My Great Michael Tour

Being a product of the 60's and 70's most of my life is influenced by TV, movies and music.  My co-worker and I, as well as her husband who works here too can get to laughing and carrying on having whole conversations with movie or TV quotes.  One of our favorites things to reenact is Steve Martin's "The Jerk" and the whole scene when he's leaving the house saying "All I need is this...this object is all I need"..grabbing the stapler or some other object as we leave.  I also have to fight the urge to recite "I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi..." whenever someone asks about me and my background.  Every once in a while I let it fly though when I think the company is safe...lol.

I mentioned my love of the movie "Phenomenon" in my post here and although I'm a John Travolta fan since his Vinnie Barbarino days on Welcome Back Kotter, some of his movies touch me more then others.  Another of those movies was "Micheal" which came out the same year as "Phenomenon". 

In the movie "Frank Quinlan and Huey Driscoll, two reporters from a Chicago-based tabloid, along with Dorothy Winters, an 'angel expert', are asked to travel to rural Iowa to investigate a claim from an old woman that she shares her house with a real, live archangel named Michael. Upon arrival, they see that her claims are true - but Michael is not what they expected: he smokes, drinks beer, has a very active libido and has a rather colorful vocabulary. In fact, they would never believe it were it not for the two feathery wings protruding from his back. Michael agrees to travel to Chicago with the threesome, but what they don't realize is that the journey they are about to undertake will change their lives forever."  Micheal agrees to go to New York with them but only if they drive...across America...and stop at every one of the "worlds biggest" attractions along the way.

My mother worked for the airline industry and I was very blessed and fortunate to be able to travel extensively as a child and young woman with my mother, however it meant traveling by air.  We never got to do those everyone-pack-into-the-stationwagon-for-18-hours road trips  like the Griswalds and every once in a while I get the itch for one.  Of course at this point in my life it looks a whole lot more like "RV" then "Vacation" ! 

On my Bucket List is what I call my "Great Micheal" tour across America where I get to visit all those places too!  Since it doesn't appear that I'll be retiring with a big fat wallet any time soon in my lifetime my dream of doing it in a decked out RV is out the window so I seek out the opportunities as they come.  I've had the chance to see two things already!  The Worlds Largest Washboard which we got to see while Honeymooning at Hocking Hills in Ohio, in a little town called Logan. We got to visit the factory where they still make each one by hand by our guide, who stopped her work to show us around.  She walked us through the whole process, talked about the history and materials and then let us wander around.  It was awesome!  One of the best things I discovered there was their program for our Troops!  They sell a Troop Kit that contains everything someone would need to wash but the water for just $25!  I realized that the chore I hate to do, and the clean socks and underwear I put on my butt and feet every morning is a true luxury to so many people in our world. 

 In northeast Ohio, is a little town called Austinburg and just off I90 there is this giant chair!  Hubby is originally from this are so he was familiar with it and once he heard about this bucket list item he took me there to see it.  I immediately heard Edith Ann in my head and wanted to jump in that chair and look at my husband and say "And that's the truth!" and blow a raspberry. 

Needless to say, there was no ladder, no way to climb into the chair to get a picture in it so we did the next best thing, took pics of each other standing by it!  I know...we're dorks.

What's next in my quest...the worlds largest Gavel?