Allan wrote...

Time to catch up and wrap up on the latest travels. A drive from Atlanta to San Antonio to house sit for about two weeks was fun. Then, with 70-degree weather throughout Texas and Oklahoma, I drove to Omaha to visit my daughter, her husband and 9-month old son.  What fun!

Superman Watching Over Metropolis

The trip back to Atlanta took me along I-70 through Kansas City to St. Louis and, after about 600 miles, to the small town of Metropolis, IL, just at the Southern tip of the state on the Ohio River. Anyone who remembers the old George Reeves Superman TV show knows that Metropolis was Superman's home. True to form, Metropolis, IL has a huge bronze statue of the super hero himself. Just down the street is a statue of Lois Lane.

Rolling into St. Louis

Harrah has a casino in Metropolis, so I ambled in to see whether I could find a good meal there. Sure enough: it was easy to make a big veggie plate from the all you can eat buffet line.  The food was nicely done. So many buffet restaurants over-do the salt. Not this time.

I'll have to admit: back in the days when the annual COMDEX computer show in Las Vegas drew 100,000+ people, I always enjoyed spending a week in Vegas, working the trade show booth, pitching the latest computer...then hitting the casinos after hours. Now though, walking through a casino is not "depressing" but it does leave me with a feeling that something is "not quite right" about tossing money into a slot machine or onto a blackjack or roulette table, hoping to somehow come out ahead when it's time to go home. I noticed that almost everyone in the casino was a "senior citizen." Perhaps many seniors are attracted to the casino because it's something different to do. I don't know.

As I waked through the place I thought, "Well, just for old time's sake, I'll toss a couple quarters into the slots and see what happens."  Hahaha. Am I ever out of date. There wasn't a single slot machine in the place that takes coins.  Each machine proudly announces that it "Accepts $1, $5, $10, $20 and $100 bills."  Oh my. Stuffing greenbacks into a slot just doesn't seem right, so I passed the machines and made my way back outside.

Yep, just stuff your folding money in here!

A healthy meal at Harrah's

Seniors with nothing much to do

Oh yes, before I forget, I found a curiosity all through the state of Missouri: Road signs at freeway exits sometimes had only a large letter or two, often with no city names at all.

What's this about "A" and "Z?" It suggests that, just maybe,
one can go almost anywhere by taking this exit. You know,
like "from A to Z."  Strange.

 I didn't realize that my route to Atlanta would take me through Clarkesville, TN, the home of Ft. Campbell and the 101st Airborn -- the "Screaming Eagles."  Ft. Campbell was where the Army sent me for Basic Training when I was drafted back in 1969. Those were eight tough weeks. I dropped into the base, got a visitor's pass, learned that they no longer do Basic Training at the base, and drove around looking for my old barracks. They were built to house troops during World War II, and in the 1960's were used to get raw recruits ready to go carry a rifle in Viet Nam. I didn't find my old wooden barracks, but here is an example of what they looked like 40+ years ago.

World War II vintage barracks, still in use today

Ft. Campbell, home to the Screaming Eagles,
the 101st Airborn.

A memorial to Desert Storm soldiers
who didn't come home.

That wraps up the trip for now. A total of 2904 miles, according to Google. My G6 Pontiac gave me over 32 MPG in some legs of the trip, but never below 29MPG.  Nice!

 Another house sit in Florida beckons in April. More fun ahead!