The Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure

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The Drawer Problem

 This is the thickness of the drawer wall.  I tried to spin it around but ... well...

This is the inside of the drawer.  Note the multiple holes.

The front of the drawer with the two little screw ends sticking out.

Poor little screw heads.  Maybe a centimetre of grabbing power.

This is the the thickness of the front panel.  It is beveled on the front.

The back of the panel.  Multiple holes and remnants of the failed wood filler experiment.

Here's a close up.  Wood has left the building!

Here's what one of the good drawers looks like inside.

Here's a shot showing the warp in the wood.  The board is laying flat on the counter.  That's a nickel next to it.  I would guess that you could put a nickel under each side and the middle of the panel would still touch the counter.  The warp is different through the entire board.

The Rest of the Trip!

So . . . ye come seeking tales of salty old pirates do ye?  That was the feeling I got anyway (yes, I'm looking at you Midhrifs!).  The problem was, after a long day at Disneyland, the thought of cobbling together a blog for another hour and a half seemed a little "not-so-good".  But here it is now.  The rest of the trip!

Carsland opened a year ago and this was our first visit.  A perfect way to end Route 66 is to end up in a fantasy version of Route 66.  The biggest difference is that Radiator Springs in Carsland has trees.  Route 66 as you have seen, not so much.

First stop after getting our Fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers was a spin on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.

Then, a walk down Route 66 to Luigi's Flying Tires.  I was afraid they were going to be hard to steer but they were pretty easy.  We got a few good hits in!

After that we took a quick peek at what awaited us later that day.  The gigantic Radiator Springs Racers.  Can you believe the rock work?  Compare it with those earlier photos of Arizona.  Crazy!

The Disney folks have done a helluva job with the new additions to California Adventure.  Come.  Look.  Enjoy.  Do as the Mouse tells you.

Look in to the eyes of the Mouse.  You can't resist, can you?  Book your ticket now!

 "Book, book, book.  Ticket, ticket, ticket."

Radiator Springs looks amazing at night.  So much neon.  Radiator Springs Racers is amazing day or night.  It's a really incredible ride.  If you don't mind "spoilers" go to YouTube and watch a complete ride on this attraction.  If you do mind spoilers, "Book, book, book.  Ticket, ticket, ticket!"  I'm telling you, it's a great ride!

The next day, we went over to Disneyland itself and rode on the Omnibus.

We hit all the hotspots in Adventureland.

We did the Haunted Mansion.  We had mint juleps.

The park looks great, as always.

The we hopped on the Monorail for a quick trip over to the Disneyland Hotel.  I managed to squeeze off a quick shot of our hotel.

I also got a quick shot of Buena Vista Street.

Our destination was Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar.  Great drinks and I got two new tiki mugs for my collection!

 (yes, the eyes move)

The next morning, even though we just had breakfast (and another ride on Radiator Springs Racers) we thought gigantic goody milkshakes were in order.  You got a problem with that?  The folks at Ghirardelli mix up some fine treats.

After some "Soaring over California" and a visit to the fantastic Animation exhibit that California Adventure has, it was time to leave.

 Bye, bye.

Oh!  We did some shopping too.

Buy, buy!

Everybody flew home except for Fred and I.  Time to hit the dusty trail for Vancouver!  A late start took us in to one of those classic LA sunsets.

The next morning found us in Santa Nella.  Our motel was right next door to Pea Soup Andersen's!  Hap-Pea and Pea-Wee mixed us up some nice pea soup for breakfast.  With pancakes.  Seriously.

 Hap-Pea is the one with the mallet.

Long days of driving aren't super conducive to picture taking, but we manged to take a few!

In Eugene, Oregon, a couple of Dodge station wagons got together for a family picture.

We missed the collapse of the Skagit River bridge by about an hour and a half and got home safe and sound.  As I headed in to the house, I turned and took a picture of the "old man" and his car.

Oh yeah.  Fred got called an "old man" on the Indiana Jones ride.  Sorry Fred, but you know it was a funny story.  If you ever see Fred folks, ask him to tell the story.  You'll love it.  He won't, but you will.


And that was it.  The true end of the trip.  It was an unbelievably fantastic 2 weeks.  Thank you Fred for instigating the whole thing, and thank you all for coming along for the virtual ride!

Check back here from time to time.  You never know.  I might just keep doing this!  : )

The End of the Line.

Spending the night at the Wigwam Inn was great.  Every so often though, there was kind of a funny noise outside.  Was it a cat?  A trucker?  A neighbor?  Who knows.  All we do know is that Danny Fenton was staying at the same hotel and it turns out that he is a big Route 66 booster.  He sent us on our way in fine style.

.

Behind the hotel there was a rooster that sounded like a screaming person, (or a screaming person that sounded like a rooster) so we headed out on the road as early as possible.  We had 77 miles to go, all of it on city streets.  Sort of like driving from Chilliwack to Richmond, but the road alternates between Kingsway and the King George Hwy all the way.  All.  The.  Way.  There are tributes to its 66 heritage all the way.

 

 

There all also many reminders of  days gone by as well.

 

 

We stopped at Philippe's, the home of the French Dipped Sandwich.  Mmm, mmm, good!
It was packed with people and got busier the longer we were there.

Once you get past downtown L.A., you're on Santa Monica Blvd. all the way.  There are probably more strange things on Sunset Blvd, but you can't beat a geyser in the middle of the road!

A quick drive through the Hollywood Forever Cemetery let us pay our respects to one of the greats.

Almost at the end of the road, Eric snapped this shot of our reflection.

 

 

 Santa Monica, California!  The end of a 1300 mile journey!

 

 

Hooray!

 

We celebrated at the El Cholo Café in Santa Monica. 

 

 

 

Great food.  Great friends.  Who could ask for anything more?

 

 

 

Well, that's it!  Thanks for coming along for the ride everyone. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go to Disneyland!

The Last Two Days

Sorry for the interruption folks.  You did get to see mule pictures though.  That's something, isn't it?Anyway, here we go.  Morning in Seligman and another big day ahead of us. Remember, you can click on the photos to make 'em bigger. This is the part of the drive we've been waiting for.  The trip to Oatman!  This time we had breakfast across the street from the Roadkill Café. 

 "The Roadkill Café from across the street"

After breakfast we took another walk around town and poked around in some of the wonderfully cluttered shops.  Tour buses had pulled in to town and the place was full of German tourists.

After that we headed out on the road and before long we came to Grand Canyon Caverns where we had yet another celebrity sighting!  Herbie the Love Bug!  Not a snob at all, and the two cars got along great.  Before we left, Herbie squirted oil on a rich creep's leg.  That Herbie.  He's still got it!

Still further along the road we came to the Hackberry General Store. 

 

 

We got the prime spot right in front of the gas pumps.

 

 

It's always good to see a little Tiki along the road as well!

Before long we came in for lunch in Kingman.  

They know how to make a Canadian feel welcome.

I know, I know.  You're all clammering for Oatman.  "Bring on the mules!  Bring on the mules!" you chant.  Oh, don't you worry.  There will be mules.  We'll get to them very soon . . .

 

 

. . . But not before a show of our incredible acting skills!

The road to Oatman is like the road to Hana on Maui.  Except it's in the desert.  They're nice companion pieces.  Everyone should do them both.  Now.  Go ahead.  I'll wait.

As we pulled in, 8 people ran over to take pictures of the car.  It was the craziest thing.  We hadn't even finished parking yet!  Then the mule put his head in the window and wackiness ensued.

"Three asses in Oatman" 

 

 

We had a drink in the Oatman Hotel.  Yes, those are dollar bills covering everything.

 

 

Then it was on to Lake Havasu and the Heat Hotel.  Aptly named because it was around 100 degrees.

Here, Eric and I spend some quality time together.

 

 

 

 

 The hotel is located right next to London Bridge.

 

 

 Today we cross the Mojave Desert. It could be a little hot our there today folks!

Follow the signs and everything should be ok.

First, we pass through Needles, California.  Home of Snoopy's ne'er do well brother Spike.

We pulled in to an old Texaco station that a fella is refurbishing.  He's hoping to get some old Texaco gas pumps in the near future.  It will look great when it's all done.

The Mojave Desert awaits.  It's a long drive through a pretty harsh landscape.  The abandoned hotels and service stations seem somehow more stark is this area.  Have a look.

In Barstow, California we went to the great Route 66 Museum that they have there.  It's located in an old Harvey Hotel.  If you don't know about this old hotel chain, look it up on Google.  Really neat.

 

After Barstow, we stopped in Victorville for dinner before

moving on to our surprise final destination for today . . .

 

 

. . . The Wig Wam Inn in San Bernardino!

This was an unplanned treat.  We originally were going to stay in Barstow, but it was still early in the day so we kept on driving.  These are really neat motel rooms and it's a great way to wind down the trip.  They are a great example of the fun that was on the old road.  I think there's only two of these motels still left.  We stopped at the one in Holbrook, Arizona you may remember.

Tomorrow we have 77 miles to go before we reach the Santa Monica Pier and the end of the road.  There's still lots of stuff to see along the way though.  I'll let you know how it all turned out.  Until then . . .

 

. . . nighty, night.