Route 66 - Galena (Mater & Red)

These photos are from a trip taken on Route 66 from Joplin to Tulsa.

Galena, Kansas. In person it felt like we were standing at the end of Radiator Springs looking down main street.

We were told this 'ghost writing' inspired the "Welcome to Radiator Springs" sign.

This firetruck got brought into town after CARS came out, so he's not the original "Red", but pretty close!!

This was the truck that inspired Mater. Obviously, the eyes were added later.

Save Your Rations

One of the things, that is hard to find in Italy is Dr. Pepper. Sometimes we have visitors from the states bring some with them, in the past when we have travelled to Germany we brought some back with us (it's easier to find there) and finally we found a store in Rome that carries Dr. Pepper some of the time, so when we go there we bring some back with us. It is enough to get us by while we are here, actually the Dr. Pepper is more for me, Angie is more of a Root Beer fan, which is also hard to find in Italy. I have been rationing what we have, drinking one as a special drink every once in awhile. I just looked up in the cabinet and there are ten cans left! And since we have about ten weeks left before we leave that means I can have one per week until we depart! Now, if I could just find some more Root Beer for Angie and maybe a little Strawberry pop.

Summer Jamboree, the recap

So, we ended up hearing both bands. They were both really good. We went to the Cajun Tex Mex restaurant booth. I had chicken nuggets, some barbecue shishkebabs and a chicken fajita. All were small portions, but were good. Check out the videos below...

Summer Jamboree in Senigallia, Italy

So, tonight, we are meeting our friend Emanuela and several of her friends in the city of Senigallia, which is about 30 minutes North of Ancona on the eastern coast of Italy. Each summer they host something called the "Summer Jamboree", which is actually a celebration of American music, food and concepts. Last year, Angie and I went and we got some food that at least some resemblance of American cooking, at the very least it was something besides pizza or pasta. Check out the website here http://www.summerjamboree.com/. We are going to have dinner out there and then hear one of two bands, either The Black Crabs or the Abbey Town Jazz Orchestra. I've never heard either of them, but it still sounds like fun. The first group is a rockabilly band from Seattle, Washington, the other group is a big band ensemble, made up of 22 volunteer musicians playing songs by Duke Ellington and Count Basie. We aren't for sure which group, because our friend asked us to go hear one of them and didn't tell us which one. Either one is fine with me.

Click here to hear The Black Crabs music

Click here to hear The Abbey Town Jazz Orchestra's music