Shivering My Way to Carolina: March 23rd-- Part 1: Special Songs

MARCH 23RD, Sunday: Mileage 24,809, 28.4 mpg. 34 degrees (the car had been parked in the garage), but feels more like 5 degrees with blustery wind. One good thing about leaving on a Sunday morning is getting to cruise with Bob Stroud's Rock and Roll Roots show on WDRV, the Drive. At 9:21, he played the Who's "Magic Bus," a good song to go cruising with as I passed Goat Hill on Il-120 outside of Woodstock. One goat was braving the cold. The Leaning Silo of Woodstock was leaning even more. On Queen Anne Road, my Woodstock bypass, I passed the house/farmette that I wouldn't mind occupying. The car thermometer read 21 biting cold degrees. //// Woodstock is always expensive on gas and most stations at $3.80. $3.87 at Stark's Corner (Il-72, Il-47 and US-20). //// WDRV was featuring Ten at Ten (ten songs from one year) all weekend and I got to hear one from 1972, always a fun choice and my last full year in college. First song off the bat was my favorite Jim Croce song, "Operator." //// Later, they played "Rocket Man" by Elton John, another favorite one and one that reminds me of another road trip I made in the spring of 1972. I drove my 1963 puke green Rambler station wagon, aptly-named "Ramblin' Wreck." That vehicle used about a quart of oil every 50-100 miles and people could smell it coming a ways off. Awesome smoke screens as well. //// Liz had worked with the spring carnival for NIU and they had Elton John performing at the Chick Evans Fieldhouse. We were center stage, about three rows back. And, the number one song in the country and Chicago-- "Rocket Man." ///// --RoadDog