my 2000th post to boot!

A couple weeks ago, I took a week off from work and drove the XK8 from Ft Worth to my old hometowns in Mt Carmel Illinois, and then up to Indianapolis, Logansport, and my cousin's wedding in Star City, Indiana - a total of 2,400 miles in 9 days. The drive up and back blew pretty bad, especially alone, but I did each leg at night, and having the DVDs to watch made the time fly by pretty quickly.

I watched Underworld - Rise of the Lycans, Bolt, 300, You've got Mail, When Harry Met Sally and Matrix 2. I know, weird variety.

Here's the car getting packed up to go. I first put in the golf clubs, golf shoes, a bag with other shoes...you know, for the wedding, going out, casual, sandels, etc., a bag of cleaning supplies for the car, a small piece of luggage, a suit, two (2) dinner jackets, and a dozen misc shirts. I couldn't squeeze a single on top of that mess. Laptop and camera gear had to go up in the passenger front and jump seats.










I arrived in Mt Carmel Illinois after a 12.5 hour drive. The old motel was quaint to say the least. It was me, and one other tenant. Parking was easy to obtain and no chance of door dings! yeah!!





The next morning, before going to play some golf, I took a drive around my old stomping grounds, driving by the high school after a stop by McDonalds and had breakfast on the school steps. Temperatures in the upper 60s in the morning and upper 70s in the daytime. B-E-A-utiful weather for the top being down.



I took the car down by the baseball field where I played my last couple years, the only sport I would letter in. My moment in the spotlight was the game where I sent to dingers into the cemetery in left center field. That picture made it into the yearbook as well. I intended to get a picture of myself running the bases, but it turns out this field has been replaced by a newer one outside of town for highschool play. So, I had to walk around the weeded infield and then took these shots of the car.





Did I mention my motel was very 'basic'? Cable TV YES, internet... no. So, off to the corner on main street where there was an unsecured wireless router for the communications company NEWWAVE. At least the bandwidth was pretty fast.





I updated my facebook while on vacation, and my friend Aaron heard I was sitting on the sidewalk using the local cable store's internet, so he invited me back to his place of business..the Mt Carmel Fire Station No. 1. Golf on TV and a comfy couch to sit while using their internet. We tried to schedule a time to take the ladder truck out for a test run, but couldn't make it work out...I think i would have enjoyed that outing.





This town of 8000 had a small welcoming to one of the residences returning from a tour in Iraq. Great turnout...both police cruisers, a couple fire trucks, and about 200 people came out to welcome him home. I was proud to be in the group applauding his safe return.





Played lots of golf on my vacation, getting 4 rounds in three different cities.

 

Drove up to Indianpolis after a few days here, and got a little rain on the car when I got there. So many bugs and spots...had to wash her again.







Here we are (me and the car) at my favorite hot dog stand...B&K Root Beer in Logansport Indiana. $1.15 each for soft, warm, spanish cheese dogs and the root beer served in chilled mugs on a tray that secures to your window...not mine though, I chose to sit on the picnic tables (no eating in the jag).



Got invited to my cousins bachelor party, and this is the only shot I have of that evening...parking the car in front of the best man's house. No other pictures were taken that night!



Driving out to the rehearsal dinner location, it only seemed appropriate to stop amongst all of the corn fields and take a quick picture.



I took a moment to visit my old neighborhood where I grew up as a kid...from kindergarten to 7th grade - Walton Indiana. This is my old 'subdivision' and stopped by the little league ballpark where the Shamrocks kicked some serious butt in their days with me on the team. That slide in the background...well, it was different back then - a metal one I think, but on that very spot, I kissed a girl for the first time. A good memory to say the least.







Since I didn't take any pics of the jag at the wedding chapel, I did snap a couple of the groom, sitting outside waiting for his bride to have her pictures taken. He waited paitently outside. His Pontiac Grand Prix GXP sitting there waiting for the big getaway. (It's not a jag, but still a very nice car!)





Now, on the way home, I passed this farm implement store...and this huge combine thingy parked along the road. I had to get a side-by-side with it. I think i could have driven the car up under this thing!



Hope you enjoyed the diary and pics!

 

Great post , h20
What a mileage to post this thread , you hit 2K posts (lol )
I'm happy you had great fun and very happy with your trip as well

 

Good job Matt! How nice it must have been to be able to roll down Memory Lane in a good looking Jag!
Best,
Brian

 

Looks like a nice trip. I literally just got back from a trip from Southwest Minnesota to Bozeman, Montana for a family reunion. I wish I took the Jag. I went with my parents and my oldest brother, sister-in-law, and my little niece. We took a rented Toyota Sienna minivan. The roads around the area would have been great to explore with the top down...and all the relatives wanted to see the Jag anyway.

By the way, the farm implement in the last picture is a sprayer and they come in even larger sizes.

 

I love the big *** crop thingy jingy pic.

 

Reminds me of that one in CARS chasing Tomater and Lightning Mcqueen, ha ha

 

thanks K.W, i sense a farming background in your lineage...true? Next trip you get a chance to drive to Montana, you must. Take a couple extra days for the drive and enjoy the views. on the highway windows up for the good gas mileage...but thru town and tooling around, put that top down. A minivan would have killed my little stroll thru memory lane...like sharing the past with an old friend (<- the car)

That thing was huge, I can't imagine anything larger except in the construction industry.

Glad you guys liked the trip diary.

 

Very well done, Matt. Great photos and narative. Can't think of a classier way to stroll down memory lane. The car really looks outstanding. By the way, what was the camera setup for the photos?

Regards

Tim

 

Since I forgot to say it in my last post, great photos, they look so vibrant and the Jag looks so clean (I'm guessing it was a constant battle against bugs). I'm glad you had a great trip.

Yes I have a bit of a farm background, but not all that directly. Several of my uncles farmed in Montana and my grandparents farmed, but I barely got to see them growing up. I did spend quite a bit of time growing up in rural areas and spent most of my childhood in towns with less than 5000 people.