"Oh crap... that's the tire!"

[theatre_girl79]

So, the day started out interesting yesterday. I got to shower at my aunt's trailer - oh yes, water flowing over me! Then the car needed to be jumped again - goodie. Drove to th enext town and the Walmart for camera batteries. Got film and batteries and everything else, and turn it on and press a button and the button goes "Ummm... no, I think not."C

Car works fine, get lost finding my aunt's trailer (thusly got to do a whole Dukes of Hazzard turn around on gravel), and got my Dad and Uncle and then headed for Carbondale, by way of Marion. We took a shot of 3-mile high to prove, to those Cheeseheads especially, that Illinois is by no way FLAT! Let me take you for a midnight ride on the Eddyville Blacktop! So we get gas and then I finally get to see Woodlawn Cemetery in Carbondale. It is on the National Historic Registry. Woodlawn was the site of the first Memorial Day in 1866. It is also one of the only known cemeteries with Union soldiers, confederates, freed and slaves buried there. Yes! I got pictures and will put them after I get home. It was amazing and you could feel the energy of the place.

Then we continued into the forest to Camp Whadjawhojit, to visit their cousin who runs a Girl Scout Camp down South. Cooked out, survived the storm, and met some new family. I was the oldest "child" there. The old'uns had a pinochle tournament - they needed two tables. It was the first time I ever did a beer run for the over-45 crowd. All well and good and we left after 11:00 pm, following my aunt who had ocme out, down this winding barely a two lane road in pitch black in the middle of nowhere, when the rear tire blows!

Pulled over, flashing my aunt. Then while she pulled aorund we started pullingthe crap out of the trun to get to the spare. Pulled over in grass, n pith black except for the stars is not easy to change a tire. Suffice to say, we eventually made it back and slept.

Had to go to town, got two tires for $200. An unexeced expense there. Then we drove up to Alto Vineyards, and bought two bottles of sublime sweet port, made right here in Illinois. Came back along Alto Pass (talk about winding roads with cliffs on either side), and stopped by the cliffs over the pass and gt some pictures, including across the valley of Bald Knob Hill. We were about 300 feet up with old pine trees under my feet. As we drove back down to Cobden, my ears even popped.

Even stopped by the grave of King Neptune, the pig who contributed over $100,000 to the war effort in World War II. Yes, I mean a real pig, a real hog, oink-oink. I got a picture of that and can tell that story if interested.

Got to see my cousin's baby, who was born on Christmas, tonight. What a cutie! And tomorrow we hit Metropolis. We will also be hitting the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and Pope County on Saturday.

I hope everyone else is doing well!