2geonomads

Gateway Arch of St Louis

Another photo of car

World’s Largest Rocker

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My dad has asked me to post a picture of their car.

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Setting off from the hotel with plans to drive into St Louis for a bit of sightseeing with Fred as driver and Mick as navigator they break all records in getting us lost within 1 km of the hotel.
Doug and I thought that we had ended up in a car wash but then realised that Fred had pulled over to the side of the road to check our location and we were coming under fire from some garden sprinklers!
A bit further on we stopped again outside a shop called ‘Goodwill’ which was a bit ironical as the guys in the fronts seats were by this time running short of that particular commodity.
After many u-turns in what I have to say were quite attractive little car parks we eventually made our way to the highway to downtown St Louis.
We had planned to walk across the Chain of Rocks Pedestrian bridge which crosses the Mississippi but, even though we could admire it from afar we simply could not find a way of getting to it.
Cross that one of the wish list and have more success in driving into the centre to view at fairly close quarters the spectacular Gateway Arch, symbolising the area’s role of gateway to the west.
Quite happy to head out of the city and after some time even manage to locate the much sought- after road to the south.
First small town was to be the aptly named Eureka but we couldn’t find the town or the main attraction, the Black Madonnas Shrine and Grotto. The closest we got to any sort of religious experience was when we once again lost our way and ended up at the entrance to the Sacred Heart Convent.
After another u-turn in a nice little car park we head south and stop for coffee and bourbon/pecan pie.
While here Doug comments that Navigator Mick has no problems finding the loo whenever we stop anywhere but has a unique capacity to get lost everywhere else.
Keeping track of Route 66 is proving to be a real nightmare but we do manage to find a town called Bourbon and stop for lunch at Circle Inn, a typical Route 66 diner with good wholesome food and ambience to match. I have BLT with mushrooms which have been battered to an inch of their existence.
Mick takes over the driving duties with Fred navigating, resulting in the same level of incompetent personnel but in different roles.
Doug and I offer some kind, constructive advice from the back seats but this doesn’t seem to be very well received.
Cuba is a small town with a good selection of Route 66 murals and then we proceed to Fanning/Rosati, site of the World’s Largest Rocker. Leave town with the boot of the car wide open, fortunately not losing any of our bags.
As we head deeper into Missouri the scenery takes a turn for the better after the flat plains of Illinois and we now travel through some beautiful , green undulating hills.
Our plan to stop at Rolla to visit a car museum is thwarted when it too disappears off the map .
By this stage our thoughts turn to finding the next Days Inn. The computer tells us that there is one at Waynesville but this too is nowhere to be found.
We did,however, come across a 1920’s era bridge of a severe bend in the Big Piney River at the aptly named Devil’s Elbow.
By this stage Mick was getting a bit tired after his marathon driving stint and on a couple of occasions decided that driving on the right-hand side of the road was all too boring but a chorus of ” wrong side , Mick!” from his 3 Amigos put him right.
To be fair to Mick it was a long haul and he did a fine job getting eventually to a town called Lebanon and another Days Inn, this one at $53 per room including breakfast.

We find Becky’s Bar attached to the hotel and this proved to be a quintessentially American bar, complete with some fairly rough characters ( not us!) torn seats,and a barmaid called Stacey.
We were invited by a guy who seemed to be the manager to join all the other customers in enjoying the food which had been laid on to celebrate 4 th of July- a highlight of the day.
We returned to our rooms  in a suitably boisterous , alcohol- fuelled mood after a day full of much banter, some road- finding disasters but a day which encompassed all that we had hoped for on this trip.
Tomorrow it’s my turn to have a drive and no doubt suffer the barbs from the 3 Amigos as I too struggle to keep what is a fairly large vehicle on the right side of the road and within the fairly narrow lanes.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret.

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At last a good nights sleep but awake by 5.00 to finish the previous day’s blog.Fairly basic but acceptable breakfast at 7.30 and set off on the next leg to St Louis by 8.30.
Doug is in the driver’s seat and I am the navigator for the day.
Faith in my ability to navigate somewhat compromised when I quote a roadside sign as reading
Oik enez when in fact it was Qik ‘n’ ez as in Quick ‘n’ easy. Much hilarity at my expense.
Mick was keen for us to drive through a town called Normal so that we could say that it was the closest we would get to normal all day but we couldn’t locate it, a definite sign of things to come during the day.
First real port of call is the small town of Atlanta which is a perfect example of a community which was in the 1940’s devastated by the arrival of the large inter-state highway but in later years has enjoyed a huge resurgence. The Palms Grill Cafe is beautifully appointed and offers great coffee and a wide array of homemade tarts and other pastries at very affordable prices.
Other notable features:
The Bunyon Giant, brother to the Gemini Giant seen a couple of days earlier, but this time with a Giant Hot Dog in his hand.
A 40 foot Clock Tower and a bright yellow water tower with a Giant Smiley Face.
Move on to the town of Lincoln, named after dear old Abe , and after much searching we find the World’s Largest Covered Wagon with the ubiquitous AL holding the reins. Decidedly underwhelming.
In spite of my obviously brilliant navigation we manage to get totally lost and end up heading north rather than south. The planned visits to Broadwell, Elkhart and Williamsville fail to eventuate as we never locate the towns!
After many kms driving through cornfields ( or is it maize? ) we get back on track and head to Springfield, capital of Illinois, and home to Abe Lincoln.
Park the car at the park dedicated to AB and surprised to find that the car park attendant has been to Bunbury with the navy.
A tour of AB’s original is made memorable by the guide from Arkansas who has an accent the like of which none of us has ever heard before.( we thought he was laying it on to start off with but no it seemed to be the real deal.
Before leaving town we visit the rather grandiose memorial and tomb of the great man and then get lost again trying to leave the town.
Keeping track of the Old Route 66 in this area is becoming increasingly difficult but we manage to travel south to Staunton where we come across Henry’s Rabbit Ranch and Route 66 Emporium.
For your information The Volkswagen Golf was called a VW Rabbit in the US, hence the pen in the shop containing two huge bunnies. God only knows how these gift stores all survive along 66.
At Edwardsville we attempt to make a recommended side trip to the Sugar Creek Covered Bridge.
It was obviously very well covered because we never found that either!
Finally enter Missouri over the huge Mississippi River and set off in search of another Days Inn for the night. End up in a totally black neighbourhood which was none too salubrious so decided to drive on to south of the city of St Louis where we came across a more appealing Days Inn.
Lovely dinner at an Irish Grill and Bar where we enjoyed some banter with the delightful young girl serving us. Not really sure what she made of us old larrikins but she entered into the spirit of things.
A long but thoroughly enjoyable day with Doug doing a sterling job driving for at least 7 hours.
Other points of note:
It has taken me 2 days to notice that Mick no longer has a moustache and is looking more youthful by the day.
Doug on the other hand,in his unshaven state is looking like a cross between Willie Nelson and Steve Mcqueen’s character in the film ‘Papillon’ ( obviously without the latter’s blue eyes and good looks ).
Looking forward to the excitement of tomorrow ( 4 th of July ) and more adventures with the 3 Amigos.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret

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Not the best night’s sleep as I woke up at 1.15 and again at 3.45 so decided to use the time watching some of the day’s play at Wimledon.
Finally, got up at 6.30 and went for short walk down the nearby streets- area surprisingly salubrious with some lovely shops and cafes.
Chicago has certainly thrown off its less-than-savoury reputation as the home of the underworld and the site of the Valentine Day’s massacre in 1929 to become a superb city.
I am introduced to our vehicle, a very impressive Dodge Grand Caravan, and after breakfast we make our first call at the sign marking the start of Route 66 for DFI to be photographed( the 3 Amigos have been snapped there the day before)
Chicago’s other claim to fame- zip fastener invented by Whitcomb L Hudson, first pinball machine, and first McDonald’s franchise.
With Fred driving and Mick navigating we head off through the suburbs and small towns such as Cicero, Roseville, the home of the White Fence Farm with its statue of a huge white rooster( sounds better than cock!)
Next stop is the larger town of Joliet where we at last find a good coffee shop ( why is it that the USA, with so much Italian heritage, seems incapable of asking a good cup of coffee ? )after driving down the main Ottawa St at least 5 times.
Fine Route 66 museum well worth the visit with large models of Jake and Elwood of Blues Brothers fame at entrance.
At Wilmington we come across the first of the many ‘ muffler men’ statues which dot 66, this one called Gemini Giant’,20 feet tall and decked out like an astronaut.
Small town of Gardner features two cell jailhouse and vintage streetcar while Dwight has its Ambler-Becker Texaco Museum, on old service station now serving as a visitor centre with numerous antique petrol pumps.
At Odell another Standard Service Station lovingly restored.
Finally on to Pontiac with its Pontiac Car Museum displaying a magnificent array of Pontiac vehicles through the years.
The town is also renowned for its many murals and for two other notable events – Fred driving the wrong way down a one-
way street and Mick actually admitting a mistake on his navigation!
Our destination for the day is Bloomington and we duly arrive late afternoon and check into another Days Inn at $79 a double.
Next stop the local laundromat to catch up on our washing. Noticeable that all of us put our jocks in the wash IN ANTICIPATION of Doug driving the next day. Goodness knows what it will be like after he has driven and I have been the navigating!
Sharing a room with Fred so get to sleep before his snoring kicks in.
All in all a great start to our adventure.

http://www.historic66.com/description/map.html

As the song by Bobby Troup goes:

If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that’s the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!
…

Cheers

The Obese Ferret
Real problems in finding a reasonable restaurant for dinner but finally decide on Bob Evans family restaurant , acceptable enough.

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Monday 1st July continued.
Very comfortable flight from LA to Chicago with American Airlines and apart from the first 30 minutes turbulence-free.
Arrived in Chicago on a beautiful evening with the temperature about 20 degrees.
My taxi driver got me to Days Inn with the minimum of fuss, apparently in sharp contrast to the 3 Amigos on the previous day. With Mick driving they found their way to the hotel blocked by a gay parade all along West Diversey Parkway, the hotel’s location. Moreover, both Mick and Doug were bursting at the seams so to speak, with no loo in sight. It doesn’t take much imagination to know that ‘going bush’ was not really an option in the midst of a gay parade although as Doug pointed out there would have been any number of willing helpers! They eventually found a hospital where they could find relief and also got to the hotel by basically driving round a ‘no entry ‘ barrier set up for the parade.
Apart from all the dramas the guys all seem very well and the next 3 weeks should be memorable in a variety of ways.
Now off to bed for hopefully a good night’s sleep and the start to our adventure at a civilised hour tomorrow.
Cheers
The Obese Ferret

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Saturday 29th June- Before going to bed on the eve of my departure to LA I started to feel a bit off colour and some fairly severe pains across my chest and shoulders, very reminiscent of the peri-carditis which had flared up about 7 weeks after my op.
Decided that I would sleep on it and assess things the next day.
Watched the Wallabies snatch victory against which helped ease the pain.
Sunday 30th June
Woke up feeling the worse for wear but headed off to airport for flight to LA.
Duly checked in and was in Qantas lounge when symptoms became a bit worse. After discussions with very helpful Qantas staff and first aid guys decision taken that I should go to local GP for assessment before proceeding on my travels.
Excellent GP gave me an ECG which was fine and did the usual checks on BP ( a bit elevated – white coat syndrome?) pulse rate etc.
Conclusion- everything seemed to point to possible new flare up of peri- carditis and residual after effects of having my sternum cut in half. GP could not give me an unequivocal green light to travel without an echo cardio gram but thought it would settle down . In short it was my call.
Rebooked into local motel for one more night and decided to take the plunge.
Qantas staff went way beyond the call of duty to rebook me on flight to LA, albeit via Sydney.

Monday 1st July
4.30 am start from motel on a filthy wet, windy day. What the hell happened to “Queensland- beautiful one day, perfect the next!”
After having taken 4 taxi rides, all with Indian drivers who seemed to have sworn an oath to silence, my driver this morning was from Cyprus and bombarded me with so many questions I was starting to suspect him as being some sort of secret agent left over from the Eoka terrorists of years ago!

Very bumpy flight out of Brisbane but arrived in Sydney to clear blue skies and a spectacular view of one of the world’s great harbours.

Flight out of Sydney about one hour late ( is there ever a flight on time out of Sydney these days) but could not have asked for a better crew or seat.I have to confess that I was in Business Class, courtesy of our long-accumulated Frequent Flyer Points.
Over 6 hours sleep was something of a record for me on a flight so arrived in LA reasonably refreshed. LA as always hazy and polluted. What sort of filter must they use to show clear blue skies in the Hollywood movies!

Had anticipated some problems due to my no show on the previous day’s American Airlines flight to Chicago but managed to do a Bill Clinton ( keep it clean, folks ) on an initially uncooperative AA staff member and sweet-talk her into rebooking my flight a day later without any penalty.

After checking in went through a security check the like of which I have never experienced before. After telling the security girl that I had an artificial knee I was taken on one side by a small African American guy ( is that still the politically correct term?) who explained that he needed to give me a manual body scan. Donning rubber gloves he proceeded to give me the most intimate frisking I have had in years, certainly outside of our marital bedroom. Anyway, he found nothing so after exchanging telephone numbers we went on our merry way!

Now sitting in the AA lounge( no, not Alcoholics Anonymous ) awaiting my flight to Chicago and reunion with my fellow travellers on Route 66, Doug, Mick and Fred.
Hopefully I have put Peri Carditis behind me and can now listen to Perry Como instead as we do the Easy Rider bit across the Us.
Cheers for now

The Obese Ferret

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To follow on from yesterday’s long- overdue blog I can say a bit more about the state of play, just over 4 months after my arteries were converted from something resembling the Irrawaddy Delta to a blood flow more akin to Niagara Falls!
All the vital signs in this old codger’s body are seemingly reverting to normal and as weeks goes by I am able to tick off the normality boxes, including walks in the range of 8-12 kms, golf twice or even 3 times a week, regular ironing and dish washing , very light garden work and operating the tv remote control with no apparent ill-effects.
Gail and I have made one visit to the gym and that was a real reality check, especially for me. I had accepted that I couldn’t go straight back into the routine pre-op but even a very much watered-down programme brought home to me that the recovery is still a long road. However, the local doc and others have told me that I am we’ll ahead of the usual timetable and will remain so if I obey the rehab rules. I have no intention of doing otherwise as a return to the cardiac table is NOT on my agenda.
Moving on to more important matters the medics have given me the all-clear to fly from Brisbane to LA tomorrow and then on to Chicago. There I will meet up with friends,Mick, Doug and Fred to drive across the USA on the original Route 66.
Prior to the flight from Perth to Brisbane today I thought it would be a great idea for Gail, Craig, Gail’s sister Lyn and husband Bert to have dinner together, mainly to bring yours truly up to speed on all matters technological.
By way of explanation Craig is the family tech guru and Gail is not far behind. I don’t read from the same page on this and in fact I am still trying to locate the book! Although I had had experience travelling overseas on my own with my work that was in the pre-tech era when one had to go to a local post office overseas and be called to a little booth when the phone hook-up was ready. I Pads were what I wore when I was batting and a mouse was what had my Mum jumping up onto the kitchen table.
Imagine the situation, therefore, when Craig was confronted with the Herculean task of giving his old Dad a quick teach-in to make me reasonably self- sufficient on my trip without Gail to look after such duties.
I thought he might relish the prospect of working with an uncut gem but it quickly became obvious that he was dealing with someone who made Paul Keating’s famous “feral abacus” to describe John Hewson look positively hi-tech.
After long discussions and forlorn attempts to get past the mystified looks on Dad’ s face he decided, very sensibly, to resort to writing things in my notebook which I could present to a salesman in a Telco shop in the USA to obtain a local SIM card.
The note reads as follows verbatim:
” I have an unlocked I Phone 5 bought from Apple ( GSM version). 1 Gb data, 1 hour talk time ( optional ) 3 weeks pre- paid.
AT & T, T Mobile. ( not Verizon or Sprint )”
At first this reminded me of a suicide bomber who is showing his possible victims that he is indeed carrying enough bombs to blow the whole area to smithereens but ,in fact , I was about to be reduced a deaf mute who wants help to cross a busy road!
Just to show that cruelty runs in the family Mrs I wrote in my book:
” Get them to put card in ( may need paper clip to release ) ( Your phone should be unblocked )”
Ideally all of this should be written in block capitals and well- spaced out to avoid any misunderstanding on what is required.
I am now lying on a bed in my Brisbane motel room and for the rest of the day will spend time trying to rebuild my shattered self-esteem before I fly off to LA in the morning.
I won’t bore you with similar details on the huge difficulties which I will apparently encounter with TomTom , sending emails etc, etc.
The good news is that Craig has seemingly fixed the problems with my blog and you should be able to enjoy the musings of this writer who has survived both Dr Sharma and some drawn-out and brutal psychological warfare over the family dining table yesterday evening.
Next stop USA.

Cheers
The Obese Ferret

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