Hard driving under a hot sun.

No sightseeing trips today., just hard driving under an extremely hot sun. Mary's arm and my left ankle suffered sun burns. After arriving in Council Bluffs, Iowa we found the next Hampton Inn full and had to settle for a clean Days Inn. We were keopt awake by a tremendous thunder storm which lasted for most of the night. By the way we missed the BMW rally in South Dakota.

Lincoln's Cabin

We visited Lincoln's cabin which unfortunately was nothing special. We have seen old farm buildings many times before.

After seeing a road side sign for Mid America Motorworks museum in Effingham, IL we both wanted to see it. The success of this business is a prime example of how many riches can be had by being successful. They have catered and cater to Volkswagen and Corvette owners rebuilding their vehicles. The catalog of parts available for each is about five to six inches thick and contains every imaginiable part that one might need for a complete restoration. The facilities are expansive and spotless. The museum contains many unique and several one of a kind vehicles.
One that comes to mind is the the very last iteration of of a model of Corvette (sorry, I don't remember which one, C4 maybe?) built in the factory which was signed by every person on the assembly line. This example was given to the owner of this business with the stipulation that it is never driven and never leaves the museum.
We picked up some posters for Woody, who is a Corvette enthusiast. Hopefully they will survive the trip.
After a long search we arrived at Extreme Toys Kawasaki and Moto Guzzi dealer in St Louis. The last was a big disappointment as they are not a stocking dealer . The traffic to and fro was terrible, in rush hour and it took forever to find our way out of town due to construction on Interstate 64. After a hot ride we arrived at the Hampton Inn in Columbia, Missouri.

Day four

We drove to Competition Accessories, a multi-brand motorcycle dealer, then on to Mattoon, Illinois, covering 275 miles. It was a very clear day but with a constant wind.
Shades of North Dakota without the clouds. My hands and arms were quite tired. We ran into many admirers and all wished us a safe journey. We haven't seen a toll road since Ohio.

Day three

We left the cabin at around 10 AM, and drove thirteen miles for breakfast. We then drove to Springfield, Ohio 350 miles away, Where we stayed at a Holiday Inn for the evening.

Day two

We decided to stay an extra day and continue the family visit. Tomorrow morning we'll be continuing our journey via Route 80, with South Dakota being our next major milestone, to attend a BMW rally there on the 15th, followed by the BMWMOA (BMW Motorcycle Owners of America) National Rally in Gillette, Wyoming.

Summer of 2008 road trip.

Today is the first day of our vacation to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary and the 50th anniversary of my being in this country.
We started out rather late in the day, at 2:15 PM because we watched our new Jacuzzi-style tub being installed in the downstairs bathroom. It is rather huge and was very heavy for Mark, the contractor Don, and our son in-law to put in place. Hopefully we will have many days to enjoy it after our vacation.

The weather was nice and crisp but we faced a constant head-wind which changed to blow from the side, just to keep things interesting. The mileage dropped drastically, enough to make me wish for a much larger gas tank, maybe later. The destination was Don and Catherine's camp in Potter County, Pennsylvania, which at 300 plus miles, is close enough to call a good test ride. As it turns out we packed to much stuff and were hopelessly overweight. We shed some of that weight and asked Catherine to bring it home with her. Chris and Sarah were there, so Mary was very happy. I took them both for a ride in the sidecar, which they both enjoyed.
This rig is performing fine, although the additional weight is definitely noticeable. My arms ached after finishing today.