Sorry Folks

I'm getting very erratuc results for entering blog posts from my tablet.  Iwill not be entering any posts here until I am home and have access to my laptop.

Sorry,
Gil

Day 2 on Route 66

Well, I am making progress on the blog postings.  Small baby steps, but at least I see a little hope.  I found that the major problems I have experienced are because I have been trying to use my tablet to do the editing. 

At first, I thought it was not going to work at all.  Now I have downloaded a blogger app and it appears I can make it work.  There will be a little delay in catching up, because I haven't been able to post for several days, and frankly, it will take me some time to get used to the tablet app.  

While we are on the topic of speakingly, I wanted to show you the first roadside curiosity we encountered this morning.  A local guy at the restuarant last night told us we had to go to the old downtown district of Atlanta, Illinois and see the "weiner man".  So, of course we drove right over there this morning.  

I think in order to continue the description, I'd prefer to call him "frank man".  You may notice the he has what may well be the largest "frank" in the world.  So large, in fact, that he has to use both hands to hold it!  In fact, he has even developed a method of supporting his "frank" using the special "one hand up, one hand down forearm support method".  This allows him to hold his huge "frank" and still keep one hand available for other jobs, like shaking hands with any other goliaths that may drop by on their travels up route 66.  There are a lot more of these roadside curiosities ahead.

The Atlanta "Weiner Man"

After leaving the Weiner Man we enjoyed learning about the steam powered grain elevators just around the corner.  The elevators had been in use until the 1950's and are now another roadside curiosity.

Atlanta Illinois Grain Elevator

From the elevator, we drove to another roadside curiosity, the worlds largest covered wagon.

The wagon is the world's largest, but which is longer?

Next, we drove to an aerospace museum at Logan airport.  There was an A7 fighter plane that saw combat in Iraq parked in the parking lot, awaiting restoration.  Steve (being an aerospace engineer,) spent quite a while talking shop with the airplane mechanics.  They were picking his brain about this aircraft.

  

Swooping in on Lola for a buzz

From here, we continued on to Springfield, Illinois to check out Abe Lincoln's home and the historic Illinois Statehouse.

Top:  Abraham Lincolns home in Springfield, Illinois

Bottom:  Illinois State Supreme Court in the Illinois Statehouse (used before, during , and after the Civil War

Technical difficulties

I've experienced problems using my tablet to update or post new info to my blog while on this trip.  I'll continue to try and get them found and fixed, but intil then, please follow along on our trip by going to
Davidhsoh.wordpress.org where David is posting updates daily.  I hope to be able to get my blog up soon.  Until then, enjoy David's updates and photos.

:(   Gil

We Rendezvous

Today we united.  I literally did, as I flew United from Vegas to Detroit to Moline, Illinois.  Dave and Lola (his beautiful '66 Cadillac) picked me up at the Moline airport.  Steve and Renie dropped off their rental car at the airport, and we all jumped into Lola and headed up to mikE's farm (Officially known as Shardo Farms) to pick up the Cobra.

mikE invited us to a steak barbeque with his family.  Before dinner, I had the opportunity to go out in the fields and ride along in the combine.  mikE's dad (Doug) was operating the combine, and it was fascinating to see how far technology has entered into farm equipment.  The combine has GPS controls and a video display to track where it has been.   The display showed layers with all the crop and overlays of the harvested portion.  It is driven with a joy stick with several controls on the head of the stick, similar to a Jet fighter.

After hauling the harvested corn back to the elevators and dryers, mikE and Steve took the Cobra out for a ride.  Then, mikE showed us part of his car collection, including Doug's '57 T Bird, mikE's '55 Ford pickup, and his barn fresh '36 Chevrolet coupe.  David took the coupe out for a test drive, and was impressed at how this 77 year old car drove.

Dinner was wonderful.  The food was excellent, and the chance to catch up with mikE , his wife Lisa, and their 3 daughters was great.  After the meal, we were introduced to Whitey's ice cream.  it is deeeelicious!

After fond farewells, we headed to Davenport to check into the motel. Driving through the farmlands in Lola and the Cobra, we were treated to nature's light show.  There was an electrical storm just to the northwest of us, and riding in convertibles we were able to see all the action.  No rain, just lots of crackling and light.  Awesome!

It was a great rendezvous, and the trip begins!

Renie takes a ride in the tractor with Doug while Steve tries a hand at the combine operation.