Heading for Dearborn "Ginger's great advanture"

Cougar Community Classic Cougar Experience
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Today I started heading for home. But I had a planned stop in Goshen Indiana to see a friend form work who retired a year before me. He and his wife are from Wisconsin. But through a daughter found this nice little city in northern Indiana. We had lunch at a nice little hole in the wall stake house called Tony’s Famous Grill. We managed to get caught up on life in general.

On my way to Indiana I stopped at a rest area and somehow locked my keys in the car. I had another traveler and the rest area attendant helping me find a tool that we could use. Turned out someone had a olde boom box in the attendants office that had a coat hanger for an antenna. It only slowed me down about 10 minutes. Note to self. Don’t make phone call before getting out of car with out taking the keys out and putting them in your pocket.
As I wanted to skirt south of Chicago I headed south on state 15 only to find it was closed just south of Warsaw IN. So as my planes included a stop in another town I lived in as a kid I found another routhe to Rantoul Illinois. I took State 25 south west through the Indiana country side. In to Logansport and on to Lafayette, Home of Purdue University. From Lafayette I went south on US-231 to State 28 and then west to the Illinois border and to Rantoul.
As the evening moved in I found a couple places with great sun set views. These pictures will liik even better with a little Photo shop color enhancement.

I made it in to Illinois about 8:30 PM. I couldn’t stop to get a picture of Ginger and the sign as there was no shoulder space. So I just slowed down and got this through the windshield.

I finally make Rantoul about 9:00. I find a hotel near Interstate 57. I get a room and poll around to back side where my room is and get parked. There were several guys hanging around a Simi tractor, two came over to talk about the car, one notices the Washington state plate and asked how clost to Everett I live. This group takes apart airplanes and transports them. Thay are going to move a B-52 from Everett’s Paine Field to Seattle’s Museum of Flight next spring. Now they are moving a C-45 I think they said. So tomorrow morning I get to go out to the site thay are working at and see the airplane and take pictures. This also happens to also be a site of a Minute Man missile silo that is being used as a Museum as well. For the first time I’ll get to see a place my father worked at on the program.
I promise good pictures and information with tomorrows post.

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That’s very cool Neal and I’m glad it’s going well for you. I cant wait to see the plane and silo pics. My dad was also in the missile program in the 50s and 60s with the USAF. God Speed and Safe Travels!!

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Thanks Neal for taking the time to take and post all those pictures! It’s a lot of work, I know. Great cross-section of the event itself and your journey. Good to see you in Dearborn! Safe travels back to the NW!

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A big applaus to you Neal, for taking the time to write this diary and post photos along the way, not everybody would have taken the time to do so during a trip and a show like this.
Very much appreciated, i wish i could have been there, and trough your continously updated tread it almost felt like i was in the car for the trip :slight_smile:
I recon there will be a story from this trip in The Prowler too ?

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Rantoul, huh. You’re about 60 miles from where I grew up. If you happen to see random thick white lines painted across the roads around that area, they’re marked 1/4 miles. The last visit I went down Mill St. in my old hometown and there it was in all of its glory the same starting line that had been there since my Dad was young (of course repainted time and again).

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This morning started early as I met up with the folks form Worldwide Aircraft Recovery INC and headed out to the defunct Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum. It was a beautiful sun filled morning. Upon arriving I found the apron in front of the hanger where the museum was filled with the remains of 8 or 9 War birds.

Many of the remaining aircraft are going for scrap due to the condition of most and the size of a few. The Lockheed EC-121 Warning Star (constellation) And the Convair B-58A Hustler bomber are being moved to a Museum in Michigan. This same company moved the Boeing B-47 last year.
I feel a little sad at the loss of the static display birds. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain / Dakota, Grumman HU-16 Albatross, F-105B, Douglas C-133 Cargomaster and more.

The B-58A that is being moved.

Note, the Nose art is depicting the exploits of another B-57A
Now some shots of Ginger as she sits with the EC-121.

The B-57A,

I don’t recall what airplane this is. If someone can let me know I’ll update this tomorrow.

After about an hour and a half I headed out, but had to take a picture of Gressam Hall.

You can find more info on the More info on the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum here; http://www.warbirdalley.com/articles/chanute.htm
After this I hit the Interstate south to I-74. And west toward Blumington were some how I got on to I-55 north. I realized that and turned myself around. But had lost some time. Back on I-74 I made my way to Iowa, and crossed back over the Mississippi River.

From there I cut off the free way on to US-218 north and west to Clear lake and on to I-35.
This is the clouds from US-21u near Nashua Iowa, I like the way the sun plays behind the clouds.

I crossed in to Minnesota just south of Albert Lea.

I stopped for the night in Blue Earth Mn at a Americ-Inn. I managed to get a suite as they were out of . singles for the price of a single. I like this place much better than the place I stayed last night, But it did get me a number of great pictures I would have never had the opportunity to take.
Tomorrow I will most likely make it to the Billings Montana area, and maybe a little more. I think I will make it home late Thursday or early Friday. I will have an update tomorrow evening. Hopefully a little earlier in the evening too.

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Neal in the northeast corner of wyoming is the devils tower national monument. I’m not sure exactly what route your driving or how far out of the way it is but it’s one of the things I want to see if I make ot down to that way.

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Caleb, I stopped in last fall. If my time looks good I think I recall several places I could fit Ginger in to pictures. Great place to visit. I did the walk around the tower last fall too.

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The plane you can’t identify is a two-seat version of the Douglas F-101 Voodoo.

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Thank you. I’ll update that after dinner.

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Wow Neal, this is quite a trip! You probably went 500 miles in the time it took me to read through it.

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I got myself ready to hit the road this morning and took my things down to the car to find it had rained last night. Not a bid deal. I made sure all was good under the hood and checked the tires and hit the road. It was nice and cool. I pulled across the hi-way to fill up at a Shell station and found this green fallow.

On ward and for the first time since the first night out I could run with the windows up and not get roasted. And It felt nice. I was able to make good use of 5th gear. For those that had asked, I double checked the speed using the Nav and the RPM ant 65 and 85At 65 it turns 2300 in 4th and 1475 in 5th. At 80 in 4th I have 3200 and 5th it is down to 1750. I was making good time and ran with it until about nood when I decided to stop for a lunch. I stopped in Plankinton SD at the Roadhouse Pub. The BLT was just the size I was looking for. Not to big and well priced. Sandwich and an ice Tea were under $5,00.

After a brief stop for gas I was back on the road. Again making good time. Well, about 40 some miles up I see a rest stop with a large sculpture. So I have to stop. This was at Chamberlain, A stop for Lewis and Clark on their travels. I found a number of things to photograph here. First is the sculpture that cought my eye, it is of Sacagawea.

Nearby is a sweeping view of the Missouri River. A trail fo;;ows the edge of the hill giving many areas to view the valley and river below.

Not far away is an interpretive center with a lot of information on The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition and this scolupture.

So much for making good time. I get back up to speed on the interstate and I keep seeing billboards for “The Pioneer Auto Show & Prairie town” in Murdo. So being a gear head, car guy I have to stop. I was there when I was a youngster. Well, if you like cars but don’t mind them not being pristine restored cars then this place has a lot to offer. I think they have something like 200 carsincluding some very nice ones and some not so nice ones.

And yes, that is a General Lee behind the Lincoln.

This is one of the nicer cars. It is a 1931 Packard and It belonged to the Movie Star Tom Mix. It is behind glass. Most are behind wire.

You don’t see to many of this model Rambler Rebel Machine

They even have the King’s Hog.

I even found a 67 XR-7 in building 2. It looks solid, but the interior has been redone is a two tone custom job. Sorry, but with the windows up I could not get good pictures.

I promise, this is the last one from the “The Pioneer Auto Show & Prairie town”. Over all I think it was worth the price of admission. It cost me $11.50 to get in.

I’m spending tonight just West of Rapid City S.D. I had planned to go on in to Wyoming. But I was getting tired and decided to stop at a place I have spent time in before. I have 2 more days of driving to get home. About 1200 miles to go. I will be back tomorrow with an update. I think I will meet up with and pass Heather and Scott and the others running with them some time tomorrow evening. Stay tuned.

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Love the pics of the Chanute AFB. I remember being a kid and watching planes land before it was closed. This is also the area that my father in law got stuck in during his last years in the military. He said it was the boredom of being in central Illinois that caused him to retire. His exact words were “Screw this! I’m out of here!”

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Safe travels!

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It was another cool morning and I could see in the distance that clouds were to the west. When I say the Mountains and they had snow on them I had some concerns, but the snow was much higher than the Interstate. It is so much more pleasant being able to hear the stereo without having to crank it up over the wind noise of the down windows.

Later on I spotted an airplane mounted on a pole in the distance. I had noticed several like this last year on another trip I took through Wyoming. And they are not military…

I stopped in Sheridan Wyoming for lunch and fuel. And then made a beeline toward the state line.

As I’m sure you know, Montana is a big state. Interstate 90 covers some 520 miles through this state. It has a lot of mountains to cross. So even though the speed limit is mostly 80 MPH you cannot maintain that with the trucks and construction. I think I did well covering the distance I did today, 650 miles. With the fuel, food and rest brakes making it to Missoula MT at 7:15 PM local time.
I found my self a room and then went and got a bite to eat. Called my Granddaughtert o wish her a good night and sat down to do this update. I have a little over 500 miles to go. I should be home tomorrow afternoon.
I will have one more report on the trip tomorrow evening and then do a recap on Sunday. Thanks for following this.

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That there is a beautiful shot of your car. And, congratulations on winning the longest-drive-to-the-show award.

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Good morning folks, I apologize for not doing this update last night as promised. But I couldn’t muster the ambition to do it last night. I ended up falling asleep in my recliner with the TV on.
I got up earl y and went down for breakfast to find I had caught up with some others from the Cascade Cougar club. I had breakfast with Jim and Elaine Pinkerton. Heather Whitaker and Scott Ferguson were also in the hotel but were sleeping in as they pony planed to go on to Coeur d’Alene Idaho to take ion the Car d’Alene show later.
I bid Missoula good by about 6:45 am. It was the coolest morning so far on the trip. Gray skies and threatening weather were ahead. It is about 100 miles to the Idaho border and the rain came soon after hitting the road. As this is mountainous area I was not going to try to make good time anyway. But with wet roads I was slower then I had planned. I made a quick stop at the Idaho border to get a quick picture, but I didn’t feel like getting wet so I took it from my seat, nice and dry.

I made it through Idaho, splashing and running the wipers most of the way. I couldn’t get a glamour shot of the Welcome to Washington sign as for some reason it is in the median with no place to stop.
I made it through Spokane and on West to Ritzville where I stopped for lunch and fuel. It was raining lightly and the skies were still gray. Usually the East side of Washington it sunny this time of year, or at least it is when I go over there.
I made a stop just East of Vantage WA at a view point overlooking the Columbia gorge and took some pictures. What a view.

Note the clouds and to the left in the distance it is raining. I soon got back underway. Only to find the worst traffic congestion of the trip so far in between Ellensburg and Cle Elum do to road construction. It took about 45 minutes to go about 15 miles. Back moving at speed I ran it to more rain on the East side of Snoqualmie pass. Only to find decent weather on the West side. The half of Washington I lovingly call the Great North Wet.
I cut off Interstate 90 at Preston and headed north through the Snoqualmie valley on State road 202 through Fall City, Carnation and Duvall and in to Monroe where I got back on to US-2, to Interstate 5 and on home to Camano Island.
I pulled in to my driveway at about 7.00PM I had covered some 5610 miles on this little excursion. Traveled in 12 states and met countless people and made memory’s of a lifetime.
Tomorrow I will do a recap and epilogue of this amazing trip. Thanks for following me as I did this trip.

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Welcome Home!!

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Great trip, I enjoyed checking your progress every day when I went online. The views and info about places you traveled thru was great. Thanks for sharing. How about a new reality show “Real road trips”
Thanks again
Larry

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Larry, I second that motion. All in favor just smile.