Don has arranged for us to start our day with an 8:00 am tour of the Speedway Museum in Lincoln. We are told to park our cars in front of the museum in the circular driveway and are provided with a very warm welcome. None of us have been here before and we absolutely amazed at the magnitude of "Speedy" Bill Smith's collections. If it has to do with Speed -- it's there. The museum bills itself as the World's Largest Collection of Vintage to Exotic Racing Engines & Speed Equipment and it is. We are provided with a private tour guide and spend over 2 hours working our way through 3 floors of beautifully arranged exhibits -- and even then we have only scratched the surface. At the end of the tour we have the opportunity to meet Bill Smith who is still actively involved in every aspect of the business. We each thank Bill for sharing his collection with us and say our good-byes to our guide.
It has started to rain while we were in the museum. We head to the nearby gas station to prepare for our drive in the rain. Don & Arlene pull out raingear, Gail & I pull out electrical tape to try to "waterproof" the windows. Electrical tape has become a standard "extra" we travel with. After all that work, we drive out from under the clouds in less than 20 miles. The sun is out as we pull into York NE for lunch.
York is the site of yet another parting. Don & Arlene have decided to leave the group and head north on their own. They are headed to North Dakota where they will visit with Arlene's brother before heading home next week. We are all sad -- it just doesn't feel right to split up the group. So with hugs and a few tears we say goodbye and promise to check-in with each other this evening.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Effingham to Kansas City (Labor Day)
We head west out of Effingham and are headed toward our old home town of Kansas City. The cars are all continuing to run under their own power. Don has developed an electrical problem (we think) that keeps him from being able to start his car the normal way. So Don leaves the car in 2nd gear and parks on a hill whenever possible. When there is no hill in sight, we all line up and push. Teamwork keeps the group moving.
We are a bit concerned about running into Labor Day Traffic caused by all the folks returning from a long week-end at the Lake of the Ozarks but thankfully this never materializes. We make a quick stop for gas and a bite to eat thinking that by skipping a lunch stop we might miss some of the traffic. Don forgets to leave the car in gear and after several tries we finally get the car started. We are back on the road and in Kansas City by 3:30.
Perhaps the major reason for choosing this route is that Gail read about the Steamboat Arabia Museum in National Geographic and is dying to see it. Barrie and I have seen it several times and it is a wonderful story and an amazing display of pre-Civil War artifacts recovered from a sunken Steamboat. I read on the internet that the last tour is at 4 pm -- so we head straight to the museum and make it just in time. Except -- since this is Labor Day they closed the museum at 2:30. The first tour tomorrow is at 10 am.
So instead of touring the museum, we head to our hotel and have time to enjoy the city. I have arranged for us to stay at the Raphael Hotel on the Kansas City Country Club Plaza. This boutique hotel has always been a favorite of mine and I was able to secure great rooms at a very reasonable rate. Tonight we stay in luxury.
We are a bit concerned about running into Labor Day Traffic caused by all the folks returning from a long week-end at the Lake of the Ozarks but thankfully this never materializes. We make a quick stop for gas and a bite to eat thinking that by skipping a lunch stop we might miss some of the traffic. Don forgets to leave the car in gear and after several tries we finally get the car started. We are back on the road and in Kansas City by 3:30.
Perhaps the major reason for choosing this route is that Gail read about the Steamboat Arabia Museum in National Geographic and is dying to see it. Barrie and I have seen it several times and it is a wonderful story and an amazing display of pre-Civil War artifacts recovered from a sunken Steamboat. I read on the internet that the last tour is at 4 pm -- so we head straight to the museum and make it just in time. Except -- since this is Labor Day they closed the museum at 2:30. The first tour tomorrow is at 10 am.
So instead of touring the museum, we head to our hotel and have time to enjoy the city. I have arranged for us to stay at the Raphael Hotel on the Kansas City Country Club Plaza. This boutique hotel has always been a favorite of mine and I was able to secure great rooms at a very reasonable rate. Tonight we stay in luxury.
Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow (Sunday)
When I tell folks we are headed to Auburn for the reunion the most common response I get is -- again? Why do you do it year after year? Haven't you been there? A few years ago, I looked at Barrie one day and said -- I've finally figured it out -- you have MAD CAR DISEASE. That is indeed true and it is the cars that started the whole adventure but the simplest reason for us to be returning to Auburn year after year is the people.
The last few years we have been staying at the home in Auburn. Loann and Charles greet us upon our return like we are family. George and Sheila have been staying with them for more than a decade. They open their hearts and their home and provide us a quiet respite to return to throughout the weekend. This morning we pack our bags and say our good-byes for this year.
We arrive at the Awards Brunch and are soon surrounded by many friends. We know that in a few hours we will be saying more good-byes. I head into the museum's banquet room to grab a table for the group we have been traveling with. This is the last time that the 8 of us will be together on this trip. Josh and Betty are shipping their car home and will fly out tomorrow. The rest of head west as a group and at some point Gail A& Joyce will continue to head west as we head north. So, for the banquet we will sit together and celebrate our trip.
The awards banquet is always well-done and this year is no exception. As president of the Club, Tim Gillmartin is master of ceremonies and does a great job. We are thankful for the efforts of everyone involved in putting the week-end together and we really do appreciate how much hard work goes into the event. The exciting news for our group is that Don Wohlwend is awarded the Wat Adams gold ring. This award is bestowed on a person who DRIVES their Cord Automobile. Don & Arlene are amazing. They drive their beautiful, rare 1937 Cord Convertible Coupe with the top down. We all marvel and most of us don't think we could pass the endurance test. But, they love it and their smiles show it. In just a few short years, they have logged 20,000 miles or more. But more importantly, Don is always at the ready to help when there is a problem. His effort to find a permanent solution to the problem of cracking wheels is likely to keep us driving. The Wat Adams award is a true honor and Don is the 70th person in the history of the club to receive this award. Looking around our table -- each of the men have received this award. First Josh, then Gail, then Barrie and now Don. The Four Cordsmen are intrepid driver's of their cars and fast friends.
From brunch we head out to the parking lot and I take a final look around. I know we'll be back. We head to the cars and begin our drive home. We head southwest through Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Terre Haute. There is still enough daylight for driving so we press on to Effingham for the evening. We learn that Effingham is a mecca for Corvette owners and laugh about what might be for breakfast in the morning -- perhaps effingham and eggs. Tomorrow we are headed for Kansas City.
The last few years we have been staying at the home in Auburn. Loann and Charles greet us upon our return like we are family. George and Sheila have been staying with them for more than a decade. They open their hearts and their home and provide us a quiet respite to return to throughout the weekend. This morning we pack our bags and say our good-byes for this year.
We arrive at the Awards Brunch and are soon surrounded by many friends. We know that in a few hours we will be saying more good-byes. I head into the museum's banquet room to grab a table for the group we have been traveling with. This is the last time that the 8 of us will be together on this trip. Josh and Betty are shipping their car home and will fly out tomorrow. The rest of head west as a group and at some point Gail A& Joyce will continue to head west as we head north. So, for the banquet we will sit together and celebrate our trip.
The awards banquet is always well-done and this year is no exception. As president of the Club, Tim Gillmartin is master of ceremonies and does a great job. We are thankful for the efforts of everyone involved in putting the week-end together and we really do appreciate how much hard work goes into the event. The exciting news for our group is that Don Wohlwend is awarded the Wat Adams gold ring. This award is bestowed on a person who DRIVES their Cord Automobile. Don & Arlene are amazing. They drive their beautiful, rare 1937 Cord Convertible Coupe with the top down. We all marvel and most of us don't think we could pass the endurance test. But, they love it and their smiles show it. In just a few short years, they have logged 20,000 miles or more. But more importantly, Don is always at the ready to help when there is a problem. His effort to find a permanent solution to the problem of cracking wheels is likely to keep us driving. The Wat Adams award is a true honor and Don is the 70th person in the history of the club to receive this award. Looking around our table -- each of the men have received this award. First Josh, then Gail, then Barrie and now Don. The Four Cordsmen are intrepid driver's of their cars and fast friends.
From brunch we head out to the parking lot and I take a final look around. I know we'll be back. We head to the cars and begin our drive home. We head southwest through Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Terre Haute. There is still enough daylight for driving so we press on to Effingham for the evening. We learn that Effingham is a mecca for Corvette owners and laugh about what might be for breakfast in the morning -- perhaps effingham and eggs. Tomorrow we are headed for Kansas City.
The Reunion & The Repair (Friday & Saturday)
I am way behind on this post and will come back to this. I want to catch you up on our travels. For the moment what you need to know is the repair to our car was completed with much help from many folks -- especially Bill Richardson and FedEx. Barrie & Gail managed to complete the repair at 11:45 and we were in the 1:00 parade through town. More later.
Friday, September 4, 2009
The Home Stretch (Thursday)
We are up this morning with just over 200 miles to drive today. We'll be glad to get to Auburn so we can get the car off the trailer. Barrie says he will have it on the field on Saturday. Josh & Betty take off early to be in Auburn in time for a meeting. Gail & Joyce opt to sleep in and take a leisurely start. That leaves the Wohlwend's and the Hutchinson's traveling together this morning. We head for the tri-state and hope to get around the bottom of Chicago without finding any real traffic jams. Our morning commute is amazingly smooth. All that worry about Chicago traffic turned out to be for naught.
Don calls on the cell phone and says he forget to fuel up. The needle is on EMPTY and we are on the freeway. We look up gas on the GPS and head for a fuel stop. If it isn't one thing on this trip, it is another. We decide to take the northerly route so we can stop at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend. We spend an hour or so. The museum is quite terrific. Then we walk 3 blocks to have lunch at the Studebaker Mansion. An amazing place that has been converted into a beautiful restaurant. Three of the four stories have been lovingly restored and the restaurant rambles from room to room on all three floors. After lunch we walk back to the cars (well - Don's car and our "rig") and head off for the last 100 miles. Yikes, what should have been an easy afternoon turns into a relative nightmare. First we find bad roads, then miserable detours and tons and stoplights. We are ever so glad to reach Auburn at 4:00. The first half of our trip is over.
We first stop at the Holiday Inn Express where Don & Arlene are staying. We bring in the infamous traveling box of wine and raise a glass to toast the "success" of our trip. At least we are all here!! We head over to the private home where we will be staying for the weekend. Ahhhhh. Finally an opportunity to relax. We end the evening at a birthday party.
Tomorrow is the swap meet and then Barrie has the challenge of tearing the car apart and putting it back together again. Cross your fingers, we'll need some luck.
Don calls on the cell phone and says he forget to fuel up. The needle is on EMPTY and we are on the freeway. We look up gas on the GPS and head for a fuel stop. If it isn't one thing on this trip, it is another. We decide to take the northerly route so we can stop at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend. We spend an hour or so. The museum is quite terrific. Then we walk 3 blocks to have lunch at the Studebaker Mansion. An amazing place that has been converted into a beautiful restaurant. Three of the four stories have been lovingly restored and the restaurant rambles from room to room on all three floors. After lunch we walk back to the cars (well - Don's car and our "rig") and head off for the last 100 miles. Yikes, what should have been an easy afternoon turns into a relative nightmare. First we find bad roads, then miserable detours and tons and stoplights. We are ever so glad to reach Auburn at 4:00. The first half of our trip is over.
We first stop at the Holiday Inn Express where Don & Arlene are staying. We bring in the infamous traveling box of wine and raise a glass to toast the "success" of our trip. At least we are all here!! We head over to the private home where we will be staying for the weekend. Ahhhhh. Finally an opportunity to relax. We end the evening at a birthday party.
Tomorrow is the swap meet and then Barrie has the challenge of tearing the car apart and putting it back together again. Cross your fingers, we'll need some luck.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Automatic Transmission & Air Conditioning (Wednesday)
Another day, another challenge. Good news is that we are all making the best of the situation. Arlene's nephew-in-law drove 2 1/2 hours this morning to have breakfast with us. Clearly he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to see his Aunt Arlene and it didn't hurt that his dad lives near Cedar Falls. We were thankful that he was willing to drive us to Waterloo in his vintage Mustang so we could pick up a rental truck and trailer.
The gang gathered for breakfast and lingered until after 9:00 before getting on the road. It was nice of them to keep us company until we could contact the rental company -- but in truth a little organization chaos may have been the cause of their delay.
We called the rental company to see what time we could pick up the truck -- and learned that we could head over right away. We had rented the truck and were on the road by 11:00. Pretty good recovery from yesterday's disaster. Barrie called Bill Richardson with a list of needed parts and Bill promised to get it in the overnight FedEX. Amazing how the pieces are falling together. We arrange for a place to work in Auburn and a place to have the parts shipped. Our next two days will be spent hauling the car to Auburn. We have a pretty comfortable ride with air conditioning.
We are making good progress and see no reason why we can't catch up with our group outside of Chicago this evening. We stop a time or two to check the load. These rental trailers were not really made for 125" wheelbase (the car hangs out fore and aft) but all seems to be secure. We stop for lunch in Iowa City and are swarmed by a group of old men who want us to know that there is an antique car museum in town. We grab a quick bite and stop by the museum to see the collection. Amazing collection of early (late 1800s - early 1900s unrestored cars). The folks at the museum offer to help us fix our car. Since we have parts ready to great us in Auburn, we thank them for the offer but decline. We still have more than 100 miles before we make our evening stop.
The afternoon rolls along relatively smoothly. I say relatively because an empty moving truck pulling a trailer on an old interstate is not exactly smooth. Never-the-less, we arrive at the hotel in Tinely Park before the rest of the gang. I take this as an opportunity for a quick workout. The group arrives just as were are finishing up our workout and we learn of Josh's trials over the course of the day. Evidendtly a combination of bad roads, high winds and big trucks resulted in Josh's hood flying open. The good news is that the people (Josh & Betty) are fine and the car suffered relatively minor damage. I don't even want to think about what might have happened. We all gather for dinner around 8 and head off to our rooms tired but glad that the team in still traveling together
The gang gathered for breakfast and lingered until after 9:00 before getting on the road. It was nice of them to keep us company until we could contact the rental company -- but in truth a little organization chaos may have been the cause of their delay.
We called the rental company to see what time we could pick up the truck -- and learned that we could head over right away. We had rented the truck and were on the road by 11:00. Pretty good recovery from yesterday's disaster. Barrie called Bill Richardson with a list of needed parts and Bill promised to get it in the overnight FedEX. Amazing how the pieces are falling together. We arrange for a place to work in Auburn and a place to have the parts shipped. Our next two days will be spent hauling the car to Auburn. We have a pretty comfortable ride with air conditioning.
We are making good progress and see no reason why we can't catch up with our group outside of Chicago this evening. We stop a time or two to check the load. These rental trailers were not really made for 125" wheelbase (the car hangs out fore and aft) but all seems to be secure. We stop for lunch in Iowa City and are swarmed by a group of old men who want us to know that there is an antique car museum in town. We grab a quick bite and stop by the museum to see the collection. Amazing collection of early (late 1800s - early 1900s unrestored cars). The folks at the museum offer to help us fix our car. Since we have parts ready to great us in Auburn, we thank them for the offer but decline. We still have more than 100 miles before we make our evening stop.
The afternoon rolls along relatively smoothly. I say relatively because an empty moving truck pulling a trailer on an old interstate is not exactly smooth. Never-the-less, we arrive at the hotel in Tinely Park before the rest of the gang. I take this as an opportunity for a quick workout. The group arrives just as were are finishing up our workout and we learn of Josh's trials over the course of the day. Evidendtly a combination of bad roads, high winds and big trucks resulted in Josh's hood flying open. The good news is that the people (Josh & Betty) are fine and the car suffered relatively minor damage. I don't even want to think about what might have happened. We all gather for dinner around 8 and head off to our rooms tired but glad that the team in still traveling together
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Tuesday)
As you can tell, I am once again running behind on the blog. I'll try to catch up this morning but I make no promises. Simply not enough time.
Monday night we learned of a NAPA store about 30 miles down the road where the manager is a REAL car guy and might be able to help us find a new cap for Don's radiator. We pull in and park next to a 1959 Corvette - this seems to be a good omen. Sure enough, after a bit of head scratching, he comes up with a GAS cap that fits. Don's car looks very sport with a chome cap on the radiator. Then we are again on the backroads and headed toward Yankton. Clearly we are in farm country. Miles and miles of cornfields and open country. We arrive in Yankton just in time for lunch. This town is very close to the farm that Arlene was born on. Don & Arlene remember fine dining at the Library restaurant -- maybe this is our lunch stop. We ask at the gas station and are told that the Library has been closed for YEARS. We stop for lunch at Yesterday's Diner. Fun spot with old cars -- though not as old as ours.
Gail was off searching farmers' fields in Winner for old tractors at our time of departure so he has been trailing behind this morning. Gail & Joyce catch up just as we are finishing lunch. We now head off in a pack of four Cords. We head south out of town across the NEW bridge and follow lonely highway 12 through northeast Nebraska before joining with highway 20 and beginning the trek across Iowa. We need to make some time to cover 250 miles before we stop for the night. My original thought was to stop in Iowa Falls but as cell phone coverage permits, I check availability. Yikes, only smoking rooms are left. I start searching a little farther down the road for lodging and find four non-smoking rooms at the Country Inn in Cedar Falls. I grab the rooms and let everyone know our plans. The group has now split into two groups. We are traveling with Don & Arlene in our rear view mirror. We are beginning to hear noises coming from the front of the car. We stop for gas in Webster and Barrie looks at the car but decides we'll get to our final destination before he digs into the problem. We just have 75 miles to go.
Now, this is where it gets ugly. Barrie gets on his knees to look under the car and SWEARS. He immediately gets to works taking off Don's beautiful wheel (driver's side front) to see what is happening. It is not good. I'm not good at the technical stuff so I'll get Barrie or Don to blog what actually happened but suffice to say we are not driving the car another inch without some major work. Don pulls out his cell phone and places a call to Bill Richardson -- who answers immediately. We certainly travel under a lucky star. Bill says that if we can get him a list of what we need, he will get it in the Fed-Ex tomorrow.
Cedar Falls is a beautiful town but we don't really want to be left behind to wait for a package and we don't want to hold up our traveling companions from reaching Auburn. I get on the computer to see if we can get a truck and trailer to haul the car the remaining distance to Auburn. This way Bill can send the parts ahead and we can do the work in Auburn. Barrie is determined to drive the car home from Auburn. Another stroke of luck. A truck and trailer is available just 5 miles down the road in Waterloo - and we might be able to have it as early as 9 am. At this point we decide the only logical thing to do is to button-up the car and drink! We head back into the hotel for a glass of wine. After a glass (or two) we are feeling up to finding a place for dinner. We head toward the lobby with Don & Arlene and find the rest of our group checking in. They had stopped for ice cream and coffee along the way.
We quickly decide to order in Chinese. We take over the lobby and enjoy each other's company and another glass of wine while waiting for the Chinese food delivery. The manager offers us the use of the breakfast for our dinner party. We celebrate our friends and the fact that nothing really bad happened. Another stroke of luck. We all head off to bed a little humbled and very grateful.
Tomorrow we'll rent a truck and keep on going.
Monday night we learned of a NAPA store about 30 miles down the road where the manager is a REAL car guy and might be able to help us find a new cap for Don's radiator. We pull in and park next to a 1959 Corvette - this seems to be a good omen. Sure enough, after a bit of head scratching, he comes up with a GAS cap that fits. Don's car looks very sport with a chome cap on the radiator. Then we are again on the backroads and headed toward Yankton. Clearly we are in farm country. Miles and miles of cornfields and open country. We arrive in Yankton just in time for lunch. This town is very close to the farm that Arlene was born on. Don & Arlene remember fine dining at the Library restaurant -- maybe this is our lunch stop. We ask at the gas station and are told that the Library has been closed for YEARS. We stop for lunch at Yesterday's Diner. Fun spot with old cars -- though not as old as ours.
Gail was off searching farmers' fields in Winner for old tractors at our time of departure so he has been trailing behind this morning. Gail & Joyce catch up just as we are finishing lunch. We now head off in a pack of four Cords. We head south out of town across the NEW bridge and follow lonely highway 12 through northeast Nebraska before joining with highway 20 and beginning the trek across Iowa. We need to make some time to cover 250 miles before we stop for the night. My original thought was to stop in Iowa Falls but as cell phone coverage permits, I check availability. Yikes, only smoking rooms are left. I start searching a little farther down the road for lodging and find four non-smoking rooms at the Country Inn in Cedar Falls. I grab the rooms and let everyone know our plans. The group has now split into two groups. We are traveling with Don & Arlene in our rear view mirror. We are beginning to hear noises coming from the front of the car. We stop for gas in Webster and Barrie looks at the car but decides we'll get to our final destination before he digs into the problem. We just have 75 miles to go.
Now, this is where it gets ugly. Barrie gets on his knees to look under the car and SWEARS. He immediately gets to works taking off Don's beautiful wheel (driver's side front) to see what is happening. It is not good. I'm not good at the technical stuff so I'll get Barrie or Don to blog what actually happened but suffice to say we are not driving the car another inch without some major work. Don pulls out his cell phone and places a call to Bill Richardson -- who answers immediately. We certainly travel under a lucky star. Bill says that if we can get him a list of what we need, he will get it in the Fed-Ex tomorrow.
Cedar Falls is a beautiful town but we don't really want to be left behind to wait for a package and we don't want to hold up our traveling companions from reaching Auburn. I get on the computer to see if we can get a truck and trailer to haul the car the remaining distance to Auburn. This way Bill can send the parts ahead and we can do the work in Auburn. Barrie is determined to drive the car home from Auburn. Another stroke of luck. A truck and trailer is available just 5 miles down the road in Waterloo - and we might be able to have it as early as 9 am. At this point we decide the only logical thing to do is to button-up the car and drink! We head back into the hotel for a glass of wine. After a glass (or two) we are feeling up to finding a place for dinner. We head toward the lobby with Don & Arlene and find the rest of our group checking in. They had stopped for ice cream and coffee along the way.
We quickly decide to order in Chinese. We take over the lobby and enjoy each other's company and another glass of wine while waiting for the Chinese food delivery. The manager offers us the use of the breakfast for our dinner party. We celebrate our friends and the fact that nothing really bad happened. Another stroke of luck. We all head off to bed a little humbled and very grateful.
Tomorrow we'll rent a truck and keep on going.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Mutiny & Reunion (Monday)
Barrie and I are up early. He heads out to prep the car and I take a walk. My job is to find breakfast. I return to the hotel with directions to the grocery store. It is fruit and yogurt for us this morning after last night's dinner. We also find a great coffee shop in an old gas station. Lots of petroliana to take in as we wait for our latte to be made.
Monday morning mutiny. The plan was to meet in the parking located behind our hotels and start our day by going to Crazy Horse. The planned departure was 8:10 (the time decided by the group at dinner since it reflected the Cord). Barrie has our car running and Josh & Betty arrive ready to roll. But where are Don & Arlene and Gail & Joyce. We know that Gail and Don took an early morning drive to see Sturgis but they should be back. We discover they are still packing their cars and want us to drive around the block to join them. (Great idea -- now we'll all be facing in the wrong direction). They then tell us that they will head out on their own and we are free to take off. And so, Barrie takes the lead and Josh follows as we leave Deadwood in our rear view mirrors. We will travel route 385 through the hills to Crazy Horse. At Hill City we stop for gas and moments later we are in the parking lot.
Time to go..............
OK -- finaly back at a computer. The Crazy Horse Monument is a sight to behold. The immensity of the project and the dedication of the family for all these years. The monument is larger than the largest pyramid (imagine that). The magnitude is almost unimaginable. We enjoy the overview provided at the visitor's center and spend time looking at all the artifacts. I've been here before but so much progress has been made. We could spend all day but know that we have more sights to see and more miles to drive before we sleep. We head out to the parking lot and low and behold the rest of our gang has caught up.
We are all standing in the parking lot and just as we are getting ready to head out -- our motorcycle friends from last night arrive. More conviviality. Finally we are on our way again. Gail heads out first, followed by Don, we are third in line. Yikes, they are turning left!!! The shorter route to Mount Rushmore is to the right. We debate for a moment and turn right! We want to have time to spend at Mount Rushmore. Once again we are separated.
We arrive at Mount Rushmore and find a parking spot that provides for a good photo op. With photos taken, the Malks' and Hutchinson's spend some time enjoying this magnificant monument. After a short stop, we are headed to the Badlands. We are driving the backroad and while the scenery is fantastic, the place is desolate. We drive and drive and finally reach the "town" of Interior. Josh is starving and we stop at the only establishment in town -- a biker bar. We stop and are brave enough to enter but ultimately leave since there is no vegetarian entree. (Come-on this is South Dakota). We continue to drive into the park and find a less interesting lunch at the park restaurant. We are all wearing down but Josh is concerned about continuing along the lonely back-roads. We detour back the highway for the bulk of the afternoon drive. Eventually we turn south and head toward the evening's destination of Winner.
Interesting drive. Beautiful farmland. Everywhere we look there are pheasants. Driving is starting to look like dodgeball. Somehow we are able to miss hitting a pheasant. We arrive in Winner and start to look for a motel. I spot a sign for a Holiday Inn Express. Sounds pretty uptown for Winner and we decide to go for it. We check in and are glad to learn that we can walk to the Holiday House next door for dinner. A local traveling salesman discovers the cars and is so exitied. He joins us for dinner. More on this tomorrow.
Monday morning mutiny. The plan was to meet in the parking located behind our hotels and start our day by going to Crazy Horse. The planned departure was 8:10 (the time decided by the group at dinner since it reflected the Cord). Barrie has our car running and Josh & Betty arrive ready to roll. But where are Don & Arlene and Gail & Joyce. We know that Gail and Don took an early morning drive to see Sturgis but they should be back. We discover they are still packing their cars and want us to drive around the block to join them. (Great idea -- now we'll all be facing in the wrong direction). They then tell us that they will head out on their own and we are free to take off. And so, Barrie takes the lead and Josh follows as we leave Deadwood in our rear view mirrors. We will travel route 385 through the hills to Crazy Horse. At Hill City we stop for gas and moments later we are in the parking lot.
Time to go..............
OK -- finaly back at a computer. The Crazy Horse Monument is a sight to behold. The immensity of the project and the dedication of the family for all these years. The monument is larger than the largest pyramid (imagine that). The magnitude is almost unimaginable. We enjoy the overview provided at the visitor's center and spend time looking at all the artifacts. I've been here before but so much progress has been made. We could spend all day but know that we have more sights to see and more miles to drive before we sleep. We head out to the parking lot and low and behold the rest of our gang has caught up.
We are all standing in the parking lot and just as we are getting ready to head out -- our motorcycle friends from last night arrive. More conviviality. Finally we are on our way again. Gail heads out first, followed by Don, we are third in line. Yikes, they are turning left!!! The shorter route to Mount Rushmore is to the right. We debate for a moment and turn right! We want to have time to spend at Mount Rushmore. Once again we are separated.
We arrive at Mount Rushmore and find a parking spot that provides for a good photo op. With photos taken, the Malks' and Hutchinson's spend some time enjoying this magnificant monument. After a short stop, we are headed to the Badlands. We are driving the backroad and while the scenery is fantastic, the place is desolate. We drive and drive and finally reach the "town" of Interior. Josh is starving and we stop at the only establishment in town -- a biker bar. We stop and are brave enough to enter but ultimately leave since there is no vegetarian entree. (Come-on this is South Dakota). We continue to drive into the park and find a less interesting lunch at the park restaurant. We are all wearing down but Josh is concerned about continuing along the lonely back-roads. We detour back the highway for the bulk of the afternoon drive. Eventually we turn south and head toward the evening's destination of Winner.
Interesting drive. Beautiful farmland. Everywhere we look there are pheasants. Driving is starting to look like dodgeball. Somehow we are able to miss hitting a pheasant. We arrive in Winner and start to look for a motel. I spot a sign for a Holiday Inn Express. Sounds pretty uptown for Winner and we decide to go for it. We check in and are glad to learn that we can walk to the Holiday House next door for dinner. A local traveling salesman discovers the cars and is so exitied. He joins us for dinner. More on this tomorrow.
What about the Wheels
I promised a report on the wheels and this will be brief. In a word incredible. We have driven over 1,000 miles on the test wheels and due to other challenges, have hardly given them a thought. That is actually amazing -- clearly they have not given us even a moment of concern.
Barrie continues to check the torque and at each stop it has been perfect. We have driven over mountains and along some pretty spectacular winding roads and the wheels have performed perfectly.
Several times along the trip, the wheels have gotten more attention than the cars. They are actually beautiful to look at. Engineer-types marvel at the construction.
I'll get Barrie to add his comments on the wheels when he has time. As you might guess, he is out checking fluids so we will be ready for our 8:30 departure this morning. We are headed to Iowa Falls. Today is a shorter day of driving so hopefully I'll be able to catch up on the blog this evening.
Barrie continues to check the torque and at each stop it has been perfect. We have driven over mountains and along some pretty spectacular winding roads and the wheels have performed perfectly.
Several times along the trip, the wheels have gotten more attention than the cars. They are actually beautiful to look at. Engineer-types marvel at the construction.
I'll get Barrie to add his comments on the wheels when he has time. As you might guess, he is out checking fluids so we will be ready for our 8:30 departure this morning. We are headed to Iowa Falls. Today is a shorter day of driving so hopefully I'll be able to catch up on the blog this evening.
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