POP QUIZ

Post your guesses on the blog.

1. Super unleaded is cheaper than unleaded across the midwest, any idea why?
2. Where am I?


Clue:

3. In which Wyoming town is it illegal to park your car if you have out-of-town license plates?
Hint: This small town was a planned community built in the 1920's around a company that no longer exists, and the name of the town was changed to that of the new company which purchased the original one and is in the same industry.

4. What is Dan Quayle's home town?

Extra credit: can you identify this building and tell Judy about it? (Listed on National Register of Historic places) It is downtown, not far from the Quayle museum, one block from Nick's Café -- famous for tenderloin and home made pies - we had a slice of rhubarb for breakfast, both being rhubarb freaks. The pie was perfectly tangy with a flaky, delicious crust. The mystery building is located on the NW corner of North Jefferson and West Market (Market becomes East Market on the other side of Jefferson. Jefferson is the old Lincoln Highway route 24.)

Whats up with this?

We kept seeing these signs all over the midwest.
(http://www.kumandgo.com)
I have no other comment.

Lincoln Nebraska, and on to Iowa

Well. I was so sad about Miss Emily. I knew it was inevitable but I was still so sad. That combined with bad internet luck curtailed my blogging. But, I have time now to share some cool stuff.
I actually got to see one of the buildings that I studied in undergrad and graduate school. The State Capital Building in Lincoln, Nebraska. What a majestic, impressive building. In my lexicon, I put it in the Daily Planet School of Architecture. Sort of Gothic Intimidation meets Depression Modern.
I LOVE THIS BUILDING. I also love the Los Angeles Public Library Building which was designed by the same architect: Bertram Goodhue. He designed some buildings in Balboa Park for the 1915 Pan Pacific Exhibition (beating out my favorite architect of all time Irving Gill.) He even did the master plan for Cal Tech in California. Julie and I were driving down Goodhue Blvd. in Lincoln, and lo and behold we saw this vision. This was the tallest thing on the prairie for miles. I think that was the point. Can't you just imagine Jimmy Olsen running out the door to catch the latest scoop?

We spent the night outside of Des Moines. The next day I was determined to have some Lincoln Highway experiences and dragged Julie to Ames, Iowa to see the Campus of Iowa State,(Sorry Jan), and try a butter burger at Culvers, a mid-western chain. I am compelled to say..Butterburgers are AS GOOD AS IN and OUT BURGERS. Heresy. I know. They have irregular edges, a square shape, and taste really really good. I ordered a double and gave Chumley one patty. He concurred.
We schlepped to Tama, Iowa to see the Ultimate Lincoln Highway relic, and boy was I happy!! Chumley not so much. He really hates being in the car and even though he was on doggie downers he was still stressing. I think that this trip can't be over soon enough for him.
We managed to stay on the Lincoln highway for another 30 miles or so and then in order to avoid Chicago we ditched route 30 and found an alternate two lane road through Illinois and Indiana. More later.

Chumley

"Hmmm.... hope we aren't there yet."

"Maybe there is another BBQ place ahead"

"It is only 9am and I am so tired, someone must have slipped me a mickey"

"Apparently I will be spending the rest of my life in this back seat"

I hope I NEVER have to see these guys on the road again!"

Quick Trip

Dawn over Day's Inn, Evanston, Wyoming

Rawlins, Wyoming, rare skateboarding Pronghorn.

Judy and I judged the Rawlins 2008 Pronghorn art competition, you can see more 2007 Pronghorn art here http://www.rawlins-wyoming.com/Pronghorn/pronghorn2007.htm

Lincoln Nebraska. The Telephone Building, which Julie took a liking to. (see Judy's post about architecture in Lincoln)

If you visit be prepared for one-way streets!

Odd industrial park outside Clinton, Iowa.

We happened upon a several things we were not looking for.

Crossing the Mississippi River at Clinton, Iowa.

Covered Bridge in a stunningly pretty town not too far past Clinton, but in adjoining Illinois, maybe Morrison.

A picture of my favorite sign of the trip (Julie) did not turn out, it was a travel agency in Dan Quayle's hometown which bragged:

"We also know where Not to go"

Rest In Peace Emily Beverly Bemmerstein

Emily passed away today after a long struggle with a liver tumor and complications from Cushings disease. She was adopted on June 23, 1999 and we think she was around 13 or 14. Emily now joins her late brother H. Bones Mahoney and her human boyfriend Mik Mikkelson. She will be greatly missed. Fans of Vivian DeLongpaw can make contributions to Boston Buddies in her memory.

The Wyoming Nebraska Haul

My friend Paul's earliest childhood memories are of driving across the U.S. with his family in 1965 and visiting the World's Fair in New York. He vividly recalled stopping in Little America somewhere in Wyoming. Based on that information, I had to pay homage to Paul's memory. Well. I can say one thing; the carpet is the same one from Paul's memory. Little America was an oasis of banality. That is all I can say. We spent the day zooming across Wyoming and stopped in Laramie for a really good lunch and fruitless quest looking for the Ames Brothers monument designed by HH Richardson and Augustus Saint Gaudens. I hope this will suffice...I did manage to have an A & W rootbeer float. That sort of assuaged my sadness over missing the monument. The A & W is also near the largest statue of Mary in the US. She oversees the dispensing of fried cheese curds which I have yet to try. I wonder if Mary communicates with Mr. Lincoln who is a few miles away from her on interstate 80. He is sort of scary and imposing looking from the Freeway. I always have thought of him as benevolent and kind but this sort of changed my opinion. Maybe he is ticked off that the Lincoln Highway has been replaced by I-80 here in Wyoming.

Wire Less

Our Internet access has been really bad. So I have not been posting nearly enough or as much as I want to. Julie and I are in Nebraska right now, at a restaurant with free Wifi and great salads, so all is right with the world. I wanted to add one thing to Julie's previous post. In the mining town of Eureka, the cast iron storefronts remain, there is a lovely beauty to their decrepit state. I think Chumley agrees. Also a cool burger stand with a GREAT name.

Eureka! Day One and Two

Posted Wednesday morning,
We are getting behind ourselves with the blog thing thanks to our ability to bring havoc to wifi wherever we stop on the Interstate, from Starbucks to State Line (fyi, very helpful ladies at the Nevada West Wendover welcome center, plus thick shady grass approved of by Chumley.)

Back at the sneaker tree, the road was impressively straight between the 'Nevada speed bumps' of low ranges so numerous they ran out of geologist's to name them after...'Fairview', 'Grayback' and 'New Pass' (check out the terrain view of the Google map below). It was hot, we went for many hours after the BBQ. Stacy, the GPS had to find Austin next (we had less choices than she did, it was the only town in miles.) Austin was an upturn in the road, sporting a perfectly restored western shop with a Lucky Jeans sign so shiny and upscale looking, that it left us un-intrigued. We went on to Eureka, again confusing Stacy as every state has its Eureka moment, it seems.


Hungrier, hotter, and so tired we stumbled over our words, we had our Eureka moment when the receptionist at the Best Western on the four-block main street looked at us and said, straight-faced 'sorry, we are all booked tonight'. There was a teacher convention rolling into town shortly. I warned Judy about teachers traveling in packs and how they can tear up a small town like Eureka, we had to move on -- tired and ready to stop as we were.

It was a desperate moment with the sun setting, more lonely road in front of us, staring at the Chinese-American restaurant, remembering the heartburn from Chinese American the night before.

We were a long, long way from any La Brea Bakeries or even Panera's, or french village bakeries.


It was time to break out the emergency cupcakes.
Thanks to Mike Ventre, the cooler contained two glorious cupcakes of the highest order, one chocolate frosted and one with an inch of vanilla frosting filled with raspberry inside... mmmmmmm........





View Larger Map

From Stockton to The Loneliest Road

We started out in Stockton looking for the remains of the Lincoln Highway. Believe it or not we found an outdoor shopping mall complete with Trader Joe's, called....drumroll..."Lincoln Center." There are a few references to the Lincoln Highway, roads, churches...but the old highwayis buried under route 99, which we took to up north and eventually hooked up with Interstate 80. We stopped in the Donner Pass and managed not to resort to the temptation of cannibalism, we did however take a mountain hike with Chumley. We learned all about erractics.
After getting through all the glory that is Reno...including missing the upcoming shows of the Alan Parsons Project, we got on The Loneliest Road -the alternative to the interstate that runs through Nevada. First off, a stop in Fallon for BIG ED's BARBEQUE. Julie was pretty adamant that she didn't want Pork Butt. So we got brisket and pulled pork sandwiches...dang they were good. We had to pass on the fried Catfish and the sweet potato pie, but Chum had some brisket and really liked it! I would say that Big Ed's was NOT as amazing as Interstate Bar-B-Q in Memphis but it held up pretty well. After Fallon, Route 50 really earns its' moniker. The terrain was actually wonderful. Long stretches of highway and the rare Adidas Tree. Often seen in rural areas, this offshoot of the rubber tree sprouts Nikes, New Balance, and frequently the most sought after PF Flyers. Julie will write more about Emergency cupcakes ... in a few hours. We need to get back on the road.

Invasion of the POD PEOPLE

Well. This is it. I have packed up 23 years of possessions, and they fit in three pods. To think that in 1985 I moved out here with a suitcase. My dad UPS'd me three boxes, including a little TV, and that was all I owned in the world. My stuff has multiplied. It will travel across the US on its' own journey, and I will travel once again with my bud Julie. We plan on roughly following The Lincoln Highway. Interstate 80 parallels it, so we will go in and out of the "old road" I suspect. I think we will get to Saratoga on Saturday or Sunday June 29.
What is the Lincoln Highway you ask? Starting in Times Square, the Highway ends in San Francisco, and was promoted in 1913 as "America's Main Street." Of course, I want to travel it to see old houses, gas stations, diners, bridges, hotels, and signage. I will write more about the history of the Lincoln Highway, and hopefully take photos of some Lincoln Inspired landmarks.
Today is all about saying goodbye to good friends, and trying to not cry too much. My beloved dog Emily is not well enough to travel. It is quite a dilemma actually because she still is functioning well and to put her down is clearly not the right choice either. Mikey, my buddy and future tenant, (as of tomorrow) will care for her until she passes. I don't know if that is two days, or two weeks, but I know she is in loving hands. I can't write too much more about this or my tears will surely ruin my computer. This agonizing decision was not an easy one. She is pretty blind and has an inoperable tumor so the idea of her making the trip was bordering on cruel. I just want her to be comfortable and loved, and I think this is the best solution. I am not looking forward to saying my goodbyes to her tomorrow. She came into my life 9 years ago today, She has never been an affectionate or friendly dog. I always joke that she is like Greta Garbo and "vants to be alone." I do know that she and I have a special bond, and I truly love her like no one else could. Mikey comes close, in spite of how he jokes that she hates him. I have caught him giving her random kisses on the head. I know this is the best possible outcome - although my heart is so heavy.
I will post from Stockton California, tomorrow night when some of this drama has passed.