Homeward Bound!!

5/22/2019

Everyone at the hotel was very nice and the maintenance man loaned me a couple of tools I needed.  I got the alternators swapped this morning, everything buttoned up, crossed my fingers and started it up.  It started right up and the ignition light went out!  And, it was much quieter.  We left and headed home along the back roads of Alabama.  We shortly ran into and area where they were doing roadwork that slowed us down for a short period, but it didn't last long.   We stopped for a late lunch at the Holly Pond Cafe in Holly Pond, AL!  It was a good time, between lunch and dinner and there was only one other couple there.  It was a very good, locally owned, locally operated place.  Probably crowded a couple of hours ago with the regular locals, but empty now.  Everyone must know the place, because we couldn't see a sign or name on the front, only on the door.  But, we had another filling meal.  (The car is not in the picture because it is under a tree, in the shade)

The Holly Pond Cafe

We then continued on, soon getting to more familiar territory.  We soon entered Georgia, passed through Cave Spring, Rome and Cartersville, where we stopped at a QuikTrip for gas and coffee. 

Because of the late start this morning, we were late getting home, but we made it without further incident.  I'll order the needed brake parts tomorrow.  

It was a great trip and we had a great time with great people.  But, I don't think I'll take the MG on a trip to the west again anytime soon.  It is too flat and too vast of an area to be driving a 45 year old car with hard to get parts.  Even AAA would have a hard time finding me, or would take a long time getting to me. 

We covered 2624 miles and traveled though 8 states!  Now, to crawl into my own bed!!  Tomorrow, I'll get the dog, get the mail, either mow the grass, or bale it, wash clothes, wash the car, etc.

Have to get ready for our next adventure!!

More trouble?!

5/21/2019

We left Branson, MO this morning on the way to Tupelo, MS.  The roads are now winding through the Ozarks and several small towns in Arkansas.  Near the small town of Yellville, there is a huge building going up, seemingly out in nowhere, that resembles the grain elevators in Kansas  Turns out it is a Butterball poultry feed mill, which will make food for turkey farms, which is a big business in northeast Arkansas.  As we passed through Ash Flat, AR, we stopped at Meacham's Restaurant for lunch.  This appears to be the only place to eat in the area as it was quite busy.  When you walk into the waiting area, there is a sign that says to wait  here and when a table opens up, they will come get you.  And, the line is on the honor system!  Seemed to work just fine.  Turns out this is a family owned operation with an extensive menu.  The daughter of the founder still works there.  Food was good and filling.

After lunch, we continued on toward Tupelo.  We discovered a nice chain of gas stations, called Casey's General Store, from Iowa.  They were very clean and reminded us of QuikTrip that we have at home.  However, I soon started to hear a noise whenever I would come to a stop.  However, the car was running fine so I continued to listen for it as we motored on.  The noise seemed like it could be an alternator bushing and as we were coming to Jonesboro, AR, one of the few big cities on the way, I decided to stop at Bud's Starter and Alternator Shop to have it checked.  I got his name from an MG contact in MS that knew an MG guy in Jonesboro.  He recommended Bud's.  After a little diagnosing, Bud agreed that it sounded like a bushing.  Unfortunately, he did not have a replacement, nor did anyone in Jonesboro.  However, there was one in Memphis, and we were going through Memphis on the way to Tupelo.  He suggested loosening the fan belt to take some stress off the bushing and continuing on to Memphis.  So, off we went!  The car was still running fine, and I was checking the ignition light and voltmeter constantly!  We got to Memphis without incident and picked up the alternator.  However, because the car was running fine, and it was getting late and we needed to get to Tupelo so we could get home the next day, we decided to continue on.  I could change the alternator tomorrow morning when it was cooler, and when the car had cooled off.

Everything was fine until about 25 miles from Tupelo, as the sun was setting, the ignition light came on!  The car continued to run fine and the voltmeter was  still indicating that I had some volts left!  Luckily, traffic was very light on I-22 at that time and I kept the lights off until I saw someone approaching from the rear and then, after they had passed, I turned them off again to same the battery.  Even though the ignition light was on, it must have been at least partially charging as we made it to Tupelo, where I had to turn on the lights to get to the hotel.  We were able to walk to eat dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and next door to Lowe's for a tool I needed.  I'll swap alternators in the morning.

Flooding in Kansas and Missouri

5/20/2019

The plan today was to get to Arkansas, but the weather is against us.  The rain was now sporadic and lighter, but heading east from Wichita, there is lots of flooding.  There are many new lakes in Kansas and Missouri where once there were vast crop lands there are now vast lakes.  Most of the creeks and rivers we crossed were out of their banks, or very high.  At one point, we had to ford a stream that used to be a road!  There was a flashing sign board that said, "Standing water on road", and a little further along there was a DOT truck with flashing lights where the water was flowing across the street.  There was an area about 100-200 feet long with 1-2 inches of water.  As traffic was light, I just drove slowly down the center on the crown of the road and got through with no problem.  But, the weather slowed us down enough that we only got as far as Branson, MO.  We had never been to Branson, and we were pretty disappointed.  There is a lot of traffic and it reminded us of Gatlinburg, TN.  It's not very pretty and there are areas that are run down and unattractive.  Lots of garish signs for all the shows.  We were underwhelmed.  Had dinner at Landry's Seafood then were looking forward to leaving in the morning.  At least the scenery has changed from flat and vast to rolling green hills and trees!

The Last Day - Working on two Midgets

5/19/2019

Today is the big day.  Hopefully, the engine will go in, get hooked up and be fired up.  More pieces and parts are installed, including a new rear seal, then the clutch was installed and the transmission was mated to the engine.  Soon, a milestone was reached - the engine/tranny was installed and the driveshaft inserted!  The exhaust system was the next to go in.  Unfortunately, we

kept running into problems finding parts and pieces, as well as proper fasteners and this slowed the progress significantly.  By the end of the day, disappointingly, we were not at the stage to start the engine.  There is not a lot more to do - install windshield, seats and doors, and then the front fenders, grill and radiator.  But, these will have to wait until needed parts are ordered and another OSHIT event scheduled.  In spite of our disappointment at not reaching out goal, it was great spending time and working with all the OSHITers!

Interesting sign on Wyatt Earp Blvd. in Dodge City.

Part Two:  This morning, when leaving the hotel to drive to Jim's, my brake pedal went to the floor!  No brakes!  Doing a quick inspection, there was a tale tell puddle  under the right rear tire.  It appears that the brake cylinder had failed.  Someone picked me up and took me to Jim's and we would take a look at my car later, after working on Jim's.   By sheer luck, we found a seal repair kit at Jim's, so after we were through with Jim's car, we borrowed his jack and picked up some parts at the auto parts store, then headed to the hotel to check mine.  It was jacked up, wheel removed and the brake cylinder accessed and the new seals were installed.  Everything was looking great until we went to bleed the brakes and that was when we found out the bleed nipple/cylinder was stripped.  So, back to not one but two auto parts stores in an attempt to find the nipple, or a union and new nipple to just block off the right rear side for a temporary fix to get us home.  None of the stores opened on Sunday had the correct parts, and it was getting late, so we all went out for our farewell dinner, planning on checking with NAPA first thing tomorrow.

Notice the tell tale puddle under the car.

Monday morning, we didn't have much luck at NAPA either, so we went back to Jim's to compare a similar part on his car.  That is when we found a new bleed nipple that would screw into the tee fitting on the differential!  This would accomplish the same thing, so, back to the hotel.  Because we were now working in yet another thunder storm, with high winds and low temperatures, we move the car under the hotel portico for a little protection, jacked it up, removed the wheel, then unscrewed the brake line going to the wheel and inserted the bleed nipple.  It worked!!  So, we bled the system and then buttoned everything back up and made a series of stop and goes in the hotel parking lot to see how it worked.  It worked fine!  So, we decided to try to get a little head start and go as far as Wichita, even though it would mean driving in rain most of the way.  Was a little concerned shortly after we left Dodge - there was a strong odor that smelled like hot brakes.   After a couple of miles, it disappeared.  Turns out we were passing a large feedlot and it was the fragrance of a few tons of manure that was filling the air!  It did rain all the way, but we made it to Wichita, got gas then went to eat at Braum's Ice Cream and Burger Restaurant.  Had a very good and very inexpensive burger and ice cream.  There were no pictures today because this is all we saw all day, and night:

View from our room

Day 3 in the Wild West

5/18/2019

Day 3 had good progress today.  The fuel system is pretty much complete, as is the hydraulic system.  The electrical system is coming along, the engine and transmission are about to be mated and installed.  The doors have been reassembled and are ready for installation.  With a little luck we can try to fire up the engine tomorrow. 

There was another thunderstorm this afternoon and it really dropped the temperature, but no hail or tornadoes! 

Men at Work!

Engine being readied for installation

"White" bison in exhibit next to the hotel.  There is also a longhorn steer next door but he was shy today and wouldn't come out.

Garage Party, or How We Almost Met Dorothy!

5/17/2019

This morning we started work on the Midget - Jim Johnson, Dave Woerpel from Wisconsin and myself.  Others arrived during the day and jumped in.  Eventually, we had Mark Haynes from Colorado, Kevin Valentine from Pennsylvania, Greg Gowins from Texas and Bob Kitterer from Arizona all pitching in.  We got a lot of little things down and tomorrow should be a productive day. 

After working on the car all day, we went to the Dodge City Brewery for dinner.  While there, the weather got very bad and all of a sudden, the tornado sirens started blaring loudly and there were pictures on the TV of nearby twisters.  Quite impressive, but Jim, who is a retired weather forecaster for the NWS kept us all calm letting us know that we were OK as the storm was moving past to the east, so we continued enjoying our pizza and beer.

Click for video

On to Dodge City!

5/16/2019

We left Wichita this morning and drove through some of the city on the way out.  We drove down the main downtown street with many old, restored buildings, as well as a couple of very nice looking arenas.  A surprise to me was that there is a river, the Arkansas, that flows through the city.  They have made this a very nice feature.  We stopped at one of the parks with a pedestrian bridge across the river and a large sculpture of an Indian (I think).  We then stopped at a QT for some gas and coffee.  Made us feel right at home!  (QuikTrip, or QT, is a gas station chain in Atlanta and there were none after we left Atlanta until we got to Wichita.)

Continuing westward, we stopped for lunch in Yoder, KS, an Amish community.  We had a bison burger with locally sourced bison, and fresh strawberry pie - available for only about 3 weeks a year.  Yum X2!

As we traveled further west, the cattle farms gave way to grain farms.  The agricultural land used for growing wheat, alfalfa, corn, soybeans and sunflowers was vast and seemingly endless.  About the only thing growing now is winter wheat, with green fields reaching to the horizon.  There is very little character to the landscape, just flat endless fields.  There are grain elevators all along the way, storing all that they grow and transferring it to trucks to take it to wherever it goes to be made into food.

This picture of winter wheat doesn't really convey the vastness of these fields.

One of the big businesses in Dodge City is beef - feeding out and slaughtering, with two big packing plant in town.  Because of this, most of the 18 wheelers we encountered were carrying livestock.  And, when they passed us, it was very fragrant!!

Somewhere in Kansas, we passed this kennel - the TT British Kennel with a British flag on the side of a barn.  We had to stop and take a picture.  Unfortunately, the owner was not there at the time.

As we got closer to Dodge City, we discovered another resource they have - wind.  About 20 miles outside of the city, there is a huge windmill farm.  It went for miles and had hundreds and hundreds of massive, 3-bladed windmills.  They were mesmerizing with their blades slowing rotating in unison.  You can't really appreciate the size and numbers from the picture.  

We finally made it to the hotel.  Total mileage so far is 1186 miles.  We checked in and then drove over to Jim Johnson's house to visit and check out what the "Organization" will be doing for the next few days.  Dave Woerpel came in from Wisconsin today and there will be a couple more coming in tomorrow.  Dinner was at Casey's Cowtown Club and then it was back home for a good nights sleep before getting to work tomorrow.

Looking for Dorothy and a Lineman...

5/15/2019

Last night I put the top up because of the chance of rain at night and for today.  So, we left this morning with the top up, ready for the rain which never came.  It was another nice day, but did get hot later on.  The roads were generally very good with light traffic.  Again, there are very few billboards and the ones that are present seem lower and smaller than the towering monstrosities we're used to.  Travelling west in Missouri, getting into the Ozarks, the roads have long grades, and its very green.  As you continue west, the roads become straighter and flatter.  There are very large farming tracts, stretching as far as you can see in Missouri and as you move into Kansas, it moves to extremely large cattle ranches.  As you move out of the mountains of Missouri and onto the plains of Kansas, it seems like you can see forever.  We also saw, on a nearby ridge, a large windmill farm with a large number of windmills spinning away generating electricity.

We stopped for lunch in Springfield at Georges Restaurant, since 1970.  The food was good, but the inside of the place looked like nothing had been changed since 1970!  As we continued on,  we wondered how the armadillo population was doing, as we saw tons of dead ones on the roads.  They must have a real problem crossing the road at night!

One of the highways we were on today is also part of historic route 66.  I'm not sure if it was actually part of the original route 66, or if it was just connecting some of the original parts, but there were these markers along the road.  We say, "we got our kicks on route 66!"

We made it to Wichita, Kansas where we stopped for the night.  First time in Kansas for us and the MG!  Tomorrow should be a short trip to Dodge City, so we will try to spend a little time checking out Wichita and looking for that lineman!

5 States Today!!

5/14/2019
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We left Huntsville this morning with another beautiful, top-down day.  Blue skies with some puffy, white clouds and cool enough to drive with the heater on.  The drive today took us through Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri!  The highways through Tennessee and Kentucky were mostly very good with very little traffic.  And, there were almost no billboards along the way.  The livestock seen earlier gave way to mostly crop land as far as you could see, especially in Missouri.  If you want a tractor, go to Miner, MO.  They had dealers selling every size and color tractor imaginable. 

We stopped for lunch in Parsons, TN at Prater's Taters.  This is a local eatery that specializes in meals designed around baked potatoes.  There must have been a hundred variations of baked potatoes with different ingredients, but we had salads and potato soup which were very good.  Others must have thought so, too, as the place was busy.

In Wickliffe, KY, as we drove past two, large 18 wheelers on the side of the road, the drivers, who were discussing something between the two rigs, jumped out from between the trucks, waved and gave us a thumbs up!!  We soon crossed the Ohio river and then the Mississippi River and you could see the high water and flooding along the road.  The bridges we went across must be old, as the roadway was very narrow, even in the MG.  And, the roadway leaving the bridge was very narrow and elevated with no shoulder.  No place to go if you had a problem!  But, we didn't.  And, shortly after crossing the bridges, there were two large 18 wheelers barreling up behind me.  I figured I would pull over as soon as I could find a safe place to let them pass, but, before I could pull over, they both pulled out and zoomed past together - both giving us multiple, "nice" toots on their horns.  It was the truckers that we had passed in Wickliffe!  They must have been empty, because they were really moving and I was slowing them down!

We stopped in Poplar Bluff, checked in the hotel then went to eat.  This time it was a Mexican motif, as we ate at Taco Taco, a Moe's-like place with fresh food made to order.   Back at the hotel, I cleaned more tar and bugs off the car and also put the top up for the first time as there is a good chance of rain tonight and tomorrow.  Hopefully, the bad weather will not last too long.

Wild West - OSHIT!

May 13, 2019

In 2008, we attended the Spridget 50th birthday party at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.  We all had a great time and one of the organizers was a fellow named Jim Johnson.  Fast forward and Jim is now finishing up a 3 year restoration on his 1968 MG Midget.  He put out a request for help with the final assembly and about 5-6 people will be descending on Dodge City, Kansas this weekend to, hopefully, get the car finished and fire it up.

The volunteers belong to a loose knit group called the Organization of Spridget Handymen In Transit (OSHIT).  We have not been to Kansas before, so I asked Kathy if she would like to go to Kansas and she said, "yes".  Then I said, "in the Midget?"   Again, the response was a "yes"!  She remembered Jim, his wife and their two dogs they had with them and thought it would be a fun trip.  This will be my initiation as a "Handyman"!

Today, we took our dog to be boarded and rather than leave tomorrow as planned, we decided to get a headstart and leave today and go as far as Huntsville, AL.  After  storms the past two days, it was a beautiful day today - blue sky with some wispy clouds and just cool enough to have the heat on with the top down.  We stopped in Mentone, AL for a late lunch at the Wildflower Cafe.

After lunch, we headed on into Huntsville.  All day we had run into road construction and paving and when we got to the hotel, I pulled the car around to the rear where the dumpsters were and they had a hose  so I used it to wash the bugs and dirt off.  Its then I discovered all the tar that had been thrown onto the car!   It was a real mess, and the hotel provided some rags to use to clean it up.  Finally got it pretty clean and we went to eat dinner at Saigon Vietnamese restaurant.   

Tomorrow we'll continue the trip.  We were going to take a ferry across the Mississippi River, but due to the flooding, the river is too high for the ferry to run, so we will be taking an alternate route.