roadmaven

You're most certainly correct! Popeye was one of my favorite 'toons when I was a kid. I'm getting organized in my head where we'll have most of our meals while we're up there. Wimpy's will have to be a lunch trip (not sure if they're open for dinner, and our breakfasts are set for elsewhere). And as you can imagine, a hamburger will be the feast. Hmmm, now that I think about it, we won't be in town on Tuesday.

As mentioned in a thread on the Route 66 subforum, we've decided to pass on the 66 Festival in Litchfield and head north to "Land of 10,000 Lakes." Aside from starting to have our fill of car shows, we've decided to take a different road trip this year. Back in the 70's when I was a youngin', the fam would vacation in northern Minnesota. Once I got a job, I did the same thing a few times in the early-mid 90's. Well, I've had a hankering for the area where I spent some of my youthful summer days, and where I haven't been since 1995. So, we'll be leaving next Wednesday night for Park Rapids, MN for an extended weekend mini-vacation. Jennifer's excited about it I think even more than I am since 1.) she's never been there, and 2.) after we saw an exhibit at a local Native American Museum that had a display of Yosemite photos (many by Ansel Adams) and artwork, her photogenic mojo got going with the thought of shooting some truly great lakeside scenery. So, thanks to Uncle Sam, we're planning on doing our part as proud Americans and stimulate the economy of this place, deep in the woods in Cabin #1. Due to the obvious time constraints of driving 750 miles for a 4 day weekend, we'll be leaving Wednesday evening, June 18th and slab it to around Madison, WI, get up early on Thursday and drive the remaining 400-some miles to Park Rapids, arriving sometime mid afternoon. We'll be at the cabin Thursday & Friday, check out Saturday, and hang around the area most of the day Saturday before starting our way towards home that afternoon, and arriving home Sunday evening. Crazy? Yup, but as the kids say, "that's how we roll". I've been looking into some of the places from the mid-1970's when mom & dad would load all 6 of the kids in the old '68 Bel Air wagon and make our way up to Park Rapids. Fortunately, many are still there, such as this fine place: Should be a fun trip, regardless of the weather. I'm not planning on fishing, but I might have to go out to my dad's and unearth my old pole and tackle box, just in case. Hopefully we can find a place to check in while we're up there!

My, what a difference 3 days makes! After I wrote this note, I got to thinking about Park Rapids and how much fun I had there and how "at home" it always felt. Well, after some discussion with the co-pilot, we both realized we're getting "car showed out", so we made the decision to make a bonsai run to Minnesota. So, instead of infiltrating the 66 subforum with a MN trip, look for it in the General Discussion subforum!

Less than two weeks for the Route 66 Fest in Litchfield, Illinois! Weather permitting, we'll be there Friday through Sunday (6/20-6/22). But, if it looks like a washout, we'll probably spend our weekend in a drier climate, like we did last year. If Ma Nature wreaks her havoc again, we might head back north for some pasties, maybe head down to Gatlinburg, TN, maybe head up to Wisconsin Dells, maybe taken a 2nd day off work and head up to my childhood vacation spot of Park Rapids, MN, or just take a two lane somewhere and branch off onto other two lanes for the weekend. Who all from here is making the trek? Arriving??

Thanks for taking this trip! I have several old episodes of Route 66 that I purchased from Columbia House years ago. Aside from meeting Martin Milner a few years ago in Springfield, I also had the chance to meet another cast member from that original episode from "Garth". A gentleman who was a courier where I work one day noticed a couple of 66 items I had around my desk. We then got into a conversation about the TV show and he said that they filmed an episode in the town in Kentucky where he lived. Upon further discussion, it was that same first episode from Concord, and what's even cooler is that he was an extra in the episode. There's a scene where it shows three or four locals standing up against a fence, and he was one of them! Bill had a "lazy eye" and when he told me about it, I pulled out the video a few days later and sure enough, there was a much younger Bill in that scene. His lazy eye was all I had to go on, since 43 years can do a lot to one's appearance. He retired from his part-time courier job with us not long after that, so we're not sure of his whereabouts these days.

Hey Steve, thanks for the heads-up! I've started listening to some of your archives on blogtalkradio and really look forward to hearing them all! I remember seeing HB Elkins' name on some other road-related forums, but I have to say it's been a few years since I've seen his name. Hopefully we can provide you a few guests/topics in the future if you ever need it.

I have fond memories of those models. One of my older brothers had the eye catching '77 Monza Mirage like this one: 305 V8 in that little chassis gave it a bunch of gitty-up!

Pete, Glad to see you back! Hopefully it won't be another year before we hear from you again. Again, you've done a fantastic job with the new additions to the web site. Hearing Belle's voice again brought me back to the early 1980's when I'd get to tag along with my brothers for a cheeseburger, tater tots, and jumbo cherry Coke....all while playing Asteroids while Al was sitting in his chair flipping burgers and talking about Bobby Knight & IU basketball. I've got around here somewhere a matchbook and an unused container of Al Green's Ice Cream. I've also got one of the napkins you've got on there. I'll take a pic of the other items & pass those along to you. I picked those up several years ago at the "Garage Sale" at the state fairgrounds. Thanks again for all the work you put into the place many of us loved. I often thought of making a small "shrine web stie" to Al Green's, but you've surpassed what I envisioned in illustrious fashion!

Sad day indeed. Glad to have had a bite there on a couple of occasions. Last time we were there, we picked up one of their glasses they had for sale. Might have to have a cold Coke out of that glass tonight. Fortunately, Dawn had insurance, so the fate of the Rock might not be the same as Pop Hicks, which we lost 10-some years ago.

That's good to hear. I've been quite concerned about the status of the road here in Indianapolis with the efforts to change the name of Michigan Road to M.L.K, Jr. Street. I drove it from 38th Street to the north side on Sunday and realized why the effort is there to do this. The pastors wanting the change have their church on it. Without delving into a hot topic discussion, I'll just say that the Michigan Road has its own history that should be preserved. I've had an idea in the back of my head that "should" the name be changed in Marion County to start contacting local government about marking the route with historic signage. But since nothing's changed, there's no need to....yet. Had the previous mayor not lost in the November election, I think we both know what that road would be called today.

Great work! Thanks to one of Denny's trips a couple of years ago, I found that stretch that runs south out of Napoleon. I believe Denny caught the Michigan Road marker when he was on US 50. I know the last time I was down there a year or so ago, there wasn't dayglow orange paint on that bridge. There were some F-16's flying over from the Jefferson Proving Ground that day watching my every move. I believe that stretch was part of Morgan's Raid, wasn't it?? The Moon-Lite Motel in Versailles rocks! We were going down there one Saturday night to stay last year...just 'cause of the cool factor....but we never made it. We're going to try to use their sign as a backdrop for a car calendar we're doing this summer. Madison's one of our favorite day trips to take....and a trip there isn't complete without a trip to the Madison Fudge Factory. The Ohio Theater every year shows "Some Came Running" from 1958 which was filmed almost entirely in Madison (starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine). The house where the Martin character lived is still there. (Side note: The movie can be had dirt cheap on ebay). They all stayed at the Hillside Inn during filming, which is still there. If you like Madison, the movie's worth it, even though it's not the best flicks in the world. We got it mainly for the shots of Madison. When's the second leg of the trip? I'm guessing a little later now, thanks to the Shelbyville P.D., eh?

Greetings! All Hypotenuse Trail posts previously residing in the "U.S. Highways & Auto Trails" forum can now be found in their new home in the Hypotenuse Trail forum.

Chris, That's going to be the new moderator's task....he just doesn't know it yet.

Since it's been decades since an auto trail was created, we at American Road want to celebrate the occasion of the birth of The Hypotenuse Trail with its own subforum here on the American Road Forum! Thanks to Dave for all the hard work he put into this and his subsequent trip on his creation. We celebrate great trail blazers like Carl Fisher, Cyrus Avery....and now Keep the Show on the Road!

Great Scott!

Well, I find it happens only when I use Mozilla as my browser at work. When I use Internet Explorer either at work or at home, it doesn't happen. Maybe we can summon new AR IT whiz Guy Cook on this one??

What started out as a ho-hum trip to Wal*Mart turned out to be Christmas in April! Westbound on US 40, I noticed a car sitting in front of The Diner and asked out loud "I wonder what that truck's doing there." Then as we got closer, there were a couple of other cars parked there, and then there it was....a neon OPEN sign glowing bright! People appeared to be sitting inside, as if it had never closed. In need of cash, we found an ATM and made our way back. Here's the scoop: After owner Ray Piercy closed The Diner back in December, along came one of his former cooks who wanted to open it back up....and he did. They've been reopened since April 8th. Ray still owns the property and reportedly still has it for sale, but Tim Brooks now owns the business using the same menu that's made The Diner a local favorite. And the food hasn't changed either, as their famous tenderloins have the same taste as before. Ray stopped in around 7:30 tonight and we had a nice talk with Ray and Tim, as we were the only patrons at the time. Tim's working on utilizing the old 40 Motel sign that's still in front of the adjacent (and closed) 40 Motel and use it as the sign for the 40 Diner (an idea I've had for a long time!). It's anyone's guess how long The Diner will make it, as mentioned the property is still for sale at a cost of $1.7 million. And with the ever-increasing commercialism along 40 in the Plainfield area, The Diner still might be on borrowed time if an aggressive developer comes along. But in the meantime, I highly encourage anyone in the area or just driving through to pay homage to this icon of US 40. Hours are 5:30am-9pm Monday-Thursday, 5:30am-10pm Friday & Saturday, and 8:30am-3pm Sundays. After they closed last December, I honestly thought I'd never have the opportunity to step foot in there again, let alone have one of their tenderloins. What a great night it was!

We've been to several throughout the years, mainly Route 66 related. Our next one is in June in Litchfield, IL for the biggie: http://www.cityoflitchfieldil.com/news/27-5.html I've had this one on my radar since last July! Still hoping we can make it for all five days we're scheduled to be there.

As most of you know by now, a 5.4 earthquake was felt throughout the midwest at 5:38am EDT this morning. Check in here to let us know if you felt or heard it & where you live. I had no time to worry about a quake, as I was walking around in my house at 5:40 with a baseball bat trying to greet whoever woke us up trying to open our bedroom door.

Don, It actually "dropped" to $3.37 Thursday from $3.45 Wednesday. I've been combining a lot of things into one trip throughout the days. Instead of coming home from work and then going back out to the store, I'm doing it on the way home from work....things like that. I'm REALLY glad I bought a Civic and sold my Caprice last year!! On the bright side, my Conoco-Phillips stock is doing quite well.

Hey Bob, due to some changes in schedules and other issues, the cruise has been put on the back burner. Once it looks like it regains life, we'll let everyone know.

Jennifer's ride is an '04 Corolla.....with options!

Thought I'd pass this along to those of us on the forum who own a Toyota Corolla or Matrix. Toyota's recalling 2003-2004 models for potential breaking of driver's and passenger door windows. According to the article below, owners will be notified in late April. Denny, not sure if this includes your Vibe, since it's a Matrix clone. Looks like we'll be heading to Beck Toyota soon.... Shattered Windows

Here's my class project. I would have to get graded an "incomplete" on this for obvious reasons. I know absolutely nothing about what may or may not be along the route, as I may have intersected some of these routes on journeys past, but have never cruised any of it as I have it here. It could be the dullest of dull routes that ever existed, but then again, so many auto trails fit into that description. The Eastern Terminus: Key West, FL to Miami, FL: US 1 Miami, FL to Tampa, FL: US 41 Tampa, FL to Dunedin, FL: SR 580 Dunedin, FL, to Anclotez, FL : BR-US 19 Anclotez, FL to Tallahassee, FL : US 19 Tallahassee, FL to Albany, GA: US 27 Albany, GA to Columbus, MS: US 82 Columbus, MS to Tupelo, MS: US 45 Tupelo, MS to Memphis, TN: Old US 78 Memphis, TN to W. Memphis AR: I-40/US 70 W. Memphis, AR to Gilmore, AR: SR-77 (Old US 63??) Gilmore, AR to Cabool, MO: US 63 Cabool, MO to Sprinfield, MO: US 60 Springfield, MO to Clinton, MO: SR 13 Clinton, MO to Harrisonville, MO: SR 7 Harrisonville, MO to Kansas City, MO: US 71 This is where I got stuck! Too many good routes west at or near KC. Like many route makers back in the day had done, I too routed mine based on the occasional personal connection: Family in KC!

One of my many vehicles over the past 20 years was also a '78 Cordoba I bought off one of my brothers. To this day, it was one of the best cars I've ever had. It had the 400ci plant in it......cream exterior with saddle interior. Drove and rode like a dream. I traded it in on an '87 Z24 Cavalier in 1990, which I drove for 8 years and logged 160K plus miles on the odometer. Conversely, the worst car I ever owned was an '81 Cordoba that I bought in the late 80's. It had something like a 262ci 6 in it. Biggest piece of you-know-what! Was never fun those times when the throttle stuck open. I always credit Chrysler's downfall to that car.