Bridges, Rivers, Open Highways and Old Towns

We’ve enjoyed a very busy and interesting day traveling through 3 states and crossing several rivers. The first was the Vermillion River which fed into the Wabash. This was neat since we had passed the North Fork of the Vermillion three times the day before on our way to Danville. Our first stop was Parke County, Indiana where there are about 40 covered bridges. The county is the Covered Bridge Capital of the country. We left our route to cross the Wabash River and turned onto some local county roads where we visited 3 of the bridges and took pictures. We actually drove across 2 of them but the 3rd and longest was only to look at. It was there that we met a great guy who had just purchased a Midget for his wife as she was having difficulty with his TR3 that he loved. Yes, he stopped just because he saw the Midgets. He told us about a number of sites to see on our journey south and presented us with a map of historic sites in Indiana. One of the sites is the Historic town of Vincennes which was the original capital of Indiana and has the oldest Main Street in Indiana.

We left the county and headed to Terre Haute where we simply passed through town as there didn’t seem to be much to see or do. Our next stop was Vincennes where we found the downtown area. Since it was lunch time, we discovered a little eatery on Main Street called Zanders. The sandwiches were alright but the ice cream was terrific. We walked down the street to the river, again the Wabash, and took note of the many historic buildings. One was a beautiful bank that is now a jewelry store. The vault is still in the bank and is in full use including having the wedding bands and engagement rings. The owner was a delight to meet as were her son and the young sales lady who is studying to be a physical therapist. We were given directions on how to find our way back to the highway and departed after she came out to admire the cars. On the way out of town, Kathy wanted to stop in a shop to look at some beads.

On the road again, we headed to Evansville on the southern border of Indiana and right on the Ohio River. After Kathy stopped again to check out some beads, we headed downtown to see what Evansville’s downtown looked like. There were some interesting buildings and a beautiful park along the Ohio River. From there we again headed south into Kentucky over the Ohio River. Our last destination of the day and our home for the night is the 5th Hampton Inn of the trip in Madisonville, KY.

After settling into our rooms – beautiful suites as an upgrade by the delightful desk clerk, Marae, we headed out to dinner at a local Mediterranean place. It is owned by Sam who came to the States about 30 years ago from Iran to attend university and ended up in Kentucky with his new wife. Since then he has been a photographer and restaurateur. His newest venture is Café Fatemeh. With the assistance of his son who is a teacher in Louisville and is home for the weekend, we were treated like royalty. The dinner turned into a 5 course event. The food was excellent and we all enjoyed meeting the owner and his son.

So, on this our second day heading south, we saw 3 covered bridges, crossed 3 rivers, saw three historic downtowns and ended it with a wonderful meal. What more could we ask for but a good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow we are off to Nashville and points south.

Cool Rain, Hot Sun and Homeward We Go

We awoke early and got our act together for a 7:15 departure from Elkhart Lake. We even had a few minutes to bid farewell to others who were up and about at that early hour. We also learned that we were likely to encounter a bit of rain – which we did starting about 10 miles after we hit the road. Barbara knew we would as she saw a flock of brown and white cows lingering on the ground and said that this is a sure sign that rain is coming. We drove for a short bit with the tops down but as the rain got heavier, we stopped to put up the tops and then a bit later we had to stop again to put the side curtains (windows) on to really keep out the rain. We were with the rain for about 3 hours until we had crossed into Illinois. However, before we reached the border, we found a delightful little home grown restaurant for breakfast. Since it was operated by a Mexican family, their Huevos Rancheros, which three of us had, were terrific.

We continued down the same route that we went north on until we reached Dwight where we looked for a place for lunch. The downtown area had 5 pubs and bars but none served food after 2:00 and it was about 2:30 by then. So we headed east as planned toward Kankakee and found a delightful place for lunch that specialized in Homemade PIE. Yes, we each had our very own piece of PIE! We had planned to spend the night there but since it was only 4:00, we decided to head on down to Danville for the night.

As you can see, the day was rather boring especially once we got into the Corn and Beans country with silos and grainery’s every 6 to 10 miles. But this was all to change as we entered Danville. I shared with Jack and Kathy that there were no places to eat near the hotel so we had better stop while passing through town. All of a sudden Jack, who was leading, pulled sharply to the left into the turn lane and I had to follow quickly. There on the opposite side of the street was Custard Cup. Bet you can’t guess what we had for dinner!!!

As we approached the hotel, the 4th Hampton Inn on the trip, we encountered a flock of geese waddling across the road – again - and passed a small grassy knoll with two HUGE rabbits. We settled in for a quick swim and then some time to plan the next day’s drive.

For the record, we drove 550 km today – the longest single day we’ve ever done in the Midget.

The Final Day in Wisconsin!

Yes, today was our final day at the 50 Years of Midgets. We started with a beautiful drive through the neighboring country side following the Kettle Moraine Drive. About 25 of our cars were in the parade including one Mini Van. After the drive, we started the last Tech Sessions and arranged for parts to be delivered when necessary. I worked on two items in the Midget – the Tachometer and the Master Cylinder cap. The first we decided to simply disconnect for the ride home and the second I was presented with a new cap to replace the cracked one. Dave Woerfel, who chaired the entire program, was my guide and provided the new cap. Jack got started on replacing the caliper on his front brake and planned out the switch of the fuel pumps.

We then drove with the Orkins to Sheboygan for lunch and for both Jack and Kathy to have their first glimpse of Lake Michigan (and for that matter, their first glimpse of any of the Great Lakes). On the way back to Elkhart Lake, we stopped to fuel the cars with a special Racing (Leaded) Fuel that has no Ethanol!! We expect our cars to run much better on the drive tomorrow. Then we headed back to finish the tech session on Jack’s Midget. We started with switching out the old Fuel Pump under the car with the new one we had installed under the bonnet and then with guidance from Peter Caldwell and others we switched out the caliper for a new one that arrived about 4:00 PM. Jack and I both got very dirty but cleaned up well to make it to the closing banquet just in time for dinner and the program.

And the Winner is!!!

Well sort of! We received an Award of Excellence but not the first place prize in our category. But, the important part is that we had the ONLY 1961 Midget celebrating 50 Years of Midgets. The others were all younger and the winner in our category was actually a 1962 Sprite.

Road Amereica and the Midget

Then we were off to the track at Road America which is right outside of town and was created in 1955 as a direct result of the initial races in 1950-1952. After an hour wait, we had the opportunity to take our Midgets and Sprites on the track and run them at full throttle over the 4 mile course. Barbara and I did four complete turns around the track without a hitch. What a thrill. Afterwards, we had an opportunity to photograph our cars in the winner’s circle and then to enjoy lunch in the cool setting of the Press room at the track. Some of us also were able to see the Control room for the track complete with 24 monitors.

Many went from there to an AutoCross event on another part of the Road America property. But, we were a bit hot and tired,; with a temp registering at 98 this afternoon, at this point we headed back to the hotel with a few others for a cool swim and relaxation before heading to wonderful dinner in town.