Route 66 revisited, Sep 26th -Sep 30th, 2021

 

I found the picture below on one of the Facebook RV sites I follow. Yes, it looks like an ordinary container of jiffy pop popcorn, but it serves a more practical purpose in an RV, see below!

RV's have smoke alarms, and carbon monoxide alarms. This, my friends, is a fire/heat alarm! When it starts popping, its time to bail from the RV! And as an additional bonus, when the big disco looking ball happens, the light from the fire will be dispersed better to guide your way out, PLUS, if you hang by the exit, you can grab a handful of popcorn on the way out for something to eat as you watch it burn!!!  FYI, this will also work for stick and morder homes also, If interested, please comment and for one low payment of $50 I can fix you up! Keep following for more useful tidbits!

Back to the issues at hand!

On Sunday Sept 26th we left the brewery and continued our trek across Missouri. I am continually amazed at God's handy work and the varieties of landscapes he has given us! The hills going across Missouri are incredible! I always thought of it as flat, but no, it isn't, Bessy got a good workout!  We stayed on the I40 freeway all day, decided to get a hard day's drive in, plus, it’s very time consuming getting on and off all the different stretches of the 66 route. We spend the night at a Boondockers Welcome site in Mannford, Oklahoma, at the home of Edd Alex about a half hour west of Tulsa. We had the option here of spending two nights so we opted for that so we could do some laundry the next day. It was kind of funny, I missed Edd's place and had to turn around (I'm getting pretty adept in turning the rig around in tight spots!) we pulled into his driveway, I got out to introduce myself and to announce we had arrived. I rang the doorbell, no answer, rang it again, still know answer. Figuring that they stepped out somewhere, I went back to the truck, read the parking instructions and parked as per the instructions, unhitched and leveled the unit. This place let us plug into their electric and use their water so I connected those two up. Walked around the front of the trailer, and in my peripheral vision I saw this man, standing behind a garbage can in front of the garage, looking at me. Needless to say, it surprised the dickens out of me and I jumped and let out a gasp! After the initial shock ended, I said "Hi, you must be Edd, I'm Dennis Babcock" to which he replied, "No, Edd lives two doors down" After an awkward silence, he starts laughing and tells me he funning with me and welcomes to his place! It seems his doorbell doesn't work and he didn't realize we had arrived!

 

Edd Alexis' home and our parking spot!

The next day we had business to take of. We located a laundromat in a nearby town, found an urgent care for Starr… oh yeah, Starr had something wrong with her foot and was sure she was going to start dropping toes! Turns out she had a severe case of athlete’s foot. Seems all the rain we were in the previous few days got her shoes and socks pretty wet and never got a chance to dry really well! We ended up with enough salve for her feet for 100 people (8 tubes). She said she thought that was a little much but the pharmacist told that she might as well take it, that was the standard qty! So... if anyone needs salve for that sort of thing, we can fix you up! Sep 28th found us back on the road. We got back onto the Route 66 kick. We discovered it was a little better marked in Oklahoma then it was in Missouri! We found the Anchor Drive In at Bristow, OK. It was on the route and was active during the peak of the Route 66 era. Definitely a greasy spoon, but the burgers, onion rings, slaw and strawberry shake was great! Starr had fries, corn on the cob & a chocolate shake. Oh, and all the peanuts you could eat, I was in heaven!! Outside the Anchor In, Starr's adjusting her glasses or is in the process of slapping me! Interior and some of the memorabilia on the walls Yummy Food!! Not much left! We continued on to Chandler, OK and found a cute little route 66 museum. The most interesting item I found was a 15 min video of a guy who took the route in the early 50’s from Chicago to a university in Arizona. He mailed Mama a letter almost every day and lo and behold she kept them all in her attic and he discovered them after her passing. That inspired him to drive the route again and retrace his steps. As he was being interviewed he was reminiscing of all the things that had changed. Outside the museum! Building a little fuzzy, need to brush up on my photography skills! That night we stayed at the Texas 66 RV park in Shamrock, TX. We had a storm roll thru, looked like was going to be nasty, but turned out to be nothing! The next morning I found some friends on the other side of the fence, seems it’s also a wanna be cattle ranch besides a RV park! Texas RV Park sign Mural on one of the walls I thought was kinda cool Storm front coming in Our spot for the night Finally, the sunset after the clouds blew over! And our neighbors across the fence! Sep 29th we are back on the road. According to our route 66 book there is a vintage Conoco station/garage there that was the backdrop in the cartoon “Cars” (Disney 2006) so I had to stop and see it, besides, I had to run to town and fill the truck up! While we were there an old Ford panel van and a 66 Chevelle (I think 66) stopped by to take picture in front of the station. They were from Chicago and were driving the route in their vehicles, they looked to be having a good time. Since I’m a Ford guy, I only took pictures of the panel van! The guy assured me that it was all Ford parts in the rebuild!  Also, tucked in behind the station, Starr saw a C&H feed & supply building (C&H is where she worked at for 20+ years), she's thinking they expanded their business! (For those unfamiliar with that, C&H is a distributor/manufacturer of electronic components, highly unlikely they would open a feed store in Texas!)  (https://www.thomasnet.com/profile/01200757/c-h-technology-inc.html) Vintage Conoco Station. Ford Panel Van, very sharp New C&H building! Onto New Mexico! Again, I had pictured in my mind that New Mexico was a flat, barren desert, not so much, at least the northen part we were on! That night we stayed at a Walmart parking lot in Las Vegas, NM (NM not NV)! I’ve not had good luck staying in Walmart parking lots but we couldn’t find any spots in the area in Boondockers or Harvest Host so, whatta gonna do?? I spent the whole night thinking that our rig was being vandalized, so, not a lot of sleep for me! Come to find out, they were redoing the roof of the store and could only do it at night! Once I figured that out, I did manage to get a few hours of sleep!  Entering New Mexico Walmart Parking Lot, Las Vegas, New Mexico This bring us to the morning of Sep 30th and the end of this post

 

Onward to old Route 66, America's Highway

On Saturday Sep 25th we headed West from Taylorsville, IL and caught Route 66 at Auburn, IL. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to follow the route. I had spent hours trying to program it onto my RV GPS app. As it turned out, it's extremely well marked! The first day we followed most of it. The majority of it is great, it's been converted to state or county roads. As with modern highway updates, it's been straightened and low spot filled in. Where the well marked part come in, some of the old, unused highway is alright, some is maybe 2 mph, it's was interesting at points with as 35' trailer behind! Also, we purchased a Route 66 map book that shows all the different routes, twists and turns it has taken over the years, and things to look for ect. In one of the old sections of the route near Girard, IL were turkey tracks in the concrete highway, done somewhere around 1926. This may not seem important, but brings up some age old questions, one being are turkeys the same as chickens? Second, many thru the centuries have asked why did the chicken cross the road? Could it be, like the turkeys, to make tracks in wet cement? Or, was this a flock of juvenile turkeys out to deface public property and raise general mayhem?? What ever the answer, a memorial has been set up on the side of the road for the wayward turkeys!

One of the route signs near Thayer, IL

This was probably about a mile down the road from the turkey tracks, you can see the road is in bad shape here, the model is making it seem not quite as bad.

Another view, this was one of the really slow sections!

The turkey memorial

Turkey tracks

We pretty much followed the route that day, right into St Louis MO. determined that I was going to follow it thru. Once we crossed the McKinley bridge it suddenly didn't look so friendly anymore and, again, pulling a big trailer, it can be tough to get out of trouble if you need to. We decided to not be a purest, and to freeway it thru the city and catch the route on the other side! We did drive by the Gateway Arch in St Louis, I wanted to stop and ride it to the top, but, with the extra week in South Bend, for now, a drive by was good enough!

That night, Sep 26th we used our Harvest Host membership and stayed at a Brewery near Gray Summit, MO. and had a good night's rest!

Entering the McKinley Bridge, Love these old bridges!

The view about half way thru!

Gateway arch from a distance

and a little closer

Our site at Point Labaddie Brewery.

Paul & Tammy Greenlee Visit, Taylorsville, IL

We arrived at my nephew Paul's and his wife Tammy's place on Sept 21st. For those of you who aren't aware, due to my placement in the Babcock family, the youngest of seven with my oldest sister Avis (Paul's mother) being at least 23 years my senior (any family members feel free to fill in her birth year) I grew up with mostly nephews and nieces, with a few cousins sprinkled in here and there, with many fond memories of them all. We spent a little time that evening catching up, we decided that we hadn't seen each other since we were in our early twenties'. Way to much time! We also figured out Paul is about nine months younger than me. 

They have a wonderful little lake lot on Taylorville Lake not far from their home and had us join them out there. After being in an industrial parking lot next to an airport for two weeks, having our RV sitting on the bank of a lake was definitely a wonderful change of pace! Though it was sunny the whole time we were there, unfortunately it was very windy and cold and we could not get out on the lake.

We were greeted by their two dogs, Chevy and Miles. Chevy, I think  was a Shih Tzu mix (correct me Tammy) and Miles was a Pomeranian, the size of good Muskie bait! Miles was definitely one of the happiest dog I ever seen. When he barked he would quite literally bounce straight up and down with each bark! He was like on caffeine all the time! Chevy was the lover, would curl up next to me in a heartbeat!

The area that their lake lot is on seems like it has become a tight knit community over the years. It is definitely a community all by itself consisting of several styles of RV's from fifth wheels, travel trailers and park models. The last night we were there, we had the chance to meet some their friends from the lake community and shared a potluck meal together. Starr & I were welcomed like we had always been a part of the group!

As I was attempting a nap Chevy jumped up and accosted me with a good face washing before I got my hands free! 

Sunset at the lake! Paul, Tammy and Starr

Tammy, Paul and Miles the pooch

Starr warming feet by the fire!

Paul and I 

Starr with the lake in the background!

They had a wonderful fire pit, truck rim with landscaping block around it!
Had some fine fires in it while we were there!!!

Me, Starr, Paul & Tammy

Potluck campfire on the last night!
Ron & Becky
Starr's empty chair, the grey head is me
Jen & Ethan
&
Chevy

Onward to Taylorsville, IL

 Tuesday Sept 21st was a cloudy, misty day when we left South Bend, It was a "easy on the eyes" type of day for driving, it felt good to be back on the road!! Like the title says, we were on route to Taylorsville, IL to vist and catch up with my nephew Paul and his wife Tammy! We had to stop part way there to dump our waste tanks, half way thru dumping the monsoons started and we had to run for cover! I think we arrived at Paul and Tammy's around 6ish.

The route we took.
The green bubble with the tent is where we dumped our waste.
I'm using an app called "RV Life" you can preplot the route out on the computer then open it on our phone for step by turns. It has all the trailer information so it will let you know of low bridges, sharp turns etc to keep us out of trouble.
(Like most apps, when it works it's great, when it doesn't, you want to throw it out the window! LoL)
 

Starr and I took cover between "Bessy" the truck and "Boo" the trailer when the heavy rain started! Snug as a bug in a rug!!

Onward to South Bend, Indiana!

 Well, Monday, Sep 6th rolled around and it was time to Hitch up, Jacks up, dump, and head to South Bend, In. A company, Briter Products, that was at the Escapees rally in Rock Spring in July invited us to their manufacturing facility to help us determine what we would need in Lithium batteries and solar panels so we would be able to camp off grid (dry camp, boondock) with our RV. The process has been slow, They will start installation tomorrow (Sep 17th). 

This shows the testing phase, the two solar panels, the controller (one of the mumbo jumbo things mentioned below) is on the side of that little building looking thing! The batteries are in the front cargo hold area!

Today is Sunday, Sep 19th. Our system is installed, (2) Lithium batteries, (2) 400watt solar panels to keep them charged and a whole bunch of electronic "mumbo-jumbo stuff" in-between those two things to keep the whole thing working together without burning everything up. I thought we would be on the road today heading to Taylorsville, IL, but, alas, no. There is a converter in RV's that, as the name implies, converts shore power (120vac) to 12vdc, which the lights and motors operate on. The converter also charges the batteries, like a giant battery charger! I guess lithium batteries charge differently then standard lead acid batteries and our converter, per the P/N, was suppose to have a switch that could be switched to this setting. When it came to change that setting, that switch wasn't there. This was discovered late on Saturday (yesterday) so we have to wait till tomorrow (Monday) to find out what's going on. I didn't realize I would be spending my retirement years in an old Industrial Park parking lot in South Bend, ID!! LoL!! 

Monday, Sep20th: An update on the switch, it was was there, they couldn't see it until the manufacturer showed them where it was! We decided to spend one more night and leave in the morning!!

Solar panels getting installed on the roof (by the top of the ladder). I'm at the front checking out there work!

Some fun things since we have been here, we have visited Notre Dame University, Indiana's Dune State Park and Trinity Evangelical Free Church which I will write about in a separate post. We have also met Don (see picture below). He having some work done on his RV also. Great sense of humor!

Starr and Don. 
Also note the refrigerator, we had to put up a calendar so can keep track of the day of the week.

Avanti Lalwani & Starr, Avanti was one of the people that installed our system!
Truck and trailer are in the background, hitched and ready to head to next destination!

Labor Day Weekend

 Instant Update: Nothing has changed, still in South Bend, IN!!

Todays installment covers Sep 04-05!

I'm trying to remember what we did!

I'm not sure I got the order right, we spent Saturday with Mark, Mihaela & family. Mihaela made her fabulous traditional lasagna for us, it was mmmmmmm good! 

Starr, Mark and the girls went out Geocaching, I stayed at Marks and napped!

One thing Mark & I attempted was to saw a broken limb in a tree in his yard. It was one those attempts that you might see on a social media page, My pickup backed under the limb, step ladder in the box of the truck, me on the ladder, 2nd step from the top, pole saw extended to the max, (as well as me) Mark was holding the ladder, what could possibly go wrong? We about were about 2" from reaching the branch, we decided to let it go. No pictures were taken, I think it would have been a good one however!

Later we grilled chicken breasts and turkey thighs!

Sofia, Nectaria & Starr heading out looking looking for a Geocache!

I think they may have found one!!

Not sure, I think Starr is giving them a crash course!!

Nectaria (supervising) and I are

grilling chicken breasts & turkey thighs! 

On a personal note, don't let her size fool ya, 

she kept on my toes, alert and toeing the mark!!!

And the end of a perfect day, I'm getting a crash course in Minecraft
from Nectaria She says she can teach me to play, I dunno,
the "old dog, new trick" thing comes to mind!!
That's Mihaela in the back ground eyeing up the goldfish

An instant update: we are still in South Bend, ID, one week now. We think the battery & solar install will start tomorrow!

Now for the rest of the story!!!

On Aug 3rd, we continued our journey to Wheaton, IL. One of the things we want to do on our adventure is to travel the backroads, stay off the interstates as much as possible, to slow down and see rural America, on the roads less traveled. 

We started this leg of the trip from Wesby, WI. We took Hi-way 61 South to Dubuque IA, then worked our way down to Savanna, IL. We were quite impressed with the rolling hills(?) on this stretch. It must be absolutely stunning when the autumn leaves are at peak.

At Savanna we started heading east, main route being Highway 52 & 64 to I39, then a few miles south to east I88 to Wheaton. Got set up at Blackwell Campground, I still had to deal with no power to the slide out, well sort of, it moved 6" then stopped. I climbed under the trailer and removed an access cover, found the motor in question. At the factory they had connected the wires together with a crimp wire nut and only had maybe 5 strands of one of the wires in the crimp. It must have been arcing ever since we've had it and finally just burn its self thru (see below). We quickly located a hardware store to buy some threaded wire nuts, then ran over to say hi to Mark & Mihaela, Starr's brother & his wife & their kids, exchanged a round of hugs with everyone, then back to the campground so I could finish fixing the motor issue, which I did, and must say the slide out has never work or sounded better!!

A rest area near Galena, IL, picture does not do it justice!

One broken wire!! Arrow shows where it's suppose to be!

Next installment will be the Labor Day weekend with the Goldfeld's (Starr brother)