It seems more and more, people send some sort of Christmas letter with their Christmas cards. I know some people hate them because, as they claim, all they do is showcase how great their lives are. I did a tongue-in-cheek Christmas letter about 10 years ago, with the same name as this blog. I chronicled the not-so-positive events of that year... an investment club with capital losses, playing on a losing softball team... you get the idea. But I think people really want to update those who they don't see very often of what has been transpiring in their lives.
2007 started just like any year for us. But about 3 weeks into it for me I suffered from a bout with the flu. Of course, that's when my new 32 track digital recorder finally arrived, so I'd have to wait to play with it. I have since used it over the past year to record music. Some of which you can hear at my MySpace page.
One of the high points of 2007 was in May when Beth and I drove across country on America's Mother Road, Route 66. It was a 16 day odyssey following a path taken by millions of others before us to the Pacific coast. We saw some interesting and bizarre sites, met very nice and very strange people and had a great time. Once in California, we stopped to visit Tom & Kim Stevens. Luck would have it, Tom's band Midnight Sun was playing. We stayed an extra day so we could see them. I was even invited up on stage to play a couple of songs. I hope I didn't do the band any damage. The trip was blogged about right here, so feel free to check the past posts for our misadventures along Rt 66.
The low point of 2007 was in March when we finally had to say goodbye to Trixie. At 12 years old, she was still energetic and playful. Fortunately, no arthritis or hip dysplasia. However, a tumor emerged which caused her spline and liver to enlarge and there was nothing we could do for her. Luckily, she was not in pain; maybe a little uncomfortable. 2007 was not a good year for the dogs of our family and friends. Beth's friend Jennifer Brackney lost Lexie, Beth's sister Pam and her husband Bill lost Rutherford and just in the last couple of days, we hear Beth's sister Kerri and her family's dog, the Muffin dog, has been diagnosed with cancer and the prognosis is not good. Of course, Dennis and Shari continue to lose their cats to coyotes. A moment of silence please...
The band Nootril Drop had a number of good gigs this past year. We actually hit gig #30 this past September. We did probably 3 or 4 benefit shows in all, but still a good year and playing better all the time. Concerts I checked out this year include The Police at Wrigley Field. I heard that this was the 2nd concert ever held at the stadium; the first being Jimmy Buffett. I also got to see ZZ Top for the 2nd time... and from the center 3rd row. I also saw John Mayer, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan.
And if playing in a band and driving a sports car is not enough for my mid-life crisis, I'm now coloring my hair blond. It really hides the grey hairs and I get a lot of comments on it.
Beth has been keeping busy with her new hobby... sewing... if you can believe that. Mom has been doing well. At the start of the year, we were under the impression that she would need to start kidney dialysis. Turns out she doesn't need it, yet anyway. Keep your fingers crossed. Jack is now 7 years old and in the second grade. Dennis and I have been going into business together more and more. This time in the field of property management, becoming landlords of commercial property. Good livin' thus far. We hope to keep it that way.
Anyway, hope all is well to whomever is reading, have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2008!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Have A Wonderful Christmas Time
Wishing all Happy Holidays, I wanted to post Tom Petty's Christmas All Over Again. Apparently, there is no 'offical' video for it. Paul & Wings will instead wish all a wonderful Christmas time.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
What's The Deal With All These Lists?
For the past few years, I've noticed several networks, especially all the music and entertainment channels, running programs counting down something. You could call this debacle "When Kasey Kassem Goes Bad."
Sure, it was somewhat amusing at first. We got to see William Shatner count down the top 100 one hit wonders. Some other network informed us of the top most-shocking moments in rock and roll. But any more, these lists are getting ridiculous... and I should know something about lists. I spent a good part of the 90's writing David Letterman-style top ten lists for the Peoria Jaycees newsletters.
The latest countdown I've seen was the Top 40 Softlicious Soft Rock Songs of All Time. I don't remember what network brought us this informative program. It listed things like America's "Horse With No Name," 10cc's "I'm Not in Love," and REO's "Can't Fight This Feeling." Many of the songs were from the 1970's. I could only stomach about 30 minutes of this crap until I had to turn it off.
And another question, who are the judges who decides on this shit?
Anyway, it's been a while since I composed a top ten list, but here we go:
Top Ten New Countdown Shows For '08
10. Top 70 Oddest Celebrity Baby Names
9. Top 20 Lindsey Lohan's Fave Things About Rehab
8. Top 60 Wildest Hillary Rodham Clinton Pant Suits
7. Top 100 All Time Greatest Spam E-Mail Messages
6. Top 33 Lame Reality Series
5. Top 12 Really Bad Hair Bands
4. Top 5 OJ's Other Crimes
3. Top 30 Lead Filled Toys From China
2. Top 20 George Bush-isms
... and the number one New Countdown Show for '08...
1. Top 69 Sex Positions
Sure, it was somewhat amusing at first. We got to see William Shatner count down the top 100 one hit wonders. Some other network informed us of the top most-shocking moments in rock and roll. But any more, these lists are getting ridiculous... and I should know something about lists. I spent a good part of the 90's writing David Letterman-style top ten lists for the Peoria Jaycees newsletters.
The latest countdown I've seen was the Top 40 Softlicious Soft Rock Songs of All Time. I don't remember what network brought us this informative program. It listed things like America's "Horse With No Name," 10cc's "I'm Not in Love," and REO's "Can't Fight This Feeling." Many of the songs were from the 1970's. I could only stomach about 30 minutes of this crap until I had to turn it off.
And another question, who are the judges who decides on this shit?
Anyway, it's been a while since I composed a top ten list, but here we go:
Top Ten New Countdown Shows For '08
10. Top 70 Oddest Celebrity Baby Names
9. Top 20 Lindsey Lohan's Fave Things About Rehab
8. Top 60 Wildest Hillary Rodham Clinton Pant Suits
7. Top 100 All Time Greatest Spam E-Mail Messages
6. Top 33 Lame Reality Series
5. Top 12 Really Bad Hair Bands
4. Top 5 OJ's Other Crimes
3. Top 30 Lead Filled Toys From China
2. Top 20 George Bush-isms
... and the number one New Countdown Show for '08...
1. Top 69 Sex Positions
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Heather's New Hat
Peoria, IL (RLO News Service) - Heather Zech is at it again. This time she wants to set the new trend in hats... maybe better explained as an old trend in hats.
At a recent holiday event, Ms. Zech was sporting a black feather hat, reminiscent of a 1940s era style. "Yes, I'm bringing it back," exclaimed a jubilant Zech, who is no stranger to attempting to start new trends, not that she's exactly successful at it. "The 70's is so old school, 80's is overdone anymore, the 90's is way to soon," Zech explained, "so I'm bringing back something we haven't seen in a long, long time." Zech's current boyfriend, Chuck is preparing to launch an "old is new again" line for men's fashions with the 1950's zoot suit.
Heather Zech became a follower and disciple of radio personality Art Bell and began an extensive campaign to educate the public about a 1947 UFO crash in New Mexico and ensuing government cover-up. Zech is a staunch proponent of uncovering the government's knowledge on the event. Odd, the hat she was wearing that day could have come right out of 1947.
At a recent holiday event, Ms. Zech was sporting a black feather hat, reminiscent of a 1940s era style. "Yes, I'm bringing it back," exclaimed a jubilant Zech, who is no stranger to attempting to start new trends, not that she's exactly successful at it. "The 70's is so old school, 80's is overdone anymore, the 90's is way to soon," Zech explained, "so I'm bringing back something we haven't seen in a long, long time." Zech's current boyfriend, Chuck is preparing to launch an "old is new again" line for men's fashions with the 1950's zoot suit.
Heather Zech became a follower and disciple of radio personality Art Bell and began an extensive campaign to educate the public about a 1947 UFO crash in New Mexico and ensuing government cover-up. Zech is a staunch proponent of uncovering the government's knowledge on the event. Odd, the hat she was wearing that day could have come right out of 1947.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Bad Boys... Bad Boys... Whatcha Gonna Do
This post is a bit late in reporting, but well entertaining.
Randy and I headed down to the Illinois Jaycees General Assembly in St. Louis a couple of weekends ago to meet up with some fellow Peoria Jaycee members. We first met up with Mary, Dave, Kate, Danielle and Steve... sounding like a line up of the usual suspects already... on the Landing at the Morgan St BrewPub.
Earlier this year, for whatever reason, Kate would get Randy's and my name mixed up; so for the weekend just to screw with her, I became Randy and Randy became Rick. We also clued everyone else on it to to push it further.
We eventually made it to the Marriott where the GA was held. Rick and I belligerently crashed the invite-only Presidential Cocktail Hour for the state president. At that point, we ran into Becky, Roxy, Gretchen, Scott and other Jaycees we know around the state. Rick and I then crashed the banquet dinner where we had no ticket for a plate. While seated with our Jaycee friends, Rick commented in a manner to transmit guilt, that the fried chicken sure looked good. Rick had just finished consuming the complementary lemon slices for the glasses of water in a feeble attempt at fighting hunger. While I resorted to drinking beer to accomplish this, at least Rick won't suffer from scurvy.
Once the buffet line subsided and entrees replenished, Rick and I went up to sneak a dinner plate for ourselves. We only got as far as placing green beans on our plate when someone from the Gateway Region Jaycees (the GA host organization) came up and busted us. They claimed a dinner ticket would cost us somewhere around $37 and we said "No thanks." They confiscated our plates with the green beans and took it back to their table. We walked from the buffet table still hungry and empty handed while the adjacent table had two plates of only green beans.
The awards ceremony was next, where I'm happy to say the Peoria Jaycees cleaned up nicely for the 3rd quarter of 2007. The libations of New Castle Brown Ale flowed into the night as well until around midnight for me. This is when Mary suggested I should retire and offered to escort me back to my room. It really didn't make any sense to me at the time, but in hindsight, it was a very good move as it probably eased lingering symptoms on the day after.
Rick however partied on for at least another hour. With our sober friend Bob, he chauffeured Mary and Rick to a local White Castle for some sliders. And what happens when you change from Brown Castle to White Castle... hey, what goes on at a GA stays at a GA.
The next day was rough for Rick. But yet we still stopped at a White Castle so I could get some breakfast. Rick had only soda.
On the way home, we were pulled over by whom I called "Ponch" for doing 75 in a 65. Around Hopedale, IL, the road curved to the right, and while I just finished passing another car, I saw the elusive motorcycle cop put away his radar gun. I knew he already had me. Shit! Shit! My 16 year hiatus of speeding tickets was over. And I had just told Rick's wife the day before that I hadn't had a ticket in many years... especially, I jinxed myself.
But alas, we finally made it home for much needed rest. Until the next GA!!
Randy and I headed down to the Illinois Jaycees General Assembly in St. Louis a couple of weekends ago to meet up with some fellow Peoria Jaycee members. We first met up with Mary, Dave, Kate, Danielle and Steve... sounding like a line up of the usual suspects already... on the Landing at the Morgan St BrewPub.
Earlier this year, for whatever reason, Kate would get Randy's and my name mixed up; so for the weekend just to screw with her, I became Randy and Randy became Rick. We also clued everyone else on it to to push it further.
We eventually made it to the Marriott where the GA was held. Rick and I belligerently crashed the invite-only Presidential Cocktail Hour for the state president. At that point, we ran into Becky, Roxy, Gretchen, Scott and other Jaycees we know around the state. Rick and I then crashed the banquet dinner where we had no ticket for a plate. While seated with our Jaycee friends, Rick commented in a manner to transmit guilt, that the fried chicken sure looked good. Rick had just finished consuming the complementary lemon slices for the glasses of water in a feeble attempt at fighting hunger. While I resorted to drinking beer to accomplish this, at least Rick won't suffer from scurvy.
Once the buffet line subsided and entrees replenished, Rick and I went up to sneak a dinner plate for ourselves. We only got as far as placing green beans on our plate when someone from the Gateway Region Jaycees (the GA host organization) came up and busted us. They claimed a dinner ticket would cost us somewhere around $37 and we said "No thanks." They confiscated our plates with the green beans and took it back to their table. We walked from the buffet table still hungry and empty handed while the adjacent table had two plates of only green beans.
The awards ceremony was next, where I'm happy to say the Peoria Jaycees cleaned up nicely for the 3rd quarter of 2007. The libations of New Castle Brown Ale flowed into the night as well until around midnight for me. This is when Mary suggested I should retire and offered to escort me back to my room. It really didn't make any sense to me at the time, but in hindsight, it was a very good move as it probably eased lingering symptoms on the day after.
Rick however partied on for at least another hour. With our sober friend Bob, he chauffeured Mary and Rick to a local White Castle for some sliders. And what happens when you change from Brown Castle to White Castle... hey, what goes on at a GA stays at a GA.
The next day was rough for Rick. But yet we still stopped at a White Castle so I could get some breakfast. Rick had only soda.
On the way home, we were pulled over by whom I called "Ponch" for doing 75 in a 65. Around Hopedale, IL, the road curved to the right, and while I just finished passing another car, I saw the elusive motorcycle cop put away his radar gun. I knew he already had me. Shit! Shit! My 16 year hiatus of speeding tickets was over. And I had just told Rick's wife the day before that I hadn't had a ticket in many years... especially, I jinxed myself.
But alas, we finally made it home for much needed rest. Until the next GA!!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Homecoming 2007
Well, I'm back safe and sound from my college/fraternity Homecoming at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. And anyone who knows me at all, Homecoming is an annual pilgrimage every October. There was a different twist for this year's event; it was my 20 year reunion. Yikes! Twenty years since I graduated college... doesn't seem right.
The only other person who matches my record is a fellow fraternity brother, whom we will just call "Magilla." Several times in the past, Magilla and I would rent an RV so we could park and party close to house and be near all the action. Then the college caught on and started placing "No RV Parking" signs all over the place. Did that stop us... not really. We know some people who live about 2 houses from the campus, so we'd park the RV in their back yard. The vice president of development would become annoyed with our antics. It was one Homecoming we heard that he was going nuts because he didn't know where we were parked and he couldn't keep an eye on us. We also later found out that the No RV Parking signs were a direct response to us, let alone anyone who wanted to follow our footsteps.
I could actually write an entire book on all the stuff we've done over these 20 years. But for this year, it was really low key. Instead of an RV or sleeping in the fraternity house, we opted for the local Super 8... which I claimed to everyone we were staying in the Presidential Suite of the Monmouth Super 8.
Friday evening was a good steak dinner, followed by drinks at the Pub 83 and then karaoke at The Well. Unbelievably, they didn't carry my standard Just A Gigolo so I sang Love Stinks and Little Sister. Saturday we slept in and missed the Homecoming parade which started at 10:30am. We miss this parade every year. But after a brief visit with some friends who live in town, we stopped by the house to check out what was going on. The beer started flowing about 1:30pm when the football game started (at least they say there's a football game... I never go to it). Hanging at the house during the game is sort of a quasi-tailgate; other alumni show up and we tell the undergraduates some war stories.
Well after the game, we headed out to Danny's Tap which was a popular place to be back in my day. After a couple of drinks their, we realized that we're going to need something to eat, so we went in for a meatball sandwich across the street. This would be our only intermission from the party. Upon finishing dinner, back to Danny's. Then it was off to the local Legion Hall for a "reunion party" where I really didn't see a lot of people from my class. But I did spend some time to chat with the few that did return. Then it was off for Pub 83, which was quite nice as it wasn't very crowded. We were a bit entertained by some of the bar-hoppers being dressed for Halloween.
At 2:00am, the bar manager kicked us out and claimed that they had to close. Magilla and I headed back to the Presidential Suite of the Monmouth Super 8 and crashed. Sunday morning we met up with some friends at their place in town for breakfast and then got the hell out of Dodge.
Despite no virgin sacrifice or taking advantage of our female party guests, we still managed a good time and non-stop belly laughs through the weekend. I probably came home with an extra laugh line on my face.
The only other person who matches my record is a fellow fraternity brother, whom we will just call "Magilla." Several times in the past, Magilla and I would rent an RV so we could park and party close to house and be near all the action. Then the college caught on and started placing "No RV Parking" signs all over the place. Did that stop us... not really. We know some people who live about 2 houses from the campus, so we'd park the RV in their back yard. The vice president of development would become annoyed with our antics. It was one Homecoming we heard that he was going nuts because he didn't know where we were parked and he couldn't keep an eye on us. We also later found out that the No RV Parking signs were a direct response to us, let alone anyone who wanted to follow our footsteps.
I could actually write an entire book on all the stuff we've done over these 20 years. But for this year, it was really low key. Instead of an RV or sleeping in the fraternity house, we opted for the local Super 8... which I claimed to everyone we were staying in the Presidential Suite of the Monmouth Super 8.
Friday evening was a good steak dinner, followed by drinks at the Pub 83 and then karaoke at The Well. Unbelievably, they didn't carry my standard Just A Gigolo so I sang Love Stinks and Little Sister. Saturday we slept in and missed the Homecoming parade which started at 10:30am. We miss this parade every year. But after a brief visit with some friends who live in town, we stopped by the house to check out what was going on. The beer started flowing about 1:30pm when the football game started (at least they say there's a football game... I never go to it). Hanging at the house during the game is sort of a quasi-tailgate; other alumni show up and we tell the undergraduates some war stories.Well after the game, we headed out to Danny's Tap which was a popular place to be back in my day. After a couple of drinks their, we realized that we're going to need something to eat, so we went in for a meatball sandwich across the street. This would be our only intermission from the party. Upon finishing dinner, back to Danny's. Then it was off to the local Legion Hall for a "reunion party" where I really didn't see a lot of people from my class. But I did spend some time to chat with the few that did return. Then it was off for Pub 83, which was quite nice as it wasn't very crowded. We were a bit entertained by some of the bar-hoppers being dressed for Halloween.
At 2:00am, the bar manager kicked us out and claimed that they had to close. Magilla and I headed back to the Presidential Suite of the Monmouth Super 8 and crashed. Sunday morning we met up with some friends at their place in town for breakfast and then got the hell out of Dodge.
Despite no virgin sacrifice or taking advantage of our female party guests, we still managed a good time and non-stop belly laughs through the weekend. I probably came home with an extra laugh line on my face.
Monday, October 22, 2007
A Legend Visits Bloomington
... and we were there to witness it.
Dave Cookson and I travelled to US Cellular Coliseum last Saturday night to see Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan. The show opened with Amos Lee, whom I'd never heard of before; but he put on a good show.
After a quick intermission, Elvis Costello took the stage, with him and only his guitar. The guy can really sing. He engaged the audience between songs with stories about his dad. It was Elvis who provided us with our brush with greatness earlier that evening.
We sat in section 102, which was lower bowl, but close to the stage. For those few sections, there is the Jack Daniels Lounge, complete with easy chairs. As Dave and I sat awaiting for the show to begin, I watched the Coliseum employees go in and out of an adjacent hallway that had glass walls separating it with the lounge. Then I saw an individual dressed all in black, with a black coat, hat and the recognizable horn-rimmed glasses. It was Elvis walking towards an elevator meeting up with someone else. I frantically point and exclaim to Dave, "Check it out, check it out, check it out, check it out.." I couldn't even think of his name and thought Dave might miss out. Dave slowly turned around and asked, "Is that Elvis Costello?"
They got on the elevator and disappeared. Moments later, they reappeared only to discover they were on the wrong floor. I guess that can happen to anyone.
Elvis finished up his set, which featured of course Allison and Peace, Love & Understanding. Bob Dylan then took the stage after another intermission. And as I joked before seeing Bob Dylan, we couldn't understand a word he was singing. Dave and I must have laughed all the way through the first 2 songs he did. I only knew 2 of the songs he performed that night.
I was never a big Dylan fan, but I do respect all that he's done. He is a good songwriter and his band that night was excellent and tight. They proved that they could rock. And there were plenty of energetic fans in the audience. There was a couple, probably around 18 years old, dancing around like hippies from the 60's to most of Dylan's songs. It was entertaining to watch.
Dave and I skipped out on the encore, which I hear was only 2 songs. It was getting late and we were tired of trying to make heads or tails of the unintelligible lyrics that were sung. But in all, a good evening with a living legend.
Dave Cookson and I travelled to US Cellular Coliseum last Saturday night to see Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan. The show opened with Amos Lee, whom I'd never heard of before; but he put on a good show.
After a quick intermission, Elvis Costello took the stage, with him and only his guitar. The guy can really sing. He engaged the audience between songs with stories about his dad. It was Elvis who provided us with our brush with greatness earlier that evening.
We sat in section 102, which was lower bowl, but close to the stage. For those few sections, there is the Jack Daniels Lounge, complete with easy chairs. As Dave and I sat awaiting for the show to begin, I watched the Coliseum employees go in and out of an adjacent hallway that had glass walls separating it with the lounge. Then I saw an individual dressed all in black, with a black coat, hat and the recognizable horn-rimmed glasses. It was Elvis walking towards an elevator meeting up with someone else. I frantically point and exclaim to Dave, "Check it out, check it out, check it out, check it out.." I couldn't even think of his name and thought Dave might miss out. Dave slowly turned around and asked, "Is that Elvis Costello?"
They got on the elevator and disappeared. Moments later, they reappeared only to discover they were on the wrong floor. I guess that can happen to anyone.
Elvis finished up his set, which featured of course Allison and Peace, Love & Understanding. Bob Dylan then took the stage after another intermission. And as I joked before seeing Bob Dylan, we couldn't understand a word he was singing. Dave and I must have laughed all the way through the first 2 songs he did. I only knew 2 of the songs he performed that night.
I was never a big Dylan fan, but I do respect all that he's done. He is a good songwriter and his band that night was excellent and tight. They proved that they could rock. And there were plenty of energetic fans in the audience. There was a couple, probably around 18 years old, dancing around like hippies from the 60's to most of Dylan's songs. It was entertaining to watch.
Dave and I skipped out on the encore, which I hear was only 2 songs. It was getting late and we were tired of trying to make heads or tails of the unintelligible lyrics that were sung. But in all, a good evening with a living legend.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
This & That
A fellow Jaycee and blogger, Tim Sheets asked me a few nights ago about when I'm ever going to blog again or put something up on my main web site, rlo.com. Well... here we go...
Sleeping Good
Last week, Beth and I finally got our sleep number bed. If you recall, we had the experience of sleeping on one out in California during our Rt 66 trip. It was great. I would wake up with absolutely no aches, pains or stiffness and an abundance of energy. The original Bionic woman tells no lies on this!
Our previous mattress we purchased about 3-4 years ago and was a complete piece of shit. It was one of those space-aged, memory foam, astronaut beds. Yea, right. The thing lost all of its memory and we slept in worn out, sagging holes. I think it was plain foam that they give prisoners to sleep on. Good riddance.
My sleep number is on 100. I think Buffy's is around 40 or 50.
ZZ Top
Dave Cookson and I attended the ZZ Top concert a few weeks ago here in Peoria. The show was scheduled for a Sunday night. The Wednesday before, I stopped at the Civic Center box office and inquired about tickets. At this late date, they could get me center floor, row 3, aisle seats. Any closer and we can run our fingers through their beards. I asked the girl, "Did they sell any other seats and will this be a private show for us?"
The dudes are aging a bit, but still put on a great show. They opened with Got Me Under Pressure and played most of their hits, Cheap Sunglasses, Legs, Lagrange, Tush, Pearl Necklace and Sharped Dress Man. There were a couple of other songs I wish they played, but didn't.
The other entertainment was watching the really drunk chicks try to get closer to the stage, only to be stopped by security.
Fall Bash '07
Last Saturday, Beth and I held our annual Fall Bash. It was a good turnout and good time. Our niece Sara commented that all our friends who once became drunk reminded her of kids in her middle school. Yes, we never grow up.
Someone either slipped me a mickey or I purchased an extra fermented case of Heineken as I was out for the count by midnight. And the next day was not good... beer and especially Heineken doesn't drag me down that bad (that's why I drink it). That was on top of a sensible dinner as well. Occupational hazard I guess.
There are currently photos at http://www.rlo.com/.
Homecoming '07
Only 14 days until ATO Homecoming 2007. Yikes! This will be my college 20th reunion.
Sleeping Good
Last week, Beth and I finally got our sleep number bed. If you recall, we had the experience of sleeping on one out in California during our Rt 66 trip. It was great. I would wake up with absolutely no aches, pains or stiffness and an abundance of energy. The original Bionic woman tells no lies on this!
Our previous mattress we purchased about 3-4 years ago and was a complete piece of shit. It was one of those space-aged, memory foam, astronaut beds. Yea, right. The thing lost all of its memory and we slept in worn out, sagging holes. I think it was plain foam that they give prisoners to sleep on. Good riddance.
My sleep number is on 100. I think Buffy's is around 40 or 50.
ZZ Top
Dave Cookson and I attended the ZZ Top concert a few weeks ago here in Peoria. The show was scheduled for a Sunday night. The Wednesday before, I stopped at the Civic Center box office and inquired about tickets. At this late date, they could get me center floor, row 3, aisle seats. Any closer and we can run our fingers through their beards. I asked the girl, "Did they sell any other seats and will this be a private show for us?"
The dudes are aging a bit, but still put on a great show. They opened with Got Me Under Pressure and played most of their hits, Cheap Sunglasses, Legs, Lagrange, Tush, Pearl Necklace and Sharped Dress Man. There were a couple of other songs I wish they played, but didn't.
The other entertainment was watching the really drunk chicks try to get closer to the stage, only to be stopped by security.
Fall Bash '07
Last Saturday, Beth and I held our annual Fall Bash. It was a good turnout and good time. Our niece Sara commented that all our friends who once became drunk reminded her of kids in her middle school. Yes, we never grow up.
Someone either slipped me a mickey or I purchased an extra fermented case of Heineken as I was out for the count by midnight. And the next day was not good... beer and especially Heineken doesn't drag me down that bad (that's why I drink it). That was on top of a sensible dinner as well. Occupational hazard I guess.
There are currently photos at http://www.rlo.com/.
Homecoming '07
Only 14 days until ATO Homecoming 2007. Yikes! This will be my college 20th reunion.
Monday, August 27, 2007
LST 325
Today Beth and I toured a small piece of history.
In the past week, the USS LST 325 made a stop in Peoria for people to visit. This was the ship that in November of 2000, was sailed back from Greece over the Atlantic Ocean with a skeleton crew of WWII veterans. Their average age was 72. Thirteen days out of port and in the Mediterranean Sea, the LST 325 had to stop in Gibraltar for major repairs. By December 2000, the crew dwindled to 29. It arrived in Mobile, AL on January 10, 2001 after a 6,200 mile voyage.
The ship was only to be on display for 1 week, however with the recent rains, the Illinois River is now too high for it to clear the Murry Baker Bridge. It was scheduled for a stop in Henry, but I doubt it could make it under the bridge at Lacon. So it's here for an extended stay in Peoria.
LST stands for Landing Ship Tank and it is used for the transportation of troops, tanks and supplies right up onto enemy shorelines. This particular vessle was used on June 6, 1944 in Normandie on D-Day. In May of 1945, it headed back to the US to be modified with different equipment to launch and retreive observation aircraft. The LST 325 went on a shakedown cruise in August 1945 and was to later set sail for the Pacific for the war against Japan. However, the day before she was to head to the Pacific, Japan surrendered and the war had ended.
The LST 325 saw light duty after the war until the early 60's when she was transferred to Greece and then served in the Greek Navy until 1999.
The ship is still operated by volunteers who are veterans from all branches of the military... and many who appear to have served in WWII, Korea or Vietnam. They continue to make us proud to be Americans!
So you learn something new everyday.
In the past week, the USS LST 325 made a stop in Peoria for people to visit. This was the ship that in November of 2000, was sailed back from Greece over the Atlantic Ocean with a skeleton crew of WWII veterans. Their average age was 72. Thirteen days out of port and in the Mediterranean Sea, the LST 325 had to stop in Gibraltar for major repairs. By December 2000, the crew dwindled to 29. It arrived in Mobile, AL on January 10, 2001 after a 6,200 mile voyage.
The ship was only to be on display for 1 week, however with the recent rains, the Illinois River is now too high for it to clear the Murry Baker Bridge. It was scheduled for a stop in Henry, but I doubt it could make it under the bridge at Lacon. So it's here for an extended stay in Peoria.
LST stands for Landing Ship Tank and it is used for the transportation of troops, tanks and supplies right up onto enemy shorelines. This particular vessle was used on June 6, 1944 in Normandie on D-Day. In May of 1945, it headed back to the US to be modified with different equipment to launch and retreive observation aircraft. The LST 325 went on a shakedown cruise in August 1945 and was to later set sail for the Pacific for the war against Japan. However, the day before she was to head to the Pacific, Japan surrendered and the war had ended.
The LST 325 saw light duty after the war until the early 60's when she was transferred to Greece and then served in the Greek Navy until 1999.
The ship is still operated by volunteers who are veterans from all branches of the military... and many who appear to have served in WWII, Korea or Vietnam. They continue to make us proud to be Americans!
So you learn something new everyday.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bureaucracy
From Webster's New World Dictionary, bureaucracy means:
There should be an alternative meaning, i.e., "the following of incompetent, illogical and non-common sense procedures." This would fall under my recent dealings with a major financial institution, which will remain nameless, over Beth's 401(k) account.
Since Beth left her employment, we rolled over her 401(k) to her IRA, which is the correct course of action. She wanted me to handle it as she doesn't like taking care of these details. In order for that to happen, I needed to fill out some form authorizing me to take care of this for her. Makes sense to me.
Earlier this summer, it has now come to our attention that a small residual balance still remained, probably from accrued interest and part of a bonus that was still due to Beth at year end 2006. We need to roll that over to her IRA.
Beth this time calls to take care of this matter, but the representative needs to speak with me to get my authorization. I was not home at the time. But the question is... why do they need my authorization? It's Beth's account, solely in her name. The representative said he'd mail out a form for spousal consent that I should fill out and sign, which we'd receive in 10 days. Then mail it back and call after that.
Ten days have come and gone. To date, we have not received the form. I tried to call back today to follow up, but after waiting on hold for over 10 minutes, I gave up.
If by August 6, 2007 they do not get any instructions from Beth, they will make a mandatory payout, which would be subject to income tax and possibly a 10% tax penalty. So what?! The $2.22 we're trying to get rolled over is not worth this kind of hassle. That's not even minimum wage.
1. government by departmental officials following an inflexible routine; 2. the officials collectively; 3. governmental officialism; 4. the concentration of authority in administrative bureaus
There should be an alternative meaning, i.e., "the following of incompetent, illogical and non-common sense procedures." This would fall under my recent dealings with a major financial institution, which will remain nameless, over Beth's 401(k) account.
Since Beth left her employment, we rolled over her 401(k) to her IRA, which is the correct course of action. She wanted me to handle it as she doesn't like taking care of these details. In order for that to happen, I needed to fill out some form authorizing me to take care of this for her. Makes sense to me.
Earlier this summer, it has now come to our attention that a small residual balance still remained, probably from accrued interest and part of a bonus that was still due to Beth at year end 2006. We need to roll that over to her IRA.
Beth this time calls to take care of this matter, but the representative needs to speak with me to get my authorization. I was not home at the time. But the question is... why do they need my authorization? It's Beth's account, solely in her name. The representative said he'd mail out a form for spousal consent that I should fill out and sign, which we'd receive in 10 days. Then mail it back and call after that.
Ten days have come and gone. To date, we have not received the form. I tried to call back today to follow up, but after waiting on hold for over 10 minutes, I gave up.
If by August 6, 2007 they do not get any instructions from Beth, they will make a mandatory payout, which would be subject to income tax and possibly a 10% tax penalty. So what?! The $2.22 we're trying to get rolled over is not worth this kind of hassle. That's not even minimum wage.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Technical Difficulties
Thanks for all those who read about our antics across the country and for all your posts. I have heard from several people that they wanted to post comments, however, the blogger system would not display the automated codewords to input to verify the comment as real. In turn, they were not able to leave any of their thoughts.
Nowdays, there is something called comment spam. Like spam we receive in our e-mail inbox, this spam places itself onto people's comment section of their blogs. This system uses a automatically generated image file of several letters you must input with your comment to verify you are not sending any unwanted spam. Appearently, Blogger needs to work out a few kinks.
But the best missed comment from our trip would have probably come from my Mom. She wanted to say that the first time I saw the Grand Canyon, I was so impressed that I pooped my pants (I was only 6 months old). The view of the Grand Canyon still comes close to achieving the same results.
Nowdays, there is something called comment spam. Like spam we receive in our e-mail inbox, this spam places itself onto people's comment section of their blogs. This system uses a automatically generated image file of several letters you must input with your comment to verify you are not sending any unwanted spam. Appearently, Blogger needs to work out a few kinks.
But the best missed comment from our trip would have probably come from my Mom. She wanted to say that the first time I saw the Grand Canyon, I was so impressed that I pooped my pants (I was only 6 months old). The view of the Grand Canyon still comes close to achieving the same results.
It Was Actually Them
When we were on our vaction, I posted how we strolled down Venice Beach and saw a film crew shooting scenes of some guy with a hot dog hat giving out samples. And in and around the area was what we believed were celebrity look-alikes of Paris Hilton and Kelly Osborne. We were only half right.
In the latest issue of People magazine, there is a snapshot of Kelly Osborne and Kim Stewart (Rod Stewart's daughter) filming the pilot episode of a new reality series on Venice Beach on May 30, 2007. Wow, I was only one degree of separation from the "Prince of Darkness" that day. I guess it was our brush with greatness... another reality series... however great that is.
In this photo, I tried to capture the two of them. Unfortunately, I think Kelly is behind the photographer. But I did get a good picture of Kim.
In the latest issue of People magazine, there is a snapshot of Kelly Osborne and Kim Stewart (Rod Stewart's daughter) filming the pilot episode of a new reality series on Venice Beach on May 30, 2007. Wow, I was only one degree of separation from the "Prince of Darkness" that day. I guess it was our brush with greatness... another reality series... however great that is.In this photo, I tried to capture the two of them. Unfortunately, I think Kelly is behind the photographer. But I did get a good picture of Kim.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Route 66: Day Sixteen - Home Sweet Home
Our adventure on historic Route 66 and ensuing travel had come to an end shortly after 3:30pm this afternoon when we finally arrived home. And it was cicadas who welcomed us back after their 17-year absence.
We started to leave Topeka, KS at 7:40am and the rest of the trip was mainly uneventful. We travelled along I-70 through Kansas City until Kingdom City, MO where we turned off on East US 54. I know this road very well as I have taken it many times when visiting relatives.
After we stopped in Pittsfield, IL for some lunch, we put the top down for the first time in a few days for the remainder of the way home.
Though I may from time to time complain about Peoria and the state of Illinois, it is always good to get back home... especially after almost 2 and a half weeks of living out of a suitcase and different hotels, not to mention eating in restaurants every night. And finally, not to be in a car for several hours each day. My car is very nice, but I think this is going to be the last "long" road trip for it. For long road trips, it really needs a little more leg room and storage. But fuel mileage, you can't beat it. We filled up in Topeka last night and I still have just under a quarter tank left here in Dunlap.
It has been a unique adventure this past 16 days. After I roughly tallied up our expenses, I thought "Wow, we could have went somewhere really nice." But we couldn't have stayed as long or have seen as much or have had the experiences we had from getting our kicks on Route 66.
I want to thank everyone who visited this blog to somewhat live vicariously through us as we made our trek across the USA.
Final Stats:
Miles Travelled, today: 438 miles
Miles Travelled, total trip: 4,866 miles
Today's travel time: 8 hrs
Travel time, total trip: 122.3 hrs
Today's avg speed: 54.75 mph
Today's fuel mileage: 31.1 mpg
Fuel Mileage, total trip: 29.9 mpg
Number of States Travelled: 11 (IL, MO, KS, OK, TX, NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT, CO)
Number of Digital Pictures taken: 484 (not including pictures taken w/ film)
Reg Unleaded Gas Price/Gallon, High: $3.99 (Needles, CA... the desert)
Reg Unleaded Gas Price/Gallon, Low: $2.89 (today, western Missouri)
Gasoline Expense, Entire Trip: $628.86
Lodging Expense, Entire Trip: $2,075.59 (or about $129 per night)
Meals, Booze, Shopping, Misc (est): $1,300 (yikes!)
Vacation & Memories of a Lifetime: Priceless... it pays to Discover!
We started to leave Topeka, KS at 7:40am and the rest of the trip was mainly uneventful. We travelled along I-70 through Kansas City until Kingdom City, MO where we turned off on East US 54. I know this road very well as I have taken it many times when visiting relatives.
After we stopped in Pittsfield, IL for some lunch, we put the top down for the first time in a few days for the remainder of the way home.
Though I may from time to time complain about Peoria and the state of Illinois, it is always good to get back home... especially after almost 2 and a half weeks of living out of a suitcase and different hotels, not to mention eating in restaurants every night. And finally, not to be in a car for several hours each day. My car is very nice, but I think this is going to be the last "long" road trip for it. For long road trips, it really needs a little more leg room and storage. But fuel mileage, you can't beat it. We filled up in Topeka last night and I still have just under a quarter tank left here in Dunlap.
It has been a unique adventure this past 16 days. After I roughly tallied up our expenses, I thought "Wow, we could have went somewhere really nice." But we couldn't have stayed as long or have seen as much or have had the experiences we had from getting our kicks on Route 66.
I want to thank everyone who visited this blog to somewhat live vicariously through us as we made our trek across the USA.
Final Stats:
Miles Travelled, today: 438 miles
Miles Travelled, total trip: 4,866 miles
Today's travel time: 8 hrs
Travel time, total trip: 122.3 hrs
Today's avg speed: 54.75 mph
Today's fuel mileage: 31.1 mpg
Fuel Mileage, total trip: 29.9 mpg
Number of States Travelled: 11 (IL, MO, KS, OK, TX, NM, AZ, CA, NV, UT, CO)
Number of Digital Pictures taken: 484 (not including pictures taken w/ film)
Reg Unleaded Gas Price/Gallon, High: $3.99 (Needles, CA... the desert)
Reg Unleaded Gas Price/Gallon, Low: $2.89 (today, western Missouri)
Gasoline Expense, Entire Trip: $628.86
Lodging Expense, Entire Trip: $2,075.59 (or about $129 per night)
Meals, Booze, Shopping, Misc (est): $1,300 (yikes!)
Vacation & Memories of a Lifetime: Priceless... it pays to Discover!
Monday, June 04, 2007
Route 66: Day Fifteen - Road Warriors
As the great American poet Jonathan Cash put it:
Beth awoke me this morning at 6:15am Mountain time right in the middle of a dream. I was completely out, not even realizing where I was. The travel home is starting to take a toll on us road warriors.
Anyway, we started back out on the road at 7:42am from Grand Junction, CO. The western side of Colorado was very scenic riding. We saw many views of the hills, mountains, Colorado River, condos, pine trees and so on. We went past many popular ski areas including Powderhorn, Aspen, Vail, Beaver Creek and a few others. Denver wasn't too bad to drive through as we missed rush hour. But after that, it got to be a very boring drive. Just flat terrain for miles and miles. And then there was Kansas.
What happens in Kansas stays in Kansas and do you know why? Because nothing happens in Kansas. No offense to the fine citizens here, but this has been one long ass dull state. As we've hit the eastern half of the state, the scenery has been slightly improving. But because of this, we don't have much to report.
Tonight, we have set up camp at the Sleep Inn in Topeka, KS... and guess what... this is a SVI property! This is the first and only SVI property we've encountered thus far in our 2 weeks of travel.
Tomorrow, we plan to finally arrive at home sometime late afternoon. According to the Garmin GPS, it is 465 miles away. So sometime tomorrow night, I plan to post the final stats and anything interesting that may happen to us tomorrow. But for now, I'll leave you with some more photos from the two weeks past while we've been on Route 66, America's Main Street.
Big blue whale in Oklahoma.
The round barn in Arcadia, OK.
Leaning water tower; Texas.
Cadillac Ranch; outside Amarillo, TX
Wigwam Village; Holbrook, AZ
The shoe tree; Amboy, CA
Stats:Miles Travelled, today: 784 miles
Miles Travelled, total: 4,428 miles
Today's travel time: 12.38 hrs
Today's avg speed: 63.3 mph
Today's fuel milage: 32.8 mpg
Encounter with wildlife: 1 (turtle crossing I-70 west of Salina, KS)
"I've been everywhere, man,
I've been everywhere."
Beth awoke me this morning at 6:15am Mountain time right in the middle of a dream. I was completely out, not even realizing where I was. The travel home is starting to take a toll on us road warriors.
Anyway, we started back out on the road at 7:42am from Grand Junction, CO. The western side of Colorado was very scenic riding. We saw many views of the hills, mountains, Colorado River, condos, pine trees and so on. We went past many popular ski areas including Powderhorn, Aspen, Vail, Beaver Creek and a few others. Denver wasn't too bad to drive through as we missed rush hour. But after that, it got to be a very boring drive. Just flat terrain for miles and miles. And then there was Kansas.
What happens in Kansas stays in Kansas and do you know why? Because nothing happens in Kansas. No offense to the fine citizens here, but this has been one long ass dull state. As we've hit the eastern half of the state, the scenery has been slightly improving. But because of this, we don't have much to report.
Tonight, we have set up camp at the Sleep Inn in Topeka, KS... and guess what... this is a SVI property! This is the first and only SVI property we've encountered thus far in our 2 weeks of travel.
Tomorrow, we plan to finally arrive at home sometime late afternoon. According to the Garmin GPS, it is 465 miles away. So sometime tomorrow night, I plan to post the final stats and anything interesting that may happen to us tomorrow. But for now, I'll leave you with some more photos from the two weeks past while we've been on Route 66, America's Main Street.
Big blue whale in Oklahoma.
The round barn in Arcadia, OK.
Leaning water tower; Texas.
Cadillac Ranch; outside Amarillo, TX
Wigwam Village; Holbrook, AZ
The shoe tree; Amboy, CA
Santa Monica pier; Santa Monica, CA
Stats:
Miles Travelled, total: 4,428 miles
Today's travel time: 12.38 hrs
Today's avg speed: 63.3 mph
Today's fuel milage: 32.8 mpg
Encounter with wildlife: 1 (turtle crossing I-70 west of Salina, KS)
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Route 66: Day Fourteen - Eastbound & Down
"Eastbound and down, load it up and truckin',
we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there,
I'm eastbound just watch the Bandit run."
Today has been a long day. It essentially started when we got on the road from the Holiday Inn in Santa Maria, CA at 4:40am, Pacific Time. It was still dark as we started to head eastward towards home. But once the sun started coming up, we were entering the desert and it was very picturesque. Before long, we were encountering Joshua trees, which look really cool. And speaking of cool, it was that in the desert at that time of the day.
In one respect, we came full circle when we reached Barstow today as we came across Historic Route 66. But sadly, we did not get on this route and instead took I-15 towards Las Vegas. We entered back into Arizona, but only briefly until Utah. And Utah was a really scenic state... lots of rock formations and badlands (pictured left is Beth in Utah). In Utah, we got on I-70 and headed on into Grand Junction, CO where we are hold up for the night at... you guessed it... Holiday Inn Express. We stayed at Holiday Inn so much that I've already signed up for their Priority Club.By now, it seems like its been so long ago when we were in California. But it was just about 17 - 18 hours ago.. or something like that. The voyage home hasn't been that bad as we've had lots to look at while we travel. That will probably change in east Colorado or Kansas. Oh well.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, today: 913
Miles Travelled, total: 3,644
Today's travel time: 14.58 hours
Today's avg speed: 62.6 mph
Today's fuel mileage: 30.1 mpg
Today's low temperature: 50 degrees F
Today's high temperature: 104 degrees F
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Route 66: Day Thirteen - The Voyage Home
Well, we haven't made it too far today on our return home... we're still in Santa Maria! Although at different hotel. So I guess we did make it a few miles.
The embarrassing story will get out somehow, so let's get it over with. As I mentioned in the previous post, the party last night carried on at Tom and Kim's, and some of us over-indulged. Actually, it really wasn't over-indulgence, but rather the wine just hit sudden and fast. This morning the hangover was so severe that it wasn't likely that the voyage home would begin. And to make matters worse, the hotel we were staying at was booked for tonight!
I thought about staying at Tom's place, and they had already offered. But Beth's allergies to dogs, and the kids being kids, would not make for a suitable environment. In addition, we really didn't want to impose. We looked into different hotels and many were booked because the Rodeo is in town. Fortunately, the Holiday Inn had availability. So we had to pack everything up, check into the Holiday Inn, come back to pick up the injured and return back to the Holiday Inn.
We expect to return home on Tuesday. As for starting out tomorrow, it will be very, very early.
Stats:
Miles travelled, today... I don't know, 5-10 miles
The embarrassing story will get out somehow, so let's get it over with. As I mentioned in the previous post, the party last night carried on at Tom and Kim's, and some of us over-indulged. Actually, it really wasn't over-indulgence, but rather the wine just hit sudden and fast. This morning the hangover was so severe that it wasn't likely that the voyage home would begin. And to make matters worse, the hotel we were staying at was booked for tonight!
I thought about staying at Tom's place, and they had already offered. But Beth's allergies to dogs, and the kids being kids, would not make for a suitable environment. In addition, we really didn't want to impose. We looked into different hotels and many were booked because the Rodeo is in town. Fortunately, the Holiday Inn had availability. So we had to pack everything up, check into the Holiday Inn, come back to pick up the injured and return back to the Holiday Inn.
We expect to return home on Tuesday. As for starting out tomorrow, it will be very, very early.
Stats:
Miles travelled, today... I don't know, 5-10 miles
Route 66: Day Twelve - Santa Maria
Day twelve (Fri 6/1/07) of our trip was very fun. We are staying an extra day in California so that we can see the band Tom Stevens is a part of perform tonight. The name of the band is Midnight Sun and it is a five piece band (Tom plays the drums... here he is with his daughter Megan) that plays a lot of covers from the 50's up to today. They even have a few original songs as well. The gig they had was at the Cottonwood Creek Winery for some type of open house event they had going on.
Tomorrow, day 13, we will begin to make our trek back home. We don't plan to go through South Dakota and see Mt. Rushmore or the badlands, but instead plan to take I-70 through Colorado, Kansas & Missouri.
Tom took half the day off and I offered to be a roady. Meanwhile, Beth went shopping and hung out with Kim while we were getting ready. It was kind of interesting to see how another band is organized and how they set up their set. They were scheduled to play from 6 - 9 pm.
During the show, I worked as photographer and I believe I'm probably the first to video tape them. I hope I did them good. Then in the last set, they invited me up to play with them for a couple of songs. So, having never ever played one note with these guys before, the 2 songs we did were ones I do with Nootril Drop... and in the same key! Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, which I dedicated to Beth and Surrender by Cheak Trick. It was a blast.
While the audience wanted more even after the 2 encores, we had to shut down as the winery wanted to close. The party continued afterwards at Tom and Kim's place, where some folks might have over-indulged.
Tomorrow, day 13, we will begin to make our trek back home. We don't plan to go through South Dakota and see Mt. Rushmore or the badlands, but instead plan to take I-70 through Colorado, Kansas & Missouri.
Later.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Route 66: Day Eleven
Yesterday (5/31/07) we said goodbye to Santa Monica and proceeded up the Pacific coast (at least as much as we could) to Santa Maria to visit Tom and Kim Stevens and kids. The weather was in the mid-60s and a bit cloudy, which was OK with me as I got even more sun from the previous day's walk on the beach. I'm more a "redneck" with a farmer tan than before.
The drive up California Hwy 1 was nice until we had to get on US 101. There were some detours in Oxnard, which was confusing to follow. North of Santa Barbara, we stopped to refuel... and I hate these gas pumps out here in California. For starters, they don't allow the little metal clip that allows the fuel to pump automatically. You have to hold the handle the whole time. If that's not enough inconvenience, there's also a rubber mask that is to fit over your (don't know what to call it at the moment) fuel tank interface so gas fumes won't escape. Of course, this tricks the gas pump that your tank is full, so every .2 gallons that gets pumps, it shuts off. So with my left hand, I hold back this mask and my right hand has to continue to pump fuel. And it's all self-serve now days.
We arrived in Santa Maria around 3:30pm. Kim and her daughter Megan were home along with Ginger the 120 lb. yellow lab. We had a couple of beers and later Kyle and Kevin arrived home next, wondering who's cool car was in the driveway. Later, I dropped Kyle off for a ball game in that really cool car. Tom then came home from work and we had another couple of beers. Kim called the local Radisson and got us a room for a couple of nights. We checked in and discovered that they have the sleep number beds; two of them. I looked forward to try them as I am not really impressed with the astronaut/memory foam mattress we have at home.
We met back up with the Stevens family and went to dinner at Cool Hand Luke's. Dinner was pretty good as I had never heard of this chain before. The kids really liked it and were the ones that suggested going there. We went back to the house and watched a little TV and then called it a night. Can't wait to try the sleep number bed.
Stats:
Ooops... left the notes in the car. I'll have to check back later.
Update (stats for 5/31/07):
Miles Travelled, today: 168
Miles Travelled, total: 2,731
Today's avg speed: 37.33 mph
Today's fuel mileage: 27.9 mpg
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Route 66: Day Ten - Santa Monica
While we are no long travelling historic Route 66, we still refer to this trip as our Route 66 trip. Now into Day Ten, today we never once got into any vehicle.
We slept in today until about 8:30am. After breakfast we headed out for a long walk up the beach to Muscle and Venice Beaches. As us Midwest people say, we are in the land of fruits and nuts. It was still fairly early for all the street artists and performers to populate Venice Beach, but we still had plenty of people watching opportunities.
We spotted a film crew following a couple of young women. I paid most attention on the first girl, a tall blonde who somewhat resembled Paris Hilton. As they went past us, Beth thought the other girl was Kelly Osborne, daughter of Ozzy Osborne. So we thought it was some other reality show. We also witnessed staff people with clip boards getting people who were filmed to sign waivers and disclaimers.
A little further up the way, we saw another film crew, this time filming some guy in a tie dyed shirt and some kind of hot dog hat. He was talking to the passerby and offering sausage samples. He was working with a food outlet there, named Joni's Sausage Kingdom, or something like that. I overheard someone with the film crew answering someone's question about whether Kelly Osborne was involved. He vaguely answered him say she was, but not directly. Huh? We then witnessed the two women bicycling back and forth and noticed that they were not really who they appeared to be.
We did get to sample some sausage... it wasn't bad. And we finally deduced that this was some kind of promotion or TV commercial being filmed for this food outlet, using some celebrity look alikes.
After lunch, we headed back to the room and did some laundry. I was on my absolute last day of underwear. And then it was nap time. After I awoke, I noticed I got some more sun today... the farmer tan is stronger than ever.
For dinner, we walked a couple of blocks into town to an open air type mall/shopping area. We ate at an establishment called Yankee Doodles, which was a sports bar. It had large pane glass so that you can look out at passerbys and do more people watching. I'm not a big people watcher, but I am good at making some sharp observations. Here's a couple.
I noticed a large number of women wearing straight leg pants/jeans. To that I say, "Thank God." It's time to move on from those awful bell bottom and flaired pants. It was bad in the 70's and equally bad in the 90's and 00's. Of course, by the time this trend gets to Peoria, it will be over with everywhere else.
The most unusual observation I made was a couple of mid-Eastern decent/beliefs, with the women completely shrouded in sheets/clothing/robes... whatever you call that stuff they cover themselves up with. It is their belief that women should be covered and not be seen. But the interesting thing was she was carrying with her a Victoria's Secret bag. What is she wearing under that getup?
For tomorrow, we plan to drive up the coast until Santa Maria and visit some friends. We'll keep you posted.
Stats:
Miles travelled, today: by auto... 0, by foot... maybe 4
Miles travelled, total: 2,563
Today's sunblock factor: 0
We slept in today until about 8:30am. After breakfast we headed out for a long walk up the beach to Muscle and Venice Beaches. As us Midwest people say, we are in the land of fruits and nuts. It was still fairly early for all the street artists and performers to populate Venice Beach, but we still had plenty of people watching opportunities.
We spotted a film crew following a couple of young women. I paid most attention on the first girl, a tall blonde who somewhat resembled Paris Hilton. As they went past us, Beth thought the other girl was Kelly Osborne, daughter of Ozzy Osborne. So we thought it was some other reality show. We also witnessed staff people with clip boards getting people who were filmed to sign waivers and disclaimers.
A little further up the way, we saw another film crew, this time filming some guy in a tie dyed shirt and some kind of hot dog hat. He was talking to the passerby and offering sausage samples. He was working with a food outlet there, named Joni's Sausage Kingdom, or something like that. I overheard someone with the film crew answering someone's question about whether Kelly Osborne was involved. He vaguely answered him say she was, but not directly. Huh? We then witnessed the two women bicycling back and forth and noticed that they were not really who they appeared to be.
We did get to sample some sausage... it wasn't bad. And we finally deduced that this was some kind of promotion or TV commercial being filmed for this food outlet, using some celebrity look alikes.
After lunch, we headed back to the room and did some laundry. I was on my absolute last day of underwear. And then it was nap time. After I awoke, I noticed I got some more sun today... the farmer tan is stronger than ever.
For dinner, we walked a couple of blocks into town to an open air type mall/shopping area. We ate at an establishment called Yankee Doodles, which was a sports bar. It had large pane glass so that you can look out at passerbys and do more people watching. I'm not a big people watcher, but I am good at making some sharp observations. Here's a couple.
I noticed a large number of women wearing straight leg pants/jeans. To that I say, "Thank God." It's time to move on from those awful bell bottom and flaired pants. It was bad in the 70's and equally bad in the 90's and 00's. Of course, by the time this trend gets to Peoria, it will be over with everywhere else.
The most unusual observation I made was a couple of mid-Eastern decent/beliefs, with the women completely shrouded in sheets/clothing/robes... whatever you call that stuff they cover themselves up with. It is their belief that women should be covered and not be seen. But the interesting thing was she was carrying with her a Victoria's Secret bag. What is she wearing under that getup?
For tomorrow, we plan to drive up the coast until Santa Maria and visit some friends. We'll keep you posted.
Stats:
Miles travelled, today: by auto... 0, by foot... maybe 4
Miles travelled, total: 2,563
Today's sunblock factor: 0
Route 66: Day Nine - We Made It!!
We have finally arrived at the end of the road... Santa Monica! But first, let's begin from the start of the day.We left the Best Western in Needles, CA at 6:35am. After refueling and stopping at the local Wagon Wheel Restaurant for breakfast, we were on our way by 7:30am. It wasn't to difficult to find Rt 66 this morning; our hotel was located right on Rt 66.
One of our stops was in the town of Amboy. Right before you get to the town, you get to see a "shoe tree," which is a tree that several people have thrown shoes into. We also got to see the Amboy Crater. It is a mini-volcano, which last saw volcanic activity 10,000 years ago. We also checked out Roy's Motel & Cafe in Amboy, which was featured in the 1986 film The Hitcher and also the 1993 film Kalifornia with Brad Pitt.
Outside of Daggett, CA is the Calico Ghost Town, which was about 6 or 7 miles out of our way. Thinking it was a real ghost town, we altered course to visit it. Turns out, it was, for lack of a better term, a tourist trap. We went through it to find out what it was about. It was an old silver mining town which eventually went dead when the silver either ran our or the market bottomed.
After we got under way, we stopped briefly to look at the Bottletree Ranch. Constructed by Elmore Long, aka "the Bottletree Man," his front yard contains several posts that holds many bottles. Everyone needs a hobby I guess.
By this time we're beginning to notice that the climate is changing and that we are coming out of the desert. And we are getting closer and closer to civilization (before there were times we were the only souls in the desert for miles). At this time we had a choice and according to the directions, we could go Interstate all the way, but was somewhat dangerous as several lane changes are needed; or we could continue on old Route 66. I decided to take 66 all the way. What a fool I was.
That was around 2pm Pacific time I made that decision. For more than 4 hours and better than 60 miles was stop and go, traffic light to traffic light of shit we had to deal with. Directions for the most part was easy as we only had to stay on one street, until later. Beth thought we needed to finally get onto the San Bernadio Freeway South 110. I exit and for whatever reason, missed the exit we needed to take. Instead, we wound up on part of the LA Freeway during rush hour traffic, stuck in the wrong lane(s). I thought that we were now screwed. I really hate large cities with a firery passion. But we got lucky and I was able to exit off of this mess into downtown LA. Great!!
Beth was able to navigate us back towards Rt 66, but it took a solid hour to do so and get us into Santa Monica, where Rt 66 comes to an end at the corner of Lincoln and Olympic. At that point, there is a pier where you can drive on and park. We stopped and turned off the car at 6:27pm Pacific time. We were here. End Route 66.
After walking and looking around a bit, it was now time to find lodging. Right across the street is a Holiday Inn. Holiday Inn has been good to us this trip thus far and they were this time around. We booked a room for a couple of nights and then returned to the pier for a couple of drinks. Picked up the car, parked it at the hotel, moved our stuff up and we were set.
I talked with Tom Stevens tonight trying to coordinate a time to get together. Turns out Tom and his band have a gig Friday night. Beth and I made an executive decision to stay an extra night so we can see them play. I signed up to be a roady.
Though our travels have ended on Route 66, which in some respects is a bit sad, but our vacation continues and I'll check in as always.
Today's Route 66 Fun Fact: Roy's Motel & Cafe and the entire town of Amboy, CA was purchased by Albert Okura in 2005. Okura is the owner of Juan Pollo Restaurant chain in California. He has plans to restore Roy's and Amboy to its original 1950's luster. However, as we drove through in 2007, not much progress has taken place.
Stats:
Miles travelled, today: 324 miles
Miles travelled, total: 2,563 miles
Today's avg speed: 27 mph
Today's fuel mileage: 26.8 mpg
Encounter with wildlife: 2 (a couple of peacocks at Calico Ghost Town)
Number of stupid decisions: 1 (deciding to drive though various LA cities)
Monday, May 28, 2007
Route 66: Day Eight
Back on course to Rt 66 today!After breakfast at the Grand Hotel, we headed out at 10:50 am mountain time (9:50 local time) and proceeded south on AZ 64 to Williams, AZ and back onto Rt 66. Though we were coming down a mountain, the car reached it's peak fuel mileage at 34.4 mpg. And soon, we were about to enter real desert country, and primarily on old 66.
Our first stop for roadside attractions and fun was in the town of Seligman, where not only are they located on the original Route 66, but one store features a number of mannequins. There were a number of other shops and cafes there as well. It was a refreshing sight to see a town that survived so well though the years on 66.
As we continued, the weather got drier, sunnier (is that a word?) and hotter. According to the car's thermometer, it was as high as 95, and it was only 2pm. We even witnessed a couple of those mini-tornado, dust swirls along the way. We stopped at a gas station to acquire some water and snacks in the event we don't come across any places to eat. Our next stop was going to be in Oatman, AZ and we hoped that we could find some food there.
As we started getting into real desert country, the road began to twist and twine up another hill/mountain. We made a quick stop to see the Schaffer's Fish Bowl Spring, where there is a natural stream of spring water, with the water getting caught in a bowl of rock that looks like cement. Wow, what a sight. The water was all green and complete with an empty beer bottle in it. We continued across the pass and twisted and twined until we reached Oatman, AZ.
Oatman's claim to fame is to be the honeymoon location of Clark Gable and Carol Lombard at the Oatman Hotel. This town's tourist gimmick, if that's what you want to call it, is that they allow mules to roam freely through town. You can purchase carrots to feed the mules, too. Beth got some carrots to feed the mules and almost got herself into a feeding frenzy. The mules know who's got the goods.The town is nothing but shops and restaurants, but in the style of the old west. It was actually a pretty cool place to visit. It appears to be in the middle of no where.
We spent a couple of hours there looking around and having lunch. By the time we were leaving, the temperature reached 100 degrees! On our way to California!
Route 66 continued as it did before. It twisted and twined until we hit Interstate 40 to cross the Colorado River. By then the temperature was 102. It did reach a peak of 104 degrees. But yes, it's a dry heat... (end sarcasm). It may be better than humid heat, but it's still hot. And like fools, we did all this with the top down. I'm not so sure about doing that tomorrow.
With only a quarter tank of fuel, getting late in the afternoon/early evening and about to enter the Mojave Desert, we decided to stay the night in Needles, CA, where we are now camped out in the local Best Western. Tomorrow we'll start out early to beat the heat. We expect to come into Santa Monica by the end of tomorrow, if we don't get carried away at the Joshua Tree State Park or something.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 254
Miles Travelled, Total: 2,239
Miles Travelled, Total: 2,239
Today’s Avg Speed: 34.25 mph
Today’s Fuel Mileage: 33.3 mpg
High Temperature: 104 F
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Route 66: Day Seven
What a day. We started off by getting up early (5:30am local time/6:30 mountain time) after staying at the Wigwam Village… have you slept in a wigwam? We stayed at Wigwam #15 and it was a bit cozy. There was no phone, no Internet and no clock. But did have air conditioning and cable TV… up to 13 channels. The owner of the establishment, who was an extremely nice individual, was quite proud of the place. His father had started the Wigwam Village in 1950 and he was keeping up the tradition.
Beth at one point last night stopped into the main office to ask a few questions regarding area codes in the state of Arizona. The gentlemen even place some long distance calls for her on his own dime. At the time, a couple of guys came into the office asking if there was availability that night. Unfortunately not. The owner then stated “I wish my dad had built more of these,” insinuating that lodging there must be in high demand.
At 7:40am (mountain time) we said farewell to the Wigwam Village and started to head west on I-40 towards Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Most of Rt 66 does not really exist along this stretch of highway, so it was easier taking I-40. We made a quick stop to look at the “twin arrows,” a stopping point along 66 which is now defunct. Once we got near Flagstaff, we were able to get back onto 66, which was a very nice stretch of road. We stopped at Miz Zip’s Café, which offered one of the better breakfasts I’ve had this whole trip. Flagstaff looked to be a really nice town.
We eventually started to head northward towards the Grand Canyon. This is a sight that must be seen in anyone’s lifetime. After a lengthy drive, and a good walk up to the rim, you finally see the canyon and it just hit you! You just say “WOW!”
We walked around the rim for quite a bit and saw many views of the canyon, but little of the Colorado River. We rode back on one of the shuttle buses, which the driver claimed that it is about 20 degrees hotter at the bottom of the canyon than were we were on top. The weather was actually quite pleasant; sunny, warm but plenty of cool breezes.
At many of the locations around here, they try to discourage you from feeding the animals. I noticed a few crows and squirrels that were panhandling for food. One couple, who met up with a squirrel sort of ran away from it, slightly in fear. I claimed not to worry that it would not harm them; they weren’t so sure. Obviously big-city-folk who’ve never seen a squirrel. Once they ran to safety, they got their camera and took pictures of the dangerous varmint.
Then I got to witness the speaker bring the word of Jesus. He went on and on about how we will all someday die, and how will we meet our maker and are we following the ten commandments and so on. Other people started listening to him at first, but slowly walked away. But soon a park ranger came up saying, “Sir! Sir!” attempting to shut him down. The speaker stopped. I then heard him mention something like “freedom of speech.” I thought, “Oh boy, here we go!”
He started to go on and shortly thereafter, the park ranger interjected. The speaker stopped and said thank you. The audience applauded, but I don’t know if the applauded the speaker or the ranger.
If you decide to come out, plan to spend a couple of day because there’s plenty to see. I noticed some people who packed a lunch to eat while watching the scenery.
We liked the place so much we wanted to stay at the hotel which is on the premises. However they were booked. Instead we drove out of the park and are now camped out at the Grand Hotel just south of the Grand Canyon. We had a quick dinner at the hotel saloon with a few Blue Moon beers (they didn’t have Heineken) and rum and cokes… and safe to say, we’re drunk. You should have heard the coyboy banjo player with the earing. But this place is very rustic like someplace you’d find at Jackson Hole.
The game plan for the rest of the trip is that we will get on our way tomorrow back on Rt 66 and expect to come into Santa Monica, CA by Tuesday. We’ll spend Wednesday there and on Thursday head to Santa Maria to visit Tom and Kim Stevens. Friday morning we’ll finally head home.
Lastly, our farmer tans are coming in just nicely.
Stats: (corrected - I didn't compile the 8 miles from the canyon to the hotel)
Miles Travelled, Today: 194 (was 186)
Beth at one point last night stopped into the main office to ask a few questions regarding area codes in the state of Arizona. The gentlemen even place some long distance calls for her on his own dime. At the time, a couple of guys came into the office asking if there was availability that night. Unfortunately not. The owner then stated “I wish my dad had built more of these,” insinuating that lodging there must be in high demand.
At 7:40am (mountain time) we said farewell to the Wigwam Village and started to head west on I-40 towards Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Most of Rt 66 does not really exist along this stretch of highway, so it was easier taking I-40. We made a quick stop to look at the “twin arrows,” a stopping point along 66 which is now defunct. Once we got near Flagstaff, we were able to get back onto 66, which was a very nice stretch of road. We stopped at Miz Zip’s Café, which offered one of the better breakfasts I’ve had this whole trip. Flagstaff looked to be a really nice town.
We eventually started to head northward towards the Grand Canyon. This is a sight that must be seen in anyone’s lifetime. After a lengthy drive, and a good walk up to the rim, you finally see the canyon and it just hit you! You just say “WOW!”
We walked around the rim for quite a bit and saw many views of the canyon, but little of the Colorado River. We rode back on one of the shuttle buses, which the driver claimed that it is about 20 degrees hotter at the bottom of the canyon than were we were on top. The weather was actually quite pleasant; sunny, warm but plenty of cool breezes.
At many of the locations around here, they try to discourage you from feeding the animals. I noticed a few crows and squirrels that were panhandling for food. One couple, who met up with a squirrel sort of ran away from it, slightly in fear. I claimed not to worry that it would not harm them; they weren’t so sure. Obviously big-city-folk who’ve never seen a squirrel. Once they ran to safety, they got their camera and took pictures of the dangerous varmint.Then I got to witness the speaker bring the word of Jesus. He went on and on about how we will all someday die, and how will we meet our maker and are we following the ten commandments and so on. Other people started listening to him at first, but slowly walked away. But soon a park ranger came up saying, “Sir! Sir!” attempting to shut him down. The speaker stopped. I then heard him mention something like “freedom of speech.” I thought, “Oh boy, here we go!”
He started to go on and shortly thereafter, the park ranger interjected. The speaker stopped and said thank you. The audience applauded, but I don’t know if the applauded the speaker or the ranger.
If you decide to come out, plan to spend a couple of day because there’s plenty to see. I noticed some people who packed a lunch to eat while watching the scenery.
We liked the place so much we wanted to stay at the hotel which is on the premises. However they were booked. Instead we drove out of the park and are now camped out at the Grand Hotel just south of the Grand Canyon. We had a quick dinner at the hotel saloon with a few Blue Moon beers (they didn’t have Heineken) and rum and cokes… and safe to say, we’re drunk. You should have heard the coyboy banjo player with the earing. But this place is very rustic like someplace you’d find at Jackson Hole.
The game plan for the rest of the trip is that we will get on our way tomorrow back on Rt 66 and expect to come into Santa Monica, CA by Tuesday. We’ll spend Wednesday there and on Thursday head to Santa Maria to visit Tom and Kim Stevens. Friday morning we’ll finally head home.
Lastly, our farmer tans are coming in just nicely.
Stats: (corrected - I didn't compile the 8 miles from the canyon to the hotel)
Miles Travelled, Today: 194 (was 186)
Miles Travelled, Total: 1985 (was 1,977)
Today’s Avg Speed: 35.1
Today’s Fuel Mileage: 29.8
Encounter with Wildlife: 6 (elk west of Flagstaff; CA condor & 4 elk at Grand Canyon)
Today’s Avg Speed: 35.1
Today’s Fuel Mileage: 29.8
Encounter with Wildlife: 6 (elk west of Flagstaff; CA condor & 4 elk at Grand Canyon)
Route 66: Day Six
Note: Since we didn't have Internet access last night, this post was written on the evening of 5/26/07, but posted a day later on 5/27/07.
Today (5/26/07) it turned out to be bit of a down day for us and we “took it easy” as we eventually headed into Winslow, Arizona.
After sleeping in, we departed out of Holbrook, AZ at 11am Mountain Time (10am local time) and checked out the Meteor Crater. The place was a lot bigger than I had imagined from all the pictures I’ve seen of it over the years. We took the tour around the edge of the crater where Harold the tour guide gave us plenty of valuable information on this natural landmark.
We then headed back to Holbrook and stopped along what Harold described as a “66 survivor” for lunch. A place called Falcon Family Restaurant. In business since 1955, it is still operational along Rt 66 after all these years. Of course, it sits in Winslow, AZ which helps.
And speaking of Winslow, AZ, basically a town whose only claim to fame is a single line in the Eagles’ song Take It Easy, was not what I thought it was. Much smaller, in size and population, than I had imagined. No offense to the citizens of Winslow, but there’s nothing there. There’s an intersection in town right on Rt 66 that is adorned by the Eagles and allows folks to get their picture taken standing on the corner. One particular corner was fenced off because fire had struck a building with a painted mural of a girl in a flatbed Ford and an eagle perched on a window.
We stopped for a quick break in Jackrabbit, AZ and had a photo opportunity to ride the rabbit.
Entering back into Holbrook, we checked into the Wigwam Village, where the motel rooms are build at Indian TeePees. It’s like going back in time. While we have a window air conditioner and a modern, cable ready TV, there is no Internet and no phone. A lot of defunct classic autos are parked in the parking lot to give it a 1950s feel. And the room key is a real key.
Today’s Rt 66 Fun Fact #1: According to a sales clerk in Winslow, Jackson Browne, who co-wrote the song Take It Easy, was traveling through Winslow, AZ when his car broke down. While waiting on repairs, he was standing on a corner.
Today’s Rt 66 Fun Fact #2: The meteor that hit the Earth and created what is known as the best preserved crater on Earth, made its impact 50,000 years ago. It was estimated at 150 feet long and hit the Earth at an 80 degree angle traveling at 20,000 mph. According to Harold, 20,000 mph is like getting on a plane in New York and landing in LA 5 minutes later. The impact created the equivalent of an explosion of 20 tons of TNT.
For Day Seven, we plan to take the trip to the Grand Canyon, even though its well off the course of Route 66.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, today: 130 miles/ 140 miles (after eating dinner)
Miles traveled, total: 1,791 miles
Today’s Avg Speed: 21.6 mph
Today’s Fuel Mileage: 30.6 mpg
“Standin’ on a corner in Winslow, AZ
Such a fine sight to see”
Today (5/26/07) it turned out to be bit of a down day for us and we “took it easy” as we eventually headed into Winslow, Arizona.
After sleeping in, we departed out of Holbrook, AZ at 11am Mountain Time (10am local time) and checked out the Meteor Crater. The place was a lot bigger than I had imagined from all the pictures I’ve seen of it over the years. We took the tour around the edge of the crater where Harold the tour guide gave us plenty of valuable information on this natural landmark.
We then headed back to Holbrook and stopped along what Harold described as a “66 survivor” for lunch. A place called Falcon Family Restaurant. In business since 1955, it is still operational along Rt 66 after all these years. Of course, it sits in Winslow, AZ which helps.
And speaking of Winslow, AZ, basically a town whose only claim to fame is a single line in the Eagles’ song Take It Easy, was not what I thought it was. Much smaller, in size and population, than I had imagined. No offense to the citizens of Winslow, but there’s nothing there. There’s an intersection in town right on Rt 66 that is adorned by the Eagles and allows folks to get their picture taken standing on the corner. One particular corner was fenced off because fire had struck a building with a painted mural of a girl in a flatbed Ford and an eagle perched on a window.
We stopped for a quick break in Jackrabbit, AZ and had a photo opportunity to ride the rabbit.Entering back into Holbrook, we checked into the Wigwam Village, where the motel rooms are build at Indian TeePees. It’s like going back in time. While we have a window air conditioner and a modern, cable ready TV, there is no Internet and no phone. A lot of defunct classic autos are parked in the parking lot to give it a 1950s feel. And the room key is a real key.
Today’s Rt 66 Fun Fact #1: According to a sales clerk in Winslow, Jackson Browne, who co-wrote the song Take It Easy, was traveling through Winslow, AZ when his car broke down. While waiting on repairs, he was standing on a corner.
Today’s Rt 66 Fun Fact #2: The meteor that hit the Earth and created what is known as the best preserved crater on Earth, made its impact 50,000 years ago. It was estimated at 150 feet long and hit the Earth at an 80 degree angle traveling at 20,000 mph. According to Harold, 20,000 mph is like getting on a plane in New York and landing in LA 5 minutes later. The impact created the equivalent of an explosion of 20 tons of TNT.
For Day Seven, we plan to take the trip to the Grand Canyon, even though its well off the course of Route 66.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, today: 130 miles/ 140 miles (after eating dinner)
Miles traveled, total: 1,791 miles
Today’s Avg Speed: 21.6 mph
Today’s Fuel Mileage: 30.6 mpg
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Route 66: Day Five
Yesterday was a bit long. After going to dinner and a hot tub, and with online difficulties, I wasn't able to post last night. So let's start from the beginning for day five.
We stayed the night in Albuquerque, NM. Bugs Bunny always needed to take that left turn out of Albuquerque, but we didn't have any trouble. We finally got in the car at 9:16 local (Mountain) time and made our way for a good breakfast at Waffle House. And then we were really on our way.
There was some difficulty finding Rt 66 just coming out of Albuquerque. The directions we had wasn't very clear, so we made our best guess and went with it. It worked! But western New Mexico wasn't too exciting in the way of roadside attractions and hokey tourist traps. Some of the way out yesterday we needed to travel on I-40 because Rt 66 was either a dirt road, totally in disrepair or just didn't exist.
We finally came across the continental divide. This is the point in the US where if you should spit on one side, it will drain in the Atlantic Ocean. Spit on the other side and it will drain in the Pacific. At this point was some "Indian Village" supercenter shopping etc. Beth wanted to stop and look around. Meanwhile, I decided to play with Dennis' Garmin Pocket PC GPS device. For a location that it gave me, it said "Top of the World." The GPS also give you your estimated elevation, which stated 7,280 when I stood next to a non-functioning house drawn wagon that stated "Continental Divide Elevation 7275" on the side. I placed the GPS on the ground and then it read exactly 7,275. Cool!
Our next highlight was entering Arizona and eventually came into the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. After a quick lunch, we made our way into the park. It's 28 miles long and we would exit out on the south end of the park. So we missed some of Rt 66 here and there, though, we did see some some of the original 66 within the park itself. This place was very interesting. We first saw the Painted Desert, where it is similar to the badlands of South Dakota. As you drive further, you come into an area where some remains are left from the inhabitants of the area some 900 years ago. Then you find the Petrified Forest, large trees that have been preserved for millions of years. This was cool to look at. You would see an area that almost looked similar to someone who had clear cut a wooded area, only these stumps were rock.
There are strict rules about not taking anything out of the park. Of course Beth wanted to break the law and picked up a regular rock to take with her. It was explained that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, visitors were taking pieces of petrified wood out of the park (which didn't exist at the time) to keep or sell. Once the park was established, this act was outlawed so that these remains can be enjoyed by future visitors. As we approached the end of the park, we encountered signage stating that our car would be searched. They were serious about this rule. Beth simply threw the rock out of the car. Turns out, they never inspected our car.
We came into Holbrook, AZ for the night as we probably spent about 3 hours in the park. I was exhausted. First I was trying to figure out the local time as it appeared that we were in Pacific time. Then I tried unlocking the wrong room door. We were assigned room 217. I tried to open the door for room 211, but room 216 was directly across the hall from 211. As for the time, much of Arizona doesn't use daylight savings time. I wasn't crazy.
After checking into the Holiday Inn Express (our 3rd one), we went out to eat dinner. When paying the bill, the waitress gave us a coupon to a gift shop next door where they would give us a free piece of petrified wood. Huh? And when we came into the Holiday Inn, I noticed chunks of petrified wood used as landscaping. What was all this talk about limiting what comes out of the park and leaving these artifacts for future generations? Where is all this coming from? Whatever.
Today's Rt 66 Fun Fact: It is believed that Ernest Hemmingway wrote The Old Man & The Sea in the town of Villa De Cubero in western New Mexico. There's not much in the town.
Today will be day six and we plan to take it easy as we've been on the go for so long. We plan to see the Meteor Crater and look around Winzlow, AZ. I'm on a mission to get my picture taken standing on a corner... sort of an ode to the Eagles song Take It Easy. Tonight we are set to lodge at the Wigwam Village and tomorrow we're changing plans to go see the Grand Canyon. Until then. <note: I have no idea if the Wigwam village has Internet access, so it might be another day until I check in.>
Stats:
Miles travelled, today: 283/286 (going to dinner)
Miles travelled, total: 1,661
Today's travel time: 10.75 hrs
Today's average speed: 26.3
Today's fuel mileage: 31.5
Number of fighter jets: 3 (outside of Albuquerque)
Encounter with wildlife: 2 (a lizard and rabbit in the Petrified Forest)
We stayed the night in Albuquerque, NM. Bugs Bunny always needed to take that left turn out of Albuquerque, but we didn't have any trouble. We finally got in the car at 9:16 local (Mountain) time and made our way for a good breakfast at Waffle House. And then we were really on our way.
There was some difficulty finding Rt 66 just coming out of Albuquerque. The directions we had wasn't very clear, so we made our best guess and went with it. It worked! But western New Mexico wasn't too exciting in the way of roadside attractions and hokey tourist traps. Some of the way out yesterday we needed to travel on I-40 because Rt 66 was either a dirt road, totally in disrepair or just didn't exist.
We finally came across the continental divide. This is the point in the US where if you should spit on one side, it will drain in the Atlantic Ocean. Spit on the other side and it will drain in the Pacific. At this point was some "Indian Village" supercenter shopping etc. Beth wanted to stop and look around. Meanwhile, I decided to play with Dennis' Garmin Pocket PC GPS device. For a location that it gave me, it said "Top of the World." The GPS also give you your estimated elevation, which stated 7,280 when I stood next to a non-functioning house drawn wagon that stated "Continental Divide Elevation 7275" on the side. I placed the GPS on the ground and then it read exactly 7,275. Cool!
Our next highlight was entering Arizona and eventually came into the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. After a quick lunch, we made our way into the park. It's 28 miles long and we would exit out on the south end of the park. So we missed some of Rt 66 here and there, though, we did see some some of the original 66 within the park itself. This place was very interesting. We first saw the Painted Desert, where it is similar to the badlands of South Dakota. As you drive further, you come into an area where some remains are left from the inhabitants of the area some 900 years ago. Then you find the Petrified Forest, large trees that have been preserved for millions of years. This was cool to look at. You would see an area that almost looked similar to someone who had clear cut a wooded area, only these stumps were rock.
There are strict rules about not taking anything out of the park. Of course Beth wanted to break the law and picked up a regular rock to take with her. It was explained that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, visitors were taking pieces of petrified wood out of the park (which didn't exist at the time) to keep or sell. Once the park was established, this act was outlawed so that these remains can be enjoyed by future visitors. As we approached the end of the park, we encountered signage stating that our car would be searched. They were serious about this rule. Beth simply threw the rock out of the car. Turns out, they never inspected our car.
We came into Holbrook, AZ for the night as we probably spent about 3 hours in the park. I was exhausted. First I was trying to figure out the local time as it appeared that we were in Pacific time. Then I tried unlocking the wrong room door. We were assigned room 217. I tried to open the door for room 211, but room 216 was directly across the hall from 211. As for the time, much of Arizona doesn't use daylight savings time. I wasn't crazy.
After checking into the Holiday Inn Express (our 3rd one), we went out to eat dinner. When paying the bill, the waitress gave us a coupon to a gift shop next door where they would give us a free piece of petrified wood. Huh? And when we came into the Holiday Inn, I noticed chunks of petrified wood used as landscaping. What was all this talk about limiting what comes out of the park and leaving these artifacts for future generations? Where is all this coming from? Whatever.
Today's Rt 66 Fun Fact: It is believed that Ernest Hemmingway wrote The Old Man & The Sea in the town of Villa De Cubero in western New Mexico. There's not much in the town.
Today will be day six and we plan to take it easy as we've been on the go for so long. We plan to see the Meteor Crater and look around Winzlow, AZ. I'm on a mission to get my picture taken standing on a corner... sort of an ode to the Eagles song Take It Easy. Tonight we are set to lodge at the Wigwam Village and tomorrow we're changing plans to go see the Grand Canyon. Until then. <note: I have no idea if the Wigwam village has Internet access, so it might be another day until I check in.>
Stats:
Miles travelled, today: 283/286 (going to dinner)
Miles travelled, total: 1,661
Today's travel time: 10.75 hrs
Today's average speed: 26.3
Today's fuel mileage: 31.5
Number of fighter jets: 3 (outside of Albuquerque)
Encounter with wildlife: 2 (a lizard and rabbit in the Petrified Forest)
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Route 66: Day Four
We slept in and a got a bit of a late start today. Beth was a little nervous last night that there severe thunderstorms and possible tornadoes north of us last night. Everything was fine.We awoke to 51 degree temperatures. And it wasn't until 10am when we got in the car, with our first stop at, for the first time this trip, McDonalds. After a couple of bacon egg and cheese biscuits, we were on our way to see the Cadillac Ranch just west of Armarillo, TX. The Cadillac Ranch is a ranch you can walk on to visit a number of Cadillac have been buried in the ground. Cattle run free and they might even walk up to you. Along this line of buried cars are empty spray paint cans and markers that people have discarded over time after they have placed their artwork on these cars.
Our next stop as in Adrian, TX where lays the mid-way point from Chicago to LA. It's day 4 and we're only half way there?! We stopped at the Midway Cafe, which sits exactly on the half way point. We met Fran, who was the owner and/or manager there who told us some stories about the place. They too were met by the producers of the movie Cars, where their restaurant was the model for Flo's V8 Cafe in that movie. Two of her waitresses were the inspiration for the twin Miatas in the movie as well. These two waitresses were also invited to the premiere of Cars in South Carolina at the SC International Raceway. They were given the total red carpet treatment and got to meet many of the people behind the making of the movie.
We crossed the time zone into Mountain time and the New Mexico border. We later met up with "Peter from France" and the rest of his French motorcyclers. For a long stretch of the way in New Mexico, Rt 66 is either not passible or no longer exits. Therefore, we had to travel on I-40, where the speed limit is 75. So we made some pretty good time today.
The car is handling very well on the trip. The fuel mileage is so good that I have to pull over every once in a while and drain some gas off. Today was a new fuel mileage high... 32.7 mpg. It was a bit cold this morning and we travelled with the top up. This is when I realized that I get better fuel mileage with the top up. It's also been very windy; I might have had a tail wind.
But the one thing I realized how this trip is different is that most vacations we take, we hussle and scramble to catch a flight or bus on time. We wait in lines, hail cabs and do whatever and stress out just to reach a destination. This trip is not really about a destination, it's more about the journey to that destination.
Tomorrow we should enter Arizona. We have reservations for Saturday night at the Wigwam Village in Holbrook, a motel with units built like Indian TeePees. We can probably make it there by tomorrow if we really wanted, but there's plenty to do around there. We might hang around there for a while. There is the Petrified Forest, Meteor Crator and Windslow, AZ.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 294 Miles/299 Miles (after going to dinner)
Travelled, Total: 1,378
Today's Travel Time: 8 hrs
Today's Average Speed: 36.75 mph
Today's Fuel Mileage: 31.5 mpg
Number of Wind Farms: 3
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Route 66: Day Three
The kicks keep coming on Route 66! And the kicks keep getting more and more unique and adventurous.
Today started off just before 10am when we backtracked a few miles to take a look at the Round Barn in Arcadia, OK. According to Butch "the Barn Man," this is the only round barn along Rt. 66.
But then getting out of Oklahoma City was a pain in the ass. After driving in what seemed like circles, we decided to get on I-44 and then I-40 for a good hour until Clinton, OK, a location for the next roadside attraction. This time it was a giant Indian at a car dealership. While there, we refueled and ate outside at the local Sonic. The wind was so strong that our lunch almost blew away. But finally, back on the road.
The highlight of today was in Erick, OK where we met Annabelle and Harley at the Sandhills Curiousity Shop. They self-proclaim themselves as the redneck capital of the world; a pompous title if I must say. They also claim to be "mediocre music makers," as they serenaded us with a couple of songs during our stay. No more than we walked into the door, they gave us a big warm welcome with a hug; and Harley with his long ZZ Top beard even kissed us on the cheek. What the hell did we just get ourselves into?
Not only playing a couple of songs for us on their acoustic guitars, they also told us many stories along Rt 66 and how they got started doing... well... whatever they're doing. Of the stories was how they worked with the producers of the movie, Cars. They used their building as a model for one of the buildings in the movie. They were even invited to California for the premier of the movie, but declined the invitation. And then the topic of kids came up and we claimed our daughter was Trixie. Guess what? They too have a yellow lab, Dolly. So we had to meet Dolly while we were there.
So Harley locked up the store just in case someone might want to stop in and we walked towards the back to their house. It was there we ran into two French Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders who were riding Rt 66. They were taking a moment for a picture when Harley and Annabelle invited them to their house as well. Only one of them, "Peter from France" would venture into the house; we think the other rider was too scared.
It wasn't long until I smelled the distinctive odor of marijuana; Harley had one going right in front of us. Dolly was too nervous to really meet us as she was cautious of guests. We went back to the store, took a few pictures, tipped them for their hospitality and we were on our way. In all, we spent a solid 2 hours with them.
The last part of today's travels brought us to see the tilted water tower in Britten, TX, the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere in Groom, TX and the Bug Farm in Conway, TX. We finally stopped for the night in Armarillo, TX. Tomorrow we stop to see Cadillac Ranch, the midway point and off to New Mexico!!
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 316
Miles Travelled, Total:1,084
Today's Travel Time: 10.5 hrs
Today's Average Speed: 30.095 mph
Today's Fuel Mileage: 27.9 mpg
Turnaround Times: numerous - lost count
Today's Encounter with Wildlife: 1 (a snake in western Oklahoma; possibly a roadrunner too, but it was too far to see clearly)
Number of Pawn Shops: 9
Today started off just before 10am when we backtracked a few miles to take a look at the Round Barn in Arcadia, OK. According to Butch "the Barn Man," this is the only round barn along Rt. 66.
But then getting out of Oklahoma City was a pain in the ass. After driving in what seemed like circles, we decided to get on I-44 and then I-40 for a good hour until Clinton, OK, a location for the next roadside attraction. This time it was a giant Indian at a car dealership. While there, we refueled and ate outside at the local Sonic. The wind was so strong that our lunch almost blew away. But finally, back on the road.
The highlight of today was in Erick, OK where we met Annabelle and Harley at the Sandhills Curiousity Shop. They self-proclaim themselves as the redneck capital of the world; a pompous title if I must say. They also claim to be "mediocre music makers," as they serenaded us with a couple of songs during our stay. No more than we walked into the door, they gave us a big warm welcome with a hug; and Harley with his long ZZ Top beard even kissed us on the cheek. What the hell did we just get ourselves into?Not only playing a couple of songs for us on their acoustic guitars, they also told us many stories along Rt 66 and how they got started doing... well... whatever they're doing. Of the stories was how they worked with the producers of the movie, Cars. They used their building as a model for one of the buildings in the movie. They were even invited to California for the premier of the movie, but declined the invitation. And then the topic of kids came up and we claimed our daughter was Trixie. Guess what? They too have a yellow lab, Dolly. So we had to meet Dolly while we were there.
So Harley locked up the store just in case someone might want to stop in and we walked towards the back to their house. It was there we ran into two French Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders who were riding Rt 66. They were taking a moment for a picture when Harley and Annabelle invited them to their house as well. Only one of them, "Peter from France" would venture into the house; we think the other rider was too scared.
It wasn't long until I smelled the distinctive odor of marijuana; Harley had one going right in front of us. Dolly was too nervous to really meet us as she was cautious of guests. We went back to the store, took a few pictures, tipped them for their hospitality and we were on our way. In all, we spent a solid 2 hours with them.
The last part of today's travels brought us to see the tilted water tower in Britten, TX, the largest cross in the Western Hemisphere in Groom, TX and the Bug Farm in Conway, TX. We finally stopped for the night in Armarillo, TX. Tomorrow we stop to see Cadillac Ranch, the midway point and off to New Mexico!!
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 316
Miles Travelled, Total:1,084
Today's Travel Time: 10.5 hrs
Today's Average Speed: 30.095 mph
Today's Fuel Mileage: 27.9 mpg
Turnaround Times: numerous - lost count
Today's Encounter with Wildlife: 1 (a snake in western Oklahoma; possibly a roadrunner too, but it was too far to see clearly)
Number of Pawn Shops: 9
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Route 66: Day Two
Another action packed day on America's Mother Road!
We headed out at 9:05am from the Krystal Aire (a non-smoking hotel... get it, "crystal air") hotel in Springfield, MO with a short stop at Shell to re-fuel. About 25 miles west of Springfield, we came into a very small town called Gay Parita... not that there's anything wrong with that. There we came across a refurbished, replicated 1940-50s era gas station. It even had the price of 15 cents for a gallon of
gas. That caught my attention.
We pulled right up to the pump for a photo op to appear that I pulled in to refuel. I had no idea who owned the place or if we'd be tresspassing. Soon as we were about to drive off, here comes the owner. A very nice gentleman named Gary. He then opened the place up for us, showed us around and told us some info regarding Route 66.
We then continued on and made it into Kansas. Our first few miles in Kansas was, well, pretty rough roads. We did come across the Rainbow Bridge, which is a strech of the original Route 66, complete with the painted road sign on the pavement. But Route 66 doesn't run through Kansas too far and soon we were crossing the Oklahoma state line. Our first few miles into Oklahoma we came across an oncoming manuer truck, which the stench lasted for some time. "This state stinks!," Beth exclaimed.
Sometime after lunch, we came across the Summerside Winery just outside of Vinita, OK. Who would have known they grow grapes and make wine in Oklahoma. They do. We didn't get any bottles of wine, but tasted a few and picked up a great picture book on Route 66. The photos helped us better find our way.
We also made a stop in Catoosa, OK, which is home to the Blue Whale Swimming Park. It closed in 1988, but was a structure where kids could jump off and swim in a local pond.
As we drive along Route 66, it is somewhat "depressing" as Beth put it as you see so many defunct structures and closed businesses. Some of these towns we go through almost look like real to life ghost towns. The rolling tumbleweeds blowing across the street would make it complete. And you'd be surprised at the number of pawn shops and trailer parks. And further surprising, it is next to impossible to find a good diner or cafe. We run into the occasional McDonald's and such, but a good hometown cafe has been somewhat hard to find when we're hungry. And we have yet to run into a Starbucks.
Tonight we are camped out at the Holiday Inn Express in Edmond, OK. First thing tomorrow after breakfast we are going to check out the big round barn in Arcadia, OK, back just a few miles and then off for Texas!
Today's Route 66 Fun Fact: Four miles off of Rt 66 at exit 28A near Foyil, OK is the world's tallest totem pole at 90 ft high at Totem Pole Park. The park also has an 11-sided fiddle house for the fiddles of Nathan Galloway, who carved his own fiddles.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 321
Miles Travelled, Total: 768
Today's Travel Time: 10.75 hours
Today's Avg Speed: 29.86 / hour
Today's Fuel Mileage: 28.8 mpg
Today's Turnarounds: 2
Today's Encounter with Wildlife: 1 (a wild turkey in Missouri)
We headed out at 9:05am from the Krystal Aire (a non-smoking hotel... get it, "crystal air") hotel in Springfield, MO with a short stop at Shell to re-fuel. About 25 miles west of Springfield, we came into a very small town called Gay Parita... not that there's anything wrong with that. There we came across a refurbished, replicated 1940-50s era gas station. It even had the price of 15 cents for a gallon of
gas. That caught my attention.We pulled right up to the pump for a photo op to appear that I pulled in to refuel. I had no idea who owned the place or if we'd be tresspassing. Soon as we were about to drive off, here comes the owner. A very nice gentleman named Gary. He then opened the place up for us, showed us around and told us some info regarding Route 66.
We then continued on and made it into Kansas. Our first few miles in Kansas was, well, pretty rough roads. We did come across the Rainbow Bridge, which is a strech of the original Route 66, complete with the painted road sign on the pavement. But Route 66 doesn't run through Kansas too far and soon we were crossing the Oklahoma state line. Our first few miles into Oklahoma we came across an oncoming manuer truck, which the stench lasted for some time. "This state stinks!," Beth exclaimed.
Sometime after lunch, we came across the Summerside Winery just outside of Vinita, OK. Who would have known they grow grapes and make wine in Oklahoma. They do. We didn't get any bottles of wine, but tasted a few and picked up a great picture book on Route 66. The photos helped us better find our way.
We also made a stop in Catoosa, OK, which is home to the Blue Whale Swimming Park. It closed in 1988, but was a structure where kids could jump off and swim in a local pond.
As we drive along Route 66, it is somewhat "depressing" as Beth put it as you see so many defunct structures and closed businesses. Some of these towns we go through almost look like real to life ghost towns. The rolling tumbleweeds blowing across the street would make it complete. And you'd be surprised at the number of pawn shops and trailer parks. And further surprising, it is next to impossible to find a good diner or cafe. We run into the occasional McDonald's and such, but a good hometown cafe has been somewhat hard to find when we're hungry. And we have yet to run into a Starbucks.
Tonight we are camped out at the Holiday Inn Express in Edmond, OK. First thing tomorrow after breakfast we are going to check out the big round barn in Arcadia, OK, back just a few miles and then off for Texas!
Today's Route 66 Fun Fact: Four miles off of Rt 66 at exit 28A near Foyil, OK is the world's tallest totem pole at 90 ft high at Totem Pole Park. The park also has an 11-sided fiddle house for the fiddles of Nathan Galloway, who carved his own fiddles.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 321
Miles Travelled, Total: 768
Today's Travel Time: 10.75 hours
Today's Avg Speed: 29.86 / hour
Today's Fuel Mileage: 28.8 mpg
Today's Turnarounds: 2
Today's Encounter with Wildlife: 1 (a wild turkey in Missouri)
Monday, May 21, 2007
Route 66: Day One
We have arrived safe and sound in Springfield, MO at roughly 8:20pm and everything is so far, so good.
After last minute packing and securing the house, we backed out of the garage at 8:25am. Our first stop; the SuperPantry to fill up with fuel. I forgot about that last night, but we're in no hurry. While at the SuperPantry, we encountered our first oddity and only in the first 10 minutes of our trip. Beth watched the store attendant wave furiously and act a bit silly through the store window. She didn't know if he was waving at us or not, but we realized that this comedian wanna-be was waving at someone else.
Next stop, Hardee's. I can't get going until I get a good couple of bacon egg and cheese biscuits and a large Diet Coke. It was about 9:15am when we actually got on our way.
We got onto Rt. 66 at Elkhart from I-55. Travel was pretty smooth until Springfield, IL, where it was difficult to tell where 66 actually went. Eventually, you have to get back onto 55 and pick 66 up further south at Chatham. Of course, once we got back onto 55, we hit backed up traffic for several miles. Gridlock!!!!!
Most of 66 in this area are those side, frontage roads you see along side 55. The rest of IL went smoothly. We went around St. Louis via I-270 and then picked up I-44. Most of Missouri was complete, though we'd get lost at times and Rt 66 is not marked well in areas. Rt 66 anymore has become state or county roads or frontage roads. But much of it so far has been clear of traffic and in good shape.
There hasn't been a lot of roadside oddities and interest yet. At St. Robert, MO, there was an adult center like that of some of those "trading posts" you see that sell fireworks, moccasins, etc. This place had exotic dancing, bookstore, novelties and liquor. Then next to that was a lookout point that overlooked the Missouri Ozarks. We're gettin' our kicks on Rt 66 here!
I've been pleased with the car so far in the trip. The fuel mileage is incredible. Before Springfield, IL, we hit a high of 28.9 mpg!
Well, until tomorrow when the odyssey continues.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 447
Miles Travelled, Total: 447
Today's Driving Time: 12 hours
Today's Avg MPH: 37.25
Fuel Mileage: 28.3 mpg
Today's Turnaround Times: 6
After last minute packing and securing the house, we backed out of the garage at 8:25am. Our first stop; the SuperPantry to fill up with fuel. I forgot about that last night, but we're in no hurry. While at the SuperPantry, we encountered our first oddity and only in the first 10 minutes of our trip. Beth watched the store attendant wave furiously and act a bit silly through the store window. She didn't know if he was waving at us or not, but we realized that this comedian wanna-be was waving at someone else.
Next stop, Hardee's. I can't get going until I get a good couple of bacon egg and cheese biscuits and a large Diet Coke. It was about 9:15am when we actually got on our way.
We got onto Rt. 66 at Elkhart from I-55. Travel was pretty smooth until Springfield, IL, where it was difficult to tell where 66 actually went. Eventually, you have to get back onto 55 and pick 66 up further south at Chatham. Of course, once we got back onto 55, we hit backed up traffic for several miles. Gridlock!!!!!
Most of 66 in this area are those side, frontage roads you see along side 55. The rest of IL went smoothly. We went around St. Louis via I-270 and then picked up I-44. Most of Missouri was complete, though we'd get lost at times and Rt 66 is not marked well in areas. Rt 66 anymore has become state or county roads or frontage roads. But much of it so far has been clear of traffic and in good shape.
There hasn't been a lot of roadside oddities and interest yet. At St. Robert, MO, there was an adult center like that of some of those "trading posts" you see that sell fireworks, moccasins, etc. This place had exotic dancing, bookstore, novelties and liquor. Then next to that was a lookout point that overlooked the Missouri Ozarks. We're gettin' our kicks on Rt 66 here!
I've been pleased with the car so far in the trip. The fuel mileage is incredible. Before Springfield, IL, we hit a high of 28.9 mpg!
Well, until tomorrow when the odyssey continues.
Stats:
Miles Travelled, Today: 447
Miles Travelled, Total: 447
Today's Driving Time: 12 hours
Today's Avg MPH: 37.25
Fuel Mileage: 28.3 mpg
Today's Turnaround Times: 6
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Happy Earth Day!
I first heard about Earth Day in 1990 during a visit to see a friend of mine, Matt Astel, at SIU at Carbondale. I think it was during Springfest, and the students there had this huge beach-ball type ball of the Earth. Someone said, "Yea, it's Earth Day."
"Earth Day???????" I responded back. At that time, I started making all the jokes about burning tires, dumping styrofoam into a landfill and leaking freon from my air conditioner on Earth Day. Going on 20 years later, the humor continues.
In the mid-90's, I joined the Peoria Jaycees and became it's newsletter editor. For an April Fool's issue for April 1996, I presented this following story. And surprisingly, some people actually believed it. Enjoy!
Jaycees Announce Earth Day Festivities
Earth Day 1996 is to be held on Monday, April 22 and the Peoria Jaycees has a whole host of activities planned. "This is going the be the most exciting Earth Day in Central Illinois... ever!", exclaimed Peoria Jaycees president Steven J. West at a press conference on April 1. Commander West also claimed that the Peoria based volunteer organization was fired up and enthusiastic about the Earth Day projects it has planned. The now defunct Nature Conservancy committee reunited to handle the various activities that are to take place. Headed up by Beth Barr and Andrea Peters, several different types of projects to promote Earth Day and the environment will take place with different "teams" carrying out different assignments (see tentative schedule of events on page 3). "I'm really excited about this", stated Ms. Peters, "it's good to see that the Jaycees are concerned about the Earth's environment and are ready to do something about it. I just hope we have enough hours in the day to get everything done."
During the press conference, Ms. Barr and Ms. Peters explained how each team divided the project work. Dan Schmidt has volunteered to head the team to burn old truck tires in a corn field (in which Dan said 'burning tires makes you strong'). Rusty Greene is in charge of the team to dump volatile car batteries in the Illinois River. Another team, lead by Cindy Schwerer, is set to cut down several oak trees, making birds and squirrels homeless. Cindy was especially fond of this project as she had stated "The best thing about a tree is what you do with it after you cut it down." A fourth team which has yet to be assigned a leader will be releasing freon from air conditioners into the atmosphere. "The opportunities for Earth Day are endless", stated Ms. Barr, "we would like to encourage as many people as we can for our Earth Day festivities." If you are interested in helping out on Earth Day, please call the Jaycees hotline. And just remember, every day is Earth Day!
"Earth Day???????" I responded back. At that time, I started making all the jokes about burning tires, dumping styrofoam into a landfill and leaking freon from my air conditioner on Earth Day. Going on 20 years later, the humor continues.
In the mid-90's, I joined the Peoria Jaycees and became it's newsletter editor. For an April Fool's issue for April 1996, I presented this following story. And surprisingly, some people actually believed it. Enjoy!
Jaycees Announce Earth Day Festivities
Earth Day 1996 is to be held on Monday, April 22 and the Peoria Jaycees has a whole host of activities planned. "This is going the be the most exciting Earth Day in Central Illinois... ever!", exclaimed Peoria Jaycees president Steven J. West at a press conference on April 1. Commander West also claimed that the Peoria based volunteer organization was fired up and enthusiastic about the Earth Day projects it has planned. The now defunct Nature Conservancy committee reunited to handle the various activities that are to take place. Headed up by Beth Barr and Andrea Peters, several different types of projects to promote Earth Day and the environment will take place with different "teams" carrying out different assignments (see tentative schedule of events on page 3). "I'm really excited about this", stated Ms. Peters, "it's good to see that the Jaycees are concerned about the Earth's environment and are ready to do something about it. I just hope we have enough hours in the day to get everything done."
During the press conference, Ms. Barr and Ms. Peters explained how each team divided the project work. Dan Schmidt has volunteered to head the team to burn old truck tires in a corn field (in which Dan said 'burning tires makes you strong'). Rusty Greene is in charge of the team to dump volatile car batteries in the Illinois River. Another team, lead by Cindy Schwerer, is set to cut down several oak trees, making birds and squirrels homeless. Cindy was especially fond of this project as she had stated "The best thing about a tree is what you do with it after you cut it down." A fourth team which has yet to be assigned a leader will be releasing freon from air conditioners into the atmosphere. "The opportunities for Earth Day are endless", stated Ms. Barr, "we would like to encourage as many people as we can for our Earth Day festivities." If you are interested in helping out on Earth Day, please call the Jaycees hotline. And just remember, every day is Earth Day!
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