Leaving route 66 behind and onward to Black Mesa Winery & fruit flies!

 Oct 1st, Starr and I have been on the road for a month now. Well, technically I suppose you could say 2 weeks with the hiccup in South Bend, but, for argument sakes, one month! So far we are loving the this lifestyle. Scenery has been great, company has been fantastic!

Like the title says we are putting the route 66 spiral map away for a while. It's still on my bucket list to see it thru, probably in chunks as we wander.

Things started getting serious today! We are definitely into mountain driving! Steep grades, sharp switch backs and driving in the clouds with rain and the occasional snowflake!! Bessy worked flawlessly! We even learned that when you get into higher elevations you get spit on, things like catsup, mustard, you know things in squirt bottles! Even the drink bottles with push buttons to open the opening so you can drink has the audacity spit on you! I guess the pressure increases in sealed bottles the higher you get!

Our route for today!

We are on our way to spend the night at at Black Mesa Winery, a spot we found thru our Harvest Host App. the drive, after we got thru the inclement weather was fantastic, we were driving past shear walls, it was wonderful!

We arrived at our destination, Black Mesa Winery, checked in and was told where to park, right next to the compost pile. We backed in, unhitched and started the set up. Starr opened up the front door, grabbed the steps to pull them down to the ground (We have steps that lift up inside the trailer when not in use), the next thing I know, I hear a bang and then Starr screaming and laying on the ground holding her shoulder. It seems the steps have two gas springs that act as a counterbalance so a wee little person like Starr can lift it up and down with little to no effort. The cylinder anchor that it mounts snapped in two causing the step to come crashing down just missing her head but hit the front of her shoulder and knocked her down. It kind of broke the skin and left a bruise for a few days. Contacted the step manufacturer, sent them pictures of the mount and they sent a new anchor mount for no charge*.

It took a little work to disassemble the cylinders to able to shut the door over the steps, meaning, I had to leave the screen door open, remember I said earlier that we had to park next to the compost pile? Well, they had just dumped the grape skins and what ever else the don't use when they make wine and the compost pile was RIPE! and it had attracted fruit flies and we had the door wide open. guess where the all went? In our trailer! It took over week to be rid of them all with a jar, apple cider vinegar and a funnel, they eventually went and drown themselves in the cider!

*(Note: As of this writing it is Oct 28th, we are at an RV Park in Escalante, UT waiting for our accumulated mail to be delivered "general delivery" the anchor assembly is one of the items we are waiting for! I have been in charge of lifting the steps up & down for the past month as they seem to weigh a ton!)

The entry!

The parking spot, compost pile on right side (not actually showing in the picture)

View of the vineyard from the dining window

Bessy unhitched, vineyard in the back ground

The broken anchor assembly

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