[Rainmaker Ron]

I took a long ride yeaterday, here is the story;

A LITTLE OFF THE TOP

Retired, and always looking for new adventure, I thought it would be a neat idea to get the Model A out and try a different barber shop in a different small town every haircut day.

My first go at this idea was indeed an adventure! I left home at 10:30 A.M. and drove some 30 miles to Delavan IL. Not a problem. I found Jim’s Barber Shop just off Main Street in a small, old building leaned up against the side of the post office. Just the shop, no Jim. As soon as I parked the Model A it attracted a couple local fellows asking about the car. They told me Jim usually didn’t open Thursday and did not always open the other days either. I could go to the Promenade Salon on Main Street if I wanted a haircut.

Not a problem, I will just drive to the next small town, after all, every town has a barber.

As it turned out I had trouble finding the next town, let alone a barber! I never admit to being lost, I just got “turned around”. In any case I drove up and down miles and miles of blacktop, country roads without finding a town. Once I did get to a State highway I recognized I was way, way southeast of where I thought I was, almost out of gas and still miles from anyplace big enough to have a gas station. By the time I found myself at the pump in Mc Lean IL the “evil eye” was rolling in its socket. (The Model A gas gauge) Mc Lean is a small town on the super slab that replaced old 66. Besides the two truck stop/gas stations and a Mc Donald I found a grain elevator and of all things, a Beauty Salon!

I had no interest in having my hair cut in a salon or in driving the A on the super slab so I headed north on a black top that ended just west of Bloomington without passing through a single small town.

Carlock does not have a barbershop. By the time I got to Congerville I had almost given up on the idea when my cell phone rang. Since I had pulled over to take the call I decided to ask if there was a barber in town. “Yes, but she don’t open till 3 on Thursdays.” It was only 2:00 but I went by the shop anyway and “she” was there.

An older lady named Janet runs a neat shop called the Yankee Clipper and does ladies perms and mens haircuts.

A stranger in an even stranger old car in a small town prompts all kinds of questions. Janet thought it mighty strange when I told her I drove 131 miles to get a haircut!

I made it home in time for supper after 163 miles and 6 hours of back roads.

Rainmaker Ron
7/29/2010