Chanute, Kansas

No pictures today, rained all day yesterday so all we did was get ready to pull out today. We left at 9:30 this morning and all was going so well we set a new personal record. We arrived in Chanute at 6:30 and travelled 494 miles. We caught a glimpse of the Arch in St Louis and going by Kansas City is was 39 degrees. When we arrived in Chanute it was 44 and down to 41 now. There were only 4 sites open in Santa Fe Park, we have never seen it so crowded. Now we can relax tomorrow before having our home serviced Monday and Wednesday. The truck ran flawlessly, joy, joy; but only got 9.3 mpg on all the hills.

Superman

Well, we got our truck back this morning and the engine is back in one big piece. We wanted to test it because we are pulling out for Kansas Saturday. It rained all day long while we drove to Metropolis, IL about 50 or 60 miles south. The truck ran fine and we put about 150 miles on it.

As you all should know, Metropolis is were Clark Kent, aka Superman, worked as a mild mannered reporter with Lois Lane and cub reporter Jimmy Olsen. Did you know Jimmy's Nikon camera that he always wore around his neck was made out of balsa wood? A real camera was too heavy. Ahh, Hollywood magic.

Illinois Garden of the Gods & the Shawnee Queen

We took a ride on an Ohio River Taxi for a couple hours this afternoon. It was a beautiful fall day, crisp & clear.
See the cave? It was in Davy Crockett & the River Pirates in 1956, and I remember watching it!! It was also used in 1962 for the movie How the West Was Won. The cave was first used (as far as the locals remember) as a tavern and then by river pirates. There was absolutely nothing on the Kentucky side of the river, 100% trees and brush. The Ohio side had a couple small towns, several nice large new homes, several cottages & a couple small campgrounds. Looks like Ohio has people and Kentucky doesn't.

Yesterday it rained all morning and was ugly in the afternoon. Judy went to Curves & I dumped our holding tanks. That was yesterdays excitement. Today we drove to the Garden of the Gods, it's a lot different that the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. We took a quarter mile hike back to the bluffs and the overlooks, we liked the views as much as the Colorado Gardens. We had a good day but it's getting cold here at night so we can't dilly dally here too much.

Will it ever run again & Popeye the Sailor Man

This past weekend we stayed put & didn't do much, Judy did Curves on Saturday and we went to church on Sunday. We allowed the weekday workers to have the weekend. Today we stopped at the Ford dealer and you can see the pictures....lots & lots of parts all over, sure hope it works when they are done. The oil leak is from the oil cooler & the oil in the coolant is from the EGR cooler. So far that's what they have found.

After that we drove to Chester, IL on the Mississippi River which is the home of Popeye's creator. The city is in a several year project of adding statues of all the Popeye characters scattered around the city, we also checked out the Popeye museum. For lunch Judy had the Popeye spinach salad & I had a Wimpy burger. Beautiful fall day down here. Dang, but a Ford Focus is awful small inside!