Illinois and back to Ohio

This is the woman with whom I spent my early college experience.

She isn't normal.  She's never been normal.  She has always convinced me to  

to behave in ways not appropriate to my delicate nature.

She still does.

This is one of Susan Golden's more formal attires.

She has a little dog named Bella - a chahuahua with a feisty and fiery

manner who gets along with no one except Susan.

We were all worried about how Bella and Finn were going to get along....
No problem!

Now, Kitty was another story.  She peeked over the back of the wicker settee, Finn
took one look, and a real Tom and Jerry explosion ensued.  Up and over the furniture,
across the house, and lots of noise.  It ended with Kitty hanging from
the blinds in the front room minus 3 nails.  Finn was banished from her presence and Kitty
moved into the master bedroom with her food and litter box.  We never saw her again.
It was terrible event; but, damn, it was funny....!

Susan is always full of surprises.  Her fur coat...

...and her "dream on" swimwear.

We took a day trip up to Lake Geneva, WI.  Charming town and very scenic.  

It was of the location of the Playboy Resort in days gone by.

Ah yes.  Remember Bella the one woman dog.  She's a

two woman dog now...  The less I paid close attention to her, the more

she began to get close.  First sitting next to me, then crawling up to sit on my

lap, letting me pick her up, and finally planting kisses on my face.

Take that, Golden!

We left Susan and Richard and drove the 4 hour stretch to

Springfield, IL.  Parked in our campsite, plugged in the electric 

connection and...nothing.  Ed checked the breaker under our bed and found it tripped.

He flipped it on, and that's when sparks and fire blew out.

We made a decision to go back to the factory!!!  It was 4:00 in the afternoon.

We spent a lovely short night in a truck stop and completed the 6 hour drive to

arrive at 8:00 a.m.

Hello, Jackson Center!  Weren't we here 2 weeks ago???

The trailer was moved to a service bay directly from the parking lot.

A blown converter.  That little gizmo on the left is what gave off the sparks

and fire.  An easy replacement and much less expensive than an inverter.

But wait!!  There's more...  The convection/microwave was fried.

Also an easy replacement.

All systems and appliances were thoroughly checked.  No other damage.

We decided to hang around an extra day in the Terraport to check it all out.

There's a little town called New Bremen about 17 miles up the street.

It's the home of this little gem of a museum...

The Bicycle Museum of America.

We were warmly greeted, guided, and informed by Matt in the red shirt.

He's full of enthusiasm about his work and, yes, he's also a Buckeye.

Crown Corp. is located in New Bremen.  It's a very civic minded 

privately owned company.  They own the museum as well as

manufacture fork lifts and other equipment. Their offices are in

the restored historic buildings of downtown.

I was heartbroken to learn that Schwinn went under.

(All current Schwinn's are frames made in China.)

The owner of Crown purchased the collection and moved it to New Bremen.
And so began the Bicycle Museum of America.

The first floor is the permanent collection dedicated to the development of

bicycles in the U.S. beginning with this wooden model built in 1816.

This is one of two first floor showrooms.

It took a long time to look at everything in here.  

They are all restored and absolutely beautiful.

Bike riding was only for young strong athletic men.

Matt explained many of the evolutionary changes,

like moving the smaller wheel to the front.

It became less about fewer revolutions and more about

center of gravity and control.

Biking became the great American past time in the

fourth quarter of the 19th century.

They became safer and easier to operate.

Women embraced the bicycle too.

Bikes were built with 2, 3, 4, and more wheels.

The frame against the wall is a shipping container.

There's even a restored 1960 pedicab from Thailand.

The second and third floors make up the revolving collection,

There's a terrific display of 1940-50 Schwinns.  I remember them all to well!

Who couldn't get behind that red little number...from the pre-speeds era.

We just rode them up hills without thinking about it.

Dayton, Ohio was the center of the industry.

This slick number is made from one piece of wood.

It begins at the pedal, goes up to the seat, across to the handlebars,

backdown to the pedals, splits, goes to the back wheel, and up to the seat.

Amazing!  Skillfully executed!

Bicycles used by the military prior to and during WWI.

An Indian, 1937.  Aaahhh.  Human powered.

The 1950's were the height of design.

Bicycles manufactured in Ohio

Harley Davidson's too.

250 bicycles on exhibit out of a collection of over 1000 and growing.

What fun this was!!  

We've made a plan change.  We'll skip going back to Springfield and on to

St. Louis.  Instead, we'll head south to Kentucky and Tennessee.

The bourbon trail beckons us...