Road Trip! We're Back!

[TsgtRet]

Leaving tomorrow AM to drive down to Ft Benning and see the Stepson, Daughter in Law and the kids. Since we're old folks we're going to take 2 days to do it. So I get to go melt in the Georgia heat for a week. I'll still look in and see what's happening. Couldn't find any good hobby shops listed in the Columbus, Ga/Phenix City, Al area....anyone know any close by?

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Sarge, the hobbies available in Phoenix City aren't what your wife or kiddies ever want to see. Boy's Town Deluxe. You've seen these places outside of bases all over. I was born at Benning, and when my family used to travel in the 50s, we occasionally would stop in at Ft. Benning to see the old infirmary building where I was born, just for fun. Dad would drive way out of the way around to make sure we didn't pass through Phoenix City. I was a grown man before I found out why. As a kid, I thought it must be a terrible traffic area, since the main preoccupation on those trips was always trying to avoid getting bogged down in traffic (everything in those days was 2 lane blacktop).

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I can just hear Bruce Springstein warming up... "Born on an army base, I was- Born on an army base"

[TsgtRet]

I'll keep the info about Phenix City in mind.

I was born on an Air Force Base, in a WWII wooden hospital, during a SAC alert!

We're in Manchester, Tn tonight and will push on in the morning. Trying to finaggle the return trip so we (I) can stop at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Will keep you posted.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

About that return trip... Better check with the Louisville guys about the bridges at the Ohio. Lots of work has been going on there for I don't know how long, which could put you right off the Indiana route. You might want to go through Covington/Cincinnati to get to Bowling Green, which by the way, was a very pretty college town when I was there, which is amazing, considering that big city Toledo is right there nearby.

[TsgtRet]

Finally got online (stepson has internet problems). We'll be heading North Sun AM and plan to stop in Bowling Green (Ky) overnight so we'll try and hit the Corvette Museum Monday morning before pressing on for NE Indiana. I'll post some pics when we get home.

[dreinecke]

[TsgtRet]

Well we're back. Now I have to recover from the trip! Never made it to the Corvette Museum but will the next time through. Probably one of the more expensive "visits" we've had in a while. The Sunday before we left the "boss" went over to her Mom's to check on things and when she went to leave her Mountaineer wouldn't start. I went over, checked things out and appeared she had a shorted cell in the battery so we went and bought a new one...put it in and "no joy". At that point we called AAA to tow it home and we went on home. This was 3 in the afternoon.....they got it to the house at 8PM. "I'll mess with it when we get back." Meanwhile I'm packing the car, etc and then my battery starts acting up....while it was probably ok I didn't want to take the chance on a 1400 mile trip so I went and got a new battery for my Grand Marquis. Actual trip went well, got home Monday night. On Tuesday I checked out her car hoping it was just the "pigtail" wire on the starter......it wasn't, so had it towed in to the garage we use (13 mile tow) and had the starter replaced; $411.00 including the tow (her AAA only has 5 miles). So now I'm back at work, recovering! All in all it was worth it to see the Grandkids and sights we don't normally get to see. It was an easy drive and the old Merc averaged 24-25 mpg on the road, not too hateful for an old, full size, RWD, V8.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

That's 'cause its an actual American car. Like my '95 Roadmaster, one of the last American cars before we allowed Detroit to make little jellybeans and call them cars. Way too small for Americans, way too delicate for American travels, and no room for luggage for four people (family). Hence, we are overrun with luxury trucks and vans that masquerade as some nebulous thing called an SUV. Even the buying public wasn't stupid enough for that one, so they subdivided it into Crossover (meaningless), People Carrier (make that van), and a few other made up names. But it is undeniably true that a big American car with lots of interior room, easy to get in and out of without a stepladder or lying on the ground, with a big honkin' simple engine that barely works at all for almost any driving condition therefore gets great mileage, is the best way to go for nearly the entire nation, if they just managed to think for themselves instead of letting TV commercials do their thinking. By the way, there isn't a non-exotic car on the planet that is actually worth more than $9,000. The rest of the price these days is pure ripoff. The workers sure aren't getting paid like $30,000 price tags would indicate.