Back to Eastern Daylight Time
Greetings:
Our Alfetta Recovery has progressed into the Eastern Time Zone. One problem with moving so quickly from Wyoming to Ohio in two days is that we lost one hour each day. Weather was cooler, and we managed to skirt the rain showers which were on the horizon most of the afternoon. I did dump in two quarts of oil to get her up to full - total of five so far... Trying to stop every few hours and put 5-7 gallons in the tank. Late last night, just prior to crossing the Mighty Mississippi, we did see the red reserve light flicker on for the first time. Nice to know it works. That fill-up took 9.9 gallons. The owner's manual capacities lists 12.5 tank with 1.7-2.5 reserve, so seems accurate.
Sorry, but no pics from today's travels. Only one I took with the iPhone was the crazy lady on the cell phone in the Lexus SUV who could not stay in her lane through the tight I90 construction zone north of Chicago....
I wish we had a picture of our "start" today outside the Holiday Inn Express in La Crosse. We had parked the Alfetta in an advantageous position to roll down a gentle incline, but someone had parked into our nose, which required us to back out first... up hill. Just next to us, two SUVs were being loaded with high-school basketball players and their gear, in town for a tournament. Well, look at all that muscle!
I approached one of the coaches and asked for some assistance, and he immediately summoned up a number of 6-foot+ youths. They gently slid me back out of the space, and then just stood there.. Kathy, standing outside, asked them to give the Alfetta a push forward to get it started. She said they looked totally confused... Then the two adults stepped up, and along with two youths began to gently roll the car forward. I'm sitting there, waiting to get up to a "walk" at least. Well it took three trys at that speed to fire her up.
Kathy, in dismay, says they had no idea what we were trying to do, and that they probably have never seen a stick shift car push-started. Foreign to them. The previous three times that we were helped, Kathy was back there pushing with one gentleman, and it fired up first try. Our mistake was that this time she stepped back, "damsel in distress", and let the "men" do the work. Hah! She says she won't do that again.
The travelogue has regressed into survival, as Job One was keeping the twin cam spinning. Usually easy, but the slow-go detour that Wisconsin treated us to when they closed Rt 90 for construction did generate a bit of anxiety. Imagine that with I-80 closed, I-90 was the route of last resort for many. Then dump every one off onto US 12 << WHICH IS UNDER MASSIVE RE-CONSTRUCTION! >> They provided a high-dollar fancy pamphlet on what construction was being done in 2008, but this stretch of 90 was not among the 43 they listed. They were handing that pamphlet out at the Welcome center.... On a positive note, the US 12 work was noted, and there were posted I-90 Detour signs all along the 55 mile (!) detour.
Not bad road problems considering how far we have come. In the west we encountered a number of lane closure situations, but the traffic was always so light that progress was never affected.
I did have a brief phone conversation with Ed Jones, who was at the time 2 hours out of Oak Brook on the Pre-Convention road tour. We had hopes of joining them for a bit of the run through Iowa and Wisconsin, but our starter problems convinced us that pressing towards home was most prudent choice.
We enjoyed finding out-of the way places for eats along the way. There was Ernie's in Idaho. They had a spectacular new open-beam vaulted roof dining room, with a full view of a massive dual-spit wood-fired roasting grill. The owner was looking for an alternate outlet for his ranch's beef cattle meat. (622 W Main St, Grangeville, ID 83530 512-451-5555 )
Missoula Montana's Iron Horse Brew Pub is a fantastic "local" bar/restaurant. The lady at the Red Lion Hotel suggested it to us. Menu:
http://www.ironhorsebrewpub.com/pub/food_menu.pdf
Our favorite lunch stop was in little Dayton, WY. Located at the end of the spectacular Medicine Wheel Highway, The Branding Iron Family Restaurant offered up the nicest omelet I have had in a long time. Kathy had some in-house-made "chip" potatoes, thin-sliced and deep fried like chips, but tender like fries.
The photo here shows the Branding Iron behind the Alfetta. In the foreground is the studio museum of local Big Horn artist, Hans Kleiber. This original log cabin studio of the Wyoming pioneer artist, author, and naturalist was moved to town and is maintained as it was when Mr.Kleiber used it for painting. The locals staff it with a local "artist in residence" who offered us a free tour of the exhibit.
Kleiber Cabin in Dayton,Wyoming
And then there was this evening. Truth be told, we caved and visited Toledo's Outback Restaurant venue. Fair to say, that was the best meal either of us had had throughout the trip. Ahhhh, and we don't have to travel far to enjoy that at home, as there are several in the area. Never had a bad Outback meal: IMO, world's best Rack of Lamb.
Tomorrow night: HOME!
