Old Tractors, Old Cars, & Lots of Old People!!!!!!!!! Part 2

After a very enjoyable morning wandering around a time warp and seeing what tractors were like before the ones they have now which I saw quite a few of out in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska I pick the old ones!!! They might have not been as efficient, but they sure looked like they were more fun to ride!!!!!!!


I was off to the old car show. There were not as many cars there as I thought there might be, but some of the ones that were there were just really NEAT!!!!!!!! Am I allowed to write that???

So I took another trip back in time and thoroughly enjoyed myself and took pictures!!!!! and they are attached to this story. I am not sure if I can post all the pictures, but I am going to try??????? If not then I guess I will just put them in my next scrapbook!!!!!!!

That is it for now. Unless something happens the next time I write will be the end of the month when me and Mr. Blue are going to Rogue River, Ore. for the annual ROOSTER CROW PARADE!!!!! That is right folks they have the annual ROGUE RIVER ROOSTER CROWING CONTEST and PARADE!!!!! Do you really think I could make this stuff up?????

UNTIL THEN.............

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Finally!!!!!!!

I went to bed about 10 PM and did not wake up until about 6:30 the next morning!!!!!! I think I was tired??? So after some coffee and a face wash and watching the sun come up.... I finally headed all of us down the hiway for the last little bit of road and I am now where I will be for a while. If I do something exciting????? or maybe I will just take pictures of where I am and write about that????


But for now???????
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The Last Day!!!!!!!

I thought I was going to get a good nights sleep but the sleeping gods decided that I should only sleep until 6:30 when a refer van pulled in right next to me and put the refer on high speed and if you have never heard one then the only way to describe it is a locomotive parked beside your bed without the horn blowing!!!!!!


So I got up and left and headed toward Winnemucca where the plan was to spend the night.... However as luck would have it I crossed the Pacific time line and gained an hour so I got to my spot way before noon and decided that I was not spending more than 10 hours of daylight sitting in a rest area talking Miss Mabel, Mr. Blue, and myself!!!!! I am not STOOOPID!!!!!!!

A little further down the road is Winnemucca, Nev. and that is the last gas up before heading into the furthest reaches of NO WHERE LAND!!!! Which I really believe exists for the sole purpose of punishing drivers who just want to go that way!!!!!!! I am not STOOOPID!!!!!!!

So you leave Winnemucca and go north on 95 and then about 29 miles later you turn left and drive through this barren waste land heading for SUICIDE MOUNTAIN!!!! There are pictures to show what I am talking about and that is the toughest and longest white knuckle driving that I know of!!! It is a 2 lane road of 3 miles with a small shoulder on both sides and no guard rails!!!!!! I have been over it twice and I am on the inside going down which you have to stay in low gear. Ain't no way you would get me to go up that road!!!! Just would not happen!!!!! I am not STOOOPID!!!!!

So it was over the mountain and through the woods and I mean that literally to my final rest area where I arrived at about 9 PM and settled in for a good nights sleep!!!!!!!
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Wednesday, May 30!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally I had a different title for today but I am just to tired and disgusted to be as humorous as I was planning!!!!!


The day started out not bad in Nebraska as I was about 9 miles west of North Platte on I-80. It was chilly and a slight sprinkle but I could see in the distance the way I was heading that the skies were clearing.... So I brushed some of my teeth and then headed toward Wyoming....

I was planning on getting gas and a shower in Laramie which worked out pretty much the way I figured it would. I filled up Mabel's tank, then I filled up the coffee and water jugs and then I took a shower!!!!

At this point all was right with the world and then I walked outside!!!!!! The wind had picked up and as it turned out it was blowing about 45 miles per hour coming right out of the West!!!!

Well, wanna guess what that is like driving straight into a 45 mph head wind?????? So it is now 5:30 PM my time as I write this and I left Laramie at 11:30 AM and drove 273 miles according to the GPS!!!!!!!!!!! That according to my calculations makes it somewhere around 45 mph and a whole lot of fuel!!!!!!! I would like to say something good about Wyoming buttttttttt???? I am sure there is something good but the weather SUCKS!!!!!!! I had my emergency blinkers on and the truckers knew what that meant, but about 90% of the Wyoming tag people must only know that if a light is blinking then pull over and wait for the state trooper. Wyoming drivers rank right up there with New York and Texas Drivers!!!!!

So just as an added attraction I always seem to have Mother Nature make a call at just about a certain time when I am in Wyoming!!!!!!! and I am right at the top of a mountain where it is always cold even when the sun shines!!!!! so this time I included a picture of the elevation according to the GPS!!!!!! Maybe I am STOOOPID?????

What really amazes me is that every 5 miles there is a sign that says STRONG WINDS NEXT 5 MILES...... Why don't these mental midgets just put a sign by the welcome sign at both ends of all the intestates and say YOU ARE NOW ENTERING A MINIMUM 45 MPH WIND TUNNEL. DRIVE AT YOUR OWN RISK BECAUSE OF THE WIND AND THE WYOMING DRIVERS!!!!!!!

Anyway the bad news is the wind is still blowing!!!!!!! The good news is I am in for the night and I did get a shower!!!!!!! and plan on getting an early start and leaving this #$%&*&%$ state as far behind me as is possible and maybe, but I doubt it with a little luck the wind will have died down some?????

The poetic justice of this whole thing is the rest area where I am staying is the one I stayed in last year and woke up to find Mr. Blue's whole rear end tore up!!! But I have already checked and he is fine this year!!!!!! I slept for about 2 hours and then decided that I wanted to get through Salt Lake City. The problem there is that if you are from out of state and driving through Utah, anyone who lives there has only two things in mind and that is to wreck your car and hopefully put you in the hospital!!!!!!! So I got through Salt Lake by about 12:30 am and was parked in a rest area west of there and was in bed by 1:30 am........

Sorry the postings are not more timely but I cannot get any signal on my air card!!!!!!! Thank you AT&T!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Drum Roll Please

Well, today started out just like the last two days. I wake up not being sure what is going to happen good or bad???


Of course today I already knew what the first bad thing would be. That would be having to jump Mabel to get her started since I ran the battery down last night doing the blog and checking email.

It was not as hard as one might imagine to get a jump since I had a ready made jump system that I was towing. I just reconnected Mr. Blue's battery, started him up and then unhooked him from Mabel and moved him around to the front of Mabel and connected the cables and started her up. Then I just did everything in reverse and Mr. Blue was all connected and we went on down the road!!!!!!! Did not even have to call AAA!!!!!!!!!

So I left Oklahoma and went into Texas and then back into Oklahoma and then into Kansas and as I write this I am in a rest area surrounded by thousands of unnamed and genetically altered bugs who are not biting but simply irritating!!!!!!

I have absolutely no idea why I go to Texas at all except for self abuse and to see people I know there. The drivers are some of the most inconsiderate in the world!!! And it is just peachy to cross into Texas and see a sign where the welcome station should be that says welcome station 100 miles west!!!!!! which puts it just inside the line coming from New Mexico!!!!!!! Just another one of those Texas OXYMORONS!!!!!!!!!

Enough about Texas. After leaving there it is back into Oklahoma for a short while and then into Kansas.......

I am not in Kansas anymore but something monumental happened there today!!!!!! DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!!! Miss Mabel got a little older today and passed a milestone, not to be confused with a kidney stone!!!!! In the town of Colby, Kansas Miss Mabel, WAIT FOR IT!!!!! rolled over 250,000 miles!!!!!!! Yes, folks I am talking a quarter million miles and still going!!!!!!! Of course I wanted to celebrate so I pulled into a Pilot Station that had a subway. Of course Subway does not serve cake but then this one did not serve anything since it was closed!!!!

So with that putting a slight damper on things I fueled up, got 2 Mark 14 gut bombs and promptly spilled mustard and ketchup on me and we all headed off toward Nebraska!!!!!!!!!!!! So it has been an eventful day of some bad and some good, but all in all we are still running so I can call it good.

So I guess you just have to wait for the next post to see what will happen???????

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Day 2????? I think????

Well, here I am in Oklahoma. Not very far in, actually just about 58 miles but then who is counting???????


I woke up this morning in Louisiana feeling much better and MUCH safer since I had escaped MOSQUITO PRISON!!!!! However my shirt had several blood spots from those who went to mosquito heaven or where ever it is that mosquitos go????

I actually slept from about 11 that night until about 5:30 am except for a couple of OLD GUY TRIPS which are a real thrill when you are sleeping in an unlighted rest area (night time security provided) and the challenge is to get across the parking lot, not stub your toe on the concrete curb and if you do remain quiet so as to not awaken all the other sleeping travelers!!!!!!! So the first time I did it I just really swore a lot, but quietly!!!! and after that I remembered to take a flashlight with me!!!! I am not STOOOPID!!!

So after answering my email and doing my blog I headed off toward Texarkana, Tex. and where is Texarkana you ask?? Well, even if you don't want to know I am going to tell you anyway!!!! It is right across the street from Texarkana, Ark. The state line actually goes right through the center of the post office and I have pictures to prove it!!!!!!! any way after coffee and computer I went on my merry way.......

I arrived in Texarkana about 12:30 and I called a friend of mine and told her that I smelled like 14 pig pens and was sweating like I had just run the Kentucky Derby. Actually I think all the sweating was from running from all those skeeters which I am thoroughly convinced have been genetically altered to attain that size!!!!

So I got to Donna's house and she had towel and washcloth waiting and I proceeded to jump into the rain locker and rid myself of all the body parts associated with the previous nights battle. After which we sat and talked and I had a cold glass of tea and then we did a little running around and then I headed on out again so as to get into Oklahoma. THANX DONNA FOR THE SHOWER AND THE TEA!!!!!!!!!!!!

However as luck would have it or in my case BAD LUCK!!!! My GPS suddenly shut down!!!!! I already had a plan to stop at a rest area at MM 58 on I-35 in Oklahoma and luckily the part between where the GPS went out and where I was going was not that far so even I could find it!!!!!! I am not STOOOOPID!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway once parked I proceeded to tear my ash tray out and remove all three cigarette lighters since all three were dead and they are on two different circuits.

So after tearing everything apart I finally determined that I have a bad power cord for the GPS, but luckily I have an inverter so I can power the GPS that way!!!!!!! Where is an electrician when you need one???? So now everything works and I have this big hole where my ashtray used to be...... but I am sure I can fix it somehow when I finally get to where I am going???

And so I await with great trepidation what may befall me as I go through Oklahoma heading for Nebraska?????

Tune in Wednesday to find out where I am and what has happened???????
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Heat, Swamps, and the BUGS!!!!

I left Deland about 7:15 0n the 27th and was looking forward to a well planned drive and sleeping in Louisiana.




Well, the drive part worked out, but all the road and weather gods seemed to want to conspire against me. The travel temperature was somewhere between hot and just plain miserable!!!!



But along the way the gas prices were interesting...... I paid $3.35 a gallon in Florida. In Alabama the price was $3.27. In Mississippi the price was $3.17 and in Louisiana it was $3.29. I only threw that part in so that you can see what happens as I travel. I am sure as I get further out west the prices will go up some????



I finally got to Louisiana where I planned to spend the night in a rest area on the ATCHAFALAYA River but not knowing that the river is actually a SWAMP!!!!!!!!!!! WELL!!!!! I got out to go brush my teeth and was promptly surrounded by some of the biggest swamp skeeters I have seen. I have not seen anything like these big boys since down at a state park in Hobe Sound, Fl. and a couple other places. These boys were so hungry that they did not even argue about who got what, they just picked a spot and started munching!!!!!!! so after a short pause to take care of a couple of things I jumped back in the truck and headed for plan B.



So I out ran the skeeters, got a few hours sleep and woke up on I-49 somewhere between Opelousas and Alexandria Louisiana. It is now about 7:45 am where I am at and hopefully I will be in Oklahoma this afternoon where I can take a SHOWER!!!!!!!!!!

I just wanna know am I having fun yet????????
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