Longest haul!!!
Posted on Jun 22nd, 2009 at 11:03 pm by team
Tough start to the day on Friday. We were preparing to take off on the longest day of the drive. Rain clouds were moving in fast and there were lightning bolts off in the distance. Although the rain was chilly, it was a nice change of pace to ride with the plastic windshield and canvas roof.
The morning began with a quick stop at the Youngville Cafe, Welcome Center and Museum. Even though we could not stop for long we were thrilled to stop in AND we were given 4 pies that we were able to move on down the road and share with our friends in Omaha! Thank you so much! http://www.youngvillecafe.com/
We were excited to have Kathy McGuire in the car with us from Cedar Rapids, IA to Jefferson, IA. She was so much fun. We played car games for the first time and Kathy gave us a lot of local tidbits. ”Knee High by the fourth of July!”
Also, along in the caravan were Tom, Christopher, and Brandon Knight in a Hudson. You boys better watch out, next time team Maxwell will be armed with a super soaker!
We stopped for lunch in Jefferson, IA. A quaint town and ate at Angie’s Tea Garden. We were greeted at lunch by Bob Owens of the Lincoln Highway Association. The team would have loved to have stayed in Jefferson longer and taken Bob up on his generous offer to open the Lincoln Highway Association office for us.
We appreciate and love everyone’s genuine enthusiasm about this trip, it truly carries us across the country. We would love to take every detour and visit every place Alice went and then some, but unfortunately when are fighting daylight and stormy weather it just isn’t safe. We always joke that the director of this drive is Kaisa, Emily’s 41/2 month daughter.
Along for the ride after Jefferson, was more of Emily’s family; cousin James and Aunt Mary Eckman joined us from Jefferson to Omaha.
As we approached Nebraska, Babbs was running well and we were following our super host, John Rehberg and his Rambler into the city. We were on highway 6 with the Missouri River and the welcome to Nebraska sign in sight. Suddenly, Babbs let out a huge backfire and lost power in the furthest left hand lane. Emily gracefully moved the car over to the right shoulder.
Luckily, help was not too far behind, as this was the worst possible place to have a problem. Rich and Tim pulled up with sadness in their eyes to find out we had only run out of gas! After a quick fix we crossed the border and were escorted directly to our hotel in downtown Omaha. If you ever need a place to stay in Omaha, the Magnolia comes highly recommended by this team http://www.magnoliahotelomaha.com/omaha.aspx!
We spent 2 great days in Omaha, getting to know the city, meeting people and letting them know about Alice Ramsey, the 2009 drive and Women For Women International (https://mywomenforwomen.org/donation/donate-form.php?wfw=ARCD2009) at the Durham Museum.
The Durham museum is a special place filled with history http://www.durhammuseum.org/. Just ask Bob Fahey, master volunteer tour guide and ex- station master. We had the best time.
A huge thanks goes out to John Rehberg for coordinating all of the Omaha festivities, along with Doug and Dawn Buchanan for opening up their home (and their pool) for the whole team! A special thanks to Colin for helping the film crew get some up close and personal shots and to Mark, Mary and James Eckman for visiting along with Martha, Bjorn, Gunner and Kai!
Welcome to the road Cecily Cowburn, our surprise visitor from NYC. Cecily has been behind the scenes driving the creative side of this event. If anyone owns a poster, you know her work!
To close out for the night, we would like to share a warm welcome to Claus who will be joining Stijnus and replacing Will and Jan in the Spyker! It is Claus’s first time in the USA and we hope it is fantastic! We will miss Jan and Will! Will, we hope to see you at the end of the road and maybe in Cadaques some day!
Good to hear the Andersons are still learning about running out of gas, the first time I met the old man we had to bring gas to his dad’s car where he’d left it mid supply run for our upcoming ski trip. Good also to hear Special K is still in charge of the troops. Drive with care and keep us posted. Phil
Phil Cochran on June 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 am #
Our journey across the tall corn state with the you guys was GREAT! Your endeavor served to bring many Iowans together. The Spiker boys were the ideal hardy companions on and off the road. Babbs, Spiker, & the Hudson covered entire 360 mile distance across the great state of Iowa with no mechanical problems - we hauled @#$! Keep it up for the last 1/2 of the nation!
Team Hudson (the Knight boys) on June 23rd, 2009 at 6:44 am #
Good Morning All!
I am sitting in Eagle River in an airconditioned coffee shop. It is going to be in the 90s today and thinking of you on the road. Hoping you are not experiencing such heat! So nice to be able to keep updated on you adventure. Thinking of all of you often. Love to All, Sherri
Sherri Berry on June 23rd, 2009 at 8:31 am #
Wishing you all the best of luck! I hope the gears hold out for you. Again, we were very happy we could help you out by using our shop. The AC wasn’t working up to par, but it sure was cooler than it was outside. Hope your stay at Travelodge in Grand Island was ok for you. From all of us at Tommy’s Inc.
have a good safe trip the rest of the way. It was nice meeting you all. Take care. Randy
Randy Shaffer on June 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 am #
great to see the trip has come together so nicely and everyone is enjoying themselves, wonderful, keep smiling, love the daily blog
jinn marie
jinn marie davis phd on June 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm #
I thought about you all today as I bounced around the yard on the lawnmower. Bet you were having a smoother ride.
So you’re half way home. Perhaps a quick brass polish will make Babbs feel more ladylike and prevent this knocking business. ;-)
Carry on!!
Terry Huston on June 23rd, 2009 at 5:43 pm #
I’m glad Omaha gave you such a great welcome! Most of my Erickson relatives live in and around Omaha…I’m going to contact them and see if they knew of your arrival…I love Nebraska…a lot of people don’t know of or appreciate its beauty. Take care…Zarida
Zarida Young on June 24th, 2009 at 8:36 pm #