Indianapolis

Wed, Aug 16 – Thurs, Aug 17…

On the road at 9am, heading to Indianapolis, where our only goal is a Speedway tour for Greg. Twenty minutes into the trip, we’re slogging through construction and about 500’ from the first freeway entrance when an obnoxious buzzer indicates low air pressure (which locks the parking brakes ON). That’s the bad news. Fortunately, every subsequent aspect of this breakdown was good news. We were sitting at the entrance to an auto parts store, so Greg limped the MH about 50’ in to the parking lot and got permission from the owner to proceed with diagnosis & repair. We had also unhitched the toad (tow car) and gotten it off the street as well.)

Off came the bedding (shades of that first week in California) and down goes Greg into the engine. He finds the (custom) air hose, which is clearly beaten to death – apparently it had been improperly clamped and/or positioned. Hose in hand, he confers with the auto parts fellow, who tells him there’s a custom hose mfg shop literally within a mile of the campsite we just left. Not a problem – that’s only 20 minutes away. 45 minutes later Greg’s back and we’re on the road in about 20 more minutes. It may have been full daylight, but the stars were definitely aligned for us. (The hose shop is the only one w/in a hundred miles. Greg could have spliced and jury-rigged a temporary fix, but obviously the real thing is a much better solution.) We were on the road again in about 90 minutes, and the total cost was only $130 (including a $20 gratuity to the auto parts fellow for locating the hose shop).

Elks Lodge, Plainfield

The rest of the drive was straight freeway, and we arrived at the Plainfield (IL) Elks Club late afternoon. Very small club (all white-haired and slow of step). Neither the grounds or bldg are very well maintained. The "lodge" area is actually an add-on to a once-quite-nice home. Most of the land is leased to a golf course, and there’s a big parking lot, so I have lots of walking space. 

Hot out. AC blasting inside the MH. (I'm usually wearing a fleece inside; air temp is our biggest point of contention.)

Wednesday BlogThought… TRUCKS. Sooo many on the road! Then we passed this massive transport center w/ a gazillion trucks, trailers, and trucks w/ trailers at a railroad yard. Of course we’ve also passed gazillions of acres of farmland; all these crops have to be moved to the consumer. And then there’s all the Midwest manufacturing centers that have goods to move. (I think this is called commerce, and it's a good thing. Right now, though, it's just a really-in-my-face thing.)

Trucks...

...and lots more. (This isn't even the entire space.)

Greg, kissing the bricks.

THURSDAY Greg spent the morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tour included a lap around the track, with a stop at the “yard of bricks” (original start/finish line), visits to the media  and control towers, garages, hospital (staff of 75 – who knew?), gasoline alley (fuel depot), and the official Indy Museum (which Greg tells me is fabulous). Something about an entire A.J. Foyt wing, including cars he’d driven or won in that are now owned by private collectors who loan them to the museum for display. One of the oldest Indy race cars (1930s?) was the first automobile to use a rear-view mirror. This eliminated the requirement of a mechanic riding with the driver to alert him of overtaking traffic.

In Greg's absence, I supposedly was catching up the blog – but given the fact that I’m typing this on 8/19, I obviously didn’t get too far. In the afternoon I slipped out for a haircut. Nice gal. I asked for a basic trim and didn’t pay much attention as we chatted. When I got back to the MH, Greg asked if she’d used a bowl. I took a good look in the mirror – not really a bad cut, but it is much shorter (and therefore very close to my head) than I’m used to. It's got 4 months to grow before I see anyone I know. 




Oh... I almost forgot the Toothpick Holder Collectors. Their group was touring the track at the same time as Greg. None of them appeared terribly interested, and one fellow confessed that he just wanted to be done so they could move on to the Flea Market. We all have our priorities. 😃