June 29 - July 11, 2026 Homer Solenoid Replacement - Military Museum Stands - Fireworks - Dinner - Relay - Welge Bridge Walk -Quilt Show

My Blog Reflection

The legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls. But it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me.

Thurgood Marshall

June 29, 2026:

The alternator has not been charging the house batteries as we drive Homer. There are two solenoids involved with the charging system. One switches to charge the house batteries when plugged into electric. The other controls the alternator sending current to the house batteries when needed. I had replaced the first solenoid a couple of years ago but not the second. The solenoids are in the battery compartment and not convenient to replace. John helped me get the batteries out and then the solenoid, which is pictured with the two large nuts on the end.

We were pretty sure the solenoid was not working but decided no matter what that I would replace it. The best I can tell it is the original so it would be 32 years old. We found an exact match on Amazon for $34.00 and I ordered it. It will arrive July 8th. Homer will be out of commission until we get the new one installed.

July 1, 2026:

John asked if I could make three wooden placard stands for the military museum. He sent me a picture of what he wanted which included dimensions. Over a couple of days I got them cut out, sanded, stained and varnished. Here is one of the three ready for delivery.

July 2, 2026:

We attended the Perry County Fireworks at the City Park. It was a warm evening but not uncomfortable. Here are a couple of pictures. The street lights sorta ruin the pictures.

It was a fabulous display put on by the City of Perryville and Perry County.

July 4, 2026:

The Wiseman family made it safely back to Mountain View, California, after  a visit to Missouri and camping their way back to California, stopping to see many sites. Here are the girls sitting on "Poppy" at home. They all had a great time.

John came over early in the morning and we installed the new solenoid. Unfortunately, it did not solve the problem. The alternator was still not charging the house batteries. I ordered a new relay switch, which is the only other possibility that we can see as causing the problem.

John asked me to make one more placard stand for the military museum. I started on that in the afternoon and while cutting out one piece the blade broke on the bandsaw. Luckily, I had another blade but I had never put one on. It was a learning experience. Thank you Youtube. I will be much better at it next time.

Alexa and Aaron came over for the holiday supper. Kelly cooked ribs in the oven and I was supposed to finish them off on the grill but rain nixed that idea. Kelly finished baking them in the oven. While the ribs were cooking Alexa made everyone a drink. Since I'm not allowed to drink alcohol anymore she purchased some non-alcoholic tequila and Orange Liqueur for Margaritas. They were pretty good. Non-alcoholic liquor is not cheap.

For supper we had ribs, corn on the cob, fresh green beans, potato salad, and cucumber salad. All were delicious.

July 5, 2026:

This morning I got on Homer's roof and trimmed back the pine limbs hanging on it or over it that were within my reach. I also cut a few branches getting close to the side. After that I sanded and stained the placard pieces. I will let the stain dry two days before coating them with polyurethane.

It was nice out so I put out Homer's awning to let it dry from the last rain. Within minutes, it began raining again. I should have looked at the weather forecast. LOL. I put the awning back up probably more wet than when I pulled it out.

July 8, 2026:

The new relay arrived. It is plastic and expensive for as small as it is. I hope it solves the charging issue. The names for the wires are little different so I will wait until John can help me get everything right.

July 11, 2026:

Today is the ribbon cutting for the new Don Welge Memorial Bridge, which replaces the Chester Bridge over the Mississippi, connecting Perry County, Missouri, and Randolph County, Illinois. The new bridge is named after Don Welge, owner of Gilster-Marylee, who worked tirelessly for over a decade to get Missouri and Illinois to build a new bridge. When I was a kid and when we first moved to town,the Chester Bridge was a toll bridge owned by the City of Chester. Don Welge got the toll eliminated years ago because his businesses have trucks crossing dozens of times daily.

Starting at 9:00 a.m. people were allowed to walk on the new bridge. Parking was at the Perryville Airport where we boarded school buses to the bridge site. We had gotten 5.5 inches of rain over night, it looked ominous, and rain was predicted, but I decided to go anyway.

I arrived at 9:00 a.m. and found that the crowd was not as large as I expected. Buses were loaded and unloaded quickly. Here are a couple of pictures on the Missouri side of the bridge where we began our walk. You can clearly see the two bridges.

Here is a picture of the towers and cables in relation to the old bridge.

The new bridge has one lane in each direction and a pull-off lane in case of a problem. The old bridge was barely wide enough for semis to pass.

We were allowed to walk to the middle of the bridge. Here are some pictures from there.

The crowd gathering on the bridge was much less than I anticipated. Perhaps the chance for rain kept some away, or perhaps many were coming later for the ribbon-cutting at 11:00 a.m. Here is proof I was there.

After taking all of the pictures I wanted I started walking back. Here is a view of the Missouri approach for the old bridge and for the new bridge. A major difference. The difference in elevation will keep the slough from flooding the entry to the bridge, which it did in the 1993 flood.

Here are a couple of pictures of where the cables attach to the bridge.

One cable end had the cover off and was covered in plastic. I took this picture to see what was inside. It was hard to tell but it appeared to be a mechanism to tighten the cables as needed.

The cover laying nearby.

The towers for the new bridge dwarf the old bridge, which is eighty years old and in terrible condition. Next week travel will be started only in one direction on the new bridge as some minor work is finished. No date was given when it would carry all traffic. 

A made the entire trip without getting a drop of rain on me. The overcast sky was actually a blessing for this type of event in July in Missouri. I am glad I went for this experience. Interestingly, there were a couple of people in the crowd who were present with the old bridge was dedicated eighty years ago. 

Here is a picture of the ribbon cutting by, I assume, Don Welge's widow, with the Welge family surrounding her. The ribbon cutting was set for this day because it would have been Don Welge's 91st birthday.

A major milestone for this area of Missouri.

After I got home we went over to Alexa's and fed the cats, since she is in Nashville. From there we went to the Presbyterian Church to view the Quilt Show. I was amazed at the number of quilts displayed by local artists. Here are a few pictures. 

Most quilts now are done by machine. I was told the machines are $10,000.00 and up. Yikes!

These two events were a nice way to spend a Saturday. I will watch for notice of when they plan on blowing up the old bridge. I want to be there for that as well.