June Trip-part 1

Day 1 - Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa

Great things never come easy and our recent trip was no exception. Jim, Melody and Kathy were supposed to pick me up at my place in Seymour about 9 AM on Friday morning, June 1st, but due to a semi truck overturned on I-64 westbound, they didn't make it here until about 11 AM.

Of course the result of that was arriving at our destination for the day over 2 hours late, but we were still able to see the attraction scheduled as a result of some quick thinking by Jim. He contacted the owner of the establishment (a friend of a friend) and arranged free passes to the concert (David Allan Coe) being held there that evening so we could get inside to take pictures and view the museum. 

Most of the reason we stopped in Clear Lake, Iowa was to see the tribute to Buddy Holly and Richie Valens, as well as J.P.(The Big Bopper) Richardson, who all died in an early morning plane crash following their performance at the Surf Ballroom on February 2, 1959. 

The other reason we stopped here was because it just happened to be about the right time and distance for our trip plan, which was driving 8-10 hours a day before stopping to get a hotel room for the night. So we didn't actually stay for the concert but opted instead to find a hotel room and get some rest. Having been on the road much longer than I was, I know my traveling companions were ready for a good nights rest.

Day 2 - Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota

True to my word, I set my phone alarm for 6 AM and once everyone was up and ready, we continued our journey north towards Minnesota. Shortly after arriving there we turned due west and set our sites on South Dakota. But before we left Clear Lake, we drove to the crash site to see the fan tribute placed there in a lonely cornfield about a mile off the nearest road. Besides the street sign which identifies the location, the spot is marked by a large pair of Buddy Holly styled glasses, mounted on a platform. 

I hadn't anticipated such a long walk when I started back to the location of the actual crash, but I was determined to make the trek so a few pictures could be secured. I was a bit surprised at how well the site has been preserved being as it happened well over 50 years ago, but it was a sad site indeed, to think these promising young musicians had been cut down in their youth by a simple quirk of fate. I was only 8 at the time this happened, so I don't really remember all the details first hand, but I remember my sister Judy talking about it and how sad it all seemed. 

Once we had completed the short stretch through Minnesota, we made an unscheduled stop at Mitchell, South Dakota, to see the famous Corn Palace, where a lot of the exhibits are made from corn and other grains. This unique building also plays host to some local college basketball games as well as being visited annually by half a million people. I suppose it was well worth the stop, but at the time I didn't really think it was, so I stayed in the car. This picture is from the web.

We were soon on our way once again, where besides our normal gas and restroom stops, we made another small side trip to Wall Drug, which is on the way near Rapid City, South Dakota. For those who have traveled I-90 westbound through this state, you can't miss the many signs which point the way and explain all of the reasons why you need to stop there. It's mostly your typical tourist trap, but I did manage to buy a pair of needed shoe laces at least.

Our last site to see on day 2 was Mount Rushmore. We went ahead and made the short trip down from Rapid City to the location before we chose a hotel for the night. We decided pictures from the road leading up to the monument would be sufficient rather than paying the $11 parking fee. Being as I had already visited the park on a previous trip, I saw no reason to object. Below you can see my traveling companions at the left and a shot of the monument from the road at the right.

Once back in Rapid City, we located a suitable hotel and had dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I had a beer with my Roadkill meal so I could relax better. Worked like a charm. So much for day 2!

Half the battle!

I'm uploading the last of my pictures and video from my trusty Asus 1201N to my file server and then I will copy those to my desktop to begin the long process of documenting our journey. Battery on the 1201N is down to 36%, but it only has 6 more minutes remaining in the transfer, so it should be enough.

I haven't really felt like doing much of this work since returning on Sunday. I've basically been just laying around and taking it easy. I even ordered pizza so I wouldn't have to go out. Gotta love living where food is only a website away from my doorstep.

Hopefully by tomorrow I should have the first installment of this tale ready for sharing. At least that is the plan.

6500+ miles later...

Arrived back in Lexington, KY about 12:30 AM Sunday morning. I had originally planned to blog as we went, but that did not work out. Just too tired each evening to do any typing on the computer.

In a nutshell, the trip went fine, no major problems or conflicts. I plan to add updates here over the next few weeks about the trip in much more detail, complete with pictures. Do stay tuned...

Getting down to the nitty gritty!

Have to take a break, been working since last we spoke to get ready for my upcoming trip. Not all the time, but I have gotten a lot done. All laundry is done except my bed sheets which I will do Friday morning, my room is coming along nicely and should be ready for their visit soon.

My bag is packed, but I'm sure I will have to squeeze a few more things into it, even though it's stuffed now as it is. I've moved my cable box back out to the living room, in case my guests want to watch TV while they are here. Will get all of that hooked up tomorrow, getting kind of late here now.

As we get closer to the time to leave, looks like the weather will be cooler for our trip. It's been very hot and humid around these parts for a week or two, but Friday's high is only supposed to be 65, with a chance of rain. Should make traveling a pleasure.

I want it to be Friday!

Yep, in just a few short days, we will be on our way out west. And this time we are gonna hit all the hot spots. Last time I went it was just too hurried and and my traveling companion (mom), was not bad, but I'm sure I will enjoy it much more this time around. Of course with 4 people, this may end up a bit crowded in certain circumstances, like our hotel rooms. Yes, we are all staying in the same room each night.


And here I sit, watching Twit when I should be getting things ready. I have a lot to do and a short time to get it done. Still need to do laundry, pack, child-proof my place, get all my tech gear together, etc. I have to child-proof my place because my 2 year old grandson will be arriving, with his family, on the day I leave. They are staying here so they can attend the high school graduation of my second oldest granddaughter, Carly, which I will miss.

All that really shouldn't take too long, but I've been very lazy since I retired from the USPS. I spend a lot of time in the chair I'm presently sitting in, playing on the web and killing time by any means I can find. I have projects that need to be done, but I don't do them. Thankfully I did get my Asus 1201N ready today for the trip, but it does still need to be packed in it's case, along other essentials, which I hope to do later this evening.

Plus I'm still waiting to hear from Jim and the rest about if we are planning to go on the Alcatraz tour. That particular tour must be booked before we arrive to assure everyone who wants to go a spot. Jim is so busy at home, I don't know how he gets the things he does done. I spent some time with him last year and got to see first hand just how busy he really is.

Still busy!

Baseball

Attended the last regular season game this afternoon, and once again the Seymour Owls were victorious. This time, behind the 2 hit shutout pitching of my grandson Billy. The Rising Sun Shiners went down to defeat by the final score of 4-0. Billy was interviewed on local radio as the star of the game. We are so proud of him as he was 5-0 on the season and the Owls finished 20-4. They will face New Albany in the sectional on Monday. Go Seymour!!!

Family

Jim and Melody came up on Sunday, partly to fix a rust hole on the firewall of my Buick, and also for a visit and a cookout. I turned Melody loose with my camera so as soon as all of the raw video is imported into iMovie, I will begin the process of cutting it up to make one suitable for YouTube. Melody has a knack for getting the best shot as you can see at the left. Unfortunately that shot won't make the final cut I'm sure. They are staying at Belterra Casino near Vevay until Thursday, so I took the opportunity to pay them and my mother a visit yesterday. After spending an hour or so with mom, I headed up river to join up with them and we spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening together going places.

Jim had noticed an old Ford on a previous trip up and had wanted to find out if it was for sale and how much they were asking, but each time he tried, no one was home. It just so happened that they were out mowing this time when we passed by, so we got a close look at the 1950 Ford Custom, 4 door sedan. The car was pretty complete, including the original flat head V8, but some restoration had been done previously. The asking price was $500, so Jim took his number and will no doubt try to negotiate a lower price. At least he got the details he was looking for, so that all worked out well. 

Also drove up to Lawrenceburg and had a bite to eat at one of my favorite places, Skyline Chili. Growing up in Cincinnati, Skyline was one of the four basic food groups for us. Of course United Dairy Farmers was on the way back, so ice cream for all was a must have!

Buick

As I mentioned, one of the reasons for their visit was so that Jim could repair a section of my firewall where a previous heater core leak had rusted a hole all the way through. Lucky for me that Jim brought several implements of destruction so the job could be completed. In the end a small abrasive cutting disc was the right tool for the job as a small section was cut from the firewall and replaced with new metal. Now I need to use a wire brush to scuff up the paint so I can use a can of yellow Rustoleum paint to finish the job.

The Trip

In just 10 days (June 1), we will be leaving for the west coast. We plan to take in many sites, visit a family friend, and return on June 17. One of the things I would like to do is to walk across the Golden Gate bridge, but it will depend on many factors. From reading on the net, I know that it's foggy there a lot of the time, so we may just do a partial walk if no good photo opportunities can be had. On a previous trip to New York city, we were able to walk across the Brooklyn bridge, which has always been at the top of my list of bridges to walk across.

We plan to take a northern route out and coming back we hope to follow a trail similar to the old Route 66. Here is a partial list of the places we want to visit: Clear Lake, Iowa (where the music died); Mt. Rushmore; Deadwood, SD; Sturgis, SD; Devil's tower; battle field at Little Bighorn; Yellowstone (Old Faithful); Bonneville salt flats; Reno, NV; San Francisco; Giant redwood trees; Los Angeles; Hollywood sign; Santa Monica Pier; Death Valley (Scotty's castle); Las Vegas; Hoover dam; London bridge; Grand Canyon; Winslow, AZ; Amarillo, TX (Cadillac ranch); Dodge City, KS; Branson, MO (largest ball of twine); and finally Kennett, MO (Sheryl Crow's hometown). 

Of course planning and doing are two different things, but we do hope to see most everything as we have 17 days to do it in. I will have a computer with me and hope to blog some from the road. That always depends on how tired I am at the end of each day.

Busy, busy, busy

Haven't had much time lately to post here, so thought I would take a few moments to do just that...

Baseball

Since last we met, the boys in purple (Seymour Owls) have improved their record to 16-4, which includes a disappointing loss yesterday evening to the Jeffersonville Red Devils, in the Hoosier Hills Conference tournament final game. It's especially sad since during the course of the season, we've seen them play much, much better and they were fully capable of winning the game. But it was not to be, so best we just move on.

I will just say that poor officiating played a part in the 12-3 loss as at one point, the home plate umpire had to ask both teams and the park announcer what the count was on the batter. He still managed to get it wrong though.

Buick

Well, since last I talked about it, I've gotten the carb changed to the rebuilt one, fixed a problem with that which caused it to not get any gas, and moved the car out to Randy and Autumn's place. That trip was in itself kind of funny as my only real requirement for the trip was the absence of rain (my wipers don't work). My granddaughter Jordan was kind enough to follow me out after she got off work, just in case anything happened. It had been sunny and nice all day long and no sign of rain, but half-way out there, a cloud burst just popped up and so we sat there on the side of the road for about 20 minutes until it passed.

That was last week and I wasn't able to do much more until just yesterday, when I went out and flushed and drained the cooling system using clean, fresh water. Once finished, I mixed up the K&W Block sealer as instructed and proceeded to pour that mixture into the radiator. After that, I started the car and filled up the radiator with water, put the radiator cap on and sat there with the car idling.

After the car had been running for about 20 minutes, I noticed that the idle began to improve. It had been a little rough and it smoothed right out. Also gone was the distinctive note from the exhaust which told me there was a problem in the first place. I was very pleased that these changes took place as it just affirmed my suspicion that there was indeed a head gasket problem. I shut the car off after it had run for 30 minutes and waited for it to cool down enough to drain it.

The product says to drain the coolant and then open it up as much as possible to let air into the cooling system, so that the chemicals have a better chance to cure properly. I had already removed the thermostat in preparation for this procedure, so I removed the top and bottom radiator hoses at the block, which is the  best way to get air into it. It is supposed to have at least 24 hours to cure, but I don't plan to do any more to the car until perhaps Monday, so that should allow plenty of time for it to set up.

In other Buick news, I have been following a thread on the V8-Buick forum about using the heater core from a '62 Olds in my Buick as it is the same size, but does not have the poorly designed heater valve attached to it. Instead it uses a more traditional approach of using an inline valve in the heater hose under the hood, thereby eliminating a potential leak inside the car.

The core was available by special order from Advance Auto Parts ($56,44), so I bought one to use on mine. Once it arrived I immediately checked to see that it was the proper size (it was), so now all I need is the firewall to be repaired and I can replace the heater boxes.

Family

In addition to getting the car going, Jim and Melody have decided to come up here to work on the firewall of the Buick where a hole rusted through from the previous leak in the heater core. That means I don't have to drive it down to Lexington, KY, which is good news for me! Plus I think Kathy may be able to come up as well so Autumn has promised a feast of the cookout type for the event.

This joyous occasion will hopefully happen during the first part of next week, and will give us a chance to go over more of the trip details as that is now less than 3 weeks away. Jim has promised to bring the tools necessary to repair the hole in my firewall caused by a leaky heater core. Another hole in the front floorboard was also discovered so perhaps we can take a good look at that as well.