Spoffords Travel

Day 12 September 9, 2025 Owensboro 123 miles

Today is supposed to be partly cloudy with a high of 81 and 85% humidity. That should be good touring weather.

We drove to sights in Indiana today. Coffee break was at a drive in move theater. They have seven screens and still show movies from May through the first part of October. Admission is $12 for 12 and up. It was a wonderful place to have coffee and donuts. The cars could easily be parked all facing the same direction.

Next stop was an event center where we had a blue grass concert for over an hour and then had lunch. This meal was Italian in nature with lasagne, chicken Alfredo, vegetable pasta and salad. Then dessert was brownies or cookies like a flattened bottoms golf ball. All very good.

A nice drive took us through the farmland to the Evansville Wartime Museum. This is not a large museum but it is very well done. They even took a picture of the car in front of the museum with one of their planes. Connie got a new t-shirt. The museum is not normally open on this day. They staff came in just for us.

I learned today that the plants I thought might be peanuts are in fact soy beans. That makes far more sense. Wrong kind of soil for peanuts. Also learned Kentucky used to have the largest burley tobacco sales yard in the world. Now most of it is gone but Kentucky still produces 70% of the US production.

Drove a little further to an ice cream stop. This was just soft serve ice cream with chocolate, vanilla or swirled.

We both took naps in the cool hotel room before supper. (Retirement can be hard work.) Rob spent some time trying to fix the light bulb socket on the left headlight. He will try it out in the morning. Keep your fingers crossed.

Day 11 September 8, 2025 Owensboro 119 miles

The day was beautiful. The high was about 76 with a little breeze. The sun felt warm and the shade felt cool. This is the first day of the tour. We had a nice breakfast in the hotel. They had a lemon poppyseed scone that was really delicious. Rob ate Connie’s share. We asked the staff who made them for a recipe. Unfortunately the food supply service brings them. Most likely no way to get a recipe. Oh darn.

We start out at 9 am headed for the coffee and donut break. These are usually mid morning. This one was only 15 minutes later. We drove on some county roads through the farmland. Still lots of corn and whatever that other crop is. You know the one we think might be peanuts.

About 11:00 we arrived at the John James Audubon State Park. The grounds driving in are covered with trees. Parking lots are scattered all over the grounds. Those with handicap stickers could park up near the museum. The rest of the cars were to park further down the road. They do provide a shuttle bus thankfully. We rode that up to the sidewalk leading to the museum. It is a beautiful building built in a French style by the CCC and WPA. We entered the museum then watched a couple of videos about John James Audubon and how the museum came to be. Then we looked through the museum itself. His work is beautiful and its wonderful that it is being preserved.

We go a short distance to our lunch location. Lunch was chicken wraps, homemade potato chips and lettuce salad. It’s good that the crowd straggled in. They were not well set up for the number of folks in our group. The staff made adjustments and soon people were searching for places to sit and eat.

Then we drove through more of the area for about an hour to get to a farm market and ice cream. They had fresh vegetables, jams, sauces, pickled vegetables and fudge. Then on the side of the building they had ice cream. This was optional so the cost wasn’t included. Two scoops of ice cream was $4.99. We had a short wait but when we left the line was really long. As usual, timing is everything.

Another hour long drive to return to Owensboro. We stopped for gas and then at Harbor Freight. Harbor Freight is kind of like a fabric store, they are hard to pass. We were back to the hotel about 5:15.

Rob adjusted the brakes in the parking lot. He had lots of advisers.

Day 10 September 7, 2025 Clarksville Tennessee to Owensboro Kentucky 160 miles

We had to fill with gas this morning so that took a little longer, Then we were on our way to Owensboro Kentucky where the Glidden Antique Car Tour is based from this year.

We saw at least five Amish buggies all seeming to head the same direction. They must have been going to church. They were different styles. Some were small covered buggies. Some were bigger covered buggies and some were buckboards. Some had only slow moving vehicle signs and some had bright red tail lights. Someone in every vehicle waved at us.

The route takes us through farming country and small towns. We saw a couple of tobacco barns with tobacco leaves hanging to dry. We only saw one tobacco field. We saw numerous fields of what we have decided are peanuts.

The small towns have some beautiful older buildings. One was in a square in the middle of town. You had to drive around it.

We arrived at the host hotel about 11 am. We were too early to check in but we did register for the tour. Surprisingly we are car 19. That is the lowest number we have ever had. After a brief stop at the hospitality room we headed for the optional tour to Lincoln’s boyhood home in Indiana. This was about a 45 minute drive if you took the backroads as directed. The wind picked up for a while to the point that we had to both hold on to our hats. We are to visit the Lincoln Boyhood Memorial National Park. The park is in a heavily wooded area. The Visitor’s Center was closed for lunch when we arrived. The cabin and living farm are located about 1/2 mile down a trail from the Visitor’s Center. We waited for the center to open so we could watch the movie. That is when we learned you could drive to a location much closer. The movie told of Lincoln’s life while living in Indiana.

We drove up to the other parking lot and then walked to the site of Lincoln’s family home. The house is long gone but a replica of the foundation has been constructed. Sure was small. The “living” farm nearby doesn’t have anything living on it. The cabin there is built as Lincoln’s would have been. You could only look in a window. The inside was too dark to see much of anything. Overall opinion was this was a bust.

We returned to the hotel. Rob cleaned up the car before we leave for the opening banquet.

Our room faces the Ohio River. Surprising we got that view. While waiting two large barges loaded with coal passed by. Perhaps going to the power plant we saw on the way to the Lincoln Boyhood National Park.

We attended the opening banquet for our tour. This stop included a taste of bourbon. Rob tried a small taste. The meal was coleslaw, mac and cheese, green beans, baked beans, bbq chicken, bbq brisket, corn bread, and pie. There are about 150 cars in attendance which should mean at least 300 people.

The ride back to the hotel was a little interesting in the dark with only one headlight. The headlight bulb socket is not working properly. The problem has been identified as two worn out springs. Unfortunately the fix is not in our traveling spare parts inventory.

Day 9 September 6, 2025 Paducah Kentucky to Clarksville Tennessee 119 miles

It did rain overnight. Everything outside was wet. Good thing Rob put up the side curtains last night. The inside of the woodie was dry. Sometimes after a heavy rain the car has trouble starting. No problem starting today.

We have about a two hour drive to Dover Tennessee. That was the location of Fort Donelson which is considered by some to be the turning point of the Civil War. We arrived at the Visitor’s Center just as the ranger was leaving to give a talk at the National Cemetery located within the park. We followed him to the location. A few rain drops were falling so we went in one of the small buildings that contained information about the war, the cemetery and some of the people involved. He gave about a 20 minute talk about the war and the cemetery. Some of the graves are from other engagements but the majority are from the Union soldiers and sailors of the Civil War that died during the battle. The names are unknown because they were buried where they died and as soon as possible. A total of 670 with 512 unknown men are interned here.

We returned to the Visitor’s Center and watched a video that helped explain what had happened here. We got a map with the various sights marked and off we went. When we got to the river an employee of the National Park talked to us about the battle that had occurred here. The Union forces came up the river in their iron clad boats. The Confederate soldiers however had some big canons lining the banks of the river. The canons did some serious damage to the boats. The next day General Grant and his forces surrounded the fort from the land side. The Confederate soldiers however did a surprise attack and forced the Union soldiers back. Then the Confederate army made a huge mistake and returned to the fort. This allowed the Union to regroup and surround the fort eventually forcing a complete surrender. The Union victory gave the Union control of the rivers allowing easy access to the south. Turns out the park employee was a maintenance man who just happened to love history.

We had a nice picnic lunch in the park.

We also visited the Dover Hotel where the surrender documents were signed. Another video was supposed to be here but it wasn’t working.

Then we drove on to Clarksville Tennessee where we will spend the night.

Day 8 September 5, 2025 Paducah Kentucky 17 miles

Our first stop of the day was at the huge fabric store Hancock’s of Paducah. No idea how many bolts are in the store. There were just a few nuts in the store today. The building is the size of a large grocery store. Another similar size building is next door that must contain shipping and receiving. They had at least 10 people selecting and cutting fabric for their online orders. Even with all that they are about 5 days behind. Rob stayed outside and tried to work on the car. Too many people kept coming up to talk about the car. One gentleman was very interested because he has his father’s model A pickup that he hopes to learn how to start and drive soon.

Then we went to the National Quilt Museum. Today’s displays included quilts by the ladies from Gees Bend Alabama and modern quilts. Neither of us is impressed by any of these quilts. The modern quilts are unique patterns with lots of quilting. The Gees Bend quilts are made with no pattern and large pieces. The colors are not attractive and the work is not very good. They have been well received nationally. The miniature quilts are incredible. They are less than 15” square with hundreds to thousands of pieces. Most of theses quilts have won awards in major shows. Connie did buy a t-shirt with a print of one of the quilts that was on display. The back of that one was as interesting as the front.

We went to lunch at a fast food restaurant called Just Hamburgers. What a busy place. They really don’t have any seating and the line is several people long most of the time. Rob ordered the daily special which was a double cheeseburger. Connie ordered a grilled tenderloin. Turns out that is a grilled chicken breast on a hamburger bun. A real shock to the taste buds when they are expecting beef. The place is obviously popular with the locals.

After lunch we went to the Lloyd Tilghman House and Museum. This was a Civil War museum from the Confederates point of view. One of the guides had a great grandfather who fought and was severely wounded. The displays are nice and the volunteers were very informative. Several small groups from the river boat cruise docked in town were also there. They had been at the quilt museum as well.

We discussed where and what to do tomorrow as we have one more day before getting to Owensboro. We decided on Dover Tennessee for some additional Civil War history. Then off to the grocery store and gas station before settling in for the night.

Rob installed the side curtains on the woodie because of forecasted rain. The left headlight is not operational. The broken part is of course one that we did not bring along. Any night driving will be extremely limited for the rest of the trip. That is unless we use the lights on our cell phones.

Day 7 September 4, 2025 Seymour Missouri to Paducah Kentucky 276 miles

We had a little rain overnight. The side curtains were not on but the inside of the woodie didn’t get wet. That was lucky. Not raining now but very foggy. Rain is forecasted for tomorrow.

Next door is what appears to be an older motel converted into apartments. A resident came out with her dog. A rope is tied to a large tree. At the end of the rope is a ball. The dog loves to play with the rope and ball. It grabs the rope and spins very fast. Never seen a dog do that. It repeated the process several times.

The GPS took us on frontage roads whenever possible rather than going on the divided highway as much. Really don’t understand why. The frontage roads didn’t usually parallel the divided highway so we went a total of about 10 extra miles several times. The sights on the frontage roads might have been better. Sometimes the trees formed a canopy. We were not impressed when two sections were gravel.

We passed the Historic Home and Museum of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Unfortunately it didn’t soak in until we were well passed it and no good place to turn around. We will save that stop and visit for another time.

Some of the shoemack plants are beginning to change color. Their leaves are bright yelllow, orange and red. A few more weeks and the foliage should be very colorful.

We have seen numerous fields with a plant we are not familiar with. Our speculation is that they are peanuts. None of them are being harvested at this time.

Some of the corn fields are now being harvested. The corn stalks look brown. They are cutting it low to the ground and then seem to grind it before loading in big semis. Not sure where it goes from there. Rob thinks that it will be silage.

We drove off the highway into a small town to find a park and eat lunch. We found the small town. The only park was the baseball field. We parked under a tree near home base and ate our picnic lunch. On the way out a policeman stopped us and told us we were going the wrong way on a one-way street. He was nice and didn’t give us a ticket.

We finally got to a point of driving on backroads without zigzagging across the divided highway. These roads had a lot of traffic including semis. We crossed the Mississippi River and very shortly crossed the Ohio River. Both are large rivers at this point. The big bridges were narrow and felt very narrow when we met semis.

We finally arrived in Paducah about 5 pm. We needed to do laundry so we found the 24 hour laundromat. They use a card rather than quarters. The facility was clean and well maintained.

Tomorrow at least Connie will go to the National Quilt Museum and the large fabric store. By the way Paducah is one of a handful of UNESCO creative cities whatever that means.

Day 6 September 3, 2025 Emporia Kansas to Seymour Missouri

The sun is out in full force today. When we entered our destination in the GPS it indicted a flood warning for the area. Only a few miles into our journey we crossed a river that was higher than normal and the water was quite muddy. After that we didn’t see any signs of rain or flooding.

The terrain is very much the same. Rolling hills with green grass and trees. Occasionally a field of crops or cattle changes the scene. Still lots of small towns. Lots of squirrels crossing the road today. They are certainly brave. Also a few deer carcasses are on the side of the road.

We had a picnic lunch at a very small park in a very small town. The park was so small that it did not have a public toilet.

We saw one Amish buggy sign but no evidence of a buggy going on the road. Much later we saw another buggy sign and this time evidence of a buggy having traveled the road. Most likely multiple buggies. When we got to Seymour we stopped at the grocery store to buy supper. An Amish gentleman was just leaving, one was in the store and a couple was leaving as we were. We spoke briefly to the one shopping and he called the Woodie a horseless carriage. We only saw one buggy as we left. Buggy parking must be behind the store.

For a very few miles we drove on a portion of the old Route 66. We passed the turnoff to Joplin Missouri which is one of the towns the route passed through. We also drove along the edge of Springfield Missouri the birthplace of Route 66. Springfield has a population of over 169,000.

One section of our trip was in the Ozarks. The hills were a little taller and there were lots of trees. Felt like we were riding a slow moving roller coaster. Fall colors here must be beautiful.

We stopped at a McDonald’s for ice cream and a break. Both felt good. The day is warmer than some of the previous days. Not much wind either. The car did not get hot but we did.

We zigzagged through numerous roads. Some were US highways, some state highways and some county roads. So many more choices than in Wyoming.