<– Day 15 – Sat. May 18th: At the Reunion; A Brick Shy of a Full Load  | Trip Overview | Day 17 – Mon. May 20th: Gettysburg and A Little Slice of Heaven –>

On Sunday, we didn’t participate in the ritual Sunday drive through Cuyahoga National Park. Instead, we headed for Gettysburg. However, I was able to get a few pics from the ride:

As folks toured in their jeeps, we exited Hudson, Ohio.

Sunday’s drive from Hudson, Ohio, to Gettysburg.

As we wound our way through Pennsylvania to Gettysburg, the toll roads lightened our wallets to the point we were considering taking out a bank loan. In addition, we encountered clouds that were as thick as fog as we traversed a few tall hills. Isn’t it summer yet?

Finally, it seems the only photo we took all day was a blurry photo a barn. On the bright side, we got a killer deal of $51/night at a Marriott hotel using Priceline, so we plan to stay two nights in Gettysburg.

Tomorrow we will see the Gettysburg battlefield and museum.

<– Day 15 – Sat. May 18th: At the Reunion; A Brick Shy of a Full Load  | Trip Overview | Day 17 – Mon. May 20th: Gettysburg and A Little Slice of Heaven –>

<– Day 12 & 13 – Wed. May 15th & Thurs. May 16th: Mixers, Foodies & Heavy Equipment   | Trip Overview | Day 15 – Sat. May 18th: At the Reunion; A Brick Shy of a Full Load –>

Friday morning we awoke in Hudson, Ohio, a short distance away from the reunion, to a beautiful sunny day. I spent the morning honing Saturday’s presentation. I will be sharing with the audience (assuming more than just Ann shows up) why I run eWillys, how I do it, the challenges, and what the future holds.

On Friday afternoon we made our way to the Clarion Hotel where the 2013 Midwest Willys Reunion is being held. After a quick practice run through the presentation with the slide projector, Ann and I went out to look at all the jeeps.

It seemed every few steps we took someone approached us to share how much they enjoyed eWillys. It’s great to know the site is enjoyed by so many enthusiastic readers and it was fun putting names to faces and shaking hands.

As you can see from the pictures, there were plenty of jeeps to browse today. More are expected tomorrow.

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<– Day 8 – Sat. May 11th: Fire Engines, 16,000 Toys and A Destroyer  | Trip Overview | Day 10 & 11 – Mon. May 13th Rest & Tue. May 14th: Crust, Raisins, and Smoked Pork –>

On Sunday we spent the day sightseeing.

Sunday’s drive was a short one down to Ypsilanti and back.

On Sunday Ann and I drove down to Ypsilanti, MI, which is about an hour south of where we are staying in Fenton, MI. Our goal was the Ypsilanti Automotive Heritage Museum (aka Miller Motors), which has a real Tucker and a fiberglass fake Tucker (or so I’m told) made for the Tucker movie.

Ever since I learned Ypsilanti was home to Preston Tucker, I’ve wanted to visit this museum. So, I triple checked the website to make sure it was open on Sunday. The site confirmed this was true. Confident the museum would be open, we arrived at noon Sunday, only to find the museum closed. I was bummed.

So sad . . . I looked in all the windows.

Brian had mentioned the Michigan Firehouse Museum in Ypsi was worth a look. So, we decided to check that out. It consists of an old renovated fire station with a building extension that housed different types of fire trucks, fire fighting equipment, and information. It is a fine exhibit, but after Saturday’s experience with Jim Dobson, our fire-museum quality bar was set pretty high.

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<– Day 6 – Thurs. May 9th: Rain Rain Go Away | Trip Overview | Day 8 – Sat. May 11th: Fire Engines, 16,000 Toys and A Destroyer –>

Whitefish Point Lighthouse and the Shipwreck Museum on Lake Superior

Well it worked. I wished the rain away and we didn’t see any all day. However, I forgot to wish the cold away. But, I’ll take the cool temperatures over the rain.

Today, Friday May 10th, our first goal was to drive to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point near Paradise, MI, where a light saving beacon has been maintained in one form or another since 1849.

On Friday May 10th we drove from Iron Mountain to Mackinaw City.

On our way to the museum, we encountered a couple different jeeps. One was in the form of a wooden jeep at a Big Boy Burger restaurant in Manistique, MI. This one included a slide. Ann tried real hard to get a shot of me on the slide. Unfortunately, our memory card lost the pictures I took of the front of the wood jeep (time for new memory card).

The next jeep we saw at an old motel near Tahquamenon Falls State Park in Michigan. There was a dog near the jeep that wasn’t too happy to see me taking photos, so I kept my distance. It looks like someone took the time to fabricate a custom hardtop.

We finally reached Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point around 2pm. It was later than I expected to be there, by at least one hour, because we crossed into another pesky time zone. I always thought Michigan was in the Central Time Zone. It turns out only a small portion of it is (to be fair, this is my first visit to the great state of Michigan).

The museum costs $13/per adult. However, if you have an active military ID, you and a friend can get in free. However, they don’t advertise that fact, so you’ll have to ask about it.  We had a nice time looking around the exhibits.

There are plenty of harrowing stories of sailors freezing, drowning, and dying. To be fair, many people were saved by life-saving crews as well. If you are in the area, it’s worth dropping by to see. The fact that of the 550 known major shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the lake, at least 200 of them are in the vicinity of Whitefish Point, underscores the importance of alerting sailors to the dangers of the area.

Here we are at Lake Superior. You can just see Canada behind us in the distance.

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