The adventure continues....

The adventure continues. Or is it just beginning ah, ah, ahhhhhhh! How do I begin? Its been a roller coaster ride with the van. At 7:30 this morning I was in the process of getting the van fixed. Needed a new catalytic converter. The other one blew apart. That should have been a signal of something more serious I would think. Thinking everything was fine, Tim and I were on the road again. A few hours later something went horribly wrong. Crawled along with the flashers going in the hopes of a least coasting towards some civilization. You know how you start wishing and wishing nothing is wrong. Maybe turning up the music so you can't hear the engine. Well, reality set in and decided to pull it over on I-80 near exit 51 in Iowa. Closest town Marne. I did see some grain silos in the distance. Luckily I have Tim with me so he turned around and we commenced calling AAA for a tow. I had a great conversation with Roxanne from AAA who arranged everything and we even shared a few laughs. We are going to get together when I head through Michigan (I'm kidding)

What can you do but laugh when your in the middle of corn country with Semi-trucks whizzing by. (Note to self. Pack a Frisbee in the van). See photos of this.

For those of you at home following along, I'm typing this from a Super 8 in Atlantic, Iowa. The van is getting a new engine installed so I'm having a little vacation of sorts for about 4 days if everything goes well. That's right. A new engine in the old girl. I guess Tom decided against taking her out to the field with a shotgun and putting her out of her misery.

This trip is just getting started. I will have so much blog material I think. I am smack in the middle of Americana. I can't wait to explore all that Atlantic has to offer. It has a Coca-Cola bottling plant and a Wally-Mart. I might be poking fun a little so I should say the folks who are fixing the van have been very helpful with me moving into town for my short stay. Diana offered to get me to the hotel, where the library is located, places to eat, and she knows a guy who can show me somewhere to
ride my bike. I always wanted to travel America away from the Interstates. You know, travel the backroads and see the real America. To discover that generally all people are good. So maybe that's what I'm doing afterall.

In case you are wondering we decided Tim will continue on and meet up with the team in Fresno. Unfortunately, I won't be there for the first race this weekend. I'm a little bummed about that. I was looking forward to meeting the new ladies and reuniting with others. Go win some flowers ladies. Now I'm getting really bummed. Atlantic, Iowa! This sucks!

Its supposed to be in the 60's tomorrow so I plan on going for a ride. I'll need to see about the coffee situation here too . Maybe visit the van in the shop. The farm tractor tires at the shop were interesting to look at. They are the mega huge ones. You would need a rather large tree to make a tire swing around here. I'll probably be pathetic and roam the isles of the Super Walmart too.

The wide main street in Atlantic's central business district is rowed with multi-story buildings and is reminiscent of Atlantic's early days as a main stop on the railroad. One thing has remained constant in Atlantic: its people. With community pride at heart, people in Atlantic have always worked together to make this a friendly place to call home.

Thanks for tuning in. Send me a comment or e-mail. Thanks!

DOUG