Surfer Ralph: now EAST to WEST as of 6/3/09 WASHINGTON, DC TO SANTA CRUZ, CA AND BACK

Saturday, July 4, 2009

ANOTHER GREAT TIME HAS FLOWN BY!

It is July 4th in Santa Rosa CA.Where have the days gone again?My high school classmate,Elliot Daum,and his wife,Linda left for Shelter Cove yesterday.They left us their house.Marie and I are really enjoying our stay here.We have met Elliot's and Linda's close friends,Mike & Twyla Chase,and have enjoyed their company for the past two days.Mike is a professional photographer specializing in cars and motorcycles.He ask to shoot the woodie.The results is a car that I can't believe I own;much less helped build.Gene Rutherford and Bruce Fair will be very proud of their work when they see these pictures.We also reconnected with Gary and Terry O'Connor.Our cross country companions live here,and it was great to see them again.Gary and I messed around with the electric fan trying to improve it's cooling efficiency.Only time will tell if the modifications we made resulted in lower temperatures.Santa Rosa is a very Nor-Cal town.The vineyard covered vistas,blue skies,rolling golden hills make you feel as if you are on the set of a TV sitcom.We went to Bodega Bay.The Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" was filmed there.All the places in the film seem just as if the film was still being shot.That was one spooky movie,and the town at dusk still has that haunting quality about it.Mike shot some sunset/dusk shots that are really pretty.I can't say enough about what a joy it was to spend time with Elliot and Linda.Elliot and I were the new guys at Landon,our high school,so we bonded because of that common denominator.That was 1964.A real friend is always comfortable.Elliot is as comfortable as any human being could possibly be.Marie and I had never met Linda.It was like we had known her for a long time.A real fun,vivacious person.She works too hard!Shelter Cove is their get away from the hustle and stress of being a Superior Court Judge and an extremely busy divorce attorney respectively.We would have loved to accept their invitation to accompany them north to the cove,but I'm happy to know our schedule dictated they get away together without us.I promise there will be other Shelter Cove moments.As always,travel ends up to be about people and not places.We have been blessed with an over abundance of warm,caring,welcoming people on this half-finished journey.WE THANK THEM ALL FOR OPENING THEIR HEARTS TO MARIE AND I!!!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

WHERE DID THE DAYS GO?

We sit here at the Santa Cruz Ranch RV Park on 6/28,and it was one week ago that I made my last entry.Woodies on the Wharf concluded yesterday,and it was day full of fun and happiness.Terry and Gary O'Connor,Nance and Mark Hunter,Wayne and MaryJane Yada,and Marie and I had an incredible day of recognition from the Santa Cruz Woodie Club for our cross country drive.To spend a day with over 180 wooden automobiles and their enthusiastic owners exceeded any expectations we had projected.The tens of thousands of spectators that came out to enjoy our cars and ask questions and take photos was very gratifying.The last time I was in Santa Cruz(SC) was with Tommy Bolus, my traveling surf buddy from Folly Beach,SC,and we scored Steamer Lane at 6-8'for 4 days.That was in the early 90's.This trip,so far,the surf has been nonexistent.Today,sunday,we are on our own and we hung out all morning after exercising.We went into SC for a lunch and walk.When we got back to the car a local surfer,Pete Drake, was admiring it.He suggested we drive past Steamer Lane to Mitchell Cove and look up his old wood shop teacher,Mr.Mitchell;reputable the first woodie owner in SC.We did,and much to our delight we were invited in for a glass of excellent wine and home cooked bacon.He and his wife,Ruth,were delightfully creative; having both been life long Santa Cruzin's,they were able to talk story about SC' surfing history.Al had lived in their house his entire life.A house filled with memorabilia and charm.He gave me some wood working repair tips for my car.He showed me his 51 Ford woodie project,and gave me a one of a kind Mitchell Cove T-shirt.The cove was named after him by his surfing students way back in the 60's.What a cool late afternoon visit with surfing lore,and two incredibly nice people.A wonderful way to end to end our day.LIFE IS GOOD FOR MARIE AND I!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

IF TEARDROPS WERE PENNIES,WE'D ALL BE MILLIONAIRES

Marie and I reluctantly pulled out of the Matzke Nut Ranch and headed for the Badlands of South Dakota.We would like to thank Stan and Dorothy Matzke for treating two nuts like us with such warmth.It was like we had been friends forever.Our drive to the Badlands had an intermediate stop in Kearney,NE.I know my great-grandfather had duty at Fort Kearney,during the 1870's; so it was nice to sense a little family presence.There was also the perfume of Nebraska wafting downwind in the air.Cow No.5 is it's given name. It strongly smells of money and the south end of a north bound bull.We decided to stay with a Patel family again.The MicroPatel was familiar and hospitable.The peanut parfait at breakfast was sensational.

Lincoln's Springfield,IL

Abe Lincoln's Home,Springfield,IL

Gen.McClellan,Gen.Nuisance,Gen.Grant

Frederick Douglas

Sojourner Truth

Truth's hands

Grant

McClellan

John Wilkes Booth

Marvelous 3x2

Famous RTE 66 hotdogs

Our cars

Posted via email from Surfer Ralph North to South

ROUTE 66 to ST LOUIS

Here it is, June 21, and we are five days from our arrival in Santa Cruz, and I have to catch you up with what has happened since Dwight, IL. I have an abundance of pictorial content warehoused in my IPhoto storage. It would be wonderful to share these pictures with you but the cyber nerd hidden within my laptop is still on strike. Therefore this might be more wordy than I think you would enjoy, but here goes.

We drove southwest down I55 periodically exiting to drive on the original Route 66 which is no longer identified on AAA maps. Along that route we stopped in Springfield,IL, to visit Lincoln's home just prior to his election to the Presidency. We have some wonderful pictures of a great restoration of his neighborhood. Trust me! After our visit to Springfield, we continued down I55/66 to visit the HQ of Budweiser in St. Louis. What impressed me the most is that one out of two beers sold in the USA is a Budweiser product. The tour of Budweiser was very interesting and the magnitude of the brewery equipment makes you understand why two million kegs leave every week. Once again, I have photographic evidence of said tour. Trust me!

The next day we drove across the entire state of Missouri to Kansas City. Upon our arrival we visited the only WWI museum in existence in the USA. It was very impressive and we had the benefit of having a Woodie member/spouse who hosted us at the museum. Once again we had the gracious Patel family hosting us at Microtel. Here a Patel, there a Patel, everywhere a Patel. When the music stops, check into a Micropatel.

The next day, Friday, June 12, we visited the V/Twin Harley Davidson manufacturing plant outside Kansas City. We were disappointed that the assembly line tour was shut down due to model changeover. The gift shop/museum was impressive.

We left Kansas City on I29 to Nebraska Highway 2 to Lincoln for Culver Ice Cream Cruiser Night. Marie and I at this time split from the caravan and made contact with Stan and Dorothy Matzke in Bennet, NE (population 150) about 12 miles east of downtown Lincoln. Dorothy is the sister of our good friend in Atlanta, Katharine Dahl. Stan and Dorothy are allegedly retired working fulltime as nut, pecans and walnuts, farmers on 80 beautiful acres. They are the hardest working retirees we know. We spent two restful days with them and they gave us a wonderful tour of their groves. In addition, we saw a local theatre presentation of The Producers. Woodie events centered around an unbelievable three hour tour of Bill Smith's automobile memorabilia collection. Bill is the founder of Speedway Auto Parts. You could have done brain surgery anywhere in the building housing the collection. The array of collectibles ranged from car-themed toys up to original winners of the Indianapolis 500. Ed, our tour guide, was a retired Southwest airline pilot who also raced sprint cars with most of the local and national legends represented in the museum. He was as knowledgeable as any person could have been. He added a personal touch to our visit. Thanks, ED!

Next, on to the Badlands.