What’s Your Preference?

f4fwildcat · #1 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 03:28 AM

Riverside Park in Wichita, KS. When I was young, we visited this park the last day of school every year. On that rocketship, we traveled to the Moon, Mars, Venus, the rings of Saturn. No place was too far away, not even California!

Here you can see the command deck, at the top of course. Below the C.D. is the galley/recreation deck, complete with movie theater for all those long flights. She carried all the hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream, and cake you could ever want!

This rocket was 1900 feet tall... when I was a kid! Now, the lower access hatch has been welded shut. The emergency egress slide has long since been removed too. There will be no more manned missions to the outer regions of space on the Riverside Rocketship.

One last view of the Riverside Rocketship. The lower deck housing the SlingBlaster Hyperdriver ZipZap Engine. Capable of taking the crew from the earth to farthest reaches of the universe in less than an hour. (Because that's how long the teachers would allow us to be gone) Or to New York a whole lot faster!!!
Yes the old Riverside Rocketship was the best. Niel Armstrong, Who's he?, John Glenn, never heard of him. Captain Kirk, he's a space cadet.
We were the true space explorers. We went all the way to the end of the universe and back... in about an hour!

Thanks for joining me on my trip back to kids world, have a great weekend!

Chewys Dad · #2 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 03:37 AM

it's funny/sad, when we were kids, we played and played, if we got hurt, we went home and Mom or Dad would clean us up and put on a Band Aid and we'd go back outside and play somemore. Today, If the kids get hurt, the parents sue the park and recreation dept and they then weld up the access hatch so no one else can get hurt and cost the rec dept money!
Great story and pictures to go along with it!
Michael.

f4fwildcat · #3 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chewys Dad

it's funny/sad, when we were kids, we played and played, if we got hurt, we went home and Mom or Dad would clean us up and put on a Band Aid and we'd go back outside and play somemore. Today, If the kids get hurt, the parents sue the park and recreation dept and they then weld up the access hatch so no one else can get hurt and cost the rec dept money!
Great story and pictures to go along with it!
Michael.

Thanks Michael. After I got out of the Navy, years ago, I bought my mom and dad's house.
The one in which I grew up. For years, when we would put out a garden, I would find old plastic soldiers from battles years before. What days we had!

JustJim · #4 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 03:49 AM

Man that brings back memories! There was the same model rocket ship in a shopping centre near where I grew up. Same colours and everything. 1900 feet sounds about right, and yes, she had incredible range and seriously fast speed too. I mean we could get back from Jupiter within minutes of Mum yelling up that we were going home now.

That must have been 35-odd years ago! Thanks for sharing.

f4fwildcat · #5 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JustJim

Man that brings back memories! There was the same model rocket ship in a shopping centre near where I grew up. Same colours and everything. 1900 feet sounds about right, and yes, she had incredible range and seriously fast speed too. I mean we could get back from Jupiter within minutes of Mum yelling up that we were going home now.

That must have been 35-odd years ago! Thanks for sharing.

It's amazing isn't it? It was just the other day... wasn't it!?

Thanks Jim!

vegepunkstr · #6 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 03:43 PM

We had a rocket ship just like that at the park near our house too. We had some good times playing in that. Too bad my kids wont get the experience of the park rocket ship. Thanks for the memories!

f4fwildcat · #7 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vegepunkstr

We had a rocket ship just like that at the park near our house too. We had some good times playing in that. Too bad my kids wont get the experience of the park rocket ship. Thanks for the memories!

Your welcome Jen. And thank you!

leonaashlee · #8 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 05:06 PM

I couldn't read the whole story, but I agree with Michael...and I love your last shot.

Hayward Taylor · #9 (**permalink**) 01-21-2010, 05:12 PM

HI Tom - isn't that great when you find something that brings back memories of your childhood ... great re-creation of your make believe trip to outer space .. enjoy the photos too