Dirk and Lincoln
Day 1
Dirk at Work
Day 2
Winchester to Lincoln
Day 3
To Nevada
Day 4
Back to Cali
Day 5
Studebaker and Crosley
Postlude - November 18, 2018
I'm adding a postlude to report an incident from the middle of the trip.
Attentive readers may have wondered why, after I mentioned the casinos
near my hotel in Carson City, there were no pictures of neon. It wasn't
quite dark when I headed out for dinner with just my pocket camera. I took
a few pictures of the neon as it got darker but they were horrible. The
little Panasonic does not do well with bright lights. I planned to return
later with the Nikon. I stopped at the first of the city's two breweries
and had one beer. I decided I would next check out the other brewery and
either eat there or stop again at the first one on the way back. After
walking about four blocks, I encountered these
steps in front of the brewery. I made it up the first step and halfway
up the second. The story I'm going with is that my feet, after finding the
first step quite small assumed the second was the same size and caught it
midway up. With my hands pocketed because of the temperature, I smashed
into the sidewalk essentially unhindered.
There was pain and there was blood. The blood was from a split lip. I leaned forward to let it drip on the sidewalk. I considered that the side of my face might be completely caved in and eventually took a selfie with my phone to see how bad it was. Not too bad. When the blood stopped dripping, I moved on into the brewery. I was a little surprised that no one had come by while I was painting the sidewalk, but I quickly realized that even now there were just a half dozen people in the establishment. Two guys ran a karaoke setup, two patrons and the karaoke operators all took turns singing, and the barmaid served me a beer. I sat at the end of the bar wiping blood from my face and hands with bar napkins. I finished the beer and headed straight back to the hotel.
By morning, the eye was getting dark but I could now tell for sure that nothing was broken and that the abrasions weren't too serious. It was a little darker the next morning and maybe even the next but I think the undocumented peak actually hit between those two pictures. By the time I got home there were hints of recovery. No permanent damage. Just a hard reminder that us old guys need to watch where and how we walk. And that, dear friends, is why there were no pictures of Carson City neon.
November 7, 2018 (day 5)
Studebaker and Crosley are both great names in American manufacturing
although the products I saw today probably aren't what most people
associate with them. I ended the day on a riverboat King whose big wheel
does not keep turning.
November 6, 2018 (day 4)
I passed under both Reno arches, visited a historic marker with upgraded
protection, and spent some time at Donner Summit. I also drove some dirt
and saw some bears though not at the same time.
November 5, 2018 (day 3)
With the exception of a side trip to Sutter's Mill, this was pretty much
an all Lincoln Highway day. In Nevada, I went straight to the capital
'cause that's what the Lincoln does.
November 4, 2018 (day 2)
I headed directly to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose then worked
my way back to Lodi on the Lincoln Highway.
November 3, 2018 (day 1)
A predawn shuttle got me to the Indianapolis airport in time for my
flight, and my flight got me to California in time to check out a couple
of Lodi breweries in early afternoon. Then I checked into my motel in time
to relax a bit before heading on to Stockton in time to catch every note
of the second night of the 1980s Dirk Hamilton Band reunion.
Prelude - November 1, 2018
I committed to this trip several weeks back and should have had a prelude
posted long the day preceding departure which is what today is. Tomorrow
I'm driving to Indianapolis and will spend the night there before heading
west on an airplane Saturday morning. The purpose is more rock and roll.
It's almost like an extension of the trip that ended Tuesday.
Maybe you've seen the name Dirk Hamilton on this site. I'm a big fan. Dirk sometimes refers to himself as "The next big thing that never was." I discovered him right about the time his run at the big time came to an abrupt end. It was the late 1970s. I bought his four major label LPs but didn't expect to ever see him perform. The world has been lucky in that Dirk couldn't really stay away from music and I've been lucky in that I've seen him perform several times. Usually solo, a couple shows as a duo, and once I saw him do a song or two with a sort of jam session pick-up band.
Dirk was born in Indiana and now lives in Texas but his home is in Stockton, California. Last Saturday he received the Career Achievement Award from the City of Stockton Arts Commission. His 1980s bandmates still live in the area and when they heard about the award they thought a reunion would be fun. Dirk agreed and they are doing two shows at a place where they once played frequently. I'll be in the audience for the second one.
After thinking that I'd probably never see Dirk with a band, the chance to see him with a group he once worked with on a regular basis is super exciting. I'd happily make the trip for that alone. But I'll admit that flying to California for just a couple of hours isn't all that sensible so I'm sticking around for a few days/ Probably drive some Lincoln Highway while I'm there.