On The Road - Days 1 & 2

   Well, here we are, two days into our Grand Adventure, and I'm sitting in a third-rate motel room in a second-rate town in Illinois. When we decided to stop in Vandalia we thought there would be some history, given Abraham Lincoln started his political career here in 1836. The reality is, after three years he managed to convince the state legislature to relocate to Springfield. After three hours in this burg I can understand why.

  We started out Monday with a short stop in Sarnia, ON, to visit our long-time friends, Jeff and Vel. We had a nice lunch with them then left for the border crossing which, Google informed us, would require a 29 minute delay. Well, the delay turned into 90 minutes under a blazing sun, so no fun there.

  Our first night's target was Delphos, OH, where we had spent the night 5 1/2 years ago during our drive from Atlanta, GA, after buying the Corvair. We ended up there purely by chance but ended up discovering a terrific Mexican restaurant so we decided to stop there on this trip. Unfortunately, it was Memorial Day in the US and the restaurant was closed. In fact, all the restaurants were closed so our dreams of margaritas and tamales were dashed and replaced by a reality of Pizza Hut and light beer. Not such a good day, Monday.

  Today promised to be much better. We took a scenic drive through backwoods Ohio on the way to Wapakoneta, the home of Neil Armstrong. We didn't stop to look at any of the sights but we just wanted to say we'd passed through Wapakoneta because, well, have any of you? See? 

  From there we headed south to Dayton where our target was the US Air Force Museum. If you ever get near Dayton it's very much worth a few hours if aircraft interest you. We visited the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, last year and, as big as it is, it's dwarfed by this place. Here are some examples:

The Wright Brothers Model B: 

The Avrocar flying saucer (made in Canada):

The "Bockscar" B-29 that delivered the second atomic bomb to Nagasaki:

... and Fat Man (Nagasaki) and Little Boy (Hiroshima), actual production atomic bombs

  They also have a display of the various airplanes used to transport all the Presidents from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton, including the infamous "Air Force One" that transported JFK to Dallas in 1963. All in all, a very impressive collection.

  That brings me back to Vandalia, IL, where I'm currently typing away. The margarita and tamales weren't bad but I wouldn't recommend spending any time here. Push on to St. Louis and catch a Cardinals game.

  Tomorrow we'll be on the first of two longish driving days to Oklahoma City, and Santa Fe, NM. I have no idea if we'll see or do anything noteworthy but stay tuned as we might encounter the World's Biggest Door Knob or a museum dedicated to suspenders. Until then, we remain your intrepid travelers.