Gary.....Even with rain (far beyond the five days I had set for the limit for a good trip) the last two days were fantastic.

We left Kansas city Friday morning , heading north to Lincoln NE through the corner of Iowa. We arrived in time for a priate tour of Bill "Speedy' Smith's collection of old race cars, racing engines, hot rods, pedal cars, toys, lunch boxes, record albums, guitars.......EVERYTHING!!!!!! It was three floors of beautifully restored (if needed) and displayed STUFF and there is allegedly several buildings of stuff around the city.....sensory overload.

After that tour it was off to Culver's, a local drive in/car show where the three woodies got together again (after being separated during the day on different rouyes/interests) Terry and I were invited to stay at the home of John Lee and his charming bride Martha while we were here and they were wonderful hosts for all of the tourers, arranging visits to special collections. On Saturday we went to a private collection of muscle cars, funny cars, hot rods, classics and old Indy cars...another spectacular morning. Lunch was served a a local rodders shop where about 25 other woodie owners gathered for a first class meal of brats and BBQ..... DANG that was good! Thanks Perry! Local legends Paul & Arla Mae Hansen brought a 1938 Marmon Harrington (4wd) woodie that he bought in 1954 for $85. He's been all over the country in it, putting we AC equipped whiners to shame. Earlier in the day we met Paul's grandson, Jordan, and he is a real hoot! We had a blast with him and he is one of the most confident, funny, charming and overall coolest 17 year olds you will ever get the chance to meet (except my own boys of course!) Anyone who says the next generation is lost has never met this guy. He could definitely be whatever he wants to be and he's a gearhead too!

Perry also had parting gifts for the tourers of Woodie music snow globes, shirts, chocolates for the ladies and cans of beans for the guy.....in case we run out of gas. Thanks again for a wonderful stay in Lincoln.

Later this evening John and Martha took us to a local theater for some music put on by one of Martha's best friends who was part of an Andrews Sisters style trio....fantastic music and a lot of original and funny lyrics.

On the car side of things, the engine suddenly developed a miss (one dead cylinder) but it came on so quickly I was sure it was a plug wire. A quick glance found a wire melted onto the header pipe and moving it brought the cylinder back to life....I don't think that's a real repair yet, is it Art?

Tomorrow Terry and I are on our own. Ralph and Marie have been through Rapid City and will be rejoining us in Salt Lake City. Mark and Nance are taking a different route to Alliance NE so we'll be traveling alone for the day....that'll be different not seeing woodies in my rear view mirror.

What a trip this has been. The generosity and hospitality of perfect strangers has been overwhelming....Gotta get some sleep....we have 400 miles to cover tomorrow!