  We have some amazing people in this big beautiful country of ours who have taken it upon themselves to save and preserve the historic aircraft from our history: we also saw a few aircraft from Great Britain, Germany, Russia and other countries.

 

    B29 - carrier of the atomic bomb.

Corsair - fold up wings (gull wings) for better storage on an aircraft carrier.

B26 - lives in a hanger at the Georgetown Texas airport

 

MiG - Russian fighter flown during the Korean war.

Remember how Pilot's name their planes?  Here is Betty's Dream!

 

This one has a double name!

P51 Mustang - Cadillac of the Sky

Corsair

B52 - so big I could not get it all in one camera frame!

 

I bet "The Ace" flies this one!

Then there was the afternoon air show with ... well... I let you decide:

 

We have a brand new Good Year Blimp!

 

This new one can even take a bow!

 

The Honda Aeroshell Acrobatic team!

 

 

 

 

 

A Bi-plane acrobatic flier:

 

 

A pilot who decided to land his plane on a moving truck!!

 

We enjoyed a performance by a sky diving team.

 

 

 

 

Then they brought out the 'big girl' planes!  The jets!!

They are loud, powerful and fast!  What's not to love????

 

 

 

 

And it gets better ... the Phantom, the Harrier and the F22 Raptor !!!!!

 

Watch the Harrier as it lands right in front of us.  It was really loud but to see it land softly on the ground was really cool :)

My all time favorite, the F-22 Raptor and its pilot who was pretty darn cute!

My favorite .... the Raptor tearing a hole in the sky!!!  He flies so fast it near impossible for this amateur photographer to get shots of him!!

 

 

The Raptor is so versatile it can slow down to keep pace with smaller aircraft, even propeller craft.

 

 The Harrier close up showing the variable ducting that allows it to take off and land vertically.  No runway needed for this bad boy!!!

 

And as the sun set for the evening the show came to an end.  Golden light on amazing jets, fireworks lit up the flight paths with wild color, the lone sky diver carrying the American Flag and the Good Year Blimp heading home in the sunset :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What an amazing time! 
I hope you all enjoyed this as much as we did ... more soon!