new and old auto

it was sad to say goodbye to my old friend muffy. we have had all 4 wheels off the ground at once, been on mountain tops, curvy roads, flat plains roads, and through water pot holes. but finally i needed air conditioning for summer--the heat is just to much for me. in colorado i could get by. and i was starting to trip on the lip when i got out. sigh..... so something different.

i was thinking about a yaris or honda... then thinking i will just keep the jeep and get a new top, radio/cd player, get the dent fixed. etc. and buy a golf cart to use around town for groceries and errands.

but then my nephew called and said he had found a mini for me. i had mentioned that what i really wanted was a mini, but didn't have the money for it. but he found a used one...2005 S.

it was more than i wanted to pay, but .............it had air, leather seats, heated seats, cd/radio, sun roof, fog lights, cruise control, .......... it was love at first sight.

my sister and i went shopping with the mini and were able to get our groceries and 4 big flower planters in the back with no problem. for most of our little shopping trips it will be fine. when it is snowy and slippery we will take the blazer. when we go cross country we will take the mini.

now i have bert in the garage. i took bert out today thinking i would drive to gi with it but decided to take the school car since my new insurance isn't quite the right kind for providing taxi service for kids needing to go to town. so what happens!. it hails. but i think it is okay.

trains old and new

On my way to Belle to pick up my "new" car i passed a train with these strange cars. I don't know what was in them, but suspect the contents maybe were parts for the planes that were on the two flatbeds following.

I had not ever seen planes on trains before. Of course, there were no wings!

Earlier that week I had gone with the students to North Platte where we saw an old steam engine. It was so large that it had two separate sets of drive wheels and was articulated. When you look at it from the front it is off center. I don't know exactly how it works. Guess I would have to see a model that actually worked. I have ridden on articulated buses, but it looks like the top part of the train does not bend, only the two bottom parts are articulated.

They had a mail car attached. it was interesting to see all the mail bags and slots.

There was also an old rail bicycle. Instead of two men powering the wheels by pushing a bar up and down, you could ride the rails by "bicycling." I am not sure you can see it all in the picture.