A Quick Note about Tent Life

I've come to a couple of conclusions about this camping thing.  I wanted to share.   :-)

I've found that I like the camping better than hotel stays.   Yes,  the hotel was climate controlled,  the bathroom near by,  the temperature tightly controlled.   Yes,  it was quiet,  no bugs,  places to sit which were padded, standing head room, and all of that and I preferred the camp site.

What was it,  I hear you ask.   Well,  it was for the most part noisier,  but with outdoor noises,  not blower AC white noises.

I've had my own picnic table,  sure with a bit of bird debris,  usually.   But outside and amongst the trees and heat of an angry God.

Then there is my little tent and sleeping pad and minimal bedding,  all mine and a small feeling of accomplishment when I set it up on a nice level area,  without dead tree limbs above me.

I rest well in the tent and read a bit and usually go to bed early.   I get up when the sun brightens the day and get on my way.   I need ear plugs.

It's good and relaxing and satisfying.   It would probably be even better if I had gotten around to do some cooking,  but the heat was a killer and I find that driving and snacking seem to go together, and by the end of the day,  I've eaten enough.

The one issue is the heat in the tent.   If there is wind, it's not bad since I've been in fairly dry areas.  But there has been a lack of that.   Even at Toad Suck Park the wind dropped with the sun (correlation/causation!!) it was hot.   There was thunder out there,  but it never came close.   I was kind of hoping I was going to get some rain...

I've put Amazon on it and a USB powered clip on fan is on the way.   I'm hoping this will sit on the top of the tent (now,  the low ceiling is a wonderful thing!)  and powered off my Lime Fuel cells,  provide all the cooling I want.   Heaven!   For Sure!   I'll report on it as I know more.

Otherwise the gear is working,  though I've only used it 6 times.  I've used the axe/hammer the most as a tool.   Pegs have to go in and the axe does the job nicely.   One of the campgrounds was hard gravel and the axe was needed to pound the Pegs home.

Finally more car news.   I was seeing some shimmy at 80, which is a reasonable speed when crossing Texas.   I found the local Big O and they test drove,  balanced and test drove again.  My man assures me that it's all good now.   He needed to shift weights by a half an ounce on each of the front tires.  Big O has come through twice on this trip and again there was no charge for their work and efforts.   Many thanks!

That's all for now.   Trump has asked the Ruskies for some information and suddenly email security is a right and not an annoyance for our dear Hillary.   Shockingly bad logic on the talking heads' part,  but don't get me started on that.

Time to lift the next beer and taste some hot dip mother is pushing on me!   (She is still crying when she thinks of the DNC,  she'll come around at some point I hope.)

Trail of Tears

See prior post for the teaser...

The Trail of Tears was on display in OK in brochures at the Toad Suck Park.   But it's got more than one meaning in the Hume household...

I get to Duke city about 6 and meet my mother at the door,  which was unlocked and showed scant concern for security!

Mother was all red eyed and teary.   Well,  it is good to be missed,  I thought.   But no!

Mother was all chocked up by the DNC's nomination of Hillary.

"I had this tremendous reaction," she said.

"I had one too.   Tears don't come close,  my stomach hurts too," I said.

I tired to comfort her as a good son should.

"Don't worry mom,  there is a real good chance she won't be elected. "

You would think this would sooth her angst,  but strangely,  I had misread the situation.

She punched me in the shoulder!   And exclaimed that this was a historic occasion and for over 150 years a woman had never been nominated.

"Well,  your gender has only had the vote for 90 some years,  so I'm not sure the 150 number means much."  Here again I was trying to get some rational grounds back into the discussion.   Every little bit can help,  I've come to realize.  That remark didn't go over well either.   Was I blind to so much in this conversation?   What else was I missing?

Yes,  Hillary has the nomination and my sister is probably a bit upset too as she was rooting for the Bernster.  The recent emails from the DNC seems to suggest they like democracy as much as any politician and decided early to help Hill on her way to the coronation.  This grass roots stuff can be annoying when the riff raff get involved.  

When the smoke cleared only my mom seems to be happy about the outcome.    

Actually,  I'm not unhappy or emotional at about it.   I've got views and they are not real important.   As a gal at work said a while back,  "I don't mind a woman president,  just not that woman." 

I think it will be an interesting race and I look forward to the debates.  It's been an interesting election season and I was hoping for more fireworks from Bernie and his minions at the convention.  But Bernie seems to sold it all for a plane ride and what did his supporters get for their money?  Maybe like the lottery,  a bit of a dream!   Reasonable return,  I think.

One other thing as I ponder this and do my laundry, there are clips of Michelle Obama talking about how wonderful Hillary is and how capable and her hubby joins in on this.   Then we get the clip from 2008 where Hillary is not to be trusted with car keys much less the nuclear football and is totally incapable of running her house (aka Bill and his walking zipper) and therefore shouldn't be running the White house.   All of which came from Michelle also.   What a difference 8 years makes.   Is any of that true?   Is it all crap?   Both can't be right?   If you believe Michelle now,  did you disbelieve her then?   Or has Hillary turned on some super powers to eclipse the abilities of all prior presidents as our dear Leader would now have us believe?

In re the prior paragraph; I see posts from friends about how wonderful the Obamas are and they never say why,  it seems to be obvious or assumed or something.   But clearly the public utterances of these folks are just for show and the moment and the audience, and what they really think is pretty well hidden well away from the folks who vote.  Pick your facade and run with it!   But please don't point to any of it as an honest utterance.

Sorry for the soap box.  The illogical aspects are much more interesting to me than what they are trying to sell.

I'll be spending a few more days here with the folks,  then head home and   rest my driving feet!

Toad Suck to The Duke City

Hello loyal readers,

I made the run yesterday from AR to NM,  it was about 13 hours.   I found a new bug in Google Maps and saw three dead armadillos.  There was a guy in handcuffs in Texas being walked away from his car.  And about three cars in the ditch in Texas as there were some heavy storms at the Texas Oklahoma border.   The storms didn't last long,  but they were bad enough I tucked behind a semi with its blinkers on and slowed down.

Trivia question: what is unique about the armadillo?   Answer below.

The run was p[retry uneventful.   I started about 6:40 getting out of Clayton,  which is a bit beyond Little Rock.   Got to The Duke City about 6, but Mountain time.   Google maps had been showing my eta as being 7:30 or so,  not realizing until I crossed the border that it was in a different time zone.   I appreciate that an Eta is kind of a relative thing,  but maybe show the local zone with an asterix or something.

One other feature that I would like is for the app to show the current speed limit on the road.   In some states they are not posted very often and I don't want a ticket.   The hardware GPS systems typically show this.   Also since Maps is calculations eta it must know the speed limits all along the route. 

I got here to a cold beer and a crying mother -  but that is in the next post.

Trivia answer: the armadillo is the only animal that can contract leprosy and thus can be handy in the lab when doing research.   Probably not the best for the armadillo.

Toad Suck

Yes,  you read that right.   It's a place along the Arkansas river,  it has a dam and it can be spelled differently on official signs on the way to the park. 

I don't know how it got its name. 

It's also 100 degrees,  which is a lot cooler than yesterday,  I am told. 

I've been promised mosquitos too. 

I'll see if I can slip in a picture. 

Arkansas is a lot like Indiana,  but the trees are taller and it seems to have less planted crops.   But it's just as flat. 

Drive from Knoxville was fine,  about 8 hours.   New time zone!   One armadillo on the road,  one Greyhound bus - -  first I've seen on the trip.   I remember then from my youth being everywhere.   Maybe everyone has a car these days. 

Camp to setup,  about 10 minutes.   There is a nice breeze,  I hope it lasts as it really helps with the heat.   It's a pretty dry here and in the shade pretty comfortable.   I have a couple of trees close together,  so I may try the hammock again.   It's got that built in bug net and might be just the ticket to a short nap before bed time. 

Ok,  I'm going to setup and then add some pics to this a bit later. 

The picture inserter can't see today's pics, so I'll toss them up on facebook.

Tent is setup and I'm a bit warm!   Time for a cool down.  How did the early people do this without ice?   My cooler is keeping ice semi solid from yesterday morning and it's great to eat and chew and mix with warm soda.  It's also kept my Baby Bell cheese guys cool.   The cheese has been a nice addition to my snacks. 

I may try for Albuquerque tomorrow.   I have to cross Texas to do that.   How far can that be?  

The Turn Towards Home

I've left Wilmington,  NC and have headed West.  

I dropped Renee at Charlotte's airport about 1 and have ended up just west of Knoxville.   I was going to camp,  but the gal at the camp grounds expected it to be rainy again tonight as it has rained every day the past week.

So I wimped out and am in a Micro tel.   Small room,  smells a bit weird,  but they all seem to do that.   They have a nice 20% tax on hotel rooms here,  seems excessive,  but I've been off the road for a decade.

Tomorrow's plan is to end up at the Toad Suck Park which is a bit beyond Little Rock,  AR.   I suppose I should worry about the Arkansas Mafia,  but they should all be at the convention tomorrow.

It's a run of about 8 hours and 550 miles.   Which is about 1/2 the way left to Albuquerque.

The Grimes' annual vacation draws to a close as we all scatter back to work or our corners of the world.  We ended the last night doing a low country boil,  which is sausage,  shrimp,  corn,  onions,  potatoes,  old Bay seasoning and some snow crab legs and claws.  Barb's brother Joe brought his gas powered burner and big pot,  which did a nice job on the cooking.

Traditionally one pours the food onto newspapers and all get handsy over goods.   A bit of butter  for corn and potatoes and some cocktail sauce for the shrimp and it's quite a feast.  We passed on the newspaper ink and used some trays.

I left the beach Saturday evening as I wanted to split some of the driving up, since I was not going to be driving until 10am or so.  

I spent the night at Beth's,  Barb's younger sister,  and I crashed and slept in a bit.   Tanner,  one of Sharon's brood,  brought Renee up with some fried chicken sandwiches from Milton's.   Then we drove to Charlotte.

About 3 hours to get there and Renee got off ok.   She is connecting to DC,  then Belgium and then on to Ghana.  If you read the earlier post,  I did have the tree wrong,  but I don't remember what the real one it.

Beth's son,  Joseph has started a blog,  "The Life of Joseph Martinez"   I'm told there are several posts there already.  I'm going there next.

My destination is Albuquerque where my mom has prepared a new list of items to help with.   I'm guessing I'll be there a week or so,  then off to California and home and some time not on the road.

It's been a good trip with lots of unexpected items,  but even with seeing friends and new places,  I'm about ready to head for the house.  When I traveled for work,  10 days was usually an edge beyond which I started to get twitchy.   I'm feeling ok,  but I'm looking forward to being home.

Getting some at the gay dolphin

Barb's family has been coming to the Myrtle Beach area for 40 years.   When she was a kid she was introduced to the Gay Dolphin beach shop.

We had some time yesterday and drove along the strip.   I'm sure it seemed a lot narrower to her than it did in her youth; it was probably a bit tawdry and run down and the glitter has lost its sparkle,  but we were there and Barb remembered so off we went down memory lane.

In this area of SC there are a lot of beach shops.   They sell all sorts of crap from umbrellas,  to shirts to knives and dope pipes,  stickers,  furniture,  floating,  sinkies,  fishing gear,  snacks,  but mostly junk for the tourists.

To a young kid it's a smorgasbord of fascinating things.   Designed to lure into the store and have the parent inundated by frantic requests from sunburned young offspring.

They have these stores along the commercial roads more often than Seattle has coffee shops.

Renee found a couple of shirts,  but the rest of us were resistant.

Long live commercialism!   Don't let Bernie restrict the shelves of stuff no one needs!

What you Ghana Do?

Renee has had an interesting trip and she's just getting started...

"I'd like to make a reservation. "

" Where would you like to go? "

Take me to Myrtle Beach,  then from there fly out of Raleigh to DC and then to Belgium and then to Ghana!   Coming back is something else...

What's in Ghana you might ask.

Well,  Renee is in business school and is going to help with a commercial project.   It seems there is a tree there that is a super food.   More vitamin C than Oranges,  more flavor than bacon,  more fiber than prunes...

If you hang around junkscience.com a bit you become a bit leery about superfoods,  but hey it might be true.   Can't condemn this until you give it a chance.

I would be nice if it were true.   The locals have a crop that will bring in funds and is worth what they will charge.  

I'm sorry that I can't tell you which tree it is.   But it might be the Karite tree,  which produces Shea Butter.   Wiki doesn't not mention the dietary gold mine,  so it might be something else...

In any case,  it's an experience and a lot of plane travel and maybe some college credit,  a line on the old resume!   What's not to like?

So, good luck,  take pictures and I'm glad it's not I on that plane.

Taste verschiebungen

If you study German you will learn about the three laut Vershiebungen in the German language's evolution.   I don't remember any examples off hand,  but there are some words in the English language that came from German,  but the pronunciation has changed after the languages split.

What a Vershiebungen is is a shift.   And in my short life a number of taste shifts have occurred.   One very recently.

I heard Dr.  Dean Edell (sp?)  talk about eating habits.   This was universal across all cultures and it was found that about 25% of the population will only eat food that they "like"  and will not try new things.   I understand if you have kids,  you've seen this in action.   There is also about 25% who will eat anything.   The other 50% tend to be careful until they are about 25, then they start to eat more widely.  

The good Dr.  Thought that there was a useful survival trait in these eat / don't eat deal.   If your tribe is wandering around,  the bulk of folks will not eat new things.   There is protection in that.   Eating new stuff can kill you,  think mushrooms for example.

But,  if the weather / climate changes (too many SUVs?) and your normal stuff is not around,  then having some folks out there that will test the food for the rest of the tribe is very valuable.   So if change is thrust upon your tribe,  you will survive that too.

Mr.  Hume,  get to the point!   I hear you say...  

In my youth I didn't like olives.   Yet one can't argue with the form factor and every 5 years or so,  I would take a nibble.   When I hit 40, I finally found then tasty!   Now they are high on my like to eat list.

Tomatoes also fell into that group of foods - -  not eaten until 40, now I like them on burgers and some sandwiches.   I'm still a bit put off on the texture, but the flavors are no longer an issue.   I've also got understanding as to the spectrum of flavors that one can find in this noble fruit.

Now,  I thought that my acquired foods had hit a wall a number of decades ago,  but I've added a food that while I always liked the smell,  I never cared for the flavor.   Of course,  I'm talking of bacon.

I had 5 strips of bacon on white bread with some mayo - -  damn near heaven.   It was after golf and it was 2 pm and I'd not had breakfast or lunch and I ate it with a beer,  but salty,  crunchy and warming to the tummy -  it was all there.

Welcome to the larder, bacon.

First Day on the Beach

OK,  I've not gone to the beach today.   Jay and I went golfing.   27 holes on the Carolina National Golf Course.

I probably hit about three good drives and on one hole, hit three bad ones.

So,  a beating by Jay,  who played reasonably.   We both hit a few off the course.

The Carolina National course winds through a residential area (you are reminded that there are restrooms and there is no reason not to use them)  and also a bit of the coastal Marsh area.   The marshes are quite interesting with reeds and water ways.   I think the tide was out and that made for more reeds than water.

In any case there are a number of holes with forced carries over the Marsh.   More that wend through the trees,  tall Pines for the most part,  and then various sand traps with sand in some of them.

We played with a guy named Jay,  who has retired and moved down from Massachusetts.   I forget where he was from but when I mentioned Fall River,  where our friend Cindy and her mom hail from,  the mentioned his town and I inferred from that that it was nearby.   Well,  it is a small state.

Here mentioned old Liz Warren,  who he felt was a bit of a disgrace to the state.

Jay was good company and knew the course,  so was helpful when we were planning our strategy to a hole.

We trundled back to the rental property and I have inhaled a couple of porters and some popcorn.  

With the 27 holes we got a lunch and chose the chicken salad sandwich,  which was quite good on whole wheat and had some walnuts and onions mixed with the mayo and chicken chunks.

We drank a lot of water.  The course has coolers every few holes and we didn't miss filling our many water bottles each time.

We saw a lot of deer on the course.   On one hole we were looking for Jay's ball in a small forest and found a family of deer looking back at us.   There was a buck and 3 females and then 2 very small new ones,  still with spots.   A number of deer also ran across various fairways while we were playing.   It should have been obvious that the fairway was a pretty safe place to be.

Rip Tide to Holden Beach

It's time to dispense with non-fiction.

Little Jay joined us on our epic visit to Oak Island today.  His plane was late and he arrived headachy and having missed his flight out of Charlotte.  The flight from LA was the evil omen on this one and arrived too late for connections.   Sure they had all of the Charlotte destination folks stay seated so those attempting to make a connection,  could give it a try.   Apparently everyone on that plane had a connection!

So Jay decided he needed to test his Go-Pro camera in the ocean.  "The ocean was dangerous that day, my friends."

Jay soon found himself too far out and beyond boogie board recovery distance.   He paid enough attention to allow the rip Tide,  aka,  Ripper,  to take him out and down and not to fight the power of mother nature's angry ocean.

Down and down the coast he went.   Heading south.  If he had gone North there was hope at Wilmington,  but he went South.

Down the coast from here,  where the Sands tell no tales and the occasional decorated cross adorns a modest Sandy beach, Jay floated.   With boogie board and go pro.   We hoped for some epic footage and long battery life... But off he went,  down south,  finally dragged himself out of the surf,  covered with seaweed and looking tired and sore near Holden Beach.

He made his way back up the coast by walking a block inland and hitchhiking the few miles he had drifted South.

When he finally got back to the house on beautiful West Dolphin Drive,  we were treated to some great go pro moments,  but sadly no shark footage.

Oak Island, NC and Catching up since the mountains

Welcome back,  dear Readers,

I'm currently in Oak Island,  one of the barrier islands (well,  it probably isn't,  but all the houses are on stilts and evacuation routes are clearly marked) on the east coast,  North of Myrtle Beach.

This island is sandwiched between the Intercoastal Waterway ICW,  and the Ocean.   There are about 8 blocks of houses and commercial establishments in this area.   The commercial guys are in the middle with the main road running all the way North and South.   The length of this might be 6 miles or so,  with the commercial being about 1 mile long.

The traffic an be an issue getting across the main drag.   There are not a lot of lights to divide the traffic into packets.   So it's dash to the middle of the lanes and work to get across.

The ICW is interesting as that's were all the vegetation is.

T

There are crabs and shrimp stirring the water off these docks. There are parks that provide the odd dock for folks to hang out. 

Oak Island is about an hour and a quarter from Elisabeth town.   And a quick drive if you don't stop. 

Speaking of cars and cards,  I had 3 credit cards refused at the gas pump today.   Quite interesting.   I can see that if the electronic gods want to mess with you,  it could b quite difficult to get back home.  A change of pumps and I was good to go.   As an added bonus,  if you buy premium,  it's doesn't have alcohol in it,  an added bonus. 

I had the rear tires balanced,  didn't help with my car's Humm when underway.   The tires look a bit warn,  so I will not worry about it and just drive on my good sense of denial until I'm faced with more serious symptoms. I'll go back to worrying about my golf swing. 

The mountains were nice and much cooler than E-town,  85 version the high 90s.  The beach is 85 or so and it's overcast.   But it's damp. 

It took a long time to get down from the hills.   There were a lot of us and with desperate wakeup times,  we hanged 5.2 miles in the first hour and one half.   The next ten  miles were faster where we stopped to look at the Whitewater falls:

This stop was worth it.   A short 1/2 mile hike to the overlook.  The falls drop a long way.   But it was too far to hear them.   A pretty place. 

Then we drove on,  trying to make some miles.  

We split near Colombia SC as we were going to stop for dinner and see Jess,  Tanners girl friend.   The Joe Grimes clan split for Grafton. 

Post dinner,  we took off for Elizabethtown.   When the smoke cleared we got in about 9:50pm, for a run of about 350 miles and a total elapsed time of 10.5 hours,  so 35 miles per hour? 

We have rented a house on the island,  getting back to the original story,  that is one block back from the outer road on the ocean side. 

Like most of the houses here it's on stilts for the inevitable flood or storm surge.  It's on a single level,  4 bedrooms and 3 or 4 baths.   Large living room/kitchen area. It looks to be comfortable and there are only 5 of us here at this point,  so should be quiet except for the roar of the ocean. 

Orange is the new black is now Barb's current addiction and we are banging through the episodes.  An interesting show to me,  but not really addictive. 

We will sight see a bit and pick up Jay tomorrow.   Golf soon, my fans,  you can have the stroke by stroke details if you want.   The Open is going on,  but limited time on the TV,  so it might be one I miss most of. 

Beach,  reading,  Orange is new black,  golf; the week beckons.   There is also a duplicate game on Monday,  so,  might take that up depending on other items.   It's been a long time since Barb and I hit the table. 

The arrow keys are not working in this editor, so edits will be few and far between...  Please excuse the typos!

Rich

Picture test

Ok,  it looks like I've got picture input.

This is from Colombia sc. 

New Taste Treats

I've not run across a lot of new food on this trip.   But I must mention a couple.

I've been introduced to Caroline's Pride Bacon and have found it to be pretty good.   Pretty good,  is well up on my chart food valuation.

Food valuation,  as in "How is everything?" the waitress asked.

1) Fine -  really means that I will probably not be back.
2) Good -  very good and I'm a happy camper (which is probably a bit different than what it used to me to me)
3) Great -  I'll be back tomorrow.

Next item is Key Lime Pie Oreo cookies.   I was hoping when I saw the package that it was mint chocolate chip flavored,  but the Key Lime Pie was somewhere between good and great.   I may seek them out in the future.

We had barbecue last night at the Carolina Smokehouse in Cashiers,  NC.   They lacked a second waiter and all moisture in the chopped meats.   Even the chicken was dry and in the words of Armadillo Willie's,  "There is no excuse for dry chicken."   Oh,  the corn bread was dry,  too,  lacked in sweetness.   The infinite plate of pinto beans and dry corn bread when you order the "pit"  plate which has four kinds of overly dry meat and then some ribs,  was considered good by those who had them.   The ribs were dry,  too,  but not as dry as the other stuff.  Acceptable,  I would grade them.

The one highlight was the spice in their hot BBQ sauce.  That worked for me.   The mild added some sweetness and needed moisture.

Bottom line,  we will not be back.

That is about all on the food front.

Rich

The Falls of Transylvania County

Yes,  it is Transylvania County.   The falls are all over and we've seen a couple of them.

The first one was smaller and easier to get to.   Had a bunch of folks swimming in the pool below the falls.

The other,  Toxaway falls,  was through some private property - -  the falls are public - -  and the trail led to a wonderful flat area below the falls.   There was a shallow pool below the falls.   That spilled down the hills and cascaded down the valley.   You can see some shots of this on Facebook and on my Flickr account.

The interesting part was that there was no one at the Toxaway falls,  but us.   Of course it is Tuesday and the area is more known for its winter sports than the summer ones; but a pretty area and not too hard to get to.

We hung out for an hour or so.   The rocks seemed to some kind of sand stone,  pretty hard and with excellent traction. 

I wish the blogger code worked with pictures without crashing.  I'd look for new code,  but I keep forgetting to do it.

Oh,  I've not mentioned,  but the yahoo email application has a problem with the SwiftKey code and keeps losing the cursor position.   That leads to painful errors and slowing down Mr.  Hume and that is intolerable.   It seems to be a bit inconsistent,  which does not help it's reputation with me.

If you get the chance to run down Route 64 and explore this area,  make sure you check out the falls.  

Return to Rensselaer IN

I was going to tell this story a couple of posts ago,  but it slid past and returned to a minor bit of memory stream,  which,  lucky you all my faithful readers,  has returned full force and I will now relate.

One of the strange things about going back to the old places in Illinois is that it is familiar and a lot (more than half,  for sure!)  is not.

I recognize names like Irving Park as a street name. And Larkin which is a major road going through Elgin,  but I could not find them or remember where they might go.

I've left the Chicago area and made the turn around the lake and am heading southeast  on I-65.   There is a sign for Rensselaer, Indiana. 

Now,  let us return across 30 years and talk about what happened then...

About 1982 or so,  I was on this same road one December heading for Florida. It was 20 below zero and the wind was up too.  

The snow was drifting across the road and it looked nasty.   The temperature gage showed that the engine never got up to temperature.   The windshield never defrosted.   I had a small area that I could see through and that was about it.

I was probably swaddled in sheepskin - a good purchase if you move to the Midwest - gloves probably and a hat.  

I pull off the interstate for some gas and it was at the Rensselaer exit.   I filled up and then moved the car near the restaurant.

I had something to eat and then went back out and the car wouldn't start.  I went over to a local hotel near the cafe and got the last room.

Fifteen minutes later we got the word that the road had been closed.

I was not the only one in this predicament.   We bonded together a bit,  strangers in a flat snowy land.   One guy invited us down to a party in his room.

He had gotten the local liquor store to deliver some booze by ordering a lot.   He had a shoe box with him and he and some others wandered off to the bathroom for 20 minutes.   I'm pretty sure it was not to smoke a cigar.

We had a place to stay and food at the cafe and all things considered it was OK.   We were there for 3 days as I remember it, but it might only have been one.

The morning we could get out,  was a sunny still morning.   The ice crystals sparkled and people started to show up from the interstate.   The roads were open.   The locals were pulling peoples' cars out of ditched for carefully negotiated rates.

One last meal for me and off I went.   Yes,  the car started right up.   Probably due to some sun on the hood and it being a mere -5 degrees.

I drove the rest of the run down to Florida in one go.   It was about 900 miles and didn't seem like much.  Florida seemed warmer that year.

A more prudent man might have turned back or never bothered to go by car or just flown down.   But you are only young once or twice.

I dated a gal I met there,  she lived near me back in Lombard.  We went to a Hawk's hockey game with her and Chuck and someone else.  Only Hawks game I ever saw.

That's what came rushing back as I flew down I-65 on a sunny Saturday with temperatures in the upper 80s.  My sheepskin coat might not exist any more and the RX-7 is long gone,  but the memories are still taking up some room.

NC and Google is not perfect!

Not perfect you say?   Well,  it thinks Sapphire NC is at the end of a small Lake surrounded by gravel roads.   And it also thinks that the best way to get to Sapphire is by running down obscure County lanes that are possibly: blocked by logging trucks,  playing banjo music from strange looking trees.

I drove from KY to NC today and all went pretty well until Google thought that a turn onto Bee Sting (or was it Stink?)  road was a good idea.   That road was closed and I kept going to find another route.   Google was pretty good at that, but listening to Jack Reacher novels and being in areas that excited the baser imaginations was not conducive to comfort.

But a burger and a couple of stouts has set things right,  and I'm doing OK.

Last night the KOA was pretty loud even with ear plugs.   The terrain is hilly and the interstate noise rolled up the hill all night long. It didn't seem to bother the cows or the roosters or the sheep.   Lots of interesting noises last night.

Speaking of noises out of the ordinary,  the Boy Scouts dropped in about 7.  Set up until 9 then went off for food.   "Arby's!   Yeah!" I heard one cry out.  They were gone by 6 am and I was by 7:30.

Lots of condensation and some of the gear is wet.   I'll haul out and dry tomorrow.

That's all.   I've connected with the Grimes and all is well.

Rich

Multi State Adventures II

Try two for this one.   I foolishly added a picture and that crashed the app!

In reverse order: Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana, Ohio,  Indiana,  and Illinois.

No real interesting road kill today though I did a number of miles.   Set off about 6 and arrived at 2:45, with a couple of breaks and a time zone change.

Crossed the Ohio River.   I think I had a chance at it when I was in St.  Louis, but didn't quite get there.

I hereby nominate Illinois for the worst roads,  that have the slowest speed limits, and the highest tolls. I don't have a lot of good things to say about them other than they did what they were supposed, id est get me where I wanted to go.

I've ended up near Vernon Kentucky.   Which seems to be near Boonsboro (I think they spell it differently here).   Dan's old tavern is a few miles north.

I'm at a KOA which is what I've been using as I've wandered along.   T5 is my plot.   It's far from the bathrooms,  down narrow gravel trails,  which show recent evidence of having been flooded and washed away.

I'm at the property line,  from where I can hear the interstate (65 in this case)  and on the other side of the fence we have a field with at least three cows.   They do not seemed bothered by me.

I stopped at a Wendy's for lunch.   I've not had one of those for awhile.   Tasted ok.

The picnic table was stained red at some point and built long ago,  when people had better posture and were smaller than I.   But it will suffice.

No biting insects yet!   I suspect that may not last as it has been wet here not too long ago.

Temperature in middle to high 80s, but seems drier than Chicago and there is a welcoming breeze.

Ah,  it seems the WiFi has connected.   It took a long time and perhaps it was out of IP addresses for the moment.

I am still in awe of how green this county is.   Perhaps being in the West for 30 years has changed my memories,  but this,  with the exception of what I saw in Indiana,  a rolling green,  heavily treed country.   Maybe it's all the extra carbon dioxide that our dear leader believes is the most dangerous threat to humanity, but the trees and grasses seem to like it.

Audio Book Notes:

I finished the Dale Brown space saga.   It was OK. Made the driving ok,  but it seemed to be written for the young adult audience,  and I'm talking early high-school here.

I'll find a new book for tomorrow. I will go with: Make Me by Lee Child,  if I've read that,  then Harry Potter and the goblet of fire.   I think I got that from a dear departed old friend,  Nick Labella, might it might be formatted properly for the car,  so backup to those is Assassin by Clive Cussler. Finally,  there is Cairo Affair by Steinhauer.  BTW the verb "hauen"  is German and means to cut,  in this case stones.   Remember Eisenhower?   "Eisen"  is the German word for iron. (Dear Swift key,  it would be nice if you knew a few foreign words and some Latin too.)

The run into Sapphire NC is about 4.5 hours tomorrow.   I suspect some of the roads will be twisty.   Google is very good at estimating travel times.  I wonder if there is a way to suspend navigation when one pulls off for rest breaks.   That would be useful.  <pause for research> I knew about "exit navigation" but I didn't know about "Resume Navigation."   I'll try that tomorrow.

The grass tent plot is a bit muddy.   There is a grassy spot,  but it's under a dead tree!   Do I roll the dice?  I'll figure out something. 

There are large trees here,  I'm tempted to try out the hammock and do some reading!

Italian Beef Part II

I tried Beef Villa in Elgin today.  I'm beginning to think that my memory is playing tricks and what was then,  will not be now.

It tasted good and was huge.   With sweet and hot peppers,  aka,  robust and slightly juicy,  he called it "regular."   He was tattooed a bit and had a man bun,  but seemed to know his beef.

This was the original Beef Villa,  opened in 1970.

So, I think that I have to let this memory slide away and conclude that the beef is no different now,  than then. 

What remains is to create a recipe that matches my memory and not reality.

So sad,  but a small bump on the road of life.

Rich

A Grand Day at the Course

Yesterday,  July 6, was trip to the Foxboro Hills golf club in Cary.

Many,  many highlights.   First off Bob and I stopped in Cary for a couple of Chicago style hot dogs each.   Special yesterday and maybe every day,  they were $1.27 each.   The Chicago dog place back in CA charges $4.50 and they really didn't taste right.

I've concluded that the dill pickle spear is what gives the dog its authentic style.   One gets tomato, chopped onion,  mustard too.   Hot peppers from Mexico are optional.

Then off to the course.   We met up with Chuck and off we went. Beautiful course,  not very tight,  undulating fairways.   The greens were challenging - -  a number of them elevated,  water came into play a bit,  a lot of sand for the unwary.   There were a lot of breaks and buried animals in the greens.   Some putts were missed by 12 feet and I'm just talking direction.   Speeds were reasonable and they held ok.

It was quiet on the course and we had it to ourselves until we let a twosome go through at 15. 

Pretty much a perfect day with a challenge in front of you and old friends to encourage success.

The scores were nothing to blog about and I'll skip that bit of reporting.

Then on to pizza for beers and more company as Mark joined us.   All four of us worked together in the late 70s early 80s at Nuclear Data.   We were all doing software and learning our trade and the ways of world.

There were war stories to tell and good times to remember.   We also chatted about government and regulation and national policies.  Good discussions with good ideas and input.   Sadly the world will not put us in charge,  so the problems will remain.

We didn't get out of the restaurant until 9:30 then Bob and I made our way back South to his house.   We passed through towns I used to know.   Algonquin and East Dundee were on the route.   East Dundee has a lot of old buildings and if I get back that way,  the camera will be busy.

But so much has changed,  including my memory; so it looked familiar and it didn't.

The car is pushing 4000 miles for the trip.   Maybe today to roll over.  

I'm going to see if I can get a factory tour of Molon Motor and Coil in Rolling Meadows,  where I started my rise through industrial America.   I'd like to take some pictures and see the old place.   Knowing what I know now,  I could have done a better job for them.   I still remember some of the motor part numbers.   We used to stack boxes of parts along a wall,  with the part numbers on them.   In those days my memory was impressive and it was no problem to know which ones were interchangeable.   ZMO-1802 was one rotor and shift assembly and the every popular ZGM-1735-xx series.  Ha!   I've still got it.

I started at the paint booth and came home with green thumbs.   The path to supervision was quick and it was then that I decided that management was not my future.   Give me technical problems to solve and I was your man.   People problems were better left to others.

No new Road kill to report from yesterday.   No animal sightings on the golf course except for a Great Blue Heron that was fishing a pond.

Mink Sighting

Got to the golf course,  Palatine Hills,  my old golf stomping grounds, with Bob,  Butch and Diana.   The course has changed a bit over the 15 years since I was last there.

I told the pro that the counter used to be on the other side of the pro shop.   That got a laugh.   It's still in a small brick building that dates from the 60's.  They've kept it up and it looked good,  but not large nor fancy.   But Tuesday they have bargain rates!  All good.

The course was quite green and the trees were larger.   They've added a bunch too.   The second hole used to have a tree line on the left,  now it has a forest.

One of my rarest wild life sightings was a long tailed weasel in CA,  but I spotted a brown weasel or mink (could it possibly be a stoat?)  cavorting along a brush line near the driving range.   Then the critter came out again and allowed me to fire off the trusty phone camera and get a shot.   Bad,  but I got him. It's hard to see on Facebook,  but I'll stick it up on Flickr where some better zooming might be possible.

It was good to get on the course again.   I remembered various rounds and hole results over the years.   It was in great shape and the greens were a lot more diabolical that I remember.   I think I had 3 three putts on the front nine.

We played pretty short tees and that was about right due to everyone's shrinking tee shot lengths.   But I remember being on the back tees with more challenging tee shots required.

It was fun day,  now Bob and I are gulping pills to help our old backs.

Great night last night as a thunder storm rolled through.   One more data point that it is not a benign planet.  But I do like the noise and the lightning. Flash,  bang,  rain against the window.  I was happy not to be in the tent,  though that might have been exciting too.

It's 9:30 now and the rain has gone.   The folks out here talk about needing the rain.   Rare talk for CA folks,  where don't expect it for 9 months of the year.

Golf with Bob and Chuck is out in Cary today.   A bit more to the northwest from Palatine.   I used to play on a course out there,  which seemed to be built on a ski Hill as I recall. Useful to have one leg shorter than the other for the side Hill lies.  

Pizza for dinner as old colleagues get together a meal and talk.

Rich

Gear Update

I realized that I've not said much about the camping gear,  so lovingly selected for the trip,  and how well it is working.

The problem is that I've not been camping a lot.   4 nights so far.   And it's been so hot that I've not had the inspiration or perspiration to do any cooking.

But let me comment on a few things. 

I bought a Lime Fuel recharger well before the trip and got Barb one.   This is about 6 inches long and 4 wide and 3/4 inch thick.   It has 12000 mah capacity.   When there has been no power I've used it.   I can recharge my phone about 4 times or the tablet about 3.  It's been useful to keep things going without external power handy.

The tent has worked well.   It consists of a rain fly and the tent and various poles.   The poles all come apart for transport.   I've not used the rain fly once,  when it was very hot and I wanted any breeze I could get.  I tried stacking out a corner of the rain fly on another occasion to act as a wind catcher, but the wind died completely and nothing was going to help.

The tent is a four person size and that is large enough for two with gear and have a lot of move around space.   There is no standing head room, which hasn't been a big problem.   Being able to walk in and out would be useful, but I've been trying to keep shoe dust out, so walking in and out is not been an approved activity.

What I've hinted at above,  is that a fan would be useful.   Tent fans exist and I' m going to keep my eyes open for one down the road.   Battery or USB powered would work.   With the USB,  I could power it off the Lime Fuel cell and could run it for a week or so. They have versions that hang from the top of the tent and would help with warm and probably damp conditions a lot.

The hatchet has been needed.   One of the campgrounds was small stone and hard dirt as the tent pad and being able to pound in stakes was necessary.  

I've not tried the hammock or tarp or some of the other stuff.   Bugs and rain have not been problems.

The car is just big enough for all the gear.   Some of which will not fit in the hatch back compartment, so it's on the back seat and by the passenger foot well.   That leaves me a bit paranoid about leaving the car for a long hike for example.   If I keep doing this,  a larger vehicle will be useful.

I'm getting about 30 mpg with gas about $2.70 per gallon.   I'd hate to lose 25% fuel economy,  but that might be the price of security.   I thought about locking it all together and anchoring it to the seat belts,  but it's just a dream for the moment.   Pack Safe has some wire mesh containers to protect a backpack,  which might be all I need to avoid disaster.   I can easily replace a tent,  but the electronics and stuff are more valuable and probably not insured for full loss.

Golf today at Palatine Hills with Diana and Butch and Bob -  looking forward to it.

Rich

Problems in the Midwest

 

I've been away for 30 years and I must state that I could not return to this area.

Item 1: a  driving range bucket,  they call it large here,  but medium in CA is $9!  Sheesh,  they are less than $6 back home.  

Item 2: the sky has been cloudy since Tulsa.   The sun is probably up there somewhere,  but I can't confirm it.

Item 3: Bob beat me in the putting contest at the driving range.   Better to be a big fish in a small pond!

Item 4: I needed a nail clipper.   Went to the local Butera and they had them behind at the security counter!   Do they walk off that frequently?   One can only conclude yes.

I can remember periods of time when I lived here that it always rained during the weekends.   In the winter the sun is never up when you are not working.  

Golf tomorrow with Bob,  Butch and Diana at my old stomping grounds,  Palatine Hills.   Other courses have vanished!  

Otherwise a quiet day,  though my back is complaining about hitting the large buckets.  A mere 120 balls or something,  but I've had a few days off from hitting.

Bob and Elaine have been excellent hosts.   Bob is working on mastering the Rubik's cube.   It's not going well,  but I think he is burning a lot of new neural pathways.   Never a bad idea.

Even though the sun was not visible,  I seem to have acquired bit of forehead sun burn.   Cream and hat tomorrow.

Rich

Chicago Arrival

It was a wet run from St.  Louis to the northwest suburbs.  I was running in front of a storm that was expected to bring 3 to 5 inches to the St.  Louis area.  

It rained on the road until beyond the middle of Illinois.  Then the roads dried and the speed limits dropped.

I don't remember much of the road system out here.   I've not been back for maybe 15 years. Google maps comes through again.

I got in about noon and drove around the old neighborhoods in Palatine.   Even circled the parking lot at Fremd high-school.   It looks grander than I remember and larger too.   Was Phineas correct that you can't go home again?

The big goals in this part of the country are to eat some Italian beef and a Chicago hotdogs,  maybe get some peppers to take back,  and see some friends and play some golf.

We did Italian beef last night.   So sad,  it didn't taste as good as I remembered.   Maybe it's better to leave these things in the past.  

Bob and I played Wing Park,  which is a 9 hole course in Elgin.   I managed to par a few holes,  but it was rough going.  They have small greens that are very hard.   No ball hit to them stayed on.  

Today is July 4th.   Last night the neighbors were using fireworks until 11:30 or so.   Big ones too.   Ariel displays and big boomers. I think I heard the coyotes serenade the sound effects.   I've been told they react to sirens too.   I wonder how many there are.   I've not seen a lot of stray cats.

This area,  Eastern Elgin, has a lot of forest preserve.   I've not seen any where on my travels where it is done to this extent.   The roads are over grown with trees and there are access roads that don't go anywhere.

I saw three deer thinking to cross the road on the way back from Buono beef last night.  

Road kill report: several deer and a skunk yesterday. Did I mention the armadillo in Missouri? I wouldn't have thought they would have been that far north.

How to pronounce Missouri...   If you are from St.  Louis you say Miss-ur-ee,  but a bit more South and it's Miss-ur-a, The mining engineer from the lead mine said it with an "a"  at the end.   Otherwise his English was impeccable and I am not sure he wasn't right about that one.   Old line in the family,  "a man with two watches doesn't know what time it is."

I'm expecting a slow,  restful day today.   I may drive a bit around Elgin and see the old sites.   There is a driving range at the Spartan Meadows golf course,  that I think I'll hit.   Assuming it's still there.   Stuff is different that it was. The landmarks and sizes of streets and areas don't match my memory.

Yesterday,  I drove past the old homestead.   It looked pretty good.   The garage has a noticeable tilt to the left.  Perhaps the residents are Bernie supporters.

That's all for now.   I slept ok.   It's a bit warm here and humid.   My sinuses have been slightly unhappy for the duration of the trip so far.   But always to good to sleep well.   I'm not sleeping late at all.   That may change when I hook up with the Grime's clan in NC, with a new time zone and different "stay up patterns."

Rich

St. Louis

I've spent a couple of wonderful days in the St.  Louis area.   I have much to commend my hostess and guide,  Ann Marie.

Today it was cold and rainy and we still managed to see a number of things.

STL has a number of ethnic neighborhoods and we hit the Italian "Hill"  section and the French and Dogtown Irish section.   We visited the Soulard market too.   It's has interesting architecture as well as a busy and robust indoor and outdoor market.   It reminded me of the indoor market Barb and I visited in San Jose,  Costa Rica.  

We hit Rooster for lunch where I had a spiced apple,  cheese,  and German sausage crepe for lunch.   We were going to try the STL slider,  but the mountain of gravy put me off.

It rained,  albeit lightly,  all day.   We decided to go to Grant Park instead of the Busch brewery tour.   In both cases you are going to get beer.

Grant Park is named after one of our presidents.   There is a home there,  painted green and visitable.  

The park is owned by the Busch family and is home to some of the Clydesdale horses.  With your parking pass you can wander a limited area in the paddock of the horses.   They have one who's job it is to be petted and act as a backdrop for picture taking.   No obligation to buy,  but they take everyone's picture.

Ok,  across the road and into the park.   You get another photo op then onto a tram that takes you around the park.   The Busches liked to collect animals from the continents that have deer and such and they brought them to this park.   (Maybe other parks, but I don't know.)

The weather brought them out and active and we saw all that they had.   Deer,  antelope,  bison,  sheep, ostrich,  etc.

Then the tram drops you off at a park.   There are more animals there.   Hungry goats ableeting,  tortoises,  kangaroos,  and wallabies, whom Ann calls "want-a-bes" as they don't measure up to the kangaroos,  but would like to.

There is a nice courtyard there and on a warmer day will sell you snow cones and other stuff.   A small restaurant is there and then the beer "store" where you get two full cups from 5 different types of A/B beers.  

Ann Marie and I started with the Belgian Wheat, and finished with the Amber Bock.  

Then back to the tram for a quick run down to the parking lot.

I was cold and when we got back to Ann's I ran for my fleece that I've not worn in a month.   Ah,  comfort.  

I was all set to call it a day and drowse my way through the evening,  trying to stay awake,  but AM decided,  as tour guide,  that we had to go to Ted Drewes frozen custard.   World famous and has been at that spot since 1929.  The spot is on Route 66 and since the forties has been designated as a landmark.

I had the tiramisu,  which was delicious and filling and rich and flavorful.   Dessert and dinner rolled into one.   I will not be going there on my way out of town.

It is a long store front with maybe 10 service windows,  all open,  all crowded with people.   All they serve is custard,  but with the blended toppings,  the variations are large.  The lines move quickly and all the customers,  whether eating or waiting were in a fine mood.

There were folks in the parking lot with their tailgates opened and eating there.

Attendants directed traffic and pointed out empty parking spaces.   Did I mention that the temperature was in the 60s with a light drizzle?   Of course I did.   This didn't deter the 50 folks from being there.  

It's a great business,  with a huge turnover of customers.   I wonder what it would be like on a hot day.

I've not said much about the neighborhoods that AM showed me.   They are not new for the most part and red brick is the building material of choice.  But the styles have changed from the shotgun style to three story,  large windowed, French style buildings.

The streets are narrow and the trees are huge.   I was reminded of Palatine,  which dates from 1850.  Same kind of omnipresent trees and shade.   The parking strips matched up too - -  all grass and sidewalks.

Thus a lot of STL reminded me of my youth.   Since I'm heading that way and will do some driving around and seeing the old parts, it set me to thinking about the next leg of the trip.

The drive tomorrow is about 4.5 hours.   Heavy rain is forecast. It may take a bit longer to get North of the weather.   Sadly the road to Chicago heads North and west,  just where the water is.   I may be in it for a while.

I hit some heavy stuff in southern Missouri which made the driving nerve wracking.   For any of you looking for a warm and dry area to live,  I will mention that the rain did not start until leaving Oklahoma.

Ann Marie has been a great tour director!   My thanks to her for sharing her home and wonderful town with me. 

At the Lead Mine and Farmington and St. Genevieve

Ann Marie was kind enough to take a Friday off and she and I with Sandy took a trip down to a Missouri State Park that is an abandoned lead mine.

There is good and bad to this.   The buildings are nice and rusty and photogenic,  the light was pretty good,  but you can't get into the buildings. 

There is a museum there that I went through.   They have some of the old mining equipment and a room of crystals and then a room of old power generation parts.

In the old days each mine would have it's own power plant.   One company bought up most of the mines in the area and got the local commercial power company to build a dam  and supply power to all their mines. The dam created the lake of the Ozarks,  if I understood the story correctly.

We went into Farmington for lunch and found a bar/grill.   I had the spicy shrimp po boy with fried green tomatoes.   Pretty good,  but the tomatoes  didn't have a lot of flavor.

Then on to St.  Genevieve,  which is about 2 miles inland from the Mississippi River with Illinois being across the river.   We went down to the ferry doc and tried to ride the ferry over and back.   Alas,  the coast Guard had suggested that they needed some repairs before returning to commercial service.  

We went back into town and wandered about.   There are homes that date from the Colonial period and some from the early 19th century.   Ann Marie and I went through the house from 1830.  He was a trader and there were a lot of pelts on display.   From muskrat to bear with buffalo in between.  

The docent was pretty good and had some history to relate.   We didn't want to hang around for some of the other houses.   It is an interesting town and worth a look.   (For those of you who worry about the unprecedented rise of sea level,  they have flood gates and a levee system there.   They also had markings from prior floods that were 20 feet or so above our heads.   Lots of water on occasion,  then and probably down the road.)

Then we headed back to SL and it was time to put the feet up and Crack one of Kaz's beers (don't anyone tell him!)   We dined on Culver's butter  hamburgers for dinner.   I've yet to try the frozen custard out here,  it comes recommended.

The interstates are all jammed up as we came back into town.   We missed all of that.   Dropped Sandy off and called it a day.

Rain tomorrow in the afternoon.   We have somethings planned.   Sunday is a travel day and they are predicting a lot of rain and possible flooding.

We may have to hang around Busch Park and drink the free beer.

Rich