<– Day 29 – Sun. May 27th: The Exley House Curse | Day 31 – Tuesday May 29th: Nous aurons toujours Paris –>

Me, my cousin, and Ann.

Day 30: Monday we drove from Chester, Virginia, to Charleston, West Virginia.

On Monday May 28th we drove from Chester, Virginia, to Christiansburg, VA, then on to Charleston, West Virginia.

We said good by to my cousin today, but not until we’d done a few more chores around the house. We didn’t finish everything, so I guess we’ll just have to return soon!?!

About the time we were going to leave, the heavens opened, unleashing a torrent of rain upon our heads. Using umbrellas and a shuttle system, we managed to keep most of the stuff dry. I’m not sure how I ended up carrying the one small bag, while she had my backpack and my guitar, but she’s Army tough. So, you need not worry!

All packed, we began our drive toward Christiansburg, where we planned to meet with Chris. After our onboard Navigation failed us, Chris rescued us via the phone … side note: It’s a mystery to me how driverless cars will ever be expected to successfully navigate our world 100% of the time. I can’t tell you the number of times Ann and I have had multiple nav systems going, yet still managed to navigate places incorrectly because of GPS/Road/Nav flaws.

Chris brought us inside as a light rain began to fall. After meeting his wife, he showed us his collection. First up was this neat assortment of matchbooks and other items.

There’s a green FC on the back of the lighter with the red CJ-5 on it.

Next, Chris showed us this cool Jeep Dealer Showroom clock insert replacement, but he doesn’t have the entire clock setup. You can see what it should look like in the document below.

As the clock turns, the image transforms from a Wagoneer as an every day driver to a Wagoneer as a camping vehicle. It’s not clear to me how often that shift would happen. See how the insert changes below:

Once we were done looking at these documents, Chris took me downstairs to show us the grille wall-hangers he’s made with lights and battery packs. He plans to take these to BantamFest, where they sell quite well. He also attends a swap meet in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He’s tried shipping the grilles, but he’s had the glass in two grilles break twice, so he prefers meeting folks in person.

He’s found that, the more rusted the grilles are, the more quickly they sell. Nearly all the grilles were ones no one else wanted, but they can be reused in jeeps if the buyer wishes to do that. The FC grille was one he saved from being scrapped. He sanded the rust off and painted it.

If you are interested in one of these grilles, comment below or email him at grilleguy1@gmail.com.

He’s begun testing out some other creative ideas, such as these key holders:

He found this rusted section of a CJ-2A and combined it was some other parts, to create a mini bar that can be put on a stand or hung on a wall.

Chris has found that more often than not, its the folks with the new jeeps that are interested in his creations rather than vintage jeep folks.

Thanks to Chris for sharing all his jeep-related stuff with us!

After we left Chris’ place, the sun gave way to evening and the mostly dry skies to rain. It rained all the way to Charleston.

On Tuesday, we’ll be driving from Charleston to Paris, Illinois, via Lexington, Louisville, and Indianapolis. I had discussed meeting someone for donuts in Lexington, but I can’t remember who and can’t find it in my email??

<– Day 29 – Sun. May 27th: The Exley House Curse | Day 31 – Tuesday May 29th: Nous aurons toujours Paris –>