Carlsbad, NM

Carlsbad, NM

Sunday, July 5, 2015

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.








Friday, July 3, 2015

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."







Thursday, July 2, 2015

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.







Wednesday, July 1, 2015

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.