I am ready for a road trip so...

1/17/2023 I started out at 7 from home and drove to Bob and Priscilla Wagner's, a brother and SIL. Their home is in West Chester Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati. The distance was 586 miles.

Had a great time and stayed 2 nights and pretty much just visited and had a lot of laughs. 2 of their daughter Nicole's boys were there overnight. Damien 8, and Asher 7. It was nice to see them and get to know them a little.

On January 19th I left B n P and headed to Vandalia Illinois a distance of 288 miles. I had decided I would not go long distances as I want to see sights along the way. I also wanted to tour the Indy Racetrack in Indianapolis. It was and is known as the brick yard because the track was brick for many races. Now the bricks are cover with a macadam, They can seat 250,000 people in the stands and another 1000,000 in the inside of the 2 .5 mile track. They have to bring their own lawn chairs.

1911 winner- the first with a single seat. Previously the driver had to have a mechanic ride with him

Early winners - a video showed early models going a 60 MPH. 

Currently they go an average of 240 MPH

I left Indianapolis and drove to Vandalia, Illinois. It was where Abe Lincoln announced his first political candidacy, for a legislator for the state of Illinois.

The memorial to the Pioneer women who helped settle the territory.

Jim in Lincoln's courtyard in Vandalia

Full view of the courtyard and the court house in the background. Abe is seated at the far end of the courtyard with the county capital building in the background.

This tells the history of Abe's early "romance"
 

Life size statue of Abe Lincoln

Quote from Abe when he started running for office

A popular diner in Vandalia (maybe the only one)

Mickey arches within a St. Louis wannabe arch in Vandalia

On the third day 1/20/2023 I started for Springfield Missouri. Most of the trip was on Route 44 which follows the same path as Old Rt. 66 which is not an official highway any more but it lives on in memories and there are a lot of sites still active to make money off the folks traveling west in the 1950's and 60's.

One site I visited was the Meramec cave near Sullivan Mo. It is about 3 miles off Rt.44. There were a few cars and a school bus when I arrived. The bus had brought 3rd and 4th graders and some parents. They were finished with the tour and the kids were getting ice cream and other goodies at the refreshment area. I asked a couple of mothers about the tour and found there were some steep slopes and some slippery areas so I decided to forgo the tour and be content with the souvenir shop. (Didn't buy anything). In addition to the cavern they have a zip line and a boat ride on the Meramec River. They claim Jesse James used the Caverns for a hide out and there is a wax museum nearby but was closed today.

Jesse and Frank

The Zip line at Meramec Caves

Next stop Springfield Mo.

This is a picture of the motel that was active on RT 66 

The same location, same name, I stayed here Friday night. Elvis was here in 1956 and they have an Elvis room you can rent. I didn't know about it till morning. 

I was overnight here 1/20/2023

This is a very nice car museum - probably 40 cars. A number of old car companies that are gone and all kinds of things like gas signs, tools and gas pumps.

This is a German made 1936 Horch. I expected an SS guy to get out.

A food truck was parked next door to the museum with tables and chairs around the other side, I don't think it was operational

Maybe we should buy this for a trophy for Christmas cookie decorating.

On the way out of Springfield I took this. Many of these signs are a guide to someone who wants to follow the old route. The city has embraced the idea of traveling Rt, 66. I has been "decommissioned by the US highway guru's but it still is a nostalgic auto trip and the original went right through Springfield. I was able to drive on several sections (it is no longer contiguous) coming from St Louis to Oklahoma, I hope to drive it from Chicago to Santa Monica Ca.

I also visited the Civil War battle site called Wilson's Creek. a paved road 4.5 miles travels around the site . In addition there is a museum with much more information than one can take in and retain. One thing that was said that between the North and South armies lost over a million horses. Each cannon required 6 horses to pull it for the Union. The rebels only had 4. Horses were a good target for the opposing army as the cannons could not be put in place easily if the horses were killed.

I stopped in Claremore OK to see the Will Rogers memorial- He was a native of Claremore Mo, and there is a huge building dedicated to his memory. There is even a theater which holds a couple hundred and a visitor can choose one of several movies to watch about his life. The theater seats were very comfortable and I must admit I nodded off a time or two.

Now on to Oklahoma City for the night. 1/21/2023 

I stayed at the Comfort Inn in Oklahoma City and watched the church service at FBC Johnson City before I left,

It was a short trip - only 140 miles but the terrain and the openness was interesting.

 Being Sunday there was little traffic. I saw more cattle than people and cars. While much was flat there also was rolling landscape with few wooded areas. Ft. Sill is near and seems to be everywhere in Lawton Ok. Beyond Lawton is a small string of rugged hills which were visible for miles. They had a strange composition which reminded me of lava that was all piled after it cooled. I got off the interstate and drove around a bit, then came on to Texas and Wichita Falls. I got here around 2 and checked in. I was able to see most of the division football game between Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals, The Bengals won. Tsk Tsk.

I also watched the Cowboys get beaten by the Forty Niners. 

In the morning I will head for brother Jack and SIL Cheryl's - 273 miles.

1/24/2023 - At my brothers in Midland TX. Visited a Presidential archive in Midland today. Very small as they are renovating. It had a few bobble heads of several recent presidents and a small amount of  memorabilia. We expected more but it is a work in process. 

We then drove to George W Bush childhood home in Midland,

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I had a good time with Jack and Cheryl and daughter Cindy's family. 

Gavin and Jackson

Cindy and Jonathan

Jack and Jonathan

Jim Gray ( Cindy's sister Cheri's  son)

More pictures to follow. 

1/26/2023 I left Jack and Cheryl's and headed for Forth Worth, Enroute I came across a rest area that had a lot of information about the area including some about an boom town called Thurber which supplied bricks for many cities in Texas as well as having discovered oil nearby. They also had coal mining and became the first city in Texas to have electricity. They had a population of around 16000. For various reasons the town failed including a fire  and all that is left is a smokestack used in making bricks. A restaurant now uses a separate part of the brickyard to host a restaurant where I stopped and had lunch.

The smokestack is visible for a long way

The special on the yellow menu is country fried steak, Black eyed peas Mashed Potatoes and chocolate cake for $9.50 It  was good and I even ate a few black eyed peas

Texas Pacific Mercantile was the controlling company for some years.

I went on the Fort Worth to see the Cattle drive. Every day they drive cattle through this part of town where the stockyards were at 11:30 and 4:00.

The street is paved with bricks and guess where the bricks were made.

I would guess about one out of a hundred are laid with the name Thurber facing up or they are not all embossed.

I did a video but can't upload it! Bummer

1/27/2023 I went to the AT&T Stadium where the Cowboys play. It was 1 1/2 hour tour of this magnificent building. The cleanliness was amazing like everything we saw. They were getting ready to install a new field. Normally you can walk on it but not this day. Statistics of the immensity are mind blowing. i.e. On a normal day when nothing is happening there are still 1000 employees there in all kinds of capacities,  but on game day there are 10,000.

The playing field is about 3 feet above the bottom I am standing on. You can see the work being done to remove the current turf.

This is the view from the top level and the standing "seats". From field to the top of the dome is tall enough to place the statue of Liberty inside. Notice the Jumbo TV over the middle of the field two large ones for the sidelines and smaller ones for the endzone. Through out the complex there are TV's everywhere so you never have to miss what is happening on the field

Inside the Cowboys locker-room. Everything is super clean. The Cowboys only play games here . Practice is done in a site north of here called Frisco. Local High Schools use that site for their games but state championship High School games are played here. You don't need to be a football fan or even a Cowboys fan to enjoy this tour. We even got to sit in the seats that are part of the luxury suites that can be rented out for short of long terms,

Leaving the stadium I was very tired from walking so I found a McDonalds and had my lunch and talked with a couple college age students who go to Arlington Christian college and play baseball  for the school. very friendly young men.

Moving on I drove to Dallas from Arlington to take a tour of the sites pertinent to eh assassination of JFK. I was the only one on the bus so I got to talk with the driver who pointed things out while a tour tape gave information.

The infamous "grassy noll" where conspiracy believers believe "someone" shot from this location because it was adjacent the road where the President was riding when it occurred.

This is the building from which it is believed that Oswald actually fired the shots .Look at the rightmost window in the next to top floor and you will see something in the window . It is a cardboard box there to mark the spot. It appears to be very tiny.

Behind these yellow doors is the tunnel through which Oswald was being brought to an armored transport vehicle. The original plan was to drive the vehicle into the tunnel so no-one saw him being transported but the vehicle was to large to fit in the tunnel. Jack Ruby, being a buddy with the police was there as a sight seer with a motive.

The TV coverage was amazing and went on from just after the shooting till the funeral, I recall we all were glued to the TV and shocking when Ruby shot Oswald.

1/28/2023

I stopped in Hope, Arkansas and look who I ran into! The picture is a little shaky as I was very nervous to be next to him.

Bill was born in Hope and grew up in this house

The sign by the door is a little weird. It has a picture of a cheering woman and the slogan "Let Nepotism Rule" 

This train station as been made into a museum for 3 well know people  (at least 2) who grew up in Hope. 2 who were Governors of Arkansas.

Ketty Lester

Bill Clinton, Mike Huckabee, both politicians and Ketty Lester a singer (Love Letters) and actress on Little House on the Prairie.

Bill had a family history was rather sad. His father was William Jefferson Blythe who had just come home from the Military service was in an auto accident, somehow came out of the car and drown in a mud puddle nearby. This was before Bill was born. His mother eventually remarried to Roger Clinton who was an alcoholic who beat his wife. Bill defended his mother and ultimately the couple was divorced.

The town of Hope appears to be a definitely blue collar town. Population around 9,000. Across from the Museum was a local eatery called Tailgaters where I went in for lunch. Everyone greeted me as I came in. Had a Nathans hot dog with Sauerkraut and onions and fried Okra.

Overnight in North Little Rock - Rained all day today.

1/29/2023

Got an early start so I could get to Graceland and then on to Nashville in time to watch the NFL conference playoff.

( 7/11/2023 In my initial information I failed to include "Why did I go to Graceland" you may have wondered.

My biological father in the 60's or 70's bought the rights to the Stutz name which was a famous and expensive auto from the early 1900's, and in partnership with a famous auto designer purchased Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles from General Motors, shipped them to Italy where they modified them into elaborate expensive cars and sold them to the very rich. In addition to Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and wealthy Oil people from Saudi Arabia. There were about 600 made. Elvis had at least 3. That is why I went to see them in Graceland and talked myself in to see them without paying anything! (If you are more interested you can find more at Wikipedia. Google Stutz Blackhawk))

At Graceland I found they had totally redone the fan experience. In 2011 I could go into the auto display near the mansion. In 2017 they built a huge complex across the street from the mansion and there are a lot of displays in this building, including the many autos Elvis owned. Parking in the lot near this complex was $10. There are several tours available with the cheapest being $49.95 which does not include a tour of the mansion. Higher price tours top out at $219.95 which includes a meal. Upon entrance was an information booth and I pleaded my case to a woman who made arrangements for me to be escorted to the car display and back out at no charge. I didn't count but there were at least 10 other cars in the display. I took several pictures, only of the Stutz Bearcat.

The entrance to the displays with access to the vans that ferry visitors to the mansion

This is one of 3 Stutz he owned

This is the second. The third was white and is not in the collection

The logo with Elvis behind the wheel

This was in the display area of the Stutz

On the way to Nashville I stopped at Loretta Lynn's Restaurant which was a part of a dude ranch one could go to. While there were a lot of pictures of her at the restaurant the dude ranch was elsewhere. The meal was average and reasonable price. Chicken fried steak, Mashed Potatoes, Turnip greens, cornbread and fried ochre, $12.99, I don't think I will need much diner. I got to the hotel in time to see the football games.

1/30/2023

In Dickson Tn. overnight and drove to Nashville and took a city tour in a double decker bus.

Obviously it was not this day as it was cold and slight drizzle and I rode inside. 

It was interesting and took about an hour. All viewing from the bus. I would recommend it be taken in the warmer weather.

This is where the Tennessee  Titans call home. Much better picture than I could take. It seats 95,000.

The rest of the day was on the road to eastern Tennessee overnight in Kings Point. Overcast and slight misty rain most of the way. The terrain is very hilly enroute. Lots of Holler's to make moonshine in.

  A big contrast to what I came through in Texas, Arkansas and west Tennessee.

1/31/2023

I drove to Lynchburg Va. and had part of the afternoon with grandson Ryan, his wife Emily and daughter Adelaide. Had a good time catching up and getting t know Adelaide a bit, We then met Mary Ann, Mary Liz and her boyfriend Nathan at Olive Garden for dinner.

I forgot to get a picture.😡

2/1/2023

Mary Ann, Jim, Adelaide and Ryan
We met for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel in Lynchburg. Fun time. Lizzie, Emily and Nathan were not able to be with us.

That morning I drove to Montgomery Village to visit with Krista, Teresa, Maike and Kira

Jim and Kira

Jim and Maike (Yes it was cold)

2/2/2023

Drove home and ready to be home for a bit, dragging luggage in an out gets old.

I was gone for January 17th till February 2nd. Drove 4050 miles and spent $558 on 170 gallons of gas, 23.8 MPG. The cheapest gas was at Walmart in Rowlett Tx, $2.999 and the most expensive was in Montgomery Village Va. $3.699. Average $3.259

Thanks to Bob and Priscilla, and Jack and Cheryl for hosting and overnight accommodations.