Saturday, July 4, 2015 - Last Day of Journey #7

We arrived late morning in southern Illinois in Metropolis. Being July 4th, what could be more fitting than feeling some "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" at the Superman Museum. This wasn't a great museum, not very well organized or up with the times, but we certainly had fun. We changed shirts in Clark Kent's phone booth, watched some old clips of the original TV show and then movies, and then staged some fun pictures outside with Superman and Lois Lane. I never liked Jimmy Olson so no pictures with him.

Then we found our way to Watertown, Tennessee for the Fourth of July celebration. We tried to find a celebration in a small town with their own local flavor, and we found it big time in Watertown. We ate at Nona Lisa's Pizzeria where we got to know the owner  pretty well. Her name was Katie and she convinced us to hang around for a couple of hours for the festivities. This tiny town has a parade down Main Street (how many other Main Street parades were there today across the country?) which has a theme that goes along with the town name - water. And lots of it. The passengers in the flat bed trucks are loaded with water cannons and other water propelling devices as are most of the spectators lining the half mile path of the parade. It 's a continuous squirt gun, power spray, water balloon and just plain thrown buckets of water battle for over 30 minutes. We were different than most of the town people in that we managed to stay dry, but we were their equals in our ear to ear and constant smiles. With "Proud to be an American" music blaring, it was a fitting end to the day and a perfect ending to another journey in search of what makes America unique.

Day 7, Friday, July 3

We crossed the Mighty Mississippi again and started the day in Quincy, Illinois at the "All Wars Museum." Barry was like a kid at Christmas because he knows so much about our wars, which ends up being a good education for me. There were good people there telling good stories.

Then we crossed back over the Mississippi for a tour hour two of Hannibal, Mo. Hannibal is the home of Mark Twain - I had forgotten what a humorous writer he was. There were some of his quotes all over his boyhood home as well as several of the other buildings. For instance his quote on the shirt I bought - "Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself."  This trip steers me toward doing things when I get back - ordering and reading Tom Sawyer again is one of them.

Speaking of Tom Sawyer, it was Tom Sawyer days in Hannibal. The town is quite a tourist attraction these days and hundreds of people were in for the festivities. They were having a 64 team mud pit volleyball tournament - 3 males and 3 females per team. Looked like a lot of fun. We stayed dry. We also made no comments about women in mud. Then we watched the Tom Sawyer fence painting races. Eleven year old boys dressed up as Tom Sawyer sprinted 20 yards to a five foot section of fence, whitewashed their section as quickly as they could with milk paint, then sprinted back. It was a great day in America's heartland.

We then left, crossed over the Mighty Miss for the fourth time in two days and took off for south central Illinois. On the way we passed one town named Barry, and then ended up near the town of Gillespie, where we're staying tonight. We hope to produce a July 4 kind of day tomorrow in our last full day of wandering. It's been a great trip although sometimes we don't eat so well. Which reminds me of this quote I saw from Mark Twain:  "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

Day 6, Thursday, July 2

Very good day today. First crossed the Mighty Mississippi, the Old Man, Deep River, and stopped in LeClaire, Iowa. The main street runs right along the river and is the home of the Pickers from TV's history channel. We didn't buy anything but had a good time there along with many other tourists. Then after Barry dipped his hand in the Mississippi we went to the Mississippi River Distilling Company for a tour and free samples. So twice now we have toured moonshine making places and sipped on 100 proof alcohol. That's twice as much of the stuff I've sipped in my lifetime. Today's favorite was 100% corn whiskey. They have enough corn around here for millions of years of this whiskey made from corn. I may have to detox when I get back...

All we saw was corn for the next two hours until we pulled into the Field of Dreams. In my seven years of these journeys, today was the first day I've duplicated a stop. And I'm glad I did. Many people get emotional at the field where "people will come," and we were two of them. I think Barry wasn't sure how much he would like it, but he was overwhelmed. It's hard to explain unless you've been here. It's a perfect setting; kids playing on the field with their parents, middle aged men and women walking into the heavenly outfield, etc. Everything is the same as the movie, and one's own personal childhood memories shape how you interact with field and its surroundings. This should be a required bucket list stop for anyone who has enjoyed the film or even just likes baseball.

Then we stopped a few miles away in Dyersville to visit the St. Francis Xavier Basilica. This beautiful Catholic church is an amazing sight in such a small town. It's just one more site where you have to be there to appreciate it.

Then we pulled over in a nameless Iowa town for a quick snack at a bar and grill. Before we left we had become good friends with Marcia - the bartender, and Rick - a regular patron. Rick does a great impression of Earnest T. Bass from Mayberry and kind  Marcia actually invited us to spend the night with her and her husband.

But we needed to move on and are spending the night near the University of Iowa in Iowa City. We need to come up with a plan for tomorrow because we have none. I do know this - we made THE TURN today - after the Basilica in Dyersville. That means we're traveling now in the general direction of home. And no more distilleries ... I hope.

Day 5, Wednesday, July 1

We began the day near Battle Ground, Illinois at Prophetstown State Park. This was the side of a major Indian battle and now holds a historic farm, a Sears house furnished circa 1940s, pigs, cows, chickens, horses, barns, farm machinery, and today two middle aged Georgian males still trying to grow up. We met a young lady who helps to farm the land and is also a sophomore at Purdue. She educated us in great detail on what feed she was giving the cows and why - she was very thorough but she didn't realize the guys she was talking to were doing well enough to distinguish between male and female. She told us her boyfriend's family has 4000 acres of farmland - we told her to marry him.

As we drove through Indiana toward Illinois we saw hundreds if not thousands of gigantic windmills. Indiana is doing it's part in reducing energy consumption. We also saw the car in the photo which was either coming or going - driving aimlessly you never know what you'll see.

In Pontiac, Illinois we stopped at the Route 66 Hall of Fame, and we were glad we did. Route 66 is the highway which used to go from Chicago to L.A. and was traveled for decades by travelers. Bob Waldmire actually lived on Route 66 by traveling on it for years in the bus in the picture. He's an icon and was also one of the more famous "Walldogs." Walldogs traveled around and lived off the money they made painting murals and signs on building walls in small towns. There was a fantastic war museum attached to the Route 66 Hall of Fame, which we spent too much time in for our journey but nowhere near enough time as we would have liked.

Then after wandering through some small towns so small I could stand in the middle of the highway going through the town, we ended up at a "wildlife preserve" near Hanna City, Ill. The AAA tour book deceived us into thinking it was a real wildlife preserve. It was a wannabe zoo. There were some bison which looked sad for being locked up. There were eagles - also sad, wolverines, badgers, elk, all looking at us with eyes asking to be broken out. Needless to say this was not one of our better stops.

We're staying in Galesburg, Illinois not too far from Davenport, Iowa, and we might just show up somewhere in Iowa tomorrow. And the first person to tell us what Barry is holding up wins the contest for today. Hint - it was in the old farmhouse. And he's not blind - he just forgot to take off his sunglasses.

       

Day 4, Tuesday, June 30

I started the day off by accidentally dropping my Icy Hot Tube in my suitcase. I guess it landed on my skibbies because I had to make a frantic trip back to my room from the continental breakfast for a quick change.

We drove an hour and a half to Dayton for a 3 and a half hour tour of the U. S. Air Force Museum. On a scale of ten this was a 10. Barry knows his war planes better than most tour guides do so I learned a lot. One plane we saw was the "Bockscar" - the plane that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. The plane I'm standing next to in the photo is a P-39, which is the exact model my dad flew in WWII. He was stationed in the Gilbert Islands at Makin Island during parts of 1943. The photo I'm standing next to is a bunch of P-39s on Makin Island in 1943. Wow ... that could very well have been his squadron and one of those might have been his plane.

Then we drove to Union City, Indiana for a tour of a chocolate factory and some free samples. We struck out big time. The place was open but they were giving no tours, and more importantly - no free samples. On a random travel trip such as this sometimes you strike out. We licked our wounds and bought a few small pieces of chocolate and ate them before we even got in the car.

Then some wandering on very back roads through Indiana. We enjoy that part - looking and stopping in small towns here and there to meet a few people and look at how others live in our country. We ended up in Kokomo, Indiana where we're spending the night. Before we called it a day we went to Highlands Park in order to view two well preserved giants. One was Old Ben - a bull, rather a steer who died in 1910 with a weight close to 5000 pounds. It looked more like a monster instead of something in the bovine family. You can see Barry photo bombing that photo. The other giant was Sycamore Stump. This section of a gigantic sycamore tree has also been preserved for more than 100 years and to me looked even larger than the Giant Redwoods I've seen. Eight feet in diameter and a circumference of 57 feet! We like these "Largest Ball of Twine" places.

We ended up the day at Buffaloes Wild Wings in Kokomo so that we could watch most of our USA women's victory over Germany. They forgot our order for an hour so we ended up getting a free meal. So a victory for us too. Old Ben would have been proud of how much we ate.

And the first person to answer both of these questions gets one million dollars in Greek currency: What is the difference between a steer and a bull? And give us some lyrics and the the group who sang about the place where we are staying.

We have done a couple good deeds here and there - yesterday replacing some American flags at an old cemetery being one of them. No bull.

Day 3, Monday, June 29

Our first stop was the Beckley Coal Mining Museum in Beckley, VA. We saw how the workers and families lived in houses and shanties of the 1930s. Our various tour guides were women who were daughters or wives of coal miners who have all died of black lung disease or lung cancer. Being teachers, we of course spent a greater amount of time in the schoolhouse. We were shocked to learn that until the late 1930s all boys stayed in school until only 5th grade - then they joined their fathers in the coal mines, and in the coal mines they worked until they retired or they too succumbed to black lung disease. All the women enjoyed our questions and comments, and even our playing around in the schoolhouse. We later both said we felt like we were part of their dinner table conversations. Oh - and see who can guess what the final picture is down below. It was part of one of the places of business in the 1930s coal mining town. First one with the correct response wins a million dollars.

Then we experienced the issues of travelling on Monday - most museums and roadside attractions are closed on Mondays. So we rambled. We drove aimlessly through southern Ohio - stopping in burgs like Rio Grande (really) and Beaver (really again). We met people, drove on roads with no numbers and even some with no names, and stopped when we felt like it. One of our highlights was finding - after a few attempts - "Ohio's Most Perfect Tree." We got a little lost and pulled into a church where a man was cutting grass to ask for help. He and Barry had a great conversation even though the man's teeth were covered with freshly cut grass. He gave us directions and then went into a long story about how "some man drove to the Perfect Tree one day toting many pounds of dynamite and then he blowed hisself up."  This trip is great - you learn so much...

The tree actually was pretty darn spectacular - we took some pictures but I'm not sure if they will show up on the blog. We're probably heading to Dayton in the morning to experience the National Air Force Museum. At the moment we're hunkering down in a Days Inn in Hillsboro, Ohio, a few hours after a tornado was spotted in the area. I hope it didn't bother the Perfect Tree.

Day 2, Sunday, June 28

We started off with a quick photo op at the Andy Griffith Museum, let Otis out of jail, and then went on our way. Then several more stops along the Blue Ridge Parkway, with the most notable one at Pucket's Cabin. The story goes that old lady Pucket delivered 1000 babies as a midwife, and had 24 babies of her own, but all 24 died in infancy. Barry and I are planning on doing some investigative reporting because nobody goes 0 for 24.  We surmised that there must have been some horrific parenting going on to have such a poor batting average.

Then we got off the B. R. Parkway and traveled on some of Virginia's most beautiful back roads and had no idea where we were, but ended up at the Booker T. Washington Memorial Estate in middle Virginia. The slave house reminded us of a horrible time period in our country that we're glad is behind us.

Then on to Bedford, VA and our country's largest D-Day Memorial. Our guide was the son of one of the heroes who fought on that 6th day of June in Normandy. He was very emotional as he talked about the 23 Bedford boys who lost their lives on Omaha Beach. Then he lost it when he talked of how his dad survived but lost so many of his close friends that day. There were many quivering lips in our group of 20 or so, and we were two of those facial expressions couldn't conceal the emotion and gratitude we felt for our own fathers and all the fathers who saved the world in the second world war.

After Bedford, we drove westward toward West Virginia. We made two random stops around Buchanon, VA. First we saw a long suspension bridge across the James River made for pedestrians. We said, "let's do it." So we made a u-turn and walked and bobbed and weaved across the swaying bridge - a little scary but we made it. Barry struggled a little and kissed the ground when we made it back to solid land. Not far from there we stopped a few minutes to watch a few outs of a summer college baseball game between the Carolina Pirates and the Roanoke Rails. These young men have dreams of making it to the majors but from what we saw they better have a plan B.

We're spending the night in Beckley, West Virginia and are thinking of touring a coal mine museum in the morning. But for tonight I think I'll give thanks one more time to our men and women of the greatest generation who won the war of all wars.

By the way, all of you who said "Hang your head down Tom Dooley" - you were wrong. Below is a photo of the original lyrics we found during a stop on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Day 1, June 27, 2015

We hightailed it out of Georgia and made our first stop at the Palmetto Moonshine Distillery. Free samples in communion cups. So a guy who rarely drinks - me - free sampled white lighting, apple pie moonshine, and their newest whiskey at 10:30 in the morning. Barry on the other hand is no novice. He asked for fuller communion cups and they obliged.

After our liquid breakfast we headed toward Asheville and ended up at Linville Caverns near the Blue Ridge Parkway. No Mammoth Cave like in Kentucky, but still very fun caves to visit. The fun fact here is that deserters from both the Confederate and Union armies would hide out together in these caves that had thousands of yards of tunnels, so their attempts at hiding with the enemy went well.

Next we drove several miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The beauty of this route was hidden by a constant drizzle and cloud cover until the rising clouds finally revealed some breathtaking views. Near the Parkway we stopped in Glendale Springs to visit the Church of the Frescoes. The Frescoes are paintings of a different rendition of the Last Supper, are in a tiny old fashioned church, and are magnificent. Barry and I agreed that this kind of stop only happens on this type of journey where deadlines are pretty much non-existent.

We're spending the night in Mt. Airy, NC - the home of Andy Griffith. After the moonshine breakfast we had this morning, maybe we should go out, find Otis, and join him in his late night activities. Or maybe not.

And we learned something about an old song today. The first person who correctly finishes this line will win a million dollars: "Hang down your head Tom ______________."

Travels Without Pee Wee

I'll be leaving this coming Saturday on my 7th random travel through parts of our country. The previous 6 years I traveled with my buddy Pee Wee and last year we included Danny Sinnott and Jimmy Chupp. This year I'll be travelling without Pee Wee - he's having a house built and it's getting near the final stages so it's just not a good time for him to go. In his place is my good friend Barry Gillespie. Barry and I taught many years together at Collins Hill where we would take off every now and then to visit historical sites - mostly WWII museums. I've invited Barry on the trip a few times - he was close to coming before but he means business now. He's intrigued about seeing new parts of the country with very few rules or plans on getting there. That's the best part of this journey - we don't know where we're going. We will try to stay off the interstates as much as possible, and we hope to see some cool places and enjoy the journeys getting there by meeting new people. Barry is super knowledgeable about history, has a great sense of humor, and has very few inhibitions, so he should take over for Pee Wee quite well.

We will carry on with the goal of three good deeds per day, but we aren't soliciting donations per good deed to the Lawrenceville Co-Op. Of course if anyone wants to make a donation to this worthy cause which feeds people down on their luck and gives emergency help toward paying for utilities - please do. You could click on the Lawrenceville Co-Op link to the right or you could mail a check to:

Lawrenceville Co-Op

176 Church Street

Lawrenceville, GA 30046

If you do make a donation, please put "Ramos Trip" on the memo line.

I'll try to update the blog every night for my family and friends, and new friends we meet along the way. Feel free to post some comments - whoever posts a comment will be entered in a drawing to win 50 million dollars. And here's a picture of my new traveling companion: