<– 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.

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<– Day 27 & Day 28 – Fri/Sat May 25th/26th: What is Happening? | Day 30 – Monday May 28th: Grilling in the Rain –>

Repalring the hall light.

Day 29: We spent much of the Sunday working on my cousin’s house near Richmond, Virginia. She bought it a year ago and has discovered it is a little more of a fixer-upper than she’d planned. The more time she’s spent there, the more she’s found odd things. She blames it on the previous family, calling it the Exley house. Why doesn’t something work right? That’s because it’s the Exley house.

Me explaining that there are two kinds of shower heads, Speakman heads and all others. She had a Speakman and didn’t realize how good it was (IMHO). In fact, it’s the biggest one I’ve seen, having 8 water jets.

I felt like we ran into the Exley curse when repairing her downstairs toilet. The toilet had a flap that wouldn’t seal. What should have been a 30 minute job, something I’ve fixed in other places, took multiple attempts over two days. I don’t have time to write up all the sordid details, but after the fifth time of removing the tank, I took everything apart and rebuilt it one more time. That finally did the trick.

The list of to-dos … we won’t finish them all, but we made a good dent.

Needing a break from the craziness, we went for a short walk at Marymont Park, then drove to Petersburg to eat some lunch and then see the Trapezium house, which is odd. Learn more in the video below.

On Monday, We’ll be heading for Huntington, WV; Tuesday will take us to Paris, Illinois; and Wednesday will bring us to St. Louis.

<– Day 27 & Day 28 – Fri/Sat May 25th/26th: What is Happening? | Day 30 – Monday May 28th: Grilling in the Rain –>

<– Day 26 – Thursday May 24th: Architecture & Organs | Day 29 – Sunday May 27th: The Exley House Curse –>

On Friday we drove from Philadelphia to Chester, Virginia.

Day 27 & 28: On Friday we drove from Philadelphia to Chester, Virginia. I made a major miscalculation with this decision, as half of Philadelphia decided to head to the beaches early for the Memorial Day Weekend, so the 5 hour drive I expected took 9 hours.

We saw a few interesting things, but mostly it was a long drive in traffic. The drive on the Chesapeake bridge-tunnel was pretty neat. And, I thought that would be the most interesting thing we’d see.

But, no, it wasn’t.

As we drove north on I-64 through Virginia, about where Yorktown is, I was going 70mph in a 60mph, just keeping up with traffic, when this car roared up in the lane to my right, traveling about 85-90. Then, two other cars pulled up behind them. Finally, a noisy (muffler leak?) early black Chevy Yukon(?) appeared to our right in the slow lane, passing us and running at about a 2 O’clock angle to us, several car lengths ahead of us.

Suddenly, the rear driver’s side wheel started smoking. Then bits of tire started shooting across the highway. I slowed, not knowing what would happen. Then the tire exploded (no way he didn’t hear and/or feel it), flying across the middle lane and into our lane. The Toyota truck ahead of us didn’t have a chance and ran over the tire roughly.

I’d slowed enough to dodge the tire, but I wasn’t so much watching the tire as I was the driver, because he wasn’t slowing down. He was still driving about 55mph without the tire, bits of tire still flying off his rear rim. And, he didn’t seem to care that the tire was gone.

The Toyota truck that had hit the tire moved from the fast lane to the middle lane to either (1) complain or (2) notify the driver that he was missing the tire. Apparently, the driver didn’t care, as he never slowed down.

Seeing my chance, with a wide-open fast lane, I floored the jeep and created a large amount of distance between me and the Yukon.

Ann suspected the guy may have stolen the Yukon and didn’t want to stop driving. I don’t know why he wouldn’t stop, but it was one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen.

So, we landed late in Chester at my cousin’s house. We spent Saturday helping her fix some things around the house. Other than that, we’ve been working on my cousin’s house in Virginia. That’s a nice change of pace.

<– Day 26 – Thursday May 24th: Architecture & Organs | Day 29 – Sunday May 27th: The Exley House Curse –>

<– Day 25 – Wed. May 23rd: Steel, Strings & Sellersville | Day 27 & Day 28 – Fri/Sat May 25th/26th: What is Happening? –>

Wurlitzer Pipe Organ at the Macy’s in downtown Philadelphia. Ron scored us a visit to see it and the Wanamaker Organ. I don’t know how these things happen to us …

Day 26: We spent Thursday guided around Philadelphia by my cousin Ron Emrich. Having worked in building preservation for most of his life, he is well acquainted with the city’s architecture. We walked down to the first hospital in the country, then checked out Reading Market, where we relaxed and has some launch. Next, we visited the former Wanamaker store, now Macy’s, which houses both the largest organ in the world and a Wurlitzer. Ron got a behind-the-scenes tour. It was a wonderful journey on a beautiful day. Ron will soon be making us some ‘Ron’garitas, followed by some South American food at a restaurant 30 feet away. So, this is the only post for Thursday. Friday we leave for Richmond.

Shown here is Washington Park, one of multiple large parks in downtown Philly:

Here’s Ron and I in front of a mural made of Tiffany glass. It was almost destroyed, but has since been turned into a Landmark. Ron and I are connected via my great great great grandfather Jacob Emrich (he still has the family name of Ron Emrich).

And, of course, Independence Hall:

We looked at a variety of things on our way to the Reading Market. Here are a few photos from the market:

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<– Day 24 – Tues. May 22: Rain N’ Fog in Coal Country | Day 26 – Thursday May 24th: Architecture & Organs –>

Heading out to dinner with Chuck and Laurie in their CJ-2A. It was perfect weather for a drive. in my hand is a step ladder so we could get Ann in and out of the jeep.

Day 25: We changed up our plans for Wednesday and it all worked well.  We drove from Bethlehem to Philadelphia, with our Jeep’s navigation steering us through north Philadelphia, precisely the place folks said we shouldn’t go. Thanks Jeep-Nav. Why it didn’t take us onto the Interstate is beyond me.

Wednesday’s drive from Bethlehem to Philadelphia.

On Tuesday night, after looking at the Crayola Experience more closely, we decided that it might be geared too much for kids. So, after doing some research, we chose to visit the fairly new National Museum of Industrial History, followed by the Martin Guitar factory.

We started at the NMIH, located inside one of the original Bethlehem Steel buildings. There were plenty of reminders that the effort to restore/retain the Bethlehem buildings was an ongoing process.

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<– Day 22 – Sun. May 20th: Hittin’ The Road | Day 24 – Tuesday May 22: Rain N’ Fog in Coal Country –>

Ann thought she should sign me up for the Police Academy. She has some strange ideas sometimes, but what the heck. I’ve never done that!

Day 23: We had a short drive on Monday, going from Harrisburg, west to Carlisle, then turning back east for Hershey.

On Monday we drove from Harrisburg, to Carlisle, and then to Hershey.

On Monday morning, we headed for John’s Hideaway Restaurant, a favorite morning destination of Bill, a retired PennDOT employee. Bill’s been going to John’s place since Reagan was in office (if my math is correct). And, I can see why. The family owned restaurant serves a good breakfast at a fair price. The restaurant is situated close to the local college, but apparently the nearby students aren’t searching out the classic diner. Too bad, as they are missing out! I doubt anyone else around town can beat the quality of food at the prices John’s offers.

In retirement, Bill’s decided to grow his beard out. One of his grandchildren thinks he looks like Santa and frequently tests that hypothesis by tugging at his beard. I can see why he might be mistaken for Santa, as he’s a jolly fellow with a twinkle in his eye. Of course, he’s a bit more svelte than his plumper counterpart; but, perhaps he’s just sporting Santa’s summer body (Kind of like Tim Allen in Santa Clause)?

Bill really enjoyed his time at PennDOT, but now in retirement he says he is too busy for a full time job anymore. Part of the reason is that he’s too busy restoring vehicles. To show us what he’s done, he took us to his mountain retreat, where he has a couple of garages on a nice chunk of property. It’s a place for him to escape and pursue projects that interest him.

The first vehicle he showed us was his recently restored 1947 CJ-2A. It’s a beautiful jeep that Bill enjoys driving through the local mountains. It’s got an MD Juan body that needed quite a bit of reworking to fit correctly. He did a very nice job with it.

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<– Day 21 – Sat. May 19th: Mr. Infamous | Day 23 – Mon. May 21st: From Summer Santa to the Police Academy –>

Sunday’s drive from Aurora to Harrisburg

Day 22: I’m hoping to have some regular updates for Tuesday morning …

We said our goodbyes on Sunday and drove from Aurora, Ohio, to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. We’ve got a tentative schedule that depends on whether a few folks have time to meet with us. So, as always the situation is fluid.

We know for sure that we will be going to the Hershey’s Chocolate World on Tuesday morning and the Crayola Experience on Wednesday morning. Wednesday/Thursday nights we will be staying with a cousin in downtown Philadelphia. Friday we hope to be driving down through Delaware. Memorial Weekend will be in Richmond, Virginia.

Tentative schedule from Monday May 21st through Monday May 28th

This is the tentative schedule for after Memorial Day Weekend. Stops include potentially a couple readers, a couple stops at Alaska Or Rust Crew homes, Route 66 Hall of Fame, a few Route 66 places, Will Rogers museum, Dorothy’s House in Kansas, Monument Rocks. We think we’ll be back home June 6th.

From Monument Rocks, we’ll take I-70, then cut up to Salt Lake, then home.

<– Day 21 – Sat. May 19th: Mr. Infamous | Day 23 – Mon. May 21st: From Summer Santa to the Police Academy –>

<– Day 19 – Thurs. May 17th: No Rain Yet … | Day 21 – Saturday May 19th: Mr. Infamous –>

UPDATE: Site was down for a while earlier today. The squirrels that power the state-of-the art server went on strike for more peanuts. We tossed in some salted ones and everything is back to normal.

Stacy, Russ and I chatting about Alaska Or Rust.

Day 20: Friday was the first day of the reunion. The expect rain didn’t show. It was busier than expected. It was great to meet so many readers! On Saturday, the rain is expected in the afternoon, but hopefully that stays away again. Late Friday evening, some of the Alaska Or Rust gang hung out under our awning. Naturally the conversation digressed from plutonium and radium issues to corncobs, butter and body parts. Alcohol may have played a part in that. We sure did laugh.

Here are some photos from earlier in the day:

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<– Day 18 – Wed. May 16th: We’ve Arrived in Aurora | Day 20 – Friday May 18th: Reunion Day 1 –>

Day 19th: We’ve picked up some cool things along the way on our trip, some of which we’ve added to the decor of our room. We’ll add some more before this weekend is over.

Ann spent much of the day stuffing Spring Willys Reunion participant bags with various freebies with Bob’s wife Mindy.

Bob and I snuck away in his CJ-3B to go visit the local Jeep dealership. On our way this car drove past us, then thought he’d show off his muscle. His ability to outrun an-f-head power jeep with a hydraulic lift was impressive, lol.

We were going to the dealership, because Bob thought he was picking up a few give-away items for the raffle, but it turned out his contact was gone today. However, Josh and some of the other guys were excited to see a vintage dually jeep outside.

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<– Day 17 – Tues. May 15th: Cheese N’ Hardware | Day 19 – Thurs. May 17th: No Rain Yet … –>

Day 18: Not much to report. I spent Wednesday morning working on the presentation, then we drove to the Bertram Inn & Conference Center in Aurora, Ohio, which is larger than anticipated and very nice.

We knew we were in the right place when we spotted Bob Christy’s CJ-3B:

For the first time since we left Pasco, we unloaded much of the jeep in preparation for the Spring Willys Jeep Reunion this weekend. We enjoyed some fish tacos for dinner with Bob and Mindy Christy and caught up with them. I can’t believe it’s been five years since we’d seen each other in person!

After dinner, we finished off the evening by doing our laundry. Yep, an exciting day!

On Thursday I’ll be polishing up the presentation. We expect a lot of people to be rolling into the complex today in preparation for tomorrow.

<– Day 17 – Tues. May 15th: Cheese N’ Hardware | Day 19 – Thurs. May 17th: No Rain Yet … –>

<– Day 16 – Monday May 14th: Drive Them Jeeps! | Day 18 – Wed. May 16th: We’ve Arrived in Aurora –>

This is a real let down after driving jeeps yesterday! But, it is my first Amish buggy!

Day 17: We had another short drive today, going from Columbus to Macedonia, Ohio.

On Tuesday we drove from Columbus to Macedonia, Ohio.

I spent the morning working on my presentation, so we only did a few things today. Our principle goal was to head to Ann’s Aunt near Cleveland for a visit. But, on the way, we decided to visit two cool spots.

The first was Grandpa’s Cheesebarn and Sweeties Chocolates near Ashland, Ohio. Ann loves this place, so in 2013 we stopped here, but it was closed. This time it was open. She tells me that “Grandpa” still works the store, or was there the last time she and her mother visited in 2015.

Though we saw no sign of Grandpa, we did get to sample all kinds of cheeses and other items. Sure, most of the items you can get elsewhere at slightly lower prices, but by the time we sampled everything, we didn’t have to eat lunch. So, it was cost effective for us. We only bought 4 cheeses and some fermented eggs in beets.

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<– Day 14 – Sat. May 12th: Ann Gets the Boot | Day 16 – Monday May 14th: Drive Them Jeeps! –>

Scott and I about to enter the newest Jungle Jims grocery emporium!

Day 15: Though we spent months planning the Alaska Or Rust Adventure, Scott Gilbert and I had never met until Sunday.

We drove from Lexington, Kentucky, to Newtown, Ohio, on Sunday.

As Ann slept, I started Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky, with a coffee run that turned into a cool donut find. I’m not a big donut eater, but the evil donuts at North Lime Coffee & Donuts seduced me into trying a couple: a chocolate glazed and a sprinkled donut. The Chocolate glaze was cut square, giving it a unique look, but the better one was the simple sprinkle donut. It turned out to be a heavy, yet tasty, not too chewy, but substantive treat.

Each day, North Lime puts out a display of the day’s donuts. This was from a different day than I was there (You can see many more pics on YELP):

instead of the old fashioned donut boxes, North Lime uses branded pizza boxes. I thought that pretty clever and a nice update for the college crowd, as this was near the University of Transylvania in Lexington.

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<– Day 13 – Friday May 11th: Lawrence & Lubbeck | Day 15 – Sunday May 13th: Great Scott, Another Jungle Jims? –>

Day 14: On Saturday morning we went to the ER at the Veteran’s Administration in Asheville. The doc concluded that she might have some achilles damage. To be safe and to complete our trip, they put her in a boot.

Day 14 took us from Asheville, NC, to Lexington, KY.

From there, we drove to Lexington, Kentucky, where I spent the evening working on my presentation for the Willys Reunion. Since Hugo’s wife was injured in a fall just before they were supposed to leave for the United States, Hugo decided to remain in Brazil to care for her. Thus, I’ll be giving the keynote, where I’ll share both Hugo’s story and the story the Alaska Or Rust trip.

Tomorrow I’ll work on it some more, then head to Cincinnati to spend the evening with Scott Gilbert and meet his family.

<– Day 13 – Friday May 11th: Lawrence & Lubbeck | Day 15 – Sunday May 13th: Great Scott, Another Jungle Jims? –>