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Apparently, although Henry Ford was a pacifist and didn't like the idea of his vehicles being used in warlike activities, I have read that the British acquired 18,000 of them for duty in a variety of areas, but I would guess primarily on the Western Front and mostly as ambulances.
The Australians in Palestine used theirs in a unit called the Australian Light Car Patrol and a pic of one with an Australian crew is here:
The curious thing in some of the hats is an emu plume - which denoted a mounted unit. The badge on the radiator, is the Australian Coat of Arms topped with a palm tree and the weapon on the cowl top, is a Lewis Gun
More to follow.
I have no idea why we were under the mistaken impression that we had days up our sleeve, but clearly we were wrong and a brief call to our travel agent in Perth confirmed that we had no other option but to catch the pre-arranged flight on 21 Oct. Given the fact that we had arrived in country on 25 Jul and could only stay for 3 months (to the day), together with the news that there were no seats on any aircraft till 26 Oct, any possible options vaporised.
So we made plans to get up at Oh dark hundred (3.00am) and scuttle away to Seattle as quickly as a Chevy Malibu and the gendarmes would let us. After a more or less sleepless night, spent worrying whether the alarm would work, we left the motel in the dead of night - we'd paid our bill previously in case anyone was wondering. The road was mostly deserted of other vehicles, but densely populated by large bands of wandering deer and elk. They seemed to be most plentiful around the towns we passed through during the 116 mile drive to the Interstate (I-84), but the idea that these large animals were capable of attacking the car and us, probably caused more than the usual alertness on both our parts. We saw one elk - or at least that's what I thought it was. It was much larger than the usual deer - something around the size of a startled cow, I think and as bovinely stupid. Had it and the car come in contact, I reckon the day would have been well and truly kaput.
We finally got to the Interstate a couple of hours after we departed the motel and from there it was clear and fast sailing into Seattle. The 412 miles took us around 6 and a half hours, half of which was night driving, mostly by instinct. The drive into Seattle through the hills of the Cascade Mountains was very scenic - but cold. There was snow on the higher reaches of the mountains and the one of the many sensors in the car advised me that "icing possible". Never seen that before !
Handing the car back to Hertz was child's play. The instructions provided by the GPS were completely accurate and the process once we arrived at the Hertz desk, was most efficient. No one asked me if there was any problems with the car which might need rectifiying (there were - the "service tyre monitor" sensor kept appearing and was clearly not working properly - it seems to be another name for the tyre valve), but apart from this and the fact that the Magellan GPS had a dark face which was rendered nigh on unreadable, by any sort of glare/sunshine, the vehicle had performed admirably on the 4,900 mile expedition.
The last problem area before we got onto the plane was the suitcases. Apparently, NorthWest Airlines with whom we were to fly to Tokyo, before catching a Qantas flight to Perth, have a heavy baggage charge for any items over 50 lbs (two of our three bags were) and won't take any bag over 70lbs. We rightly had some concerns about one of our bags with car parts in it, but I was able to wipe the sweat from my face when the indicator showed a mere 69.5lbs. So we forked over $100 ($50 per heavy bag) to the counter person, who then gave us our boarding passes. She apologised for the fact that we were not seated together (they only had 3 months notice of the fact that we were booked on this aircraft !), but said that the agent at the departure gate would be able to fix the problem. She didn't and showed a total lack of any concern for our predicament. No point in arguing with a robot.
We travelled separately, though on the same aircraft, to Tokyo and were re-united by Qantas. It wasn't only that which re-confirmed for us, the much higher quality of service provided by the flying kangaroo.
Arrived back in Perth in the early morning of 23 Oct.
To summarise some costs - in Australian dollars (and this fell from almost parity to around 60cents to the US dollar, while we were in the US), the Hertz car rental including Loss, Damage Waiver was a total of $A2565.
Fuel for the three week trip amounted to $A647 and we travelled 4900 miles, which equates to around 13 (Australian) cents a mile.
The two airfares for the return trip (Perth - Narita - Detroit - Washington National on 25 Jul, then Seattle - Narita - Perth on 21 Oct) totalled $A4800.
Started off this morning with breakfast at the motel where we fell into conversation with an older couple from California who were travelling to Iowa. They had been to the east coast of Australia, but couldn't remember when - I said they were an older couple !
Visitor Centre in Oregon
We drove north on US 93 for 100 miles, before turing west on I-84, through Boise (pronounced Boysie) and then headed through the back country on US 26 to John Day. Constantly changing scenery was the order of the day, with a mixture of desert, saltbush plains, rocky hills and then coming into John Day, we drove through a series of magnificent national parks, with big firs some of which were in the throes of changing colour as Autumn approaches.
Did close to 400 miles today.
Big day today – we drove over 500 miles, through the rest of Utah and into Nevada. The plan was to avoid the Interstate (I-15) and particularly Salt Lake City which with its high speed 5 lane highway and even on a Sunday, would be too stressful and intimidating for me, despite all the help that the GPS could give me.
We headed north from Kanab on US 89 for about 100 miles before crossing west onto I-15 for a 70mph leap north to a place called Lehi, following which we went west then north on a variety of Utah highways past the US Govt’s Dugway Proving Ground, to connect with I-80 well to the west of Salt Lake City.
We were given a series of CDs a talking book actually, on the Lewis and Clark military expedition from the east of the known US to the West (sea to sea) in 1805, by the Hanleys and listened to it today. An astonishing journey - it included a description of punishment handed out to one of the soldiers who was found to have been sleeping on duty in Indian country. 400 lashes at the rate of 100 per day, over four days. The commentary in the book was that his back must have been a truly sorry sight, at the end of that ordeal. Different times !
The countryside varied from saltbush plains to wooded areas just as it did in much of northern Arizona and while there were fewer of them, there were a number of Indian settlements and what might be classed loosely, as farms. Along the massive stretches of I-80 heading west (near the Nevada border), we passed alongside the Bonneville salt flats where various land speed records have been attempted and occasionally broken. These salt flats are quite extensive, they parallel the highway for 60 odd miles.
501 miles today. It was a long day but it’s put us ahead of the game and it will be a short hop of only 68 miles to the Idaho border. Won’t stop long in Idaho probably but turn north west to Oregon.
Left Williams at around 7.30am and we were at the south entrance to the Grand Canyon an hour later. We decided to take in the Imax theatre Grand Canyon movie, which was a good decision, as it was truly magnificent. It provided very good background for the visit and gave a more or less modern overview of the development of the Canyon since American Indian times. There wasn't really much on how the Canyon was formed, but fairly obviously it was water/wind erosion, over a long time.
Other than the fact that the roads in the Park are extremely poorly signposted - although we had a plethora of maps, we couldn't work out initially where we were - the experience was quite extraordinary. The options for a park visit include mule trips, white water rafting, hiking, aerial views, train, bus or car, but we decided to stay with our own car, although I would have liked to look over the Canyon by balloon, but regrettably, that wasn't one of the options. Anyway once we were on the right road, we stopped at any number of viewing spots and took lots of photos - it is a majestic sight.
The best we found however, was on the way out of the park heading east and north at a place called Lipan Point. From here, we saw the mighty Colorado River in some detail, as it flowed from east to west, through the Canyon.
The river forms some magnificent rapids as it wends its way through the Canyon and I managed a clear photo of the Hance Rapids from this point.
A little further around at the eastern end of the Canyon, we stopped at what is known as the Watchtower, which was built in 1932 to provide a viewing platform for visitors to the Grand Canyon.
I said to Marg at the time we took the above pic of this feature, that while they could get away with this artificial feature in 1932 and despite the fact that it has now become an icon of the Park, (complete with pseudo Indian drawings), it is highly improbable that any such building would be allowed, by today's conservationists.
Indian drawings inside the Watchtower
After enough of the Canyon, we motored on to the north via US State highways 89 and 89A to the border of Arizona and Utah and ended up for the day in a pleasant town, named Kanab. This place is very different to the Indian settlements we passed through en route to the border. The Indian places are rundown, full of junk and extremely poor, but everything changed once we crossed the border. The country was hard to describe in that it changed frequently from desert and saltbush scrub, to wooded, more fertile areas, depending on which side of the mountains we were. A good deal of the time were drove through valleys flanked on both sides by bare red/brown hills, many of which were contoured by different coloured layers of rock that would delight a rock collector with a eye for a profit.
270 miles today - with about half a day at the Canyon.
Might mention that we bought some oranges today in Kanab - they were Australian navels !!! I''ll bet they're good.
We're in Williams AZ tonight and well positioned for a morning leap north into the Grand Canyon, 59 miles away. We drove through an incredible variety of landscapes today, starting off with desert, scrub and run down adobes, surrounded by rusting cars and lotsa junk, bordering the road as we travelled on I-40 from Holbrook to Winslow where we turned off I-40 and drove south onto US 87. The country slowly changed to a very wooded region, although still quite dry. This is Apache territory and that heritage is quite apparent in the people with whom we come in contact.
We headed for our first scheduled stop, which was Camp Verde. This was an old cavalry/infantry post (not sure what value infantry would be in this sort of country). A number of buildings have been salvaged here and are available for viewing by interested visitors. Some of the buildings were married quarters and looking out at the dust and unrelently harsh views, I would imagine that it would have been a very hard life for wives and children. I think that only the officers were permitted to bring their wives to such isolated postings, so there would have been little chance for any major social gatherings.
From there we drove to the Montezuma Castle National Monument, which was only a hop step and a jump from Camp Verde. Montezuma Castle is a bit of a misnomer - I don't think Montezuma knew anything about this area, which was populated by a farming community called the Sinagua, around 1400AD. They are known to have been in this area for about 400 years and then for some unknown reason, disappeared. They were cliff dwellers and built some astonishing homes in the sides of cliffs.
Apparently, early visitors to the monument were allowed access to the structure by climbing a series of ladders up the side of the limestone cliffs. However, due to extensive damage, public access to the ruins was discontinued in 1951. We were told that over 350,000 people arrive each year to view this unusual sight.
On, on to Sedona, in the middle of the Prescott National Forest, over a very winding and slow road. We seemed to be travelling at an incline (up and down hills), most of the day. This was our first view of the incredible rock formations that mirror the Grand Canyon in design, but are a little smaller and therefore, less awe inspiring. The colours were amazing and some PICS will be added once I get home.
Once we had Sedona in our rear vision mirror, we pressed on to Williams, so that we are well placed to arrive at the Grand Canyon fairly early tomorrow. With a bit of luck once we've done the Canyon, we should be able to reach into southern Idaho tomorrow night.
116 miles today, but we did a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing so the actual distance travelled, is likely to be a fair bit more.
FLASH - We're staying at yet another motel run by Indians named Patel !
We drove through New Mexico and couldn't find anything to visit. There may have been a few sites in Albuquerque proper, but we decided against going into the town, on spec. One of the curious aspects of this city is the colour of the bridges and roadwork in general - it is all a pale terrcotta hue and we noted that some of the bridges across I-40, bear Indian insignia.
Lots of Indian reservations here in this state and, corresponding numbers of casinos litter the roadside stops. Very dry even in the towns - there are few lawns and no natural grass, just rock, dust and scrub. We stopped for lunch at a roadside complex, which included the ubiquitous casino. I asked the shop assistant at the counter, if this was an Indian reservation and was told it was - for the Laguna tribe. As one would expect there were lots of Indians about, but not much sign that the casino was bringing any wealth to the community. Just like aboriginal communities at home, there was much evidence of a community in decline, with all the broken down houses, wrecked cars and trucks all over the place and a complete lack of pride in their heritage.
We are now in the habit of listening to the radio talk back shows - well, there is not that much talk back, the radio identity tends to do most of the talking - and to a man, they are all earnestly opposed to Barack Obama. The day passes with all these important people that we are able to tune in to, criticising this socialist who is, as far as they are concerned, intent on turning the US into a European socialist state. Money will be taken from those who earn a decent wage and distributed among those who need it. If the radio jocks are to be believed, Obama has a secret agenda which will not become fully apparent till he lives behind the White House walls. Maybe it's so, who knows - but they are fervent believers in his duplicity.
An incredible number of trucks inhabit the highways, much more so than at home. Nonetheless they are all generally very well behaved and stick to the speed limits of 65 for the trucks(70 or 75 on some occasions, for cars). The interstate (I-40) was two lanes wide except in the bigger towns like Albequerque, where it seemed to stretch forever, but may have only been perhaps 8 lanes wide each way !
471 miles today.
In Texas. We are now parked in Amarillo, about 120 miles inside the Lone Star State, having arrived here at 5.00pm. Today's travel was OK, but we drove through a rain front for most of the day, so passing big old semi trailers spewing water everywhere, was not always fun. I tried to stay off the Interstate (I-40) and drive the back roads, but as the roads are getting fewer around this part of the country, it's not always that easy to find roads that parallel I-40 West. For much of its length across Oklahoma, I-40 is also the fabled Route 66, so we managed to put a few miles on that as well today.
Just west of Oklahoma City, we stopped for an hour or two at Fort Reno, which was a western fort occupied by a detachment of infantry and cavalry and a part of the famed Chisolm Trail.
It was established as a permanent post in July 1875, on an old Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation and was named for Civil War General Jesse Reno, who was killed during that war, in 1862. The cemetries in these places are always interesting and some PICS are here.
The guide at the Fort was replete with information about the fort and Oklahoma, in particular. She had a map which marked the original Territory (it didn't become the 46th state till 1907) and interestingly, the areas which were awarded to settlers, by "Run" and by "Draw" . The first of seven land 'runs' started at high noon on 22 April 1889, with an estimated 50,000 people lined up for their piece of the available two million acres. Apparently the runners(riders) were started by a noon gun and had to exchange the already laid survey peg on any claim, with their own. I think I'm right in saying that each claim was 160 acres.
The Draw was quite simply a lottery for available land.
There were a number of original buildings still intact (or mostly so), at Fort Reno including some of the Officers Quarters, the Commissary, Kitchens and Guardhouse. 
A couple of the Officers Quarters have been renovated to date and more will be done as funds become available. One of the Officers Quarters is different to the others and the story goes that a young officer and his spouse were forced to live in a tent for some time, on arriving at this post. Happily, the wife's father arrived to visit them and finding this situation, he arranged to rail in lumber and building materials, to construct a house which is markedly different and larger, that the others. Wealthy and indulgent fathers were a decided advantage on the frontier.
Thanks Dad - come visit any time.
It was raining and very cold at the Fort, so we didn't spend a great deal of time there. The area is also host to a US Dept of Agriculture research station, which would no doubt help, if maintenance money was needed.
There were notices on the side of the road indicating the borders of various Indian tribes, including the Creek, Kickapoo and Cherokee indian tribal lands - I assume these are reservations, as we also noticed several signs advertising the benefits of visiting casinos. Also of interest to me, was that the guide at Fort Reno mentioned these tribes were relocated from the east after the Civil War, to get them out of areas in the South in particular, which were coveted by the avaricious white man.
The rain seemed to disappear with Oklahoma and we noticed that as we drove into Texas, the terrain flattened and became more arid. There'll be more of that tomorrow no doubt. We've got about 70 miles to go, before breaking into New Mexico.
Just a little on Amarillo. If this town has a bright side with well laid out suburbs and nicely designed thoroughfares, you certainly don't see it from I-40. It is a hotch potch of fast food joints, ill designed roads that seem to have grown like topsy and a clutter of neon signs. Probably few towns/cities present their best side to the Interstates, but this one makes a real point to the innocent passer by, of being messy.
Fuel prices have climbed a little to around $2.80 a gallon.
374 miles.
En route, we stopped at Fort Smith in north west Arkansas, to have a look at the Museum there. We spent a little bit of time at the Visitors Centre on entering Arkansas and selected a few brochures on things we might want to see. This Museum was the top pick . A lot seems to have happened in Fort Smith's history (originally built and occupied in the 1820s) and most of it is depicted in someway or other in this sometimes disorganised Museum. There are sections on the settlement, mainly painting a picture of the #1 resident at the time, a fellow named John Rogers. He seems to have been everywhere and has any number of town features, named after him.
The Museum contains an original (1920s) soda fountain shop of the "Happy Days" type and in the same area is a drug store with all the old time pills, potions and elixirs. Various old cars ....
This is a 1925 Model T (above) and a steam driven fire engine (below).
This was labelled Engine #1 and is an early 1900s version built by the American Fire Engine Coy in Seneca Falls NY.
Much accent on the one time Fort Chaffee (built in the Fort Smith area in 1941), the 7000 acres of which, has now been converted into a commercial, residential and industrial area. Elvis was here too ! He did his basic training here in 1958 and there are the usual photos of a well dressed, clean soldier named Presley - the inability of drill sergeants to torment this individual, must have been a sore trial for them.
Also got a photo of a US Army executioner (Lt Recread), with his noose, who was apparently responsible for the end of a variety of Jap wartime criminals. He must have been a real hit in the Officers Mess !
The caption indicates that he "despatched 130 war criminals" - not nearly enough !
William Darby of WW2 Rangers fame was a local boy, so there is a lot of material on this fellow - died in Germany in April 1945, as a result of a stray shell.
A US Marshals Museum is planned for Fort Smith, tracing the 218 year history of the service, but it won't open till 2011.
After that it was on and over the border into Oklahoma, through rainstorms (it was a dark and stormy night) and matching speeds with 18 wheelers, we arrived at Checotah.
Fuel at around $2.66 and Anglos in charge of the motel ! That turned out to be a poorly disguised front - there were Indians there the next morning !
We plan on doing some non Interstate driving tomorrow, but will get back onto I-40 and Route 66 after we pass Oklahoma City.
309 miles.
We said our goodbyes to David and Susan - thanks again for your hospitality - mi casa es su casa, when you come to Oz. Also to the dogs (Lily, Jackson, Molly and Sid) - they also made our stay memorable.
Left Huntsville at about 9.30am and turned the car due west on I-565 and I-40 towards Memphis and Gracelands. Travelled through the rest of Alabama, then through the south west corner of Tennessee and into Memphis. We had assumed and planned on visiting Gracelands tomorrow, but before we knew it, we were there, so we changed the plan. The road to Gracelands is very clearly marked and would be difficult to miss. We parked in the Gracelands carpark and had to fork over $8 for the privilege, which was in addition to the $56 for entry to Gracelands proper. However, we kept smiling, happy to have the opportunity to view the remnants of Elvis' life. There were four or five parts to the tour, starting with the house, part of which was blocked off "in memory of the private areas" of the great man's life.
The House (with all the two bit players who wanted to be in my photo)
The grave
Australian awards
Gracelands dining room
An Elvis singing suit
Then it was off to Elvis' aircraft which he named "Lisa Marie", where we saw how he travelled around the country and heard joyful little snippets involving Elvis and Lisa Marie. Most of it was truly nauseous. 
On then to the Private Presley gallery, which was housed in a building, of a moderately spacious dog kennel size, into which they managed to pack about 25-30 adoring Elvis apostles. We were able to watch a short news clip based on an interview given by Elvis on his return to civvy street after his very burdensome two years in the Army, every step of which was apparently filmed and documented by his accolytes. Through all the (posed) photos of Elvis in uniform, and despite the fact that he was supposedly in a scout platoon, not once did I see him in anything but clean clothes. He was clearly a very special soldier !
Also saw his vehicle collection which did contain some interesting vehicles including a pink jeep and an MGA 1600. 
As usual, while some of the staff at Gracelands were very good and able to engage the crowds with humour and enthusiasm, most were robotic and simply took the tickets we offered, or in some cases demanded the tickets, with not the slightest attempt at courtesy. It's an irritating quality, which we've found common and widespread. May well be that these jobs are poorly paid and therefore it's a result of having to take whatever is offered
It was good to have been able to make the visit to this American icon - one of the guides at the house told us that Gracelands is now the most visited house in the country, with in excess of 600.000 visitors annually. I am mildly enthusiastic about some of Elvis' work but not of the individual and I think Marg more or less shares that opinion. If not this'll be scrubbed.
As we finished our tour of the establishment at around 4.30pm, we drove on into Arkansas and stopped for the night short of Little Rock, at a place called Forrest City.
Filled up with petrol at $3.02 tonight - the price is dropping markedly and I've seen it under $3 at a number of service stations so far.
Have also found that the plastic bowl in which Taco Bell salads are served, makes a robust cereal bowl.
A number of other buildings, depicting life at various times around the Huntsville region, have been transported to the site and interpreted for the education of tourists. A blacksmith shop is also a working feature of the site and today, it seemed to be being used as a training school for budding blacksmiths. I was as usual, drawn to this exhibition and watched as the trained and trainees prepared various shapes and sizes of metal rods and bars for their intended tasks.
We visited Ruby Tuesday for our final evening meal in Huntsville with David and Susan - much foraging was done at the salad bar.
They also have the # 1 Ford jeep in their collection
The museum houses a vast array of weapons, vehicles, uniforms and general memorabilia. The staff were happy to talk about their bits and pieces, but I still had some difficulty in understanding how their funds were generated. Given the size of the collection, there must have been considerable expenditure involved to have gotten this far.
Bantam Jeep
HMMWV Prototype sumitted by Teledyne
From there we had a meal at the local BBQ joint - I had a baked potato (a big one) filled with cheese and BBQd beef. It was superb.
Off then to the Space Museum and a look at the truly massive Saturn V rocket. The size of this thing is hard to portray in a photo, but it is enormous.
While we were browsing along the length of the rocket we nopticed some tables being set up, for what was obviously going to be a function. One of the scruffy people helping the set up came over with a vase of flowers to set on one of the tables and we started to chat to him. He told us that the function was for his daughter, who had previously been married in Europe, but this function was being organised by her friends in Huntsville to acknowledge the joyous occasion. He introduced himself twice as Woody (Something) and David thought he recognised the name (whatever it was) as one of the neighbouring politicians. Anyway the fellow was quite talkative and very engaging and ended up saying he would be happy to see us at the function. I'm fairly sure that he was just being a politician when he said that and that he knew there would be security people at the doors, to deter any of his instant friends, who might happen to show up.
One fact that I did retain from the information presented, was that one Saturn motor (and there are four of them), developed 1.5 million pounds of thrust, whereas the V2 rocket motor designed by Werner von Braun and built by the Germans during WW2, was capable of a mere 56,000 pounds of thrust.
David was man enough to have a go on the rocket machine which sends its passengers into orbit (almost), but I chickened out as they had large signs declaring it unsafe for those with bad backs - that was all I needed.
Today we had a good look around the old Huntsville town centre, starting with the Visitors Centre, which we found, had moved since our guide book (circa 2003) was printed. Nevertheless, thanks to a friendly police look alike (though without the gun) public safety official, who gave us directions to the new location, we were saved.
The centre of town is the old historic area and far quieter than the frenetic pace of the outlying road system. I suppose like anywhere, if you know where you are going, the stress factor is markedly reduced, but we don't know where we are going and, sometimes can't find our way back to where we've been, so stress is omnipresent.
Anyway, we found a parking spot and had a good look over the Harrison's Hardware store, the Google entry for which says:
Better than a museum, Harrison Brothers is a living 19th century landmark sitting serenely in the midst of downtown Huntsville.
Harrison Brothers, called a hardware store but really much more, is stocked from floorboards to high ceiling in tiny numbered drawers and on every available surface with old fashioned tools and housewares as well as modern items.
Goods nestled up high are reached from tall rolling ladders, the rope elevator is hand operated, and a real pot-bellied stove helps warm the store in winter. Nearby, a tall desk displays an untidy mound of old invoices, catalogs and calendars, just as the last Harrison brother left it.
Harrison Brothers is more than a glimpse of old Huntsville. It is a shopper's delight. On the west side of the store, a stack of antique biscuit jars brimming with old-fashioned candies tempts youngsters of all ages. Cotton throws, colorful tins, marbles by the scoop, cast iron cookware, and oak rocking chairs share space with garden gadgets, bird feeders, and whirly-gigs. We stock books, cookbooks, prints, postcards, and other items relating to Huntsville and Madison County's history.
It was a unique experience to wander around this old shop, with so much from yesteryear on display. I found a small wooden rectangular box marked 'Ford' with a set of points on the top and connections for earth, 6v current and high voltage outlet, which I assume was an old fashioned coil. None of the staff could positively identify it, but agreed that was the most likely explanation.
On we went to the Hunstville Railway Depot but that was a visual display of some carriages and not mush else, so we walked back to the car and headed out of town for lunch and the Rendezvous with David and Susan Bonwit.
Arrived at about 3.00pm and received a warm welcome from Susan (David arrived home from work later) and the four dogs. The dogs are a polyglot lot. One large dog named Molly, two mediums (Lily and ) with the rear being brought up by Jackson.
We took the dogs for their nightly walk, caught up on lots that had been happening, planned the next day's activities and went to bed.
We left Columbus at 9.00am this morning and turned the car towards Huntsville AL, which was a little less than 200 miles distant. We started the trip with a visit to Pine Mountain where we had stopped last time we came down this way with Leanne, two years previously. Most of the antique stores in Pine Mountain opened between 10.00 and 10.30 am, so we waited for them to open and had a look inside, but there was nothing that was terribly exciting. The one shop we wanted to look over was due to open at 10.30, but we waited till 10.50 and it was still locked and barred, so we gave up on that and headed north.
It was a pleasant drive as we intentionally kept away from the Interstates and drove the backroads - there was initially little traffic but that changed as we passed each of the bigger towns.
Fuel prices varied considerably today with most being around the $3.50 a gallon, but we passed the occasional garage with price listings starting at $2.90 for the 87 grade petrol.
We passed a couple of small cotton fields about 30 miles out of Huntsville, but we were moving too quickly for Marg to get a photo. They were the first cotton fields I have seen in the US since we started travelling this country in 1988. They were only small fields and were presumably some sort of experiment as they would not have given the Chinese (or wherever they currently grow cotton), much competition.
So apart from playing with the cats Abbie and Fabio and later that night Leo the Italian greyhound, that was how we spent most of the day. That night we went to downtown Columbus for a meal at The Market (the fresh fish joint - as it is styled on their menus), on 1st Avenue. The menu included such delicacies as sway - it's some variety of fish, but although the (curious) waitress did describe the fish, I have forgotton what she said. I had the shrimp/prawns, just to stick with what I knew.
A pleasant night’s stay in Forsyth – as a matter of fact we found ourselves almost surrounded by police or at least, police cars. There must have been seven of them at a guess, in the motel parking lot, of all different persuasions. There were three Georgia State Patrol vehicles, a Richmond Hill Police car, two K9 4WD units and what looked like a horse float, behind another police marked 4WD. I noticed others in the lot as we drove out also. The K9 vehicles, had signs on them warning the public to “Stay Away”, so their dogs must be terribly fierce.
Anyway it was a comfort knowing the bad guys, if there were any, were deterred from their normal undertakings in our vicinity. Thank you to the wallopers.
A very easy drive of about 80 miles, followed from Forsyth to Columbus – the roads were good even though we took the backtracks as usual, and there was so little traffic, I got the impression it was a weekend rather than a working day. Most of the way, we found ourselves on a double lane road, which was a pleasant experience after some of the narrower roads we had found ourselves on, in a few of the past days. The countryside is very dry and perhaps unseasonably so, after what should have been a wet winter, but perhaps it wasn’t. Our friends Tom and Judy Hanley, told us later that despite the hurricane season, very little of the rain generated by those storms, penetrated to this neck of the woods.
Arrived in Columbus just after midday and decided to have a look at the centre of town, which, the last time we were here, was being refurbished in an attempt to bring business back to Main Street, Columbus. We were surprised to see the changes that had been made and the new university campus buildings built near the Chattahoochee River which runs through the centre of town. Much money has been spent on modernising this area, which previously, was always a good place to find a reason not to visit.
After our passion for re-visiting the past had been satisfied, we drove out to Peachtree Mall, which used to be the shopping centre of Columbus, to find that it is a mere shadow of its former self. While all the buildings and sales outlets are still in place, the customer numbers are much diminished. We were very surprised to find many areas almost deserted. I guess that like other areas, the focus of people’s attention and their habits have moved elsewhere. Also very surprised to hear that Bill Heard Chevrolet, which was once touted as the biggest Chevrolet dealer in the US, has ceased business. Tom tells me that there was an internal credit crisis, from which the dealership couldn’t recover and this quite large firm, has joined the ranks of history. If I remember the figures correctly, almost 3000 employees were retrenched around various of his agencies in the southern states and some 300 unexpectedly found themselves with no job in Columbus alone.
I bought my 1984 Mercury Marquis from Bill Heard in 1988, when we first came here to Fort Benning and at home, I have one of his key rings proclaiming the firm to be USA’s biggest – I guess it will now be a valuable item, which needs an increased level of protection. It’ll go ‘straight to the pool room’ along with all the other junk treasures, when I get home. As a matter of interest (perhaps only to me), the salesman’s name was Brown Brady and it was he who introduced me to Big Bill.
After a nostalgic lunch at Peachtree Mall, we programmed the GPS and followed instructions to Tom and Judy’s house in Midland just north (I think) of Columbus. These are very good friends – Judy was Leanne’s teacher at Ft Benning and we owe her a debt that we will never be able to repay, for the care she took of Leanne at a difficult time. It would seem that we brought the rain with us, as it started to soak into the ground during the evening meal and continued most of the night. At the time of writing, it is still raining and this is in an area which hasn’t seen anything like it for months. It’s nice to be able to do something for people !
Some of the buildings showing the pseudo European flavour.
Helen is like Las Vegas in the morning, it looks better at night. There were no people and the facades of all the German look -alike shops, were mostly in need of maintenance and most of the merchandise for sale was pretty close to being in the junk category.
So we said goodbye to Helen GA for the last time (from my point of view anyway), and headed directly south down state highways GA 441 and 11.
Along the way we drove through Hoschton, which had a population of 1,070 at the 2000 census. This town is currently attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the most scarecrows in one area. These well clothed scarecrows are everywhere and a COUPLE OF PICS show the effect.
From what I saw, they would have made the Guinness record - never seen anything quite like it. There was even a group of scarecrows in a field playing soccer !
We made it to Forsyth GA, at around 1.00pm and found a motel for the night. Did a little driving around to find supplies and the GPS was invaluable for returning us to the start point - without it, I fear we would have been well lost.
Tomorrow will be a short drive of around 60 miles into Columbus GA, where we will stay with friends (Leanne's old school teacher) for a couple of days before heading off north west to Huntsville AL.
We left Roanoke at 8.30am and consistent with our (my) plan to stick mainly to the state highways rather than the Interstates, we followed Hwy 221, all the way south to Boone, in North Carolina. Then, because we wanted to make camp at night around Helen, Georgia, we got the GPS to route us along Interstate 40 into Asheville NC. From there it was a simple drive along back roads out of NC and into Georgia. We arrived in Helen, in the mountains of northern Georgia at about last light and found it to be very active – it is an area originally inhabited by mainly German immigrants and there is plenty of evidence of their continued presence ie, there are signs up all over the place advertising an Octoberfest and there are Bavarian steakhouses etc. It was interesting to note that the shopkeepers will fudge all they can, to squeeze the very last drop out of their visitors – the advertising indicates that the Octoberfest runs from 11 Sep-2 Nov !!
The roads we travelled today were in the main single lane roads, some of which had the occasional interesting blind corner and there were a few stretches, where the road was only just wide enough for a single car. All in all, it was very different from the multi lane Interstates, but the scenery was outstanding. There were some very pretty places along our route, particularly with the autumn colours of gold, brown and red mixed in with the rich greens.
En route we noted a flea market and stopped to have a look. It was quite a large event, but I think we got there at around midday and some folk were already packing up. All we picked up was a roll of some green nylon strapping which I will probably find a use for in my canvas work. The seller told me that deer hunters use the stuff to construct their hides and that it had a breaking strain of 1800 lbs.
Our short stay on I-40 today was a fast run and we made up a lot of time, but the traffic at any time on the Interstates is intimidating. While speed limits vary from 55 to 70mph, no one observes the limits – it is commonplace and expected, that motorists will do at least 10mph above any posted speed limit. So, at those speeds, I was astonished to see a woman/moron pass me at top speed, talking on her mobile phone.
Haven’t yet decided, but we have a day in hand and may stay for a little while in Helen tomorrow, to explore the area and the many attractions.
Fuel at around $3.80 a gallon which given that the US gallon is 3.8 litres, equates to about $1 per litre (or $A1.20 a litre, at today’s prices).
Many more astonishing growths were seen in these remarkable grottos, which were apparently discovered by locals in 1878. The brochure states that these caves were 4 million years in the making. Sounds extraordinary, but the growth in the caves is truly spectacular.
From there I was dragged to the adjacent car museum, which contains dozens of old cars and some very unique models. I took a pic of a 1906 Schacht, which will I think be of interest to the fellows at the Vintage Car Club back in Perth, as I think they have one also.
Once we were done there, it was a simple matter of programming the GPS and we were off to Waynesboro VA, before getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway at the start, or northern end of the road.
The road is narrow and winding along its entire 400 mile route (I think - although we've only done about 120 miles at this point), but because it follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains, there are some most uniquely spectacular views of the valleys below.
Legions of motor bike riders littered the Parkway and we got involved with a group who were selling religion and were keen on giving us a travel pack of hand wipes, gum and theological texts - nice people though. Lots of push bike riders too and I thought that a little dangerous, as there was no room for them and cars in the same lane. It meant waiting for a clear space ahead to pull out into the on coming lane, to be able to pass the rider. It was made more difficult by them not always wearing bright coloured clothing which, combined with the alternate sun and shade over the road from the bordering trees, made seeing these road users difficult. Managed to avoid everyone and with the help of the GPS on a couple of difficult situations, we arrived in Roanoke in the south west corner of Virginia.
Two more days of driving at a senior pace, should see us in Columbus GA.
We got to the Centre at about opening time and were told that all the visual displays were out of action and that they were trying to remedy the fault. It took them about 30 minutes before some of the staff reported success and a little longer before the ticketing staff were able to be convinced that they could start selling tickets. So finally, we were able to see the film narrated by Morgan Freemen, which was very good I thought. It put the case for war quite clearly and the slavery issue was put into context.
From there we went into the newly completed Cyclorama - I believe from what people were saying, that it has been at the Centre for some time, but that what we saw, is a much improved version. It is special.
I visited the Atlanta Cyclorama many years ago and spectators here sit in the centre of a rotating floor while lights appear on sequential portions of the circular painting depicting the seige and capture of that city, by Sherman.
This Cyclorama is a painting and in a similar way to the Atlanta one, has incorporated a 3D extension at the base of the painting. However the area accommodating visitors looking at the circular painting, does not rotate. So while it is visually splendid and truly captures most of the last day of action, it is a little hard to see all the areas of note. Nonetheless, it is worth seeing and I managed to take some good flashless photos of the painting - see above.
After all that we drove around most of the battlefield, but concentrated on Little Round Top, as I couldn't understand why the Confederates ignored the key terrain of Round Top which is slightly south of Little Round Top, but higher and therefore more dominating. I suppose I'm being an armchair critic, but it does seem to me that this feature was totally ignored by both sides and would have certainly been of immense value to the Gray even if only to locate some artillery on it.
So we drove out of the area which saw the greatest number of American dead during that war in a single battle, and headed towards Luray, Virginia, on the western side of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Arrived there at around 5.00pm and found a nice cosy spot to harbour up for the night.
Can't get any phone reception here - I guess the server (T-Mobile) figures Luray is of scant importance to them or their clients - so we'll be in touch with No 1 daughter tomorrow probably.
