MY NEXT ROAD TRIP IN 2027?

 On November 11, 2026, Route 66 is celebrating one hundred years. This road was the first highway to be paved in our country and it spans eight states and 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, California. I'm not going to go this year, but what would be interesting to see on this road in the Spring of 2027? There are several states I've never been in: New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Let's take a look:

AMBLER'S TEXACO STATION

It opened in 1933 in Illinois and did not stop selling gas until 1999.  Gas attendants used to wear bow ties here.  You can take pictures of this station which is now a visitor center with nostalgic things inside.

ARISTON CAFE

In Illinois, the restaurant is the oldest restaurant to operate under the same family on route 66., beginning in 1935.  It is know for it's desserts, but it's old style serving.

THE PINK ELEPHANT ANTIQUE MALL

Also in Illinois it's a large antique mall that specializes in the unusual. How often do you see a pink elephant?

THE URANUS FUDGE FACTORY

You can guess what they specialize in at this general store in Missouri.  They also have a museum inside and it's a great place for kids and fudge too.

66 DRIVE-IN THEATRE IN MISSOURI

It opened in 1949 and there aren't many of them around anymore.  It has its original screen tower and playground.

THE BLUE WHALE OF CATOOSA, OKLAHOMA

If you're thinking what to get your wife for a gift, why not a whale? A zoologist did that in 1972. It's 89 feet long and 20 feet high and it would fit perfectly on anyone's front yard.

CADILLAC RANCH, TEXAS

There are 10 kaleidoscopic Cadillacs lined up in the ground which are hard to miss.

There's a lot of history on this road and unusual things like the largest soda bottle(66 feet high), the Leaning Tower of Texas, The Big Texan Steak House with it's 72 ounce steak challenge, a Petrified Forest in Arizona, and a unique McDonalds that you can eat in a railway car.

I think I can find plenty of things to do on this road, but I don't think I can travel the whole road-we'll see.

The Costco Legend (It is not Chicken!)

Really, it's not chicken.  This September 15th will be the anniversary of the opening of the first Costco which opened in Seattle, Washington.  Costco will be 43 years old. Only a couple weeks before that my wife and I will be celebrating our 43rd anniversary.

The two owners of Costco, Jim Senegal and Jeff Brotman, were told that charging people for a membership would not work and they would fail. Senegal had studied this model for thirty years and worked for Sol Price who started The Price Club in 1976 when the warehouse model of selling to small businesses began.

Some of the criticism was this: "You're charging customers for the privilege of buying from you?" "You're not going to advertise? At all?" "You carry 4,000 products. Walmart carries 120,000. How is that a business?" "Selling 48-packs of toilet paper in a warehouse isn't retail, It's storage."

They were wrong, What Senegal knew was that people wanted fewer options and better prices and they didn't want to be manipulated. He set margins on his profit and would not exceed them.  The legendary example is what they did in 1985 with hot dogs, not chicken.

The hot dog/soda combo cost $1.50 in 1985 and it cost $1.50 in 2026.  In 2025 Costco sold 245 million combos.  To keep the same price they had to fire Hebrew National and also switch from Coca Cola to Pepsi.  He started his own meat processing plant and started producing Kirkland Signature hot dogs.  Kirkland Signature does $90 billion dollars in annual sales.

Costco has 924 locations and does 275 billion in revenue with 85% of their stores in the United States with 341,000 employees.  

These days you can read many bad stories about companies, but Costco is a great example of putting people first for a very long time and their success is proof of it.  The chicken is pretty good too.

The new CEO recently announced that the hot dog/soda combo will always be $1.50 while he is in office.

Before I could post this blog Costco added an option to this special deal.  You can now get a 16 ounce bottle of water with your hot dog instead of a soda. The Costco Legend still remains.

Costco in Ocean Township, New Jersey

How Funny Was Abraham Lincoln?

Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were known for their sense of humor among many other things. President Abraham Lincoln was very witty and he was from an early age. He used self-deprecating humor to get a laugh and he was really good at it.  

I have the below old book that is falling apart. The price of the book is $.35.

Here are some samples of his humor:

1. "Shoot me, for I am uglier man then you, I don't want to live."

This was not when he was President, but when he was a younger man.

2. "He has a good deal of trouble with his popular sovereignty. His explanation explanatory of explanations explained are interminable."

I don't really have to explain this, do I?

3. "Honestly, if I was two-faced, would I be showing you this one."

There are a lot of pictures and drawings of President Lincoln and some look better than others.

4. "I am rather inclined to silence, and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot."

160 years later this is still the same for sure.

5. "My dear McClellan, if you don't want to use the army I should like to borrow it for awhile."

When a general does not want to attack, it is a problem.  When Ulysses Grant became a general it changed the Civil War.

6. "I have now come to the conclusion never to marry again for this reason: I can never be satisfied with anyone who would be blockhead enough to have me."

And yet, one of the greatest American success stories in history is Abraham Lincoln.

Dad-The Knicks are World Champs

                                            

We lost my dad five years ago. Over these last few years I think about him in random ways: when I'm shutting the lights off in the house like he used to do, or when I walk with my hands behind my back like he used to do, or I say something he would have said.

Sometimes it's an easy and natural thing. I drive a reddish/orange car because I ordered it right after he passed since orange was his favorite color. In my car on the right is a small American flag which represents his service in the Army.

On the other side of my dashboard is his blue, New York Knicks hat. His favorite sports to watch were football and basketball. I'm pretty sure we only went to one New York Knick game and it was on March 8, 1970.  I was nine years old and the Knicks lost to the 76ers by 17 points.  Two months later they won their first World Championship. Three years later they won their second championship and I thought it was going to be a regular thing.

Over the years we watched plenty of Knick games, battles with the Celtics, the Pacers, and the Bulls. The Knicks had some great players like Patrick Ewing and Bernard King and some very good teams, but there was no championships. There were a lot of heartbreaking moments against Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller and others. We would talk on the phone a lot about the games over the years.

Sunday is Father's Day and this past Saturday, The New York Knicks won their first championship in 53 years. They won 15 of their last 16 playoff games, an incredible streak.  On Saturday, my son and I got together with my wife, his wife, and our granddaughter. We at ate at a pizzeria/bar/restaurant and we watched the game together. When we finished eating, the girls headed home and it was just the two of us watching the second half.

My dad was with us watching, I had his blue hat on. The Knicks kept coming back. They needed one more win for the championship. They were eight minutes away, then 6, then 3. Finally they took the lead in the game and it could have gone either way. Twenty seconds, four seconds, and it was over.  A four point win, winning all three road games in San Antonio to win the series in five games. The Knicks leader, Jalen Brunson, could not be stopped and he scored 45 points in the game.

What does the thrill of victory look like? Below is my son and I and my dad's hat moments after they won. 

One Knick announcer at the end said, "Knick fans this is not a dream." Tens of thousands of Knick fans across New York were watching the game in the streets and were now jumping up and down. Another announcer said, "Next stop is The Canyon of Heroes."  The next day I listened to Sports Talk Radio all day and could not hear enough that The New York Knicks were World Champions. The parade down the streets of New York on Thursday was incredible with around 2 million people celebrating.

This was a great Father's Day gift for me and my son and my dad. Happy Father's Day dad-The Knicks are World Champions!

A Perfect Father's Day Story

This week is Father's Day and this is about as great as a story that you can read.  It's about a father and son from Norwich, Norfolk in the UK. They returned home two weeks ago from an 18,000 mile bike ride around the world and they set three world records on the ride. 

They had left their home 400 days ago in March 2025. The father, George Kohler, 57 and his son, Josh Kohler, 23 accomplished this feat together traveling through South America, Australia, Asia and Europe.

Josh was inspired in high school when he heard a talk from a guy who cycled through North America. He suggested to his dad that they should do it. They had never cycled and did not have bikes.  In 2021 they cycled for charity and the following year they cycled over 3,700 miles from New York City to San Francisco.

They had many great experiences together and above are holding the three world records they set: the fastest bicycle circumnavigation of the world by a father and son, the longest bicycle journey by a father and son and the most countries visited in a continuous bicycle journey by a father and son.

Their final 15 miles they were joined by 70 cyclists who road with them as they arrived home to cheering crowds.

The Tuna Fish Battle Continues

A couple years ago my wife and I had a serious conversation-about tuna fish. I like tuna fish a lot and she likes it but doesn't like to make it. When she makes it she puts egg in it and I said I'm fine without egg, just make the tuna. (She likes egg in it) I suggested that she show me how to make it and I'll make it when I want it and she doesn't have to. This wasn't the first time I suggested this, but finally she agreed to show me.

I took notes and this happened about two or three years ago. I think she let me make it once, but I didn't clean up the sink well enough so we were back to her making it.

Last month she was dog sitting for a week for our daughter and son-in-law and when I opened the pantry door I saw two cans of tuna. I really wanted to eat some tuna and she was thirty miles away and there's no way she was going to smell the tuna from there.

I got my supplies ready: Febreze spray and "The Kitchen Mama" can opener are pictured below.

I liked the color of the "Kitchen Mama" and it matched well with the spray, but how do you get the opener to open the can of tuna? I knew what the top of the can was and I turned it on and I saw the sharp part of it, but how do you get it to open? I thought of asking the robot that cleans the floors, but I doubted even she knew the answer.

I thought of getting a hammer and smushing the tuna out into a bowl, because I was now craving tuna fish. Instead, I went to Mr. Google and asked, "How does this work?" I watched a video and surprisingly to me, it was very simple and I got most of the can open to rescue the tuna.

I still have my notes on how to make tuna, but after moving it could be anywhere. I knew mayo was involved, but I just guessed how much. Below is the picture of the tuna and I'm going to enjoy eating this.

When I'm finished with the bowl I'm going to clean it three times and sit it outside for it to air out. I waited to post this blog until 30 days after so I know I'm in the clear when she sees what I have done.

We may have another serious conversation about tuna fish, maybe I'll write a song about it? There was a great ballad in the 70's called, "Make it With You." What about, "Make it Without You?"

Postscript: I had two great tuna sandwiches without egg and they were terrific and I found the below notes, but I had trouble reading them.

What Does A Doctor Do To Make Extra Money?

A doctor wants to make extra money, really? My experience has been that most people are always looking for another opportunity and that's been going on for decades.

As a young doctor, Brandon Axelrod, owes $400,000 in student loans and he works and lives in New York. He performs oral surgery as a dentist.  He's 27 years old and he became fascinated by magic when his dentist did balloon tricks when he was a patient. He said, "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen."

The dentist taught him magic and took him under his wing. For years, as he went to school he built up a good sized business. He said, "Even at an early age I told myself, 'I'm never going to say not to any balloon request that comes his way."

He's a first year resident at a major Manhattan hospital with very little time now for side events.  He's been making videos at home with all the creative things he does. In the future he plans on entertaining his patients and making them laugh. He'll also be paying off his loans for quite awhile.