Jana's Journeys

No Frost at the Faire

2012-01-29T10:08:00.000-08:00

I saw that the Saratoga National Historical Park was having a re-enacting event, and the road looked clean, so I put my bike in my car and headed out.
It was still a bit cold:

and the "soliders " needed some drill

The cannon was ready for a demonstration:

And i was off for a tour:

Life was lot slower, I though as I passed the horses with ease.
later on I went to an Albany devils and came home with a souvenir. This was fun , as I got over to the T-U and realized I had forgotten my ticket. oops!

From Alb

Not enough, but too much

2012-01-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

We had some snow, and I has signed up for snowshoeing class. But it turns out, there wasn't enough.
I did wind up with some new shoes

and worked on my book until my fingers fell of while watching vintage TV

I Like it (and Dragnet) not only because of the right, But Jack webb's attention to detail. He bought cars not second hand, but as part of the LAPF contract. Of course, he did lay on the "square" attitude a little too much, even for back then

Ok, who left the Freezer door open

2012-01-16T07:05:00.000-08:00

It was 17 for the high yesterday. Saturday was almost balmy at 25.
Probably not good biking weather:

I did drop in at L.L. Bean got a belt to keep my pants on (Yay!), and signed up for snowshoeing class, and bought a multi-tool from the Downtube.
I also stopped by the Albany Institute of History and Art:

It had been bugging me since I drive by it on the way home from church. It was a deal at $8.00, but not worth going out of your for.
and today, and afternoon hockey game:

Another dead post

2012-01-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

From 1-4-2012

one other thing we did was visting my relatives. Thankfully, all the Lingos are at Memorial Park
The hard part is the since there are no unique markers here, it make navigation hard. I drove to where we thought they were. No luck. Mom and I thought they were in two different sections. Mom got out of the car, and promptly fell. we gave up that day.
The Next day, we went back and asked the office. Most helpful
Grandfather:

Grandmother:

Aunt:

Mom stayed in the car, unless I escorted her, and I came up with some ideas for computer projects -good day indeed

Southern by the Grace of God

2012-01-07T06:58:00.000-08:00

I woke up on the 29th, It was 9 degrees here in Albany.
I started up my car and Drove over the Berkshire Extension of the New York Thruway (toll $.84),the Mass Pike (toll $.00), and I-91. at 0900 I got to Bradley, and checked in. I used the E-boarding pass, which promoted me to the "Trusted Traveler" status in the eyes of the TSA.
I wandered around for an hour and a half, until n645ae pulled up:

No First class on this bird, Port side is as good as it gets:

I had an 2 layover at o'hare. Strangely, My E-boarding pass would not work here. I had to resort to the old fashioned paper.

Before getting on N820AE, which is an Embraer 140, Inside, it looks about like any other ERJ:

But it only holds 45 passengers, versus 50 for a 145. The reason: American can pay the pilots less money. It's also rumored to be headed to the desert for conversion to coke cans as part of AA'a Bankruptcy.
Soon, we were crossing old man river:

Picked up my Kia soul from Alamo:

Which worked out pretty good, although the Hip-Hop Hamster are probably mad at me for hauling a walker in the back:

and headed off to have supper with Mother:

Coming back, I went to Beale Street, and stopped to say hi to the King:

and a parting shot:

So ended my walking in Memphis:

I really like Marc Cohn's video the best. I realize that it's a oft-coverd song, but his seems to capture my Memphis more the others, with out getting too Elvis-sy.Several good touches- the river boat, Lots of African-Americans(who seem to disappear on the numerous covers), shotgun houses, and the Boy wearing the Cardinals cap.
I dropped the Car back at Alamo, getting lost a couple of time along the way. What do you mean, they tore down the Mall of Memphis? Next thing, they'll bulldoze Stax studios:

Oh wait, they did that. And the Air Force repossessed the Memphis Belle, so all that's Left is this:

From 1-4-2012

and the pedestal where it stood on Central Avenue.
Anyway,Once the shuttle bus driver picked me up , she asked what airline I was flying.
"American." I responded
"American?! She replied "You talk like that, you should be flying Delta, like us. You going to Dallas?"
"New York State. Via Chicago."
This really threw for a loop, almost as bad as some of the folks living at the Parkview. Having tried and failed to convince her that New York State and New York City are two different things, I reverted back to more easy conversation.
And yes, my next trip down there will be on Delta.

A joke.
A Man dies in the Southeast. When he wakes up, He realizes that he is at the local airport, at the Delta gate, Saint Peter is standing behind the counter.
He approaches Saint Peter, who hands him a boarding pass.
"I noticed the arrival time has been delayed." The man says. "Is there anything I did?"
"Nah" Saint Peter answers "The Plane's coming here from Atlanta. There's thunderstorms there today. Delta's Chairman stubbed his toe and said something the Lord didn't like."
A little out of date, now that Delta and Northwest merged and Delta took over the Memphis hub. In case you're wondering Northwest got to Memphis by buying the original Republic, which in turn was a merger of Southern, North Central, and Hughes Airwest. Delta is not named for its logo, but for the Mississippi Delta, as it started out as Huff Daland Crop Dusters of Monore, La.
and, The king runs the Airport, too:

I was composing an e-mail, when I noticed the flight for Dallas was operated by N984TW. Can't get away from TWA.
My Flight to ORD was on N610AE, another ERJ145.
My future hometown (with the Grace of god):

Back at O'hare:

My Flight back to Bradley was not on the ERJ, but on the CRJ-700. Nice riding plane for a regional, despite the odd window arrangement(maybe picks next time).
Got back, and it was still cold. Still, it beats unemployment. That's what I keep telling myself.

going Back thirty-fouty years

2012-01-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I 'm sitting here at Mom's place in The Parkview on Poplar here in Memphis:

The parkview started out as the Parkview hotel in the 20's,and now is paying hosts to folks who can remember when it competed with the Peabody for the Elite traveler. Inside, it still can run with the Peabody:

But, no fountains and no Ducks(and more impotantly, no downtown), so the Parkview becomes assisted living, and the Peabody:
>I took my Mother there to see the ducks. Was too busy with Liberty Bowl fans, so we went down to Beale Street:
and had lunch:

Next to Robert Johnson's: But it was little too busy, and Beale has gotten more touristy. I smiled at the "Vintage" Pepsi ad in the background here:
considering the generic term for soft drink here is "Coke"
Anyway, let's leave the king On Bellvue at the Jungle Room and head over to Overton Park.

That's E.H."Boss" Crump. Unlike most folks from swampeast Missouri, my first visits to an Art Museum weren't at Forest park in Saint Louis, but Overton park here in Memphis.
Brooks Museum.

and the Zoo:

The Solider's memorial.

and The Memphis Belle.I can remember it sitting in front of the Armory on Central

Back to the parkview, and some Black-eyed peas and Corn bread. I need some luck, If I'm going to do everything that's been set before me for 2012:

blue chirstmas

2011-12-25T11:50:00.000-08:00

Well, last week I as sick on Sunday,sO I didn;t post.
I mailed my packages at the Rensselaer Amtrak station/ post office:

From 12-24-2011

.
Just like an airport, but no TSA.

From 12-24-2011

The reason why it new is that the tracks for the old Albany Union Station were torn up to build Interstate 787. The Building is still there:

From 12-24-2011

,but is vacant. It was renovated into office space.
despite the cold, I did get in 9 miles:

From 12-25-2011

, but ,other than that. I'm packing. Gotta get to memphis and TCB

too cold to ride

2011-12-11T13:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I could if i had the clothes.
Instead I wrote Java and ruby surfed info about Memphis.
one of the best places is MallofMemphis.org, which,I admit, is a strange name for History.
The Actual Mall Of Memphis was a Star-crosssed place -It started out in 1981 as the "the" mall but neighborhood demographics (only Mall with Prison Guard Towers in the Parking lot!) caught up it, causing to be stuck with the nickname "Mall of Murder". I can remember going there right after I got my Bachelors and it had opened during the early 80's - another difficult economic time

It was finally torn down about 2003

A Wal-mart was going to go there, but it still a vacant lot.
At least some thing do get re-used, like this former auto dealership and of course, where My mother is moving, The Parkview, used to be the parkview hotel. At first I thought the dealer was the old Oakley-Keesee ford, where dad insisted on buying his cars despite the fact that we lived in the Bootheel. I thought I could remember it being on Poplar, not Lamar. And I was right. The Dealers has moved out to Bartlett, but the building is now a self service facility.
Maybe next week I'll get out

Riding with dead

2011-12-04T14:08:00.000-08:00

It was 28 degrees at 8am on Saturday, so I decided to put off riding until the afternoon. I headed to Albany Rural Cemetery.
The Big Star here is President Chester Arthur:

The brown beauty has turned into a boon Companion. want to buy a Bacchetta strada?

Philip Schuyler - Revolutionary war general:

America's Longest serving mayor Erastus Coring:

I was thinking this trip was ironic, as this week was the 10 year anniversary of the TWA shutdown, and my last flight on them was coming back from burying my dad in 1999,

Of Course, now that mother is moving to Memphis, it looks like it be a while before I make another trip to lambert field:

pedal the blues away

2011-11-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

at least that's why I tired to do :

did it work? maybe, I did try a different route and found the uncle sam bike path in Troy:

I also found cohoes falls:

I even got brave and made it up the hill to the Cathedral:

and since it was small business Saturday:

bought a tube, and got a reward:

and I did stop at the Empire state plaza:

and as far as Memphis - I've been trying to put a happier song (at least in tempo) on my mind:

well, until you listen to lyrics. I always wondered about who wrote this song, as Johnny Rivers did seem to be a southsider , I can still remember the looks Dad got when he mentioned he went to Southside HS. Turns out, it was written by Chuck Berry, Ahh, makes sense (and a Saint Louis Connection)

Keep the rubber side down until next week

happy Thanksgiving: Bah humbug!

2011-11-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

I admit that this had not been a good thanksgiving.I had planned on flying back to Missouri from California, But I'm sitting sleepless here in Upstate new York.
The other issue is that my mother is getting to where she cannot handle her current living. we've spent the most of this month addressing the issues both present and underlying, and found a solution. Well not the best , as she is going to have to move back to Memphis, Tn. Along the way, I've found which relatives and friends I can trust and which I can't. This probably means it's going to be a while before I wind up back in Saint Louis or Cape Girardeau. And Since I hold Power of Attorney for my Mother,I signed that lease for her at he Parkview.
Right now , we are planning on moving her over New Years. I'm experiencing the "joy" of long distance estate sales (One of her friends in Missouri also has power of attorney, so that has been a help) I was planning on being back for Christmas on "Unicon" It was a ticket Continental, but I was to connect in O'hare, which really meant it united , but that flight has gone by the wayside in favor of a trip to Memphis to get her settled. I would up using my AAdvanatage miles and Flying out of Bradley airport in Connecticut, as American does serve Albany. Hopefully, I'll be able to rebook it. I had been saving my miles for such an occasion. Looks like I'll have to start over with United(tied with Southwest for #1 at alb, no Blue 737's in the land of purple planes (Memphis being FedEx's Headquarters) or Delta.
I did make it to all saint for Thanksgiving mass.

Though about riding my bike there, but need to work out parking. The Dean's, David Collum, sermon was on the topic of that a lot of folk don't have much to be thankful about this, particularity here with Hurricane Irene and Lee . He used the life of Martin Rinkart, who despite all he went through , managed to write a Thanksgiving standard:

And I did get out for a brief ride. My dad was a Pharmacist:

not much action here versus next door at target:
.
Is Albany a Dead end?

And I stopped by the cemetery:

so not a lot of fun, did take a brief break before heading in to work tomorrow. Hope you had a better one. This sonf has been running in my mind all day. I even have my blue suede shoes on

getting broke

2011-11-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

Ok, I stimulated the economy:

I went up the Mohawk Hudson path No leafs this time of year:

:(

in Waterford:

The real reason I got the bike: Cinder Trails:

which leads to the Hazardous waste site:

back on the canal:

and the modern day version:

The wind was really roaring:

and I finally got a pick of mill creek falls:

apple cider the new enegry drink

2011-11-12T16:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I went down to Hyde Park, The home of Franklin and Elanor Roosevelt:

From 11-11-2011

Franklin, or FDR, was America's president during WWII.

From 11-11-2011

FDR would attemmpt to walk down the lane to the road every day after he had polio, he never made it:

From 11-11-2011

I thought about going back up to Saratoga, but the weather did not look promising. It was a good day.
Today looked better, so I took off for the Mohawk Hudson. Since I did not have energy drink, I used some (non-hard) Apple cider. The Mohawk has not frozen yet:

I made it all the way to Schenectady today:

GE started out here , and is still a major employer:
\
old depot in Crescent:

Pretty soon, I'm going to have put away my bike:

Maybe I'll sign up for a snowshoeing class at ll bean:

And the cider worked amazingly well!

double time

2011-11-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

I decided to ride to my ride, I took little longer on the Mohawk Hudson. My thermometer said 32 degrees, so it was time to ride
It was just a little colder:

after 10 minutes , I thought about turning around> My Hands had frozen, and so do the water in My Camelbak tube,
It did get better. Here is the Niskayuna depot:

and lock 7 on the Mohawk:

I turned around at the Knolls Lab and headed back. I though I could get a good pic of this ghost sign, but no luck:

Then, I test rode a bike - a Trek 7300 - almost bought it, I need an all round bike since my Giro is for sale in California
Today, I went down to Castelton and back. I needed to get some quarters to do my laundry. There was a Laundry there, So I didn't see a need to make a special trip.
Well, it was closed. Like this building:

A nice mural:

I'll close with this old truck:

I can remember when these were new. Show I 'm getting old. The other reminder of that is that I'm dealing with my mother, who is starting to develop Alzheimer's. Trying to convince to give some independence when you're a thousand miles can be frustrating, At least I knew it was coming.

shaking it through

2011-10-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

With the snow apocalypse this week, I opted to stay off the bike.
I've been thinking about getting a winter. I went by the LL Bean store at Colonie Center. to get some clothes, I did look at their bikes (dudes: pump those tires!)
I then decided to go to the airport, mainly to make sure I knew where it was . Alb is unique in that it is on the ground of what was the Main Shaker Colony

There were having a craft sale. Nothing appealed to me, so I test rode a specialized ariel(much better) before heading home:

and yes, The Shakers wrote "Simple Gifts", not Aaron Copland. He just cribbed it:

as well as some others:

I've always felt drawn to Mother Ann and her work. something to ponder for next week

The return of the exploding tires

2011-10-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

The day started out ok. These folks were shooting a video;

From 10-22-2011

I used the zoom here:

From 10-22-2011

some leftovers from Irene:

I finally made it to the Mohawk Hudson Bike Hike trail. This is in Cohoes:

I turned around when I got to the Thaddeus Kosciusko Bridges:

Old Mile Marker:

The Miss Albany diner. My sidewall gave out here:

I double back to the bike shop , and got another tube. Probably need a new tire, but it's almost the end of cycling season here
Less Color this week:

I did a little trip after. I was going to the Bennington Battle field, but it was closed, Here is Sodom, VT (Gomorrah is in Massachusetts)

I wrapped the day by Going by Grandma Moses house:

Her Grandson is also an artist and runs a gallery here. I did some Christmas shopping.
I thought going over to Massachusetts, but decided against it.
Today, I was going to ride this afternoon, but it was 2:00 by the time I ate lunch (church committee meeting), so I went to a gift shop and picked some Vermont marble coaster to replace the day old newspaper I had been using
Until Next week

Along The Hudson river line

2011-10-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

so I went ahead and dug the Billy Joel out
Here we are across the Hudson in Albany:

The trail was mud and leaves, so I kept my speed down
End of the trail in Watervilet:

at the Locks in Troy:

A good day on the bike. I was going to go to a Hudson Valley Writer's Guild, but it was an awards ceremony.
Today, I went up to Fort Ticonderoga:
Lake George:

the fort:

and looking north:

From 1929, which explains the great "Men"

enjoyable weekend, Maybe I'll do a bit longer ride next weekend

Take my money, please!

2011-10-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

I lost my debit card, and no one (except my bank) wants to accept a check due to it being a new account.
Sig. At least the landlord , utilities, and furniture place (yes, I will be getting some) think my money isn't guaranteed by the Continental Congress.
how to cure the blues? a bike ride:

another new route: us 4 is north South here in New York State:

Fall is here:

Not socal:

and another new route:

Old barn:

Back in Castleton:

going home:

and Murderer's Creek:

and the song - I used the audio swap service of Youtube - works out except for the song is about that other New York down the Hudson. Even the State's Offical song has been hijacked:

not mention finding an MP3 is a bit of challenge.
someone suggested this song - another NYC, although you could use (Subsitues Times Union and Daily Gazette for the New York Times and Daily News)

until next week

Nothing new under the sun

2011-10-02T14:55:00.000-07:00

Or rather lack of sun.
It was a rainy day, so I took a little trip in the kia. about 20 miles later:

From 10-1-2011

This was the home Martin Van Buren bought after he was defeated by William Henry Harrison.
Life is a bowl of Cherries:

The house:

I was thinking about his presidency. He started with the Panic of 1837, which lead the whigs to tag him "Martin Van Ruin". He pointed the the depression wasn't his fault, but his predecessor's. Of Course unlike our current president, Martin was his Predecessors vice president.
and the Campaign of 1840 was the first modern one. Who's up for Tippacanoe and Tyler , too?

Harrison, whose father signed the declaration of Independence, ran as a common man against Van Buren, whose father ran a tavern. That the story. But Harrison's Father lost his fortune, and "Van" had done well for himself, giving champagne parties at the White house. Harrison noted that if he were to be elected, he would serve hard Cider. Van Buren noted that Hard Cider had quite a bitter aftertaste, but Champagne went down smooth.
I closed the day by going to Fort Craillo, where Yankee doodle was composed:

It's now a dutch colonial museum:

3000 stings

2011-09-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

I decide to ride across the Hudson and go up the bike path:

The Replica of the Half Moon From last week:

It's fall already up here:

The path was ok for the first 2 miles, then it became a morass of mud , and about 10,00 mosquitoes. so back across the Hudson
Sculling race - with Duck:

Uss Slater with I 787:

Rensselaer county was much better:

Almost home:

Today, I started get some furniture. Things are coming along

No Exploding tires this week

2011-09-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the 234th anniversary of the battle of Saratogoa, so I drove up:

Was fun, but I'll probably need to go back,as I had some stuff to do here in Albany.
I went to the Cathedral on Sunday, and then took off for a ride:

I rode down 9J to the Thruway bridge over the Hudson:

Through the Village of Castleton on Hudson:

I thought would be to get the Replica of the Half Moon(Henry Hudson's ship) as it was supposed to be in Albany today. no Luck:

Coming back

This is Rensselaer's claim to fame - the Crallo house - where "Yankee Doodle" was composed during the French and Indian Wars:

From Alb

Only 22 miles, but not a bad day

The spirt is willing , but the tire was week

2011-09-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

I did get out on the bike yesterday, but Irene had other plans:

From Alb

Got about a mile, when BLAM! another blowout. Thankfully I had a spare 650, but I also wanted to go look at furniture, so I walked back.
The ped bridge over I-787:

From Alb

Today, I went to ten o'clock service, and we had a a 3:00 service for 9/11. I went over to the New York State musem.
This is a landing gear for a 767:

What happens when a 100 story building falls on your fire engine:

albany's most iconic building, the egg (it's a theater)

camping indoors

2011-09-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it was busy week. i starteed a new job, moved to a new city, and found a new apartment, all in the same week.!
I did look at three places, before finally settling on one in Rensselaer:

Inside , needs some work. did I mention my furniture is going to goodwill:

I did= forget my bike shoes. oh well!.
I will be getting some furnishing over the next couple of weeks. The important thing is that i'm not at the Days inn or living out of my car.
Rensselaer is across the river from Albany. it's named after Kilean van Rensselaer, the first dutch land owner (I suspect the Mohawks may have a thing or two to say about the first land owner), whose ancestor founded Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute(RPI) , about 10 mile away in Troy.
It's best known as where the song Yankee doodle dandy was composed during the french and Indian wars. pretty much typical Notheast.
More posting and hopefully some bicycling next week

The big Drive

2011-08-28T16:16:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map
I'm ready to start my new job, with plenty of terror, as I'm now 3000 miles from my furniture.
One of the thing about doing Univac work is that you usually wind relocating when you change jobs. Granted this is a bit extereme.
I did get here early to take a look at some places to live, but a lady named Irene showed up in Albany. always terrifying.
Hopefully, I won't lose my furniture (it's cheap. been there. done that)
Let's see where I'm at next week

Up in the air

2011-08-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well, they good news is I have an offer. maybe. More to come there.
The past couple of Weeks have seen me on a house keeping frenzy. I've lept the goodwill folks busy, bit not much to do but send the resumue out and keep on networking.
I was going to go out on a bike ride with the club, when I had a blowout @ 30 mph. I managed to survive with just some minor rash.
Need a tire:

From 8-20-2011

how about a pair of shorts?

Btw, no road rash on the ol' derriere. I also trashed a pair of gloves. I managed to boot the tire and ride home. I have some spare 650 tires here, so that was easy.
not much to do but hope:

until next time,
Jana

if it wern't for bad luck....

2011-08-13T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well today, I broke my seat frame:

Thankfully, I was able to borrow the one off the Giro (want to buy a bacchetta Giro real cheap? Have I got deal for you!)
anyway, the Week has been fun, and thrilling. Filling out form, talking to recuiters, all that jazz. Where do I want to go next?
Well, that's not really my decision, Granted, I do have some control, but you must play the hand you're dealt.
You recall me babbling on about Vincennes? well, those feeling are still with me. This has played havoc, but at the same time, it's opened some windows:

My usual view when I'm typing away.
Only this week I was busy listening to Loreena Mc Kennitt and thought it was snowing outside:

nope, Maybe it was that still small voice telling me to follow. The Journey is mine to make, but not to command

Maybe I need a discernment class.

the dreadful phone call

2011-08-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

Friday was supposed to be a big day, as it was kavin Unck's birthday, and several of us were going to do a century in his honor:

From 8-5-2011

I had a little issue getting over the hills in Pomona, Kevin's wife liesel pulled me back:

From 8-5-2011

We were soon on the Santa Ana:

and the PCH

before heading on the San Garbier, where I got a not -so nice phone call: I've been fired.
Needless to say , I didn;t feel like a 100 that day, so I rode to Baldwin park and took the metrolink back:

actually Whitter narrow dam
So another Journey begins, where it leads, I do not know

Write first, research later

2011-07-31T19:21:00.000-07:00

I've been going back and writing out notes on my writing. Writing Historical fiction is almost as hard as writing a history. Where did i get that idea? How did so and so get his education as a priest? Why did they move? When did the battle happen? who came up with that hare brained idea?
Now, much chastened, I'm caught up. for now.

The right tool for the task

2011-07-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here's some lowriders

and a rest area appropriate for Fontucky:

I spent most of the afternoon yesterday test riding new (gasp! Horrors!) Diamond frame(Conventional) bikes.
I've come to the conclusion that the recumbent is not the best platform for mountain riding (as opposed to mountain biking).
Other than that it's probably going to a be Giant Brand, I have no ideas. I 'd like to the do a mixup of all the bikes and shops I visited, but that's not going to happen. Of course I could decided to stay with what I have.
Always something

simpler is better

2011-07-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

I got a chance to ride the Fontana section of the PET this weekend, a lot better donw, even thought it's not as "Fancy Pants" as Rancho Cucamonga's section
Old depot from 1915:

The bridge over Foothill (Rt66) They re-used the original bridge, whereas in Rancho we had the "Rex Gutierrez I can still be your councilman from prison bridge"

Another good reuse old Sunkist warehouse - still a warehouse, but now for Fontana Unified Schools:

Until next week, keep the rubber side down:

flying back

2011-07-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Still working on my trip
N961TW : My bird to STL

From Stl

You'll notice the "June Gloom" morning clouds. Here's LA

Kansas City Airport (MCI) :

Making the turn for Final approach:

Renovations inside:

From Stl

And tornado Damage outside:

My mom noticed something unusual about my rental:

From Stl

I always make a pilgrimage to old Bethel while I'm there It does serve to remind me that Cape Girardeau was different than others town, in that it was not homogeneously French. Here Shawnees, Delawares and Revolutionaries all lived together:

Bidding Old Bethel adieu for now:

and I paid my respects to Monsieur Lorimer as well

Gotta check out Le tour. brb:

Why Grumpy old men ride recumbents

2011-07-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

This week was classic ride weekend at the bike club.
I was thinking about getting old because on of the club member That I had sold on Recumnbents dropped out because we were "too competitive" He even went to start a thread on a forum about it.
What makes it interesting is that I ran into the other side of the story. Ironically, it's the guy who I sold my Roubaix to. to add to irony, he was complaining about Steve wanting to turn everything into a race, and generally endangering everyone on the trail.
So where's the truth?
You do you have to a thick skin to walk the line between roadie land and Bentdom and get away with it. Too often, people can't and wind up in the hate, either that shown on Bent rider, or on any number of bike forums.
And yes, the Grind ride can be a bit over the top, but I think we a put it behind us once we get back.
Grumpy? I can see why if you keep on getting "where's your real bike?" or "When are your going to get as fast as you were on you old bike?" That would tend to make you stay where you can so off the "avantage" of being bent, like the rail trail, rather than Grinding it out on GMR (Pain: yes view: worth it) I have even sinned and went to Gaintbikes.com and ogled the Defy 1, and looked for another CAAD7 on ebay (Ken can keep the Rouibaix)
So, I am Roadie, Hear me roar!
More Classic stuff:

and scenery:

From 7-16-2011

still back in Time

2011-07-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

Coming back on the 4th , I was going to stop and see the French marines in Kaskaskia,but there was just one problems:

From 7-5-2011

Old man river strikes again. I turned on the Radio, and found the Chester station. They were at Fort Kaskaskia, across the river. I did come calculations, and determined I couldn't do it in time.
So I pressed on to Ste Gen:

From 7-5-2011

I wanted to Visit the Bolduc house again, as part of my work include building a house similar to this, but conveniently moved to Cape Girardeau:

From 7-5-2011

As usual,I learned some things new to add, somethings to correct ,and somethings that I got right:

From 7-5-2011

I decided to walk on down to Gabouri Creek:

From 7-5-2011

A Train was coming back from the Lime Quarry:

From 7-5-2011

I decided to Visit Cahokia, Il.
Holy Family Catholic from 1799:

From 7-5-2011

and the First Saint Clair (Yes, named for General Arthur Saint Clair of the ignominious defat ) County Courthouse:

From 7-5-2011

It was time to go to the airport, but first trip by New busch Stadium:

From 7-5-2011

And back to Los Angeles:

From 7-5-2011

and making plans to attend the Fall Rendezvous at Fort Des Chartes. Still debating whether to stay in Saint Gen (closer, but will the Ferry be running?) or Chester(right side of river, bit further away)
until manana

Le Boom

2011-07-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

I found my camera. after I had bought another one.
This is the french marines re-enactors firing the camera,and yes I was sick yesteerday.
I also made a new Friend at the Fort:

Lighting by glass:

From 7-6-2011

Bro exploring the Powder magazine ("that's a lot of wine")

An enjoyable place
I'm getting caught on e-mails- mainly sending out thank you notes to fort folks, plus the old Java stuff is getting back on track, so keep the rubber side down until next week

I laid the camera down right here...

2011-07-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

I took my brother on a trip to Fort Des Chartes

Fort des Chartes is about 5 miles north of Praire Du Rocher, Il on the Mississippi river. The first fort (of wood) was built in 1720. Flooding from the Mississippi destroyed the first two wooden fort, and the French Government built a stone fort in the 1750's. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ended the French and Indian or seven years war, and transferred control of the east bank of the Mississippi to the British. They kept the fort active until the eve of the American Revolution in 1772, when they abandoned it and moved the troops eastward.
It set derelict until 1913, when the State of Illinois acquired the property. The Powder magazine was all that was left standing. It was restored as a "make work" project by the WPA in the Great Depression. It's used a museum:

They are some difference besides no shot, such as using aluminum foil as wadding (less fire risk), and lees powder. Still impressive.
I was going to take him back via Saint Genevieve and the Modoc ferry, but it was not running due to the flood. We went back down the East bank. I kidded him that we should stop in a redneck bar and get a frosty Bud or O'Douls, but he got mad because of his diabetes. We stopped instead at Chester, ll (home of Popeye) and had lunch at Hardee's. My Brother had a Monster thick burger(Ahem!), whereas I had the more svelte Turkey burger. Sadly to say, There was Spinach options,so we had to sulk out of town to avoid bullies
My brother feel asleep in the trip back. I went by Devils' Island ( more research) before heading home to get ready for my nephew's wedding, where I lost my camera. Oh well, I needed a new one

Rehearsal Photo

Small , but mighty

2011-06-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

No riding this weekend, I got laid low by a Sore Throat. which I 'm just now getting over. Good, as I'm getting ready to head our of town again.
Last week, I was riding up Euclid when I had a flat, after fixing, I noticed something:

Yep, broke a spoke.
I was thinking about them, for the non-cyclists, alone they're quite wimpy (after all, originated as wire), but put together (Laced) and put under tension, they can support several hundred pound.
This led to me think about how we all want to be "Stress free". But a bicycle wheel won't work well without stress, and neither do we, Of Course, the cure for an overstressed wheel is much less expensive than de stressing a human (I was out $16).
Until next time, keep the rubber side down

Kevin pushed me!

2011-06-17T18:09:00.000-07:00

I went for a ride this morning. It was the June Gloom again

It got worse through La Verne:

I did get to the base of GMR

Put turned before getting to "The Shed". LA county had painted the stripes on the Road with reflective, which is a slick as, well, insert your analogy here. Plus visibility was pretty nil:

Personally, I think Kevin Unck's ghost pushed me.
Either way, by the time I got to Upland, it had burned off:

But I still have the rainy day evidence on my bike

Best of both worlds

2011-06-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no bike pictures today. we've been having the June Gloom.
and thinking back over my trip to Indiana, I came up with: an idea for another story. sigh.
Actually, it's good because I needed to do some plotting on the Lorimer story. I haven't abandoned it, like I have with a couple of other attempts of mine. but this is coming along too, so I guess I've found my niche.
And I've been playing around with some Computer stuff, since we may eventually be using the Spring Framework. so i've been downloaded packages here. Initial opinion: Give me Ruby on Rails or give me death.
And since I got asked for my card, today I sat down with Open Office and 2 hours later, Viola:

From Pictures

not bad, I wanted a Tricon hat with a Quill pen, but alas, none to be found.
And I know I'm showing my age with Van Halen, so :

scratching a note

2011-06-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I mention that I brought a pen set at Vincennes.
Today, I set on my deck and decided to see what writing was like back then.
Surprisingly, it was eazy:

I was expecting to have ink all over the place, which is why I went out side. I also discovered where term "scratching out a note" came form, as it was really more of a scratching motion compared to a modern pen.
It also came with a quill pen, I could not get any of the heads to fit it. A couple of minutes with some needle nose pliers fixed it:

Not bad , and worth the price. Now to go tame my muses

The Indiana Time Machine

2011-06-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

I was going to wake up bright and early Tuesday morning and go down to the Wabash.
I woke up at 6:48. Sleeping in for me. So I showered, got a waffle, and checked out of the Best Western – Inn at Old Vincennes.

I did take a trip down to the Clark memorial so I could ponder it mysteries. Still no answer.

I then decided to take a trip up to the Site Of Fort Knox II, just north of town. Don't ask me why, as when I was there in October, the gate was closed. One of those listening to the still,small voice moments.
A little note here, There was three Forts in Vincennes.
The first was Fort Sackville, which built by the British and captured By George Rogers Clark. It was on the same location as the memorial. When it became decrepit, It was wrecked, and replaced by Fort Knox I, the site of which is just to the north across Vigo Street, now the site of Downtown Vincennes. This is the fort that I'm attempting to depict in my work.
Fort Knox II was built in the early 1800's and was in use during the war of 1812. There was a Fort Knox III, which existed for a Brief time after the treaty, which would make the contemporary Military post Fort Knox IV(all named for Henry Knox, the First Secretary of War.)
Once I got there, the gate was open. I drove in. The outline of the fort, is, well , outlined.

The location was chosen because it sits on bluff overlooking the Wabash.

A neat place, even though it outside my time line.
When I had planed this trip, I had thought about going down to Shawneetown on the Ohio. I eventually decided it was too far.
I would up heading out to Lincoln City and the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.(“Honest Abe” lived here from when he was 8 until he was 21.) They have a nice memorial built by the State of Indiana. Another one of those still small voice decisions.
The main reason I went here was that there is a living history farm in the park. I wanted to wander around, but had to wander back to modern times to get some water first.

The actual cabin site is outlined:

8 people lived in this little cabin.
They have a replica.

The guide had an aunt who's also an aspiring historical fiction writer. We hit it off. I learned who to make yarn from both sheep hair(wool) and flax (linen) and how to generally get my little log cabin on the cover of the May 1812 edition of Good Housekeeping. Very much worth my time, even thought it was a bit off my time frame.
I decided to head back to Evansville, stopping at Steak N Shake for lunch.
I still had some time, so I headed over to Angel Mounds State Historic Site. Look who was there:

Well, Tecumseh was a Native American. 1205 is a little out of my time range, but it did give some practice of walking through a scene and winding it back.
Deer Running was escorting his new friend, Ms Lingo, through the Village. She was amazed that they kept the commons so free of grass.

“It used to be neater.” He lamented “Then the ugly ones killed the great leader, and we cannot find one to take his place.”
Just then, he noticed a man had joined them. He was pale faced, like Ms Lingo, but was tall and gangly. He was wearing a strange black hat and had hair on his face. He extend his hand to Deer Running.
“I grew up around here, and have considerable experience leading nations in time of war, which Ms Lingo can attest. Abraham Lincoln, esquire, at your service”
Back to reality. When I got to EVV, the TSA pulled me aside. I set off the Explosive Residue Dectector. Imagine that!
N605KS arrived to whisk us to DFW. Once there I decided to head to Chapel to meditate some more:

The time machine kicked in again. This is no ordinary airport chapel.
It's 1976. Instead of a bunch of red, white, and blue ERJs parked at the gate, There are 727's. Some are orange, some are blue, some are purple. All have two letters painted on the tail. BI. Braniff International Airways. And I'm going to LAX , and don't have to worry about eating an imitation barbecue sandwich in some fast food place, because we'll get fed on the plane, even if we are setting in economy.
The Chapel in Terminal “B” is a memorial to Braniff (The “Top Star”: Tom Braniff)

I moved over to Terminal “D” and back to the present day.

It seem like Flight 661 always boards here, even thought this is DFW's “International” Terminal. Maybe American is trying to send us a message that Southern California is really another Country.
Aside from a slight delay (Flight to Sao Paulo was having Boarding issues, and they were in “our” gate), the flight back went OK, and I went back to twiddling bits for food Wednesday morning

Doing The Right Thing

2011-05-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

I decided to today to complete my little driver down the Wabash that I started in April.
There was just one little problem

Good thing I have a flood in the plot!
My ride was Hecho en Mexico: A Nissan Sentra

I didn't make all the to Fort Ouienton, but I turned around about 20 miles shy in Attica, Indiana with John Mellencamp singing "Pink Houses" on the radio:

I stopped in Terre Haute and took some photos of the Vigo County Courthouse:

I stopped by the George Rogers Clark memorial. A little Bit different than Yesterday:

From Vincennes Memorial day 2011

I paused here at the Grotto.

From Vincennes Memorial day 2011

For some reason, I've felt drawn to this little town. Since this a nice muggy 95 degree summer day , hanging out with Our Lady in the shade and pondering the mysteries of life sounded like a good idea. she told me to go inside the memorial:

yes that's same top I wore in October . George told me he likes it.
There is a little cemetery by the Cathedral that has the Graves of several folk who fought here in 1779. The Only one that was decorated was Joesph Bowman, the only casualty:

Compared to the defeats I wrote about in Fort Wayne last month, This probably ranks as one of the American armed forces greatest victories. When Henry Hamilton, the British commander of sackville, surrendered, he said to George Clark "Where is the rest of your army?" (Hamilton had him outnumbered 3 to 1) Clark's reply "This is my army."
There several other Graves of Veteran of The siege of Fort Sackville, but died later on:

no one
no had bothered to decorate their graves. A Trip to Walmart was in order:

that's better!

Rendezvous with the past

2011-05-29T16:33:00.000-07:00

Well, today I used my Nissan Sentra I got from Hertz to go back in time 200 years.
I drove down to the George Rogers Clark Memorial for the Rendezvous. I was supposed to meet my guide at the "cannons". As you can imagine, the big question was which Cannons. I found some likely cannons in time for the worship service. I had a decision, but not a tough one

I walked over to the museum and saw a sign for the Northwest Territory Alliance. I asked where I could find Marilyn. We eventually met, and I spent the better part of two hours talking to various people about the roles they were re-creating.

From Evv

It was then time for lunch : turkey legs (from St James episcopal,Vincennes)

and an ear of corn from the Kiwanis. Watch out for the oxen:

I went back to the Museum. Air conditioning in 90 degree Indiana weather? ahh) bought books, and patronized the vendors who were selling period authentic goods well , except for the guy selling pens made in China) , and talked to people who caught my eye. This was hard, as I am shy. Good way to expand my horizons. soon it was time for the battle:

From Evv

I was not sure about attending the battle, but it was really a boon (lots of details caught my eye, which means, yes, lots of rewrites).
The troops marched past as I was buy yet more books(on period clothing) , some of which was from NWTA.

I closed out the day by thanking Marilyn, My host. I then attended the Closing Ceremonies on the Clark memorial:

before heading back to my car and the present day.
Mr. Turkey legs invited me back next year. we'll see if I can make it.

The big Jerk(y)

2011-05-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

In the interest of writing research ,I did another experiential cooking session: I attempted to make jerky.
You start out with meat cut of you choice. I chose pork because it was on sale
you then cut away all the fat:
(yes, I need to clean my counter tops)
You then slice the meat into thin slices, very thin, like 1/6 to 1/18 inch. This was fun enough with modern utensil,s I can imagine doing it with stone tools.
You then add some seasoning (I used a pre-made mix by Lem, but back in the day, they would have used salt and whatever local herbs they could find.

historically, curing was done by letting strips dry over a flame or out in the air for several weeks, both of which are guaranteed not to meet with Landlord approval. I went back to bass pro and picked up a drying rack. I could have gotten a dehydrator or even a Jerky Cannon(makes jerky- sized strip out of ground meat). You put in the oven and set it for 150 degrees F and let it go for 8 hours.
The result: makes me glad I live in 2011 and not 1811(should have used PAM on the rack). It was worth it, since it gave me some inspiration.
Until next time, keeping on dreaming..

biking on baldy

2011-05-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

I admit , I had planned the music to match the ride.
I started out by riding by Ontario airport. Some Fedex md-11's being loaded:

I rode up to Fontana and took a self portrait:

New section of the PET:

I did the short grind ride,Pete Figuredo was going to ride up to shinn road with me, but he feel. so I went solo
For only being 10 miles in, there was a good crowd there:

here they come:

and there they go:

very fast. If you really want to watch bicycle racing in person, go to a velodrome. I pedaled home and turned on Versus

a pow-wow we will go

2011-05-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

I did the club ride on Saturday, it was a little Cloudy at the start:

it Burned off some by the time we got to Benson. Still some snow on Mt Baldy:

One of these days, I 'll get this thing to trip:

Today, I noticed that there was a Pow wow in San Bernardino and since my literary endeavors involve native Americans, I decided to attend. It was at the Orange show complex:

since it was raining,I decided to go inside and listen to the gourd dance:

everyone was getting into it :

after it looked like the sun was I wondered around outside. I bought some earring , including a pair of silver bears to match the turquoise ones I have already (Maybe My Indianian name should be bicycling bear) I also had that typical Native dish : a chicken Burrito.

I stuck around for the grand entrance:

before heading home:

while we're on the subject of Native Americans, here's a little video I made whil I was in Fort wayne of the Wabash- Maumee portage. It owuld have been longer, but I need to figure out abetter way of doing in car videos. I could have worn my helmet, but I really didn't want to meet any of Fort Wayne's Finest:

Of course, after seeing this, you may want to call me "drunken bear".
Until next week

May Gray

2011-05-08T17:58:00.000-07:00

Been playing around with my droid. I finally figured out how to make a video:

this is from the Bass Pro shop here in Rancho. I came out with $90 of crocs shoes.
Friday, I went to Al Capone's house in Fontana:

From Book fair

Saturday, it was gray and drizzly:

From 5-7-2011

I went up Lytle Creek road:

From 5-7-2011

and at 3400 feet, got above the clouds:

From 5-7-2011

Pretty neat experience.

Foursquare and the Fair

2011-05-01T14:31:00.000-07:00

I went on a bike ride yesterday. I stopped by the site of the Old PAL studios:

The engineer was some guy called Frank:

a neat Mural:

From 5-1-2011

I decide to go to the La Times Festival of Books. I missed the early train, but no problem, no one takes the Metrolink on weekends, right?
Well, this weekend is the Lemon Festival in Upland, so downtown was packed. I got a ticket, despite the vending machine insisting there were no train that day, was soon on a Bombardier car going to Union station:

From Book fair

Once I got there, I hopped on a shuttle bus:

From Book fair

and was soon face to face with Tommy Trojan:

From Book fair

They had a number of seminars that could have been of interest to me as an aspiring writer, but there were all sold out. so I wandered around outside:

From Book fair

I've also been playing around with Foursquare. while it is neat, you do have to have GPS enabled on your phone. I usually keep mine, which does produce some strange results. Hopefully, I won't make it on Pleaserobme.com. I did manage to persuade my phone and Foursquare that I was on the USC campus, and checked in.
I found out that UCLA has extension program for people like me, but the folks running the booths for USC and Chapman U were much more friendly. hmm (USC and Chapman are private - more tuition) Made the trip worth it. Chapman had a project where you wrote down a word, thy took your picture with it, and then the students would try and make a story with it.
I wandered around and around some more. Curiously, the part devoted to Food books seemed more busy. Probably because they were handing out free samples. I was also thinking about an analysis I heard on the royal wedding hoopla - That we, as a society, have been trending toward "reality" entertainment rather then "fictionalized." Maye I should devote my energies to "Revolutionary Idol" instead.
I found a free seminar that was interesting, but glanced at my watch. Time to go back to union station.
Turns out everyone else had that idea, too. Thankfully, they had a larger bus. we went by City Hall:

From Book fair

(the "effect" is the Target "advertising" wrap on the bus) before making it back to Union station.

From Book fair

If you've never been there, it's worth a trip. LAUPT was built in the late 30's, at the height of rail travel, and is wonderfully maintained as a period piece.
I bought a Madeline doll for a souvenir( The Times is using the artwork from the books as theme for this year.

From Book fair

before riding the Hyundai car back:

From Book fair

Of course, we stopped at Pomona for an hour due to ride with a medical condition, so maybe I should have taken the later train. I didn't want to go today, as there is an Immigrant rights march downtown in honor of May Day. Plus Metrolink has even less service on Sundays.
One other I did a bit different was I did'nt take my camera, but relied on phone for pictures - worked out well. Amazing how much "phones" have progressed.

errands

2011-04-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

I did the club ride this Saturday:

From 4-23-2011

rode by my favorite place:

From 4-23-2011

and ran some errands:

From 4-23-2011

and got ready for easter:

From 4-23-2011

waiting

2011-04-17T18:36:00.000-07:00

I was think about patience as a virture. I've had this aloe for four years, and it's just now trying to bloom:

From 4-17-2011

The only problem is that's been about three weeks, and it hasn't open the blooms yet:

From 4-17-2011

Like everything, else , patience sometimes pays off

Give me Cookies or give me... well.. umm... er.....

2011-04-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

This is my trip report
I started out bright and early, went by my bank and got some cash, and got my bags checked and my boarding pass. I was going to use my android phone as e-boarding pass, but nooo. The check-in machines spat some paper boarding passes
John Wayne has joint use gates, so there was some other airline parked in Gate 14:

From 2011-04-09

after a bit, my 757 pulled into the Gate:

It was bit delayed, but we all got on the plane. And waited. And waited.

From 2011-04-09

The cause: horrible weather at O'Hare airport in Chicago. They did let us off the plane, and 11:00 we all got back on the plane, taxied out and you guessed it: waited some more.
Finally, 4 hours late we took off (I thought about calling it off, but I couldn't retrieve my checked bag). This was about the time we should have been landing in O'hare.
I heard about how exciting the take-offs were at John Wayne, but I didn't see that much different. Maybe If we hadn't sat for 4 hours:

From 2011-04-09

We got a taste of the weather on the descent, as we were above the clouds when the pilots lowered the landing gear, and about 200 off the ground when we broke out. I got there just as my plane was supposed to be landing in Fort Wayne. Most of the plane was abuzz about what connections they could make. I got off the plane and called AA. I was back on the 11:30 flight with a boarding pass, which meant I had 4 hours to kill at ORD(short for ORDeal?)
So, here's a tour
Mr Abe:

The Children's Museum. I found it ironic that the "plane" is painted in what appears to southwest colors, as they only fly to Midway:

Lt Butch O'Hare's Wildcat:

Finally, at 10:00, we boarded the Embraer 145:

And 30 minutes later I was ready for my cookie! I had my camera out and was ready to expose megapixels. There was only problem: We were the first flight in to Fort Wayne all day (according to the Rental car agent) , so they cookie man went home and I went to the Best Western on an empty stomach.
The Bw was fine (sorry, I forgot to take pics). It had a free breakfast and Mike/ fridge combo, which saved me some money.
My wheels were a 2010 Ford Focus:

which was sort of a deja vu experience, considering I owned a 2003 Focus ("Honey, they cheapened the car")It seem to have the world loudest tires, as I got out to check if they were low or bald a couple of times (no, just loud)
Coming back was better, The weather was perfect:

From 4-12-2011

The cookies:
They are actually baked across from the airport by a company called Ellison Bakery I hunted up and down the aisles at the Scott's next door to the hotel, but to no avail. That morning, the "cookie man" was there (same guy as on the you tube video), and I talked him out of a couple:

This was also my first brush with the "Nude-o-Scopes", as Ft Wayne does not have metal detectors. It did not like my $6 walmart watch.
Overall, Fort Wayne is a very good airport.
It was Originally named Smith field, after Art Smith, The "Bird Boy" of Ft Wayne. This is a replica of his home built plane:

From 2-19-2011

Mr Smith invented Sky writing, and was the first pilot to successfully take off and land at night.
The current airport was built by the Army air corps during World war II and named after Paul Baer, The first American aviator to earn the title of "Ace" during World War I. The airport has a small museum dedicated to there two pioneers:

From 2-19-2011

They also have free wi-fi, No computer? They have computers for loan. They also have a store for Du Brand chocolates and Vera Bradley handbags:

I had bought a new one with my rei divdend, and was think it was too small, so I splurged
N646AE pulling in:

and we left Fort Wayne behind:

From 4-12-2011

going over Midway:

From 4-12-2011

I had about 3 hours, so I go in my exercise by walking over to the united terminal:

From 4-12-2011

We got on the 757 back , and you guess it: delay. The first Class lavatory was leaking "Blue juice". They drained it and made them come back and use the peon's bathrooms.
I was but surprised to see this, after seeing about the run-in that the air france 380 had at JFK

From 4-12-2011

crossing the Mississippi:

From 4-12-2011

The Rockies:

From 4-12-2011

and big bear:

From 4-12-2011

I had meant to get a photo of the John Wayne statue , but forgot about. Perhaps an apt metaphor for travel portion of this trip.
Enough for now, need to unpack and start re-writing

The billboard said it was only 15 minutes away...

2011-04-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

From 2011-04-11

Today, I had a couple of things on my agenda.
If you've been reading my past posts, You've probably realized that Fort Wayne was a settlement point even in the Native American days. The main reason for this is that this is shortest point between the Great Lakes system and the Mississippi River system (The Second shortest point is also in a Major City: Chicago).
It started out what is know West Swinney Park on the Saint Mary's River(which goes to Maumee and Lake Erie):
, and you follow what is now US 24 , and 7 miles later, you're at the Little River - (which goes to the Wabash, and then the Ohio, and the Mississippi, and then the Gulf Of Mexico.)

From 2011-04-11

The Concrete here is from an old interurban railroad. Actually the portage route hasn't been that well preserved - a lot of folks thinks it went to a tributary that starts behind the General Motors pickup plant.
Speaking of Trucks:

From 2011-04-11

This is the Old International Harvester Plant - they built trucks. I was reminded of my friend's Tom Logsdon's quite about his hometown of Pico Rivera, CA - that was the only town that had a UAW hall without a plant. Well, Fort Wayne still has a UAW hall, primarily because International still has some operations here.
The tourist guide at my hotel said the Auburn Cord Duesenburg Museum in auburn, In was only 15 minutes away.

From 2011-04-11

These were three makes, all of which died off during the Great depression - Duesenburg gave us the expression "It's a Duesy" since it competed in today's Rolls Royce - Bentley price range. Cords were known for their advanced styling and engineering (That's a Front wheel Drive car from 1936).
The Museum is housed in the Company headquarters, and houses several other Indiana based makes:
an IH Prototype:

From 2011-04-11

Studebaker from South Bend:

From 2011-04-11

and Crosely from Richmond:

From 2011-04-11

But back to the Revolution. The Most famous Indian settlement here was called Kekionga. it was run by the Miamis, and was situated where Lakeside Park is today:

From 2011-04-11

George Washington realized the importance of this point , and sent an expedition under Josiah Harmar in 1789 to capture it. it consisted of mostly untrained militia, and they treated it as a rolling party, especially when they found Kekionga abandoned and ripe for the plunder.
Just what Little Turtle and the Miamis had planned on. The Americans dropped their weapons, and didn't start running until they reached the Ohio.
Next up was Governor Arthur Saint Clair in 1791, Little Turtle ambushed him near what is now Fort Recovery, Ohio. This is considered to be the US Military's worst defeat ever, with 94% of the 1,100 Americans becoming casualties.
Washington was mad. He asked for, and got Saint Clair's head on a platter. He then asked his best commander during the Revolution, "Mad" Anthony Wayne, to unretire. Little Turtle learned about how General Wayne got his nickname (from suicidal, but cunning attacks) and decided to sit it out. Wayne insisted having time to properly train his troops, as well as making sure he outnumber his opponent. the Result: the battle of Fallen Timbers near Toledo, and a Fort at the confluence:

From 2011-04-09

This is actually a recreation. I do play upon the American's Militia's unpreparedness as well as Britain's somewhat reluctant backing of their allies (After Fallen Timbers, The Tribes ran to a nearby British fort conveniently located in downtown Toledo. The Commander ordered the doors closed, largely because the fort was in allegedly American territory. General Wayne refused to fire on the Natives, thus earning him their respect.
Now that I bored you to death:

From 2011-04-11

Fort Wayne was the Site of the first ever professional Baseball game between the Fort Wayne Kekiognas and the Cleveland Forest Citys. the current team is called the Tin Caps, after the preferred headgear of Johnny Appleseed, who is buried in fort Wayne:

From 2011-04-11

Hope you enjoyed all this.

Getting it right

2011-04-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

Where was I at? Oh yes, Tippecanoe.
Tecumseh and Tenskawata had built a village there. Tecumseh was out to trying to rally the other tribes when general harrison showed up and built a crude fort. He essentially drew a line in the sand and dared Tenskawata to cross it.
My Two cent summary of the battle.
I spent some time at the museum store (of course) where the Ranger tried to get me to buy several books after he learned what I was doing there. I walked out with a book about Tenskawata, The Prophet. It was the first one I had seen, and I wanted to make I had the details about his life right, as he was a character.
Born Laesheioga (Panther with a handsome tail), he soon acquired the name Lalawiethka (Loud Noise, or the baby rattle) as he had reputation as a braggart. he shot himself in the eye with an arrow, and became an alcoholic.
He drank himself into a Coma, and when he woke up, he announced that the Great Spirit had visited him, and told to if he would stop drinking, He and Tecumseh would be be able to drive the White Man away.
There is a state Park called Prophetstown. Ironically, the main attraction is a 1920's Farm house:

I was more interested in the recreation of Tecumseh and Tenskawata's village:

It was very windy, and I could hear the wind groan through the council house (The Prophet smoked the holy tobacco. The Wind spirit and the Wood spirits told him how to get rid of the Big Knife, Harrison)
There was book explaining the building. It had plastic pages, which were wet due to the gaps in the roof. Makes me glad of modern worksmanship.
I walked back on the prairie:

I decided to press on to Fort Ouiateon:

This was probably a mistake, as it took me an hour to get through Lafayette, it would probably had been better to go to Prophet's Rock, where Tenskawata stood during the Battle.
I have my characters walking down the south side of the Wabash, so I need to check out some of the tributaries, as I wanted to make sure I had the size of the river right.
The Mississinewa was about what I had expected:

it also the the Francis Slocum trail, she was a Pennsylvania woman who was adopted by the Miamis (another theme of my work)

my next stop was the Saalmonie. i had them breaking out Canoes here. There was big problem, It was shallow enough to wade across:

I concluded the day by looking at the Wabash in Huntington. I had them wading through some rapids. the only problem was I looked at the rapids, there were none, and the current appeared too strong:

It was a very long, but worth it. finding mistakes, getting inspiration and details are priceless. hopefully, I get this done and published.

Wabash or oubache?

2011-04-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

I started out today by going to Church at Trinity Episcopal in Fort Wayne. It was my first experience with Anglican High Mass. I think I knelled at all the Right times.
My Characters walked Down the Wabash from Fort Wayne to Cape Girardeau, so I thought I should drive down it. I had set a goal for today of Fort Ouiatenon outside of Lafayette. I Started out by going to Huntington, home of former Vice president Dan Quail err Quayle.
I was soon outside of Lagro:

I stopped at Wabash, where I noticed a Steep Bluff next to the River(must work into story) and then Peru:

I was following Old US 24. It was mostly marked as Business 24, but some places it had been decomssioned, so I got lost a couple of times. I was going to have lunch at Happy burger in logansport, but there were observing the sabbath, too:

I had to settle for Arby's.
I decided to follow the old Towpath , even it slowed me down considerably:

i had noticed that it was the Pottawatomie Trail of death, similar to the Cherokee Trail of tears that goes through Cape Girardeau:

I wonder why I like this road:

My next stop, was site of the battle of Tippacanoe:

Tecumseh and his Brother, The Prophet, Tenskwata, made the trek to Cape Girardeau:
Tenskwata:

Whose side are you on?

the enemy, gen harrison:

note the bent Rammer:

I spent some time with the Park ranger
more to come on this Story Tomorrow

There were bicycles in the Revolution?

2011-04-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

Yes,i need to Do a trip report. In time. It was a duesy
Anyway, now that I'm in Fort Wayne, I decided that the first place I would go would be : Ohio
You see, My story starts in ohio, More specifically, two places Fort Loramie and Piqua, before moving on to Wapakontea, oh, Fort Wayne, and Eventually Cape Girardeau.
Plus there there were two museum in Ohio I wanted to visit. The Bicycle Museum of America in New Bremen, and the Neil Armstrong Museum In Wapakontea.
I started out bright and early, metaphorically speaking, aiming for where Louis Lorimer (or Pierre Loraime) had his trading post, near Fort Loramie.
There was just one problem: some one had built a reservoir:

The lake itself it not very deep. I wandered about Fort Loraime (it's only about a 1,000 folks
I then made it down the road to Piqua, which is where My Shawnee characters would have been living at the time of George Rogers Clark's raid in 1782
It's on the Miami River:

From 2011-04-09

I stopped at Tim Horton's, had a real latte, and decided to trace a route my characters would have taken.
You see, I had written a scene where a battle takes place in a ravine. I did not realize how flat Northwest Ohio was. Rewrite city, here I come!
But then I heard this voice: "Pull Over" at a Township building. Behind it was: a ravine!:

From 2011-04-09

Yea! the Lord works in Mysterious ways!
I decided to have lunch back in Fort Loraime at a place called Vogelsang's. They had a specialty called the Vogel burger, which was like a Pizza burger (pizza sauce, mozzarella, and mushrooms). I ate it and contrasted the difference between the the two Outpost of Mr Lorimer, Fort Loraime, and Cape Girardeau. Maybe I was expecting them to be more alike.
After that I (and my characters move on to Wapakoneta, Oh . It was the Capital of the Shawnee at the time of Clark's raid. I also have a scene set here.

Wapakoneta is best know for being the Hometown of Niel Armstrong, The First Man to walk on the Moon:

A very good Museum.
I then made my way to new Bremen (nothing here in 1782), home of the bicycle Museum of America:

I was in Hog Heaven:

Why New Bremen, New Bremen is the home Of Crown Equipment (Fork Lift Trucks) The owner bought the Collections of The Schwinn and Huffy Companies when they entered bankruptcy, and moved them here
I them made to back To Fort Wayne, and the History center , which is the old City Hall.

another Bike:

I spent way too much at the museum , and walked down to where the three rivers meet The Saint Joesph, The Saint Mary's and the Maumee
Fort Wayne also appears under its Indian name Kekionga:

I then made my way back to the hotel(not before noticing I made a geographical error. You can't win 'em all) .
A long day , but an enjoyable one, Let's see what tomorrow brings

The Same, but different

2011-04-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

There is go reason to get up early on Saturday Morning:

I did the club ride, hung out with my Buds:

Drafted off the Mikes:

Held off the Peloton:

Before going up Shinn Road:

at the top:

I came home did my taxes, and Started packing for my trip next week. I 'm to that hot spot, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Why, well to work on one of my books, which starts out in what became Fort Loramie , Ohio, which is down the Road from Fort Wayne, and the Bicycle Museum of america in New Bremen, OH. My Character also walk down the Wabash.
I put the trip together back in November. I was going to fly Ontario - Dallas Fort Worth - Fort Wayne, but discover the only DFW_FWA trip arrived in Fort Wayne at 11:45. PM.
So I wound up adding another airport to keep myself loyal to good old ONT:

Hey another segment, More changes to become the the triple gold plated, Diamond Crusted, executive Platinum status flyer, right? Maybe AA will stop putting me next to the engines on the mD80.
Well, February came. I got an e-mail. American had changed their schedule. The last flight to Fort Wayne was now from O'hare and I was on it. The good news: I now got to Fort Wayne at 11:35.
So , I called up aa.com. I wound up flying from John Wayne - Santa Ana (SNA) directly to O hare, and get in to Fort Wayne at 5:45PM. On a 757 and an Embraer 145. Life is good. and no re booking fees (after looking at the seating chart, I can see why)
That the problem with long term plans, they require adjustment from time to time. I just completed another goal. I read the entire Bible, a chapter a day. I started out in 2007, and sometimes I did do two chapters at a time (hey, you read Leviticus)
So, keep on plugging on, and I'll post more on friday

So the guy with no legs that I was riding with ....

2011-03-27T19:58:00.001-07:00

One of my friends has been trying to talk me into coming on some called the solider ride. It's a benefit for the wounded warrior project, and since my nephew has combat induced PTSD, I was interested
so I showed up on Saturday and took a brief spin around Oceanside

From 3-26-2011

Before coming back. Like most ride, there was a u-haul

From 3-26-2011

with the real life model:

From 3-26-2011

My Friend Peter, greeting the media:

From 3-26-2011

The ride star was the usual cheering, but It seemed to never stop. The only low point was Peter breaking the tie rod on his trike:

From 3-26-2011

We rode by the Marine marching on base:

From 3-26-2011

Too pretty for war games:

From 3-26-2011

before turning around at the ocean:

From 3-26-2011

we also did a little bit of the San Luis Rey Bike Path:

From 3-26-2011

apropos end: Hand cycle rider in front of me:

From 3-26-2011

I was debating what music to use, as several artists have donated sings to WWP. I ended up making two. of course the last one took two hours to upload. Hopefully, it was worth the wait:

Rain,Rain, go away

2011-03-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

I was going to for ride and stepped outside my door yesterday, you guessed it: rain.
So I went back inside and waited for an hour:

From 3-19-2011

surprisingly, I was the only cyclist at the coffee shop:

From 3-19-2011

I made a brief stop at the baseball stadium before heading home:

From 3-19-2011

not a bad day!

The mystey of the Lagoon

2011-03-19T16:01:00.000-07:00

Doing some digging for my "lorimer" novel, I ran across a couple of conundrums to solve: mainly that the Shawnees did not originally settle near Shawneetown, MO:

View Larger Map
Instead, they set up shop at the site of the district fair. Of Course, I immediately thought of Arena Park in Cape.
But my source was written in 1904. So more digging. in 1904 the fair was held at Capaha Park:

View Larger Map(Arena Park is about a mile to the west, near Kingshighway and Broadway)
The only problem was that I had already written them build semi-permanent(i.e log Cabin), which now it looks they probably built Bark huts until they found good land. Re write city here I come! here is a link with a with locations for this post.
But was the lagoon always there? Hmm.. I've been doing some searching, and have not found much luck. My guess: yes, based on the fact that sits in a depression, And did drain, and if so to where? One again, I'm not sure, but it looks there may have been an old creek bed paralleling West End Blvd 215 years ago.
And then I want to have a still as in Moonshine, you know, White Lighting

I need to have it be somewhat hidden, as I wanted my character to get in trouble for consuming a little too much. I kept on thinking that having on top of Cape Rock would work, but now I'm think it's a little close to the site of the post. Maybe I'll move the still down the river a bit. Having a bad guy fall to his death off the bluff after getting drunk on Sorghum wishkey is just too good to pass up.

I killed Tux

2011-03-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

For a couple of years, my MobilePC has been an Asus eee pc 701. it been good , espically considering I only paid $150 for it.
It did hve some drawbacks, howeever. It only has a 7 inch screen (Not good for my aging eyes), and a 8 GB hard drive (my first HD was 20MB), plus it ran Linux.
Linux is a free(as in speech) operating system. It's also free (as in Beer). The particular distrubution (Distro) it uses is Xandros.
I did manage to get Java and Grails installed on it, but a couple of other apps defied me.
Plus I had gotten a new cell phone that had a mobile hot spot feature. The only catch: you needed a widows operating system to use it.
So I did some persusing online and headed out down Foothill Boulevard Friday. One of the prbelms was finding something small enough to be portable, but powerful enough not to be a toy.
Best buy listed a 13.5 inch screen laptop as being in store, but they were none to be seen. Office Depot's sales clerk seemed to be more interest in selling a 18inch monstroy, and Office Max was the same (Rancho Cucamonga doesn't have a Staples)
I wound at Wal mart, where I found and Acer Aspire one 10 inch scree, 260 GB hd , and 1 Gb ram. I feel like Goldilocks!
As far as linux, don't fret. My Phone is an Andriod, and have a Kindle , both of which are linux powered devices.
It's been about 7 years since I started playing around with Linux. It's great o/s with a lot flexiblity built in , which makes idea for specialized devices. As Far as desktops and laptops go, I still like Windows. Fits my budget, and I don't have to spend four hours working with config files to get something to run

of course Tux refers to the Linux mascot

My day with Andre

2011-03-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have a friend form Quebec City, Andre, that I met on Bikejournal.com. he likes to come down here and spend some time in Palms Springs
The only problem is that he likes to do short rides and I like to long ones, So Friday I took off and did Lytle Creek Canyon:

I wanted to get 50 miles, but I wanted to get 50. oh well!
Saturday, I woke Bright and early, I wound up doing the 25 miles route of the Tour De Palm Springs, once by myself and once with Andre and Lucy.
On my solo trip, There was a nice contrast between the desert and the developed area:

Headed back in to town on Dinah Shore on my Bachetta, not my Chevy:

It was a good thing, as I got lost and wound up at the airport:

I made it back to the fudge shop:

From 3-12-2011

and Andre and Lucy showed up:

From 3-12-2011

we stop at the agua Caliente Casino:

From 3-12-2011

Headed back into town on Gerald Ford with a Golf Cart lane:

we were almost back in to town when Lucy had a flat, which Andre Gallantly Fixed:

When we made it Lucy and Andre invited me to have a shower at their hotel room before we went to lunch. Andre wanted to eat outside, but so did everyone else. We eventually wound up at Las Casuelas Terraza which was excellent. I kidded Andre about ordering a Hamburger and Fries.I had the Tamales which were almost as big as I make. Execelente!
I left them and had a Palm Springs Specialty, the Date shake:
which is severed at the Fudge shop. If you think it sounds gross, try one! While I was there, I remembered Andre saying that anyplace Palm trees grow is a good place to ride your bike, so I got him a Palm tree refrigerator Magnet. I was go to put it on their door , when they walked out. They were going to see the Tramway This, along with the date shake, is a must do when you're in Palm Springs.
You start out about 2500 feet in the desert:

3 miles later , you're at 8000 feet, and it's not the Desert:

What do Canadians do in California?

A nice view of the Cochella Valley:

I left Andre and Lucy to come back to Rancho Cucamonga. I guess could have taken a tour of the Celebrity homes from the fifties, but I'll leave you with this:

He rode a blazin pedal?

2011-03-06T15:51:00.000-08:00

another one of my friend from Bike Journal, Blazing pedal, came down from Michigan to visit family ,and we did the shop ride from Bent Up cycles
Here he is with Dana Liebermann:

From 3-5-2011

We went up La Tuna Canyon:

From 3-5-2011

and took a break in Montrose, and the view of Downtown LA:

From 3-5-2011

Then I got lost. I decided that the easiest thing to do was to make my way down to Colorado Blvd. I came out at the Arroyo Bridge:

Colorado was real easy , but I was not about getting back to North Hollywood. I wound up on San Fernando road, and took detour to the Terminal for Los Angeles Grand Central Airport

I then mad my back on the Chandler bike path, another old Pacific Electric Right of way:

I had about 47 miles enough for the day

Only $200?

2011-03-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

February 23, 2011 was my fiftieth birthday. I was debating what do to celebrate it in a grand manner.
I went on American Airline's website and decided to see what the fare was from Ontario to Saint Louis $200 round trip? I'm in!
I decided not to fly on to Cape Girardeau. I would have to wait 5 hours in Saint Louis both ways, and since this was a 3 day trip, I really could not afford to waste that much time.
I woke up early, went by my bank and got some money, picked up a Daily Bulletin, before making my way to ONT. Check in,security, and boarding were uneventful.
Nothing much to note on takeoff – the sky was overcast

But by the time we got to the San Jactinos:

The Salton Sea

Some craters in Arizona

We landed a little ahead of schedule at Terminal A in DFW. I had arranged with my uncle to have lunch together. He was waiting when I walked out. we had a good lunch at Braum's and he gave my a grand tour of Grapevine, before we headed back to DFW, I had some time to spend, so I took a Grand tour on the Sky train, the inter-terminal shuttle. Unlike most airports, it runs above ground.
Terminal D and a Boeing 777:

I really did not have much time to wait before going to STL. Next to our plane was a minor star N984TW, the Last MD-80 built:

We went over the other airport in Dallas, Love Field

and a Lake

We arrived in STL a little late. I went to Avis and got my car, a Chevy HHR:

both sides of I-70 were backed up., so I decided to go down the Inner belt (170) to Kingshiway (gotta visit my old neighborhoods) and got back about 6 Friday, I did noting much . Part of it is that my mother is in her mid 80's and we have a family history of Alzheimer's. so I wanted to spend some time with her while I could. Ironically, I spent of most of my time(and money) running back and forth to the Grocery store. Whose birthday is it anyway?
Sunday , we all went to church. My nephew announced his engagement, coincidentally while I 'm scheduled to be home over the 4th of July.
I did do some research for my fiction by stopping by the Old Burnt Mill in Perry County:

And stopped at the Arch Grounds

I also took photo of the Admiral. It's where Mom and Dad met. Its supposed to be scrapped soon:

I made my back to the Airport and checked in . I paused to take a photo of the Grand hall:

I made it past security and waked down to the end of C concourse
I then found a spot at the Gate and parked and observed

From 2-19-2011

My ride has arrived

From 2-19-2011

I had a row to myself on the 2 seat side with a bulkhead behind me Not bad!
We got to Dfw early , arriving at C39. I made my way to D22, and got there just as they announced a gate swap to D38. I grabbed a quick bite at Popeye's made to D38 with about 10 minutes to spare. The flight to ONT was surprisingly not full. I was on the 3 sea side, and did have a row mate, but had an empty middle seat. Can't beat that!
Upon landing , there was an Antonov an124 being loaded, since this was about 10:00 at night, I decided to leave it unphotographed. 20 minutes after stepping off the plane, I was unlocking my front. I love the Ontario International Airport!
As far as the trip goes, I'm glad I did it I'd love to be back there, butI know I can't go back. Eddie says it better

Is Fifty Nifty?

2011-02-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well , Wednesday at 2:37 PM Central Time, I will officially be an old Geezer.
I had put together a group of friends to ride 50 miles to celebrate.
And then the storm came in. The forecast looked like Rain all morning so most folks stayed in. No one was there at 7:27, so I took off (Pete and Vanessa arrived 2 minutes later). The sky did not look good:

I decided to go up shinn road. It looked a little better crossing the 210:

and through the Heights:

and a lot better when i go to the dam:

I took at break at Mt Baldy road:

I took a break in Claremont when I saw this sign:

I stopped at the coffee shop for a break and some good natured ribbing before proceeding on :

Goal!:

it was still threatening when I rolled back to it's grind:

I also did some celebrating, as I bought a new cell Phone without the old one breaking first. I got a LG Vortex, which happened to cost me $50 (plus a two year contract with Verizon. I took a photo for a review of my new helmet(which I may post):

not bad for 3.5 mp.It;s an android phone. I have to get with times. I mean I do have a priest who reads his sermon notes on a Iphone. :) I even managed to make a call on it. Now to get the mobile hotspot working (Must resist the Ipad and Samsung Galaxy tab that is calling my my name)
so, what's it like to be this old? I'm not sure, other than it brings Perspective. I was think of the lyrics from Glibert O'sullivan "when I was Gay" which has a different connotation now than in 1972. Speaking of the modern meaning:

Most of my writing work this week was doing research. I've done some updating on my Cape Girardeau story, and will be probably review my other drafts this week. Part of it that I usually the train to do my writing, and I had to drive in several times this week. Probably will be the same next week, but then I'm going to back in Cape next weekend. Maybe one of these day I pay one of those editors who advertise in the Back of Writer's Digest to beat the Living daylights out of one of drafts....

Sick day

2011-02-13T18:27:00.000-08:00

I met my Friend from Pennsylvania, Mark. He had flown to visit his in -laws.
We were going to do the Santa ana river trail. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera.
Put I have my cell phone:

From Cell phone

Quack, quack, quack:

From Cell phone

Monster Truck Rally TONIGHT!!! Think I'll wait for spring training:

From Cell phone

Mark at Newport burger:

From Cell phone

and the Beach (with Catalina island in the distance:)

From Cell phone

we loafed a bit coming back. when we got to green river, Mark wanted to know where he could get something to eat. I pointed all the stuff at Green river and mentioned the steep climb. His rental bike had a 53-39 double and 12-21 straight block cassette. We went to Keno's instead.
And today I have a cold. so no riding today

How a half inch became a mile

2011-02-06T17:25:00.000-08:00

I did our usual club ride. It was retro day:

You'll also notice the Elliptgo in the background. some Folks had to take a test ride:

And it's still winter here

and at Big Bear:

stopped by the old Biane Winery:

before heading out to bentup in North Hollywood for sopme new bearings, which didn't fit. While I was there, I got a Call from Comp Edge, informing me they had sold my Roubaix. Yippee! I bought a new bag, and went back to Rancho to pick up my money.
When I was there, I had them look at my helmet - it had cracked. so it was time for a new LAS Isotrion. and my wheels? they had used set in the right size that used standard bearings. I still had some money after all goodies:

Today I took my new bag out on my other bike. I had put new tires on it, and had not re done the setting on the bike Computer. By the time I got to church, it was off by by a mile. oops! I did a rollout (measured the circumfrence when mounted), and it was off by half inch, hence the title of this post
I did some research today (Primarily ordering things on Amazon) and some writing. I'll leave you a pic of Mt Baldy:

Riding and Research

2011-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

I managed to combine both my passion this weekend
Friday , I did a brief ride before heading out to Bentup to pick up my bike:

Since Bentup is in North Hollywood. I seized the day and did some "location scouting" and drove into LA to the Site of the Old Ambassador Hotel , and 1818 Venice Boulevard. why there? Read on.
Saturday, I rode by the Filippi Winery

afterward, I rode out to a subdivision in Fontana:

This was once the site of Gifillan airport. My plot pulls the development of GCA Radara few years, adds some Nazis and a 360 year old protagnoist in the mixing , and hopes that page turning (or clicking the button on a ereader) ensues. In case you're Wondering , 1818 Venice was where Gilfillan was located in the 1940's. I my have to change the company name, but i've got more writing to do.
What's GCA?

Love Chuck and his pipe. I also found another novel on GCA development. And yes, my British engineer is now name Arthur.
Until next week, keep the rubber side down

remebering

2011-01-23T18:23:00.000-08:00

I didn't get much riding in
I had a flat on the front tire of my giro 20, but didn't have a spare tube, I went ahead and made the memorial ride anyway:

From 1-23-2011

I had planned on using "time to say goodbye" but ran into copyright problems. "how to save a life" was used during the memoial service at Pomona College, and it fit in more ways than one.
I did make another video of my ride to the Grind:

Today I did a 25 miles ride in honor of Nancy Fish, aka Pansy Palmetto, I made to 24.75 and had a flat. I walked the rest.
On the aviation front, I added to my fleet:
TOL to ORD via SBN:(BAE 146)

The largest plane I have been on Boeing 757-200:

Special livery

I also started work on another book, primarily because I thought it would be more marketable ("Richard Sharpe meets Duncan McLeod at Blackadder's Castle and moves to America"). Plus it's set in LA in the 1940's, which makes research cheaper. Now to do some more research on GCA radar
Until next week, don't lose your head

Transistions

2011-01-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

I had two cycling friends make transitions this week
First off Kevin Unck passed way on Sunday in a accident on Glendora Mountain road.
Here a photo from the memorial service at the Start of the Grape fun ride

From 1-15-2011

and second, Nancy Fish, aka Pansy Palmetto on bikejournal.com has treminal cancer.
Not a fun week.
Also, I wound up dropping my Strada off for an overhaul at Bent up on friday. I forgot how much harder my Giro 20 is to ride! Plus , it developed a flat on the front and I only had one spare tube. I had to meant to walk today, but I wound up cranking out some chapter for my books. You see, I have been praying for directions, and I keep on getting back "write, write, write" (followed by the Human "edit, edit, edit"). I'm not sure where this is taking me with the Brave new world of publishing, but all I can do is trust and obey

So I'll leave with a good pic of Mt baldy, and see you all next week

Just like the real thing, only smaller

2011-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

I order an Ozark Coffee Mug for my Brother and threw in this:

so , I decided to a model plane for each airliner type/livery I have flown in (No, I never made it on TW's 717s. Let's pretend it's DC-9 or MD80)
My usual way out of MDT:

My First Flight out of ONT:

a CRJ:

another way to get to MDT:

From 11-14-2010

a real "Mad Dog"

From 12-3-2010

and a "Jungle Jet"

From 12-24-2010

more mad dogs:

From 12-24-2010

and a flying cigar

Yes, I did, but the weather was not picture friendly:

and yes, let's have a You tube:

Kicking the can forward

2011-01-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

Not really inspired to write much, Probably because I started another fiction project and have been working some crazy o/t.
Any way I did make it to the Rose Parade:

and from the still:

One thing I notice was that some of the floats were really optimized for viewing from above rather than street level, you can watch it http://www.ktla.com/entertainment/roseparade/
Hopefully, a better post next week

They had you tube back then?

2010-12-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

Since this was a Rain day in here in LA, I stayed in and worked on my book.
I've finally got them to Paducah. I grabbed my real life friends Brent and James, and sent them back in time. I gave them a Stable/blacksmith shop to run. I also decided to have one of my Characters a horse that needed new shoes.
So how to describe this? You tube to the rescue! It really hasn't changed that much since 1788.
This gave more ideas , since I also needed to describe a Gunsmith shop in Vincennes. However, most of the video considered a 1911 army revolver "Vintage". Ha! Still, this guy did give some ideas:

Now , if you excuse me, I need to find some General Store videos, with a glue salesman named Tom

The Solo Group ride

2010-12-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

Been trying some different stuff
I kept on looking at the unfinished section of the Pacific Electric in Fontana, and thinking I could get through on my Giro 20. Veni, Vedi, Velo

Now where James Bond's evil nephew Jimmy Bond? I'm referring to 1967 movie, whihc is a lot better than a movie with 5 different directors deserves to be:

But back to that ride. We had planned this with the Socal Bent group. Only when I got to Encanto Park , there were no other recumbents. I took off anyway on the San Gabriel River Trail:

I then got on Hiway 39 with some nice views past the dams:

Some fall colors near the OHV area:

I waited at the turnoff for the trail. no bents here. I did enjoy the access road. Probably should have stopped and taken a photo of the Santa Ana sucker fishing area, since I felt like one. Anyway, enjoy!

The Magic Number

2010-12-11T14:25:00.001-08:00

Or Do Hare Krishna's sell rollaboards?
As I had mentioned before, the Olympia bag I've been using as a carry-on is getting a bit ratty. It probably didn't help that I threw it at a MTA Bus in a vain attempt to get it to stop
And I really wanted a spinner. Yes, I know, it's that vanity thing again.
And I did have a couple of other requirements. It couldn't be more than 11 inches, due to the fact that it needed to fit into the overhead bin of American's fleet of MD80's. I learned this from AA's website. They also have another “magic number” 45. the width, depth, and height combined cannot exceed 45 inches.
So I put my trusty measuring tape in my purse and headed over to Ontario Mills. I parked at the west end , between Marshall's and the JCPenny outlet. The other place that carries luggage there, Burlington Coat factory, is at the other end of the Mills. They didn't have much selection that last time I looked and the last couple of time I went there, they Kiosk vendors were more than overly pushy.
Sure enough, I had taken about 10 steps when “You need a massage, Pretty Lady”

Argh. I did make to Marshall's, where I found a Delsey Helium, and a Olypmia that were both labeled as 21 inch carry ons. I then discovered that I had left the Tape measure in the car.
So back out and past the vendors. again. no “pretty lady” this time. Hmmm, is that good or bad?
I decided to duck into Penny's. The had a Samsonite 21 inch spinner, originally $260, on sale for $49.
Deal of the Century! Advertised dimensions: 45 on the spot. with 10 inches of depth!
Then I got the tape measure 50 inches with 12 inches of depth. It turns out the advertised dimensions were for the main compartment and didn't take into account the other compartments or the wheels.
so it was back to Marshall's The Delsey also advertised itself as being within the 'legal' limits. The Olympia made no claim other than being a 21 inch spinner. The measuring tape showed the both to be same at 45 total, I thought this was odd, so I measured them again Delsey 48 Olympia 44. No wonder the airlines have so much trouble with carry ons! I wouldn't be surprised to see some one advertise Steamer trunks as a carry on.
And I do seem to have an affinity of the more nondescript brands. It does appear to be as well made as the Atlantic, albeit on the heavier side.
one thing I noticed was that most of the bag now have a TSA -approved clear bag of your toiletries. included. a sign of the times, unfortunately.
So hopefully, the Clerks will not pat you down when they see you measuring your carry-ons. This also end my obsession with luggage (hopefully). Maybe I'll see you in the boarding line
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jWB7BcJTnRAT45qNQcredw?feat=directlink

One case of Pistachos, to go

2010-12-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

...Or the Seagull and the Eagle try an find Lucky Lindy at the Ghost airport.
Monday, my trip back , started out gray and gloomy. I borrowed the Mom-mobile and went down to Jackson City Park
This used to be the old swimming pool:

and then there's the rock garden:

and Hubble Creek:

I visited the city lake before dropping by Maple Dr

I filled it up with gas and we headed out to Cape. We had lunch at Logan's and the proceed over to Cape Rock Park. This is a Rock that juts out into The Mississippi(until the Railroad demolished part of it), It's where the "Cape" in Cape Girardeau comes from(the other part from Jean Girardot, the first European settler):

This ,allegedly, is Mr. Louis Lorimer. No ankle length ponytail, and no half Shawnee - half European mode of dress. He also doesn't look Half Native American:

We then went to the mall and looked at luggage. My old Olympia carry-on was falling apart, and we looked at some replacements before beading for the Airport.
Once we got to CGI, it was raining cats and dogs. The Plane that was to perform the 2:00 Flight was sitting at the terminal(CGI only has one gate.) It was grounded due to low visibility.
Mom was concerned that she would have to take me to Saint Louis. She started having me call her friends, one of whom called the shuttle service. I talked to the Gate Agent ,who was busying rebook several other folk with tighter connections than mine. He nodded that would be flying, and I understood he had other things to do. I bid the shuttle driver adieu
Finally, at 4, it was clear enough to get started. My flight was supposed to leave at 4:50, and since I was there, Cape Air gave me a boarding pass for the 2:00 flight. With the weather, I decided to leave my camera in the stowed position. We were in Saint Louis in about 40 minutes, safe and sound.
Arriving in Saint Louis can be like visiting a movie set. The airport has two Terminals, Main and East (or 1 and 2). Terminal 1 has four concourses: A,B,C, and D.
In the old days Southwest had the east Terminal, TWA had Concourses B, C, and D, and everyone else was crammed into A. Today Southwest still has the East Terminal all to itself, American, AirTran, Frontier, and Cape air have about half of C, and everyone else is in A. B and D sit vacant, waiting for tenants. I was reminded of this as we pulled in and rounded the end of C. Several air bridges there were meant to service TWA's "Heavy Metal" (747's and L-1011's), but now aren't being used.
Once I got inside, I started to take a tour. I remembered to turn on my cell phone. There was a message from our unit secretary. The billing company had screwed up my timesheet. Was I where I could get on the net and have a look?
I sat down about C19, and got out my netbook. I didn't have any luck with the Wifi, so I wondered back down to the Cape Air Gates and got the timesheet un-mangled. Hooray!
So , I set off on my tour again. I doesn't look too bad here:

at the end is another story:

A sad sight , and I'm not sure what to say. Part of it has been the consolidation of the US Airline industry into 5 Majors (United/Continental, Delta, Southwest/AirTran, American, and US Airways) have left several other Airports with similar gate excess (Pittsburgh and Cincinnati come to mind) The Saint Louis airport has tried to get Both the "New" United and Delta and the other tenants in A to move to C and D (this would get everyone behind a common security perimeter , as A has its own portal) as they have started to increase their flights in response to TWA's demise and American's de-hubbing.
I passed my time by having some Tamales from the Jose Curevo Tequileria and reading some local history books. No Tequila, as I have been accused of getting drunk on root beer.
The flight back was good. We pulled back about 9:00 PM CST. My seatmate and I chatted away most of the night. She promised to send me a case of pistachios from her ranch in Terra Bella, CA.
It was a clear night, so the approach to LAX was breathtakingly stunning. Let's go with a Musical Interlude

LAX was still The busy International airport. I had made another reservation at the Hacienda. It was 11:45 when I got to bed
Tuesday Morning: Yes this is los Angeles:

Went down to the desks, checked out, picked up my car, and headed out to await the Crisis of the day.
Thanks for coming along

Visting The Dead

2010-12-05T13:16:00.000-08:00

I woke up Friday morning and mom asked me what I wanted to do. I was at a loss, but then In saw the brochure for the National Cemetery In Mound City, IL. since it was only 40 miles, we made it a day trip

Mound City was the site of a major hospital in the civil war. It was established to bury the dead from that war and has open for free burials for all honorably discharged veterans ever since. Their signature is a tower erected by the State of Illinois to honor their dead.

I wandered about and found a burial guide Since one of my ancestors was a Confederate Veteran who disappeared near here, I took a look, no such luck.
We then went over to Mound City Itself. It. like Cairo,it is but a shell of its former glory. I did bid adieu to the Beautiful River(Ohio) at the fisherman's memorial.

We then headed back to Cape Girardeau and made the mandatory stop at Hutson's Furniture for their Christmas window

I then walked around downtown while mom browsed through the second hand stores
“Old Man river”

Looking up at The Common Pleas Courthouse:

and yes, at my advanced age, I can make it up the stairs:

it had been a while since I had checked on one of my inspirations for writing, so on to our next stop
Yep, Major Lorimer is still there.

I wish I could have spent more time, but my mom was still in the car.
Saturday, I returned the Rental car. We went over to visit dad's Grave in Jackson.

I then asked my mom if she would like to go to Old Appleton and Shawneetown. As you can Guess from the name, Shawneetown is where most of my fictional characters would have settled. I did get some photo of the old bridge over Apple Creek, but my mom was getting grouchy, so we settled for a driving tour of both of Shawneetown's blocks.

Doing research and spending time with my family reminds me of Jesus' parable about the slave with two masters. I think next time, I will probably let/insist on my Mom doing her own thing, While I wander to and fro about the earth in search of knowledge.
Sunday is our Christmas. So the next installment will be the trip back to LA.

The Village of Chief Paduke

2010-12-04T12:27:00.000-08:00

I decided to spend the first day of my vacation by going to the next major town to the East, Paducah, Kentucky.
Getting there is half the fun, they say. Actually going from Cape to Paducah can be more than that. You see, Missouri and Kentucky are are the only Two states that I know of that border each other (Via the Mississippi ) that you cannot go directly between using land transport . You have to spend some Time in Southern Illinois. My mom went went with me and we decided to go down via Cairo, Illinois.
Caro is rather unique, too, in that it is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and the Ohio. Cairo used to be quite a bustling town, but times have passed it by. It now looks either a northeastern slum, a time machine stuck in 1959, or a post-apocalyptic Hollywood set(the first three similes that came to my mind). A very depressing place given the drizzle.
I stopped at Ft Defiance St Park, which is located at the confluence. Mom was wise enough to Stay in the Car

I found the old viewing point

And there was new sculpture by a Southern Illinois Professor at the point

And the the Coast Guard Navigation symbol:

I then went back in town to the Customs house museum. They don't allow photography there, but it still worth your time and $2. As it names implies, the building was the old US Customs point and Federal Courthouse
We then proceeded across the Ohio and on to Paducah. We had lunch before proceeding downtown.
Paducah is at the confluence of the Oho and Tennessee. It is the site of a Chickasaw Indian Village whose chief was named Paduke.
Chief Paduke had quite a unique set up, as the one of the few points on the American Frontier that Settlers and Natives managed to live in peace and harmony.
Part of his success is the geography of Paducah. Paduke and his Chickasaws lived on an island at the confluence, while the settlers lived on the mainland.

His rule was the none of the white man's vices(like liquor) were allowed on the island, which would interest my characters immensely. It's also where Tecumseh Broke his hip in 1788 while migrating to Cape (No Historical Marker, but my research leads me to believe that he was at where Kentucky Oaks mall is now.
The Big Attraction in Paducah is the museum of the National Quilter's Society.

Another place where no Camera are allowed, but it's still worth the Admission. I was a bit worried, as I read some negative reviews on the Internet,(“they used machines”) ,which is true in that does focus more on contemporary quilt making, but it's still an impressive display of talent.
We then stopped a the riverfront, which is where I wanted to go, to get some physical impressions. This George Rogers Clark dude keeps following me around:

I also stopped at one museum, and took this photo of an Illinois Central locomotive .

My Father and Grandfather both worked for the IC,
I wanted to go to another museum, but, apparently, I had wrote down the address wrong and didn't have an easy way to find it (I did not bring my Asus EEE, and web browsing on my phone can be clunky), Plus it was getting late, so we headed back.
We did make another stop across the Ohio at Fort Massac in Metropolis, Illinois. for the record I did not see a man flying around in Blue tights and a Red Cape (Metropolis is the only city by that name in the United States, and bills itself as the “home of Superman”.)
Fort Massac was an old military post that was used by both the French and the Americans. It was abandoned at the time of my story and it was Raining. so I only made an Impressions stop before heading home
I tried to keep as close to the route I Imagined my characters would have taken. The only issues were that Illinois does a poor job of marking their secondary roads and IDOT avoids routing hills over the bluff at the foot of the Mississippi flood plains, preferring the lowland routes. Back at the time of my Story, The lowlands would have been a swamp, so my characters would have probably hiked over the hills. If My mom was not along, I would have wandered around and found a route that was a better approximation. And found that other museum. Sounds like another trip. For the Record, Paducah is an EAS airport, but served by Skywest and United from Chicago O'Hare with Embraer Regional Jets . Not to my AAdvantage. :(

"The best $50 I ever spent"

2010-12-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

I went to work the day before my flight. Thankfully, I asked my co-worked for directions and managed to get to my hotel, The Hacienda Inn at LAX, a Half hour before I had planned. Unfortunately, There was a line at the desk. When the clerk handed me my key. he said “you're going to really like your room.” he was right. it was a suite:

I then headed out to dinner. While there was a Sizzler and El Pollo loco across the street, The street was Sepulveda Boulevard. I decided to patronize the in house coffee shop. I ordered some Pork Tacos, But when I got my dish, it was a pork chop. After a bit, I had my tacos. Not bad.

I started early in the morning, since my flight's departure time was 6:55 am. There were several other folks in the shuttle bus. The driver took a round about route through the terminal, which mainly consisted of dropping off the Air crews first.
He finally made to Terminal 4, which was my stop. I got off , checked in my bags, and proceed to the security line, which took the majority of the morning.
They weren't using the “Nude-o-scopes”, or full body scanners, but they only had one of the traditional scanners working. Once I made it past, I went to gate, and bought a Copy of the L.A. Times, a Coke Zero, and model of an Airbus A380, which was priced at $7.67 (some one has a sense of irony! Maybe the 777 is on sale for $3.30)

We all got on the flight in an orderly fashion, and the crew was able to push off early.

Despite sitting in coach, I had some good legroom, until the lady in Front of me reclined her seat (Maybe American could buy some of those non-reclining seat that some of those low cost airlines (Spirit, Ryanair, China Spring)use).
I left my Camera in my purse, and I regretted it, as I could have gotten some good shots of the Theme Building and a couple planes.
The “Mad Dog(a McDonnell Douglas MD80)” made the Turn, and howled off the runway, We were soon over the Pacific and made a 180 to head back over the LA area. I managed to get my camera out for a shot over the San Gabriels:

And the Desert:

The Captain announced that we were flying over the Grand Canyon. I didn't think I could get a good pic, so I kept the camera in the seat pocket.
We were flying over the plains of Kansas:

And the Ozarks:

And before we were knew it we were at Saint Louis. We flew past Lambert Airport and made what I call the “Arch Approach” Fly to the Gateway Arch and turn until you line up with the runway.
We were at the Gate a full 40 minutes early! Good Job, AA! I proceed to what I thought was the new Cape Air Gate C6. When I got there, there was an American MD-80 parked there. Oops!
I started down to the where the Gate used to be on the D Concourse. They had the D Concourse completely blocked off. Hmm.
Well, when all else fails, read directions! The Cape Air Gate was C7. I sheepishly made my way back. The Terminal was busy, a reminder of its old glory days with TWA. One of the Shots I missed at LAX was a plane at the Delta terminal next to us, a 757 with the Tail number N727TW, an old Trans World bird ( I was not able to get the Number of the MD-80 I Flew in on. Let's Pretend it was another TWA Bird, as the Flight crew was based in Saint Louis)
some shots in STL:

I asked the Gate agent if could get on the early flight to Cape Girardeau If my bag made it on time. She said they would see if they could. I took some pics and signed up for a day's internet pass, which was about the time the Gate Agent told me they had my bag, and would be able to get me on the 12:45 flight instead of the 3:20.
Flying in the 402 is quite different than your typical airliner:

The Captain made the typical pre flight announcements by turning his shoulder, instead of using a PA. This turned into a Q&A session “We're doing great (They had one unused seat, and most EAS planes fly empty)” “We Just got the contract for Ft Lenard Wood, and will be getting more planes, and upping our frequencies, know any pilots who need a job?”
The weather was clear , so my fellow passengers and I turned it into Sightseeing expedition. We had a very discussion on the History and Geography of Kaskasia Island.

Before we knew it, we were at CGI.

The greatest endorsement of Cape Air by my fellow passengers “They best $50 I ever spent”
We made another 180 and landed. I was not able to get a hold of either my mother or my brother to let them know I had made the earlier flight. I sat down at Sandy's place - the restaurant inside the airport - and waited. My mom arrived at the same time as my entree. Life is good!

Rainy day in LA and my plan to waste your tax dollars

2010-11-20T09:57:00.000-08:00

Well, since it's rainy day here in LA, I'm sitting here packing for my trip next week back to Missouri next Tuesday
The first variable I looked at when planning my trip was what to do once I got to Saint Louis. while I could rent a car, the truth is I wouldn't need one. At $50/flight, Cape Air is hard to beat. Plus, I get take another trip on a plane? What more could an Airline geek want?
Why is it only $50? Well, service from Saint Louis to Cape Girardeau is subsidized under the FAA's Essential Air Service program. Back during the Good old days(tm), if you wanted to fly between Saint Louis and Nashville, you flew on Ozark Air Lines, and you made a stop in Cape or Marion, IL, EAS is a program deigned to keep communities(Marion is also now a EAS airport)like Cape in the airline business. Carriers bid on flying these routes, and the FAA awards the contract based on low bids, community input, and financial stability (Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel probably wouldn't win a bid)
As you can imagine, there are problems with pork-barrel spending and less than sound airlines Cape has had two carriers (Air Illinois and Regions Air) grounded by the FAA due to maintenance issues, and one (Big Sky) went out of business after flying to Cape for a month. Several Aiports in the Program have "normal" airport fairly close , which is counter to the mission of providing service to out of the way places.
And, the EAS program was designed so that, eventually, the subsidy would no longer be needed. Both Cape and Marion have been EAS ever since the program started.
The current airline, Cape(as in cod) Air of Barnstable, Mass, actually does have a history of being able to wean routes off the dole. How do they do this? For starters, they fly small planes. Real small planes. How small? Try the 9 seat Cessna 402. The folks that were on my last flight that Complained that the MD-80 was a “little plane”? The Rental car counter is across from the baggage claim on the lower level in Saint Louis. Most airlines in the EAS business fly 19 seat planes, which means that they have more seats to fill and more fuel to burn. The 402 can be legally operated by a single pilot in good weather, so that cuts the cost even further. By the way Neither 19 seaters or 9 seaters have to have flight attendants.
Cape Air's model is built on increasing the number of frequencies and destinations from their airports with a big serving of Customer Service. Their motto is Make Our Customers Happy And Have A Good Time Doing It or “MOCHA HAGTDoIT” Beats dealing with surly rental car clerks or rude shuttle van drivers and Passengers.
As far as wasting Tax money:EAS does tend to be a scared cow “vote for Sen Smith. he worked hard to preserve airline service to Hooterville International!(yes. it is International. Remember when Mexicana had to divert there 20 years ago? That pilot had such a funny accent and was real mad when Sheriff Jimmy Joe told him he couldn't let his passenger get off the plane” They only way I see to ending this is the Cape Air model.
And then there is the issue of Airlines and Airports. I normally like LA/Ontario International since it quite literally in my back yard, but there are 5 airports(Ontario "ONT", Burbank Bob Hope "BUR", LA International “LAX”, Santa Ana -John Wayne "SNA", and Palm Springs "PSP") with commercial service in a 60 mile radius. Normally, I usually compare Ontario and LAX. The difference is usually only about $60, which is usually not worth the hassle.
It turned out that LAX was about $200 cheaper, which was a little too much to be ignored. Plus American flew there directly. If I flew from Ontario, I would have to stop at Dallas/Fort Worth. so, off to LAX

Why American Airlines? As you can imagine, Cape Air will only fly you to Saint Louis. To make their service even more convenient, They have what is known as a Code share agreement with American. This means I can book my entire trip on American, earn frequent flier miles on my trip to Cape, and most importantly, My checked luggage will make it all the way with out me having to claim it and re-check it. Chances are you have flown on a code share. If you've flown on a regional Jet, You've probably been on a code share. Think “Air Missouri d/b/a Transcontinental and Western Express(a nod to the airline that became Trans World Airlines)”.
American is the only airline that code shares with Cape Air at Saint Louis. The biggest airline at Saint Louis, Southwest, refuses to do code sharing (American is now either #2 or #3 , depending on how you define “biggest”. Delta has more flights, but on smaller planes). I find this somewhat curious, as both Southwest share similar points on their Business models (fly a lot of flights on Smaller planes (yes, a 737 is smaller than a 747.) and have out standing customer service. The big difference is that Southwest only serves major markets, whereas Cape Air Focuses on Rural areas.
I usually do price them all before booking. A site like Kayak.com is nice since it is an aggregator (pulls in data from several website, but then takes you that site to book,so you can enter your loyalty program information). I also compared Airport - I just booked a trip Friday to Fort Wayne, IN (FWA) in April to do more research for my book. It was the opposite (LAX was $200 more than ONT) But you can't look up Southwest fares on Kayak, they're only available via Southwest.com.
And despite their reputation as the "low fare" airline, most of time, the "traditional" airlines are fairly competitive With Southwest. In this case the only difference was the the $25 bag fee (Cape Air doesn't Charge for bags - another plus for them ), That I have never cared for Southwest boarding process:

After Looking at Parking, I began to think maybe I should re-book. I found a hotel (the Hacienda) near LAX that would let you park your car if you stay the night before and the night after, and since I have a 07:00AM departure and a 10:00 arrival, it should come in handy.
So I'll be deserting my "home airport", although since ONT and LAX are both owned by the City Of Los Angeles, maybe I should think of as getting promoted to Major Leagues. or Maybe not, since I'm listening to the Kings lose right now.
BTW, Santa Ana "John Wayne" beat ONT by $20 and one less connection. Considering the traffic: probably not worth it. besides I'll get a free cookie when I get to Fort Wayne:

too short of a weekend

2010-11-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

I did the tour de foothills the weekend.
Before hand , I did get some plane spotting at ONT

I also got a baggage tag for ONT at the post ride festival. But didn't stay too long. Maybe I should let Hunter have it:

I had a flat on the way to church , which meat I needed to run by coates and get a new 650 tire. I did run by Macy's and looked at luggage again (maybe I should start luggagegeek.com)

Brand my Luggage!

2010-11-07T15:52:00.000-08:00

I did the Santa ana river trail on Friday. Not bad, and it seem less I worry about the bike, The better I get at it. C'est La Vie.
And I won't bore with Luggage any more. I walked into Macy's and $60 poorer, walked with:

From 11-5-2010

Not Bad for $180 MSRP. and It turns out that Atlantic is a subbrand of Travelpro, so it should be a good investment, plus , the seahorse will help me avoid this:

It turn out that is Fairly common in that Industry. Samsonite,

Also owns American Tourister

Courisly, They have American Tourister assigned to the low end, despite the Fact that it has better awareness, partly due to the Gorilla:

Of course, Samsonite is considered to more high quality, so maybe they're on to something.
Travelpro uses a different Stratagem(why is Google suggest all these High Faluting words). It was started by a Northwest Airlines Captain. who invented the Rollaboard.
They give substainal to Flight Crews to buy, and hope that People will want to buy the Brand that the "Pros" use. Atlantic was an independent company that they purchase to go after the "Value" markets (presumably not as downmarket as AT has gone)
Research is fun! Although it has got me wanting a Flight attendant doll I know , wrong airlien, but the American one doesn't come with the Beverage cart!
Now, let's go back to Vincennes circa 1790

Tour De apple Vally and the quest for luggage

2010-10-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

last week I did the tour de apple Valley:

Applle Valley was the retirement home for Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. as I mentioned in the video, it was also where "Sky King" was filmed:
.
It was a very good ride, even though only three people from the SoCal bent group showed. Most people complained it was too far and too expensive. Me,I Think it's time to move on. It seem like I'm not recumbent rider, as least in mindset. Oh,
wait, those Roadies are out to get me! Quick, where's my tinfoil helmet cover?
enough of the venting. I also went by Victorville Airport, which is an old Air Force base that used for aircraft storage:

From 10-23-2010

I've also been doing some more research for novel,, I found google books , a very good resource. Not only, it will also show where a real live (or dead tree) version exists, which surprisingly for a history of Southeast Missouri, is the UC_riverside. and I thought I would get spend some more time at Kent Library @ SEMO u.
since my luggage is Falling apart, I've been looking at some new stuff. I went by the Ontario Mills mall. the Jc Penny outlet, Thy had some very good prices on Samsonite, but they only had the 29 or 21 inch size. I was looking for a 25 inch. Burlington and Marshalls had the same brands, which curiously was made by the same company in Mira Loma. Some of the wheels didn't work on these brands. Not a good sign,plus they also seel them to walmart. Macy's had a 50%, but I eventually decided I couldn't afford it right now. I think I'll wait til this friday and go back to Macy's

Vincennes, Part III and the trip home

2010-10-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

I had planned this trip with some free time, as I was not sure how long it would take me to explore Vincennes. I had two option for Sunday Morning: drive down the Wabash to it junction with the Ohio or Go out to the Abraham Lincoln Boyhood National Historic site and then, If I had time, go to the Memorial for the Tell City airplane crash.
In the end, I decided that going down the Wabash was more important. I started out by visiting the Mound:

From 10-11-2010

I would have bid adieu to the Avenger. Unlike the one I had in July, this one had a Six way, power leather, heated seats, which proved to be torture devices for my back.
I stopped by the Old State bank before heading out:

I decided to route myself being as close to River as possible. This meant that I would need to cross the Wabash into Illinois on the “Wabash Cannonball” Bridge. It's an old railroad bridge that been remade into highway bridge:

On the way into St Francisville, Il , I ran into some touring cyclists, I stopped to read a historical marker and said hello to theme, but they acted like I did not exist. Oh well.
I crossed back into Indiana on the I-64 bridge and made a stop in New Harmony
New Harmony was the site of a couple of Utopian Communities in the 1820's. I thought I could explore a little but, But I kept on hearing a voice that told me it wasn't my time.

I then Drove down to last Bridge on the Wabash. It had a Starring role in this Video

I didn't make to the Junction, but then I had a chance to see it from the air when I was coming in. I stopped in the town of Mt Vernon, In to see the Ohio and contemplate what some might think seeing a river of that size for the first time:

I had lunch at my Favorite Place: SteakNShake, before pausing in downtown Evansville to check in on the folks in Cape Girardeau. I liked the faux riveboat, which is their Casino.

I then headed back to Dress airport:

It's named after the Mayor who promoted the idea. On the Tarmac was a Bombardier/Canadair CRJ "Barbie jet"(Just like the "real" planes, only smaller) flying for Delta(or Comair, depending on how you look at) in from Cincinnati:

I returned the keys, checked in and wandered for a bit before going through security,
Almost all of the P-47 Thunderbolts were built in Evansville:

The man who held the record for the largest collection of Model Planes also lived here:

I had been trying to record the tail Number, but had no luck, I wrote down the Tail number of the plane to Dallas, N950TW, and entered into a database: no such Plane! I thought I had made a boo-boo, so made sure to take a photo of the American Eagle plane that pulled up:

There was just a little issue, another Eagle plane:

one to Chicago O'Hare(ORD for Orchard Park, Illinois), one for D/FW. I guess I'm not meant to be a plane spotter.
The flight to D/FW was uneventful. I did forget my jacket when I deplaned, and remembered it in the gate check line(ERJ's have limited bin space). I dashed back in, but the flight attendant met me at the Door with it. he had noticed it, and was coming to find me.
I was supposed to meet my Uncle Henry, but he had some unexpected guests and was having a hard time getting rid of them. we eventually connected, and we had dinner at Braum's:

before I went back to the airport for a late night flight back, which another ex-TWA md80(newer interior being the giveaway as opposed to the tail number) . I was apparently the only person drinking coffee, as my cup was refilled several times.
This was fun! I've got to do it again. The only downside was that used my evening commute home on Metrolink to write this instead of my book. But then I do tend to find activities to fill my time. I was think was the only person on the Plane to ONT that was not asleep. That pesky sleep! Say, can I get a refill on my coffee?

vincennes, partII

2010-10-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

After visiting the George Rogers Clark Memorial, I walked across Vigo Street. There is a Little Park that has a monument to all the Navy Ships that have borne the Name USS Vincennes:
It's named after Patrick Henry, Since he was the Governor of Virginia at the time of the Battle, and Virgina at that time consisted whet we know of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
A couple of blocks North, I found this sign:

From 10-11-2010

This is actually more important to me than Ft Sackvillle, as this is where the army fort was when my characters pass through here. I paused and tried to recreated what it looked like 210 Years ago.
The next stop was the Broulliet house. It's fairly close to my time period, but was closed. I have been inside a similarly constructed house in Sainte Genevieve, so there was no great loss. They had a Bois d'Arc, or Osage Orange, tree there.

Don't eat the fruit, though, I spied a rock with a plaque nearby:

From 10-11-2010

It turn out that this is where Jefferson Davis proposed to his wife.
I kept on making my way up the street. I stopped to let the Railroad Workers get their truck on the tracks.

They were a little embarassed that I was waiting for them to put their truck on the Tracks, but I told them that they were working, and I was on vacation.
Across the tracks was the famous Walnut Grove, where William Henry Harrison and Tecumseh sat down and hashed out several treaties (and almost came to blows).

I do have Tecumseh in my story, but he mainly appears when he was in his late teens to early 20's, so it's not that germane to me, but good to know. Maybe I can have him look at the grove and get a sense of dread. :)
And across the Street is William Henry Harrison's home, Grouseland

It wouldn't have been there yet, but the tour did give me some ideas, and I got to support the DAR.
Vincennes was the First Capital of Indiana Terrortory. The state has moved several buildings next to Grouseland and created a State Historic Site:

The red building was the first Capitol, and the White Building was the Offices of the First Paper in Indiana, which is still being published to this day (Vincennes Sun-Commercial). There was also the house that the author of “Alice of Old Vincennes” was born in. I Thought it made a nice Contrast to Grouseland
I looked at the map that ranger had given me. I decided to wander over to the courthouse and take a look at the Civil War Memorial, fully expecting it to be the run of the mill fountain that nearly every county east of the Mississippi has. I was pleasantly surprised

The Courthouse wasn't too shabby

I walked downtown and had lunch at the Saint Louis Street Soda shop. A ruben, chips, and a diet coke.

I was debating what to do next. One of the Bishops of Vincennes had a 5,000 volume libary. The guides wern't clear if it was open to General admission, so I tried the lock. No luck. I had almost called and made a reservation, but I couldn't think of anything to research. I did come up with one while I was there: who was Jean Hamtramck's (who was the Commander of Ft Knox at my "time") second-in-command? At the same time, I wasn't sure that the information was there, and I would probably waste my time find yet another story from the Past. They supposedly have the Correspondce between Fr. Gibault and his Bishop in Quebec. Bishop "You have not been to this Church in over a year and you were seen in a Log-rolling contest on the Wabash." Fr Gibault "It is too far to make regular trips there, and I must have some recreation" (Fr Gibault was a Voyageur before taking his vows).
So I went back over into Illinois, and drove up the river.. The Park Ranger had recommend that I stop by the Military Museum. I was debating as it seemed to mostly focused on World War II. Unlike the Civil War Memorial, it lived up to my expectations
A couple of things

From 10-11-2010

I thought this was plane was somewhat ironic. It's a Lockheed Shooting Star. One of the Translations of 'Tecumseh' from Shawnee to English is 'Shooting Star'.
This truck caught my eye, as I associated George Air Force base with the Airport in Victorville.

Turns out , there was a George Army Air Field across the river, which is now the Vincennes airport
I then headed over to the Quabache (french spelling) Trails County park, which is the site of what is Called "Fort Knox II", which was the army post present during the War of 1812. I didn't get that far:

From 10-11-2010

I wound up the day by dipping my toes in the "White river" (Translation of Wabash from Shawnee) and a photo of the Red Skelton Bridge:

From 10-11-2010

I then headed back to the Super 8. I was debating heading out for Dinner, but there was a Mc Donald's, Pizza Hut. and Hardee's within walking distance. I had my usual from Hardee's - The Mushroom and Swiss - which I found lacking compared to what I remembered, and called it a day well spent

Vincennes, part I

2010-10-12T19:21:00.000-07:00

Recently, I got a nice break. The state of California resolved a tax dispute in my favor. Did I spend the on bicycle parts? no.
Plugging away on my writing, I decided to take a research trip. One of the pivotal place in the colonial northwest was Vincennes, Indiana. Since my Characters would have to gone thought there, I thought I need to go there . Was is it on a Bluff. What was still left?
I started by pricing my flights. I wound up on American with a 6Am departure from Ontario to Evansville, IN via Dall/ Forth Worth airport, TX. It would have been cheaper to fly to Indianapolis, but then I would have had a two hour drive. I woke up early Friday Morning and went over to ONT. I spent my time taking some photos of the murals.

Archie Mitchell and Waldo Waterman, The Fathers of the Ontario Airport

We were soon aboard the “Mad dog” (Mc Donnell Douglas MD-80, a second generation DC-9) for the trip to Dallas Forth DFW.
You never know what you will see at ONT. I noticed that there was a 727 with the Los Angeles World Airports(LAWA) logo on the Tail. Turns out, The airport maintains it as a movie Prop, so they must have been doing some filming
Once at DFW, I spent some time by taking a loop around the airport on the SkyTrain before alighting in Terminal b. Unlike most airports, the people mover is above ground
Despite all my trips through DFW before, I had never been in terminal B. It called Terminal "B" because it was the hub for another airline:

I had lunch at Mc Donalds before getting on the “Jungle Jet” - an Embraer ER1J45(so called because it's built in Brazil) for the trip to Evansville. Once there, I got my car, a Dodge Avenger (Enterprise must have gotten a great deal on these) and made to the Super 8 In Vincennes:

The hotel was beside a nice lake:

I went over to Wal mart , got some sodas, and lost my sun glasses, the next morning, i went back to get some sunscreen and lost my hotel key. eek!
I started by going across the Bridge to where Abe Lincoln first stepped foot in Illinois:

I then walked back into town ,and met some re-enactors, appropriate, yes?

From 10-11-2010

The bridge is flanked by stylized statues of Tecumseh and his Brother , Tenskawata, The Prophet:

From 10-11-2010

Theres also a statue of Father Pierre Gibualt:

From 10-11-2010

Father Gibualt is one of the figures that's been forgotten by History and shouldn't have. He had a parish at the time of the American Revolution that encompass Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Vincennes was the site of one of his Parishes (the others being Kaskaskia, IL and Sault Ste Marie,Mi. He was instrumental George Rogers Clark's liberation of the West and the battle of Vincennes
another Figure in the Battle was Francis Vigo

Finally, we have the Memorial itself

The Memorial has Various Murals relating to Capture Of Vincennes and Statue of George Rogers Clark inside. The Ranger was nice enough to take a picture of me posing with George

The Ranger wanted to turn off my Flash, but neither she nor I could figure out how to do it. It turns that Google did a good job of cleaning up the image
I then wandered over to the vistor's Center. Actually, I had gone there First, but the Ranger stationed there sent me to the memorial. The Visitor center had a nice short film (much better than the usual fare) and some exhibits. I think the ranger was a bit surprised to find out that I knew who Mr Clark and Father Gibault were. I purchased a book on Colonials being adopted into tribes (another theme of my work) before moving on. We'll get there tomorrow