Cape Girardeau History and Photos

September 18, 2014September 18, 2014

Happy Days: Gas Hits $3.03

When we were teenagers pumping gas when it was going for $.36.9, did we ever dream we’d be excited to see gas drop to $3.03 like it did at the gas station in Jackson on Wednesday?

I was pretty happy when I filled up in Pilot Knob for $3.11 on Tuesday. I had been driving for quite awhile after the Low Fuel Light had come on. I calculated in my head that we could make it all the way back to Cape, plus or minus 20 miles on the gas that was in the tank.

I felt pretty comfortable with the “plus” part, but didn’t want to walk from somewhere west of Millersville in the dark if the “minus” part turned out to be right, so I filled the tank to be on the safe side. I guess the $1.28 extra I spent was worth the peace of mind.

Gas station stories over the years

September 17, 2014

A REAL Highway Patrol Car

THIS is the way a state highway patrol car should look: two-tone paint scheme with a big logo on the side. Fins. Bubble gum machine on the top.

Who cares about aerodynamics when you have a big engine under the hood.

Big mechanical siren bolted to the fender. One that took several seconds to wind up to full volume, then took just as long to die out when it was turned off. That siren didn’t yelp, bleat, burp or play bird songs: it had the voice of authority.

Don’t forget the big 96-inch low-band two-way radio whip antenna that would go thumpa, thumpa thumpa when the vehicle stopped suddenly. Bad guys soon learned that nobody outruns Motorola.

When you look at this car, you think of Broderick Crawford growling, “Two-Fifty-One to Headquarters,” not some chirpy pretty boys like Jon and Ponce on their CHIPs motorcycles worrying if the wind is going to muss their hair.

Yep, this is a car I’d rather see at the SEMO District Fair than in my rearview mirror.

Older stories and photos of Missouri Highway Patrolmen

September 16, 2014

American Motors

I shot these photos of American Motors November 3, 2013, intending to do some research on the business, but I never got around to it. The building was on S. Kingshighway north of the intersection with South Sprigg and the old Viaduct Court. It was south of John’s Metal Iron and Salvage (AKA John’s Junk Yard).

It’s gone now

Mother and I took a quick drive down to Dutchtown Monday afternoon, made a quick turn on the old Highway 61 that leads to the Diversion Channel boat ramp to see how much the Mississippi was backing up into the Big Ditch, then headed north on Kingshighway.

When we got to where these photos were taken, Mother said, “Something’s missing.”

She was right. All that was left of American Motors was the parking lot.

Anybody remember anything about it? I’m sure I was never in there.

September 14, 2014

Pursuing the Wild Pine Cone

The temps in Cape have gotten low enough for enough days that the concrete basement walls are starting to radiate cold. Mother lit the first fire of the season this morning.

I was editing photos all day, so I didn’t know that it had eventually gotten nice outside. The temperatures were mild and there was no wind. I told Mother is was a perfect time to replenish her pine cone supply. (I mentioned last winter how well pine cones work as fire starters.

When we cruised by Jackson City Park earlier in the week, we saw a couple of our regular trees were dropping cones, but they were a lot smaller than last year.

Like an Easter egg hunt

We found a tree down near the river that filled two five-gallon buckets in about 20 minutes. Then, we went looking for a park Brother Mark thought might have some trees. We pulled into a parking spot and hit the mother lode. I started filling my bucket again when I noticed Mother wasn’t in the van.

She didn’t want to be left out of the fun, so she had snatched a bag and a grabber and started working the tree on the other side of the parking spot.

The grabber she’s using is similar to this one on Amazon, but available locally for not much more.

Two 13-gallon bags full

In not more than 20 or 30 minutes of actual picking, we managed to fill two 13-gallon trash bags with fire starters. Based on the number of cones high up in the trees, it looks like there will plenty to last the winter.

I was using a new grabber. I was in Ace Hardware to pick up some odds and ends when I saw a bright yellow whatsit that looked interesting until I saw an $18.99 price tag on it. Then I looked again and it was marked down to either $3.99 or $4.99. The one Mother is using has rubber grippers that would make it better for picking up things off top shelves and doesn’t require as much force to use.

My fancy yellow one would pick up two or three cones at a time and has magnets in the end (which didn’t help with pine cones). It also had an annoying squeak that silicone spray should fix.