Getting Older By the Day, Those Tires, Old Friends, Half-Times, Sunnyside and Donovan's Reef

TUESDAY, MAY 24

My 71st birthday.  Who'd have figured?

Had the truck towed to Quality Tire for new tires.  Yesterday I had a flat tire and couldn't get the tire off because the lug nuts were rusted tight.  Did some yardwork and cut the grass.

Met friends Sue and Paul who are in from New Mexico and with whom I'll be going to the Indy 500 on Friday as well as Kevin and Kelly at Half-Times in Johnsburg for pizza and $1 beers.  Then went to Sunnyside.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 25

Met Kevin and Kelly at Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.

THURSDAY, MAY 26

Packed for tomorrow's trip and went to Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg.

--RoadOld

Doing That Ol' Coronavirus Thing: Sturgis-- Schools-- MAC-- Pam's-- Indy 500

Seems to be the thing these days:

1.  STURGIS--  Well, we'll be seeing what impact having a huge number of people congregating in one area has on the spread of the cv.  250,000 folks and probably not much in the way of masks or social distancing.

2.  SCHOOLS--  Chicago has put off opening schools for awhile.  All schools should do that and don't open until a vaccine is found or the cv has run its course.

3.  MAC--  The Mid American Conference canceled all fall sports, including football, until spring.  Good move.  All college football teams should follow suit.  (Just a moment ago I saw that the Big 10,11,12,13,14 had also put off fall til spring.)

4.  PAM'S--  Saturday we went to Pam's house in Johnsburg and got together with friends who had move to New Mexico.  We social distanced.

5.  INDY 500--  The Indy 500 did the right thing and won't allow people to see the race August 23.  The friends from New Mexico and I have seen the last eight Indys.

No Indy for Us This Year.  --RoadLess

Heading Out for Indianapolis for This Little Ol' Race This Weekend

In just a little while, I'll be heading over to Long Lake, Illinois, to meet Sue and Paul and leave in their RV for another trip to Indianapolis to see this little old race.

This is now probably my seventh or eighth time there and I am becoming a bit of a fan, though I never thought I'd be.  I'm not a racing car fan.

Thursday, we park the RV at the American Legion Post 500 in Speedway, Indiana, which is located right across the street from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  You can't get any closer than that.

Thursday, we walk over to Speedway's Main Street and party there.  Friday we go to Carb Day which will have the racers doing last laps before Sunday, then there is a 100 mile race by the Indy Lights cars, which are racers trying to make the 33-car field on Sunday.  Then there is a concert, this year featuring Foreigner and Kool & the Gang.

--RoadDog

Old Friends, Stucky's and Sunnyside Tap

SUNDAY, APRIL 7

We went to Stucky's in Johnsburg, Illinois, and enjoyed the$1.50 pints and mac and cheese bites for $4 and talked with Rich (from Donovan's), Double D (the NIU football fan) and others.  This place is becoming a major hangout for us.  Stucky's also has $1.50 draft on Tuesdays.  Otherwise a draft will set you back $2.50.

Then, we went to Sunnyside Tap, about a quarter mile away and talked with more friends.  Sunnyside is a real "Cheers" place.  Generally, we know most every person in there, if not by name, then by face.  Always somebody to talk with and not a whole lot of "Idge" phone staring.  Most times that does occur is to look up some bit of "pertinent" information concerning a conversation.

Sunnyside Tap has Happy Hour from 4 to 6 p.m. everyday,when a draft pint is $1.50.  Pints cost$2.50 otherwise unless its Monday, when it is $1.50 all day.

Can you guess which days we're most likely be at these places?

--RoadDog

EGGCELLENT EASTER JOKES:  Q:  Why does Peter Cottontail go hopping down the bunny trail?  A:  Because he is too young to drive.

Old Friends, the Legion, a Band and Some Bodacious NCAA Games

APRIL 6, SATURDAY

I was able to get out in the yard to burn the huge number of limbs and trees that were either dropped by winter storms or cut down by Jerry, but those pine limbs are just too fresh to burn well, so did not have much success.

Liz and I went to the Fox  Lake American Legion at 3 pm, and met Glen and Barb and enjoyed listening to the three-piece band, the Neil Rose Band, playing 60s music.  Sure enjoyed their playing "Don't Bogart That Joint" song which I have never heard a band do live before.  That was a great song from that even greater "Easy Rider" soundtrack.

Watched some of the greatest college basketball games ever in the NCAA Elite 8.  Texas Tech defeated #1 Seed Gonzaga 75-69 and Virginia beat Purdue 80-75.

Sports just doesn't get much better than this.

--RoadDog

EGGCELLENT EASTER JOKES:  Q:  What do you call an egg from outer space?   A:  An "Egg-stra terrestrial."

Two Funerals In Four Days: Jim Terryberry and Ken Reid

This has been a rough week for Liz and myself.

On Monday, we went to the funeral of a good friend, Jim Terryberry, 72,  in Antioch, Illinois,  at Strang Funeral Home.  He is a friend from back in Round Lake and he and his wife would come out to see me deejay at Tom's Cafe in Johnsburg, Illinois, pretty much every St. Patrick's Day.

Plus, we would run into them at various festivals in the area during the summer.

Thursday, we went to the funeral of Kenny Reid, 68,  at Justin Funeral Home in McHenry, Illinois.  Wherever you would find Kenny, you'd find fun.  That was just the way he was.  A graduate of McHenry High School, Class of '68, he was  instrumental in their yearly reunions which were real blowouts.

He also played NTN with us a  lot at Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.

Hard To Take.

Good Bye to Performer and Friend Terry Spizzirri (Half Garlic and Half Celtic)

Terry Spizziri, one of our all-time favorite performers and good friend, died at age 66 last Sunday after a month-long sickness.

We had known him for 40 years and he played at both Liz and my 40th birthday parties.

For many years he performed solo, but in the last years had added his nephew Greg to his show which, as he oft-said "Spanned the Musical Horizons."  He played everything from the 1940s to current, with a whole lot of oldies as well as Irish music.

He was very proud of his Irish heritage, even with a name like Spizzirri (his mother was Irish and father Italian).  He liked to describe himself as half garlic and half Celtic.  And could he ever sing the Irish music and was definitely in demand around St. Patrick's Day.

There was his long-standing monthly dates at the Irish Mill in Mundelein, Illinois.

St. Patrick's and Around the Chain Just Aren't Going to Be the Same.  We'll Miss You Terry.  --

Saying Goodbye to Alfons

Tuesday, there was a memorial service for Al Sowka. 

He had been cremated, so no body, but lots of pictures, many of which were the Alfons we remember.  As Liz was signing the guestbook, she heard me chuckling around the corner where I found a shot of a long-haired, mutton-chopped late 60s early 70s hippy Al.  Now, that was funny.

Enjoyed looking at all the photos and as the deacon said, we were not just there to see Al off, we were there to celebrate our lives with him and those old pictures sure did.

Al's Cubs and Bears jacket were up at the front as well, although I think the jacket should have been cremated with him.

Back at Donovan's, Jeff was playing Alfons' NTN board.  I played Cub Al and Go Al and Liz played an Al board, trying to get him on the Top 20 nationally, or at least Top Ten locally, but it wasn't to be.

Yesterday, I mentioned the song "A Dying Cub Fan's Dying Lament" by the late great Steve Goodman and decided to go to You Tube and give a watch.

I found a really great one of the song featuring Goodman sitting at one of the Rooftops across from Wrigley Field with the ballpark behind him and groundskeepers going about their work

A very fitting memorial to Alfons as well.  See it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xBxZGQ1d3k.

Or, just type the song and name in.

Goodbye, Alfons.

Strange Weather Indeed

We have definitely had some strange weather these last few days. Who'd have figured that we'd have 60 degree temperatures in Chicagoland in early January. Not, only that, but we had thunderstorms, and then, there were the tornadoes. Who'd have figured we'd have tornadoes in the area in January.

I was out in the sun room writing in the journal and listening to a recording I'd made of Little Steven's Underground Garage, when Liz said that there were tornado warnings in Kenosha County, right over the border in Wisconsin about eight miles from here.

The Weather Channel has called "The sky is falling" so often that I don't much pay attention to their warnings any more. But, this time, they were right. Around 6 they started showing pictures on the Milwaukee stations of the damage.

They were hit by full-fledged tornadoes, none, fortunately were down by us.

From the location, it sounded like the subdivision where a good friend of ours, Gary, used to live before moving to Florida a few years ago. It was. I called Gary in Florida and told him to turn to the Weather Channel and it was his subdivision. They even showed his former house that was obliterated except for the garage. He said he didn't have insurance because it was in a flood plain and he wouldn't pay the extra money. So, he was one mighty fortunate lad not to be living there anymore.

Plus, he had a barn in Wheatland off Wilmot Road, Hwy W, where he kept his classic sports cars and business equipment. He also rented winter boat storage to us and many of his friends. He said that place also was not insured. We know the tornadoes were in the area, but not whether it was hit as well.

Fun and Games in Illinois and Wisconsin. --RoadDog

A Good Christmas

Liz and I opened the gifts last night and had eggnog. Watched "Santa Clause 2" and I watched "A Christmas Story." Liz doesn't like this movie at all. I, on the other hand have now seen it three times on the TBS marathon.

We're going over to visit Frances at the nursing home in just a little while. We'll stop back by Kora's for some Christmas cheer before coming home for Christmas dinner.

A Mighty Good Christmas. --RoadDog

Is an RV in My Future?

I doubt it, but you never know. It might be just the thing for roadtrips of which I am very fond. I also like staying in the mom and pop motels which are generally cheaper. And then there is the huge cost of gas, low RV mileage, and big gas tanks on them.

I probably won't make up my mind until I get the opportunity to go out in one.

Right now, my brother and his wife have a RV and two of our friends, Sue and Paul, just got bitten by the bug. They just bought one at the beginning of the summer and enjoyed it so much, they're already looking to buy another one. One that, as they say, is more to their specifications.

I also am a Road Advisor on the Road Trip America forum, and the guy who started it got into roadtrippin' after his home in California burned down in a forest fire. They bought a really big RV and "hit the road."

Anyway, what brings RVs to mind is an article in the June 16th Chicago Tribune titled "A shrine to kings of the road" by Bob Sector. It is about the new RV Hall of Fame museum in Elkhart, Indiana.

I will write about the article in my other blog http://roaddogsroadlog.blogspot.com

Still Wonderin'. --RoadDog

Chain is Open and No More No Wake

Yesterday, my buddy Frank came by and we went out boating as it was sunny, but humid.

Put gas in the boat. I buy from gas stations and container it out to the boat. As BAD as prices are at the land stations, on the water, it is at least 75 cents to a buck more.

We had checked the local waterway agency and saw that the no wake (where you can't make waves while moving) was still on. While cruising across Fox Lake to Electric Harbor, we saw quite a few boats going at high speeds and making wakes of course.

Once at the Harbor, we found out that the no wake had been lifted at noon. Good news!!!

The special at the Electric Harbor on Wednesdays is $1 Johnsonville brats. Now how can you beat that? Then, there's the fantastic view as we were sitting out at the gazebo and could see right down the whole of the lake.

We boated along, happy now that we could go fast, a great help when the wind dies down. Next stop was Baja Benny's with their great Caribbean decor. Baja's is at the old Costello's, a favorite watering hole for many years.

It Was a Good Day to be Out and About on the Chain. --RoadDog

Bunch of OLD Teachers Get Together Last Friday

I meet Kip for breakfast on most Fridays. He was at Magee a year before I got there in 1973, after having taught a couple years in Minnesota. He taught wood shop for many years, until the district dropped the program and he was transferred over to the high school where he taught a REAL subject, social studies, until he retired about four years ago.

We've remained good friends though and continue meeting at Dino's in Fox Lake (near me) and the Triangle Restaurant in Grayslake (near him). It's good to keep up with old colleagues.

He had a surprise for me when I showed up at the Triangle last Friday. An old buddy of mine from the high school, John, was in from Nevada where he has been living for seven years after his retirement. He says he can't believe how fast the area where he now lives is building up. His subdivision in Henderson was way out in the sticks when he moved there, but Las Vegas has grown out to it and past it.

They need teachers very badly and often try to get him back into the profession. But he has resisted. Why work when you can collect 75% of your pay? AND, do exactly what you want to be doing.

Then, Paul dropped by from Kenosha. He has been retired for three years and lives in Kenosha, Wi, about 40 miles away.

Everyone agrees that retirement time really goes by fast and that you just don't get as much accomplished as you thought you would. There's that, "I'll do it tomorrow mentality." I know I have barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to do this past year.

We had a great time talking about the old days and have a tentative plans to get-together out in Las Vegas in early December.

Kip and I usually get to breakfast at 8:30 and leave by 10. I had planned to do some shopping at nearby Gurnee Mills since I was in the area. We ended up staying until noon.

Here's to Good Times, Here's to Good Friends. --RoadDog