I spent much of Saturday catching up around the house from our long absence . I’d planned to do updates in the evening, but I got busy hunting down a mysterious entity that appeared to be using our wifi. So, I had to mess around with our router awhile (update firmware, change password, etc). I expect updates to return to normal on Monday.
Features Research Archives
Day 38/39 – Tues/Wed June 5th/6th: Road Home – Epilogue
<– Day 37 – Monday June 4th: Up and Over the Rockies | OVERVIEW –>
Day 38 & 39: Day 38, Tuesday, was my birthday. We spent the day in Salt Lake City doing almost nothing. We spent some time in the park and I played some guitar. Later, we went out to dinner with my boys. On Wednesday, we drove home to Pasco. Naturally, we had a hiccup: Our Verizon hotspot died (it was pretty old), so we stopped at where our trip started, the Verizon Store in Twin Falls, Idaho. We made it back to Pasco at 4pm PST, very tired.
I want to thank EVERYONE who welcomed us into their homes, offered advice on where we should go, met us at the Reunion, gave us tours, shared their jeeps and stories, purchased our posters and t-shirts, gave us gifts, donated money, bought us or made us dinner, and interacted with us along the way. Without ALL of you, these trips that we make would be far less interesting and enjoyable. Seeing jeeps is fun, but meeting people and seeing new places are the best parts. So, thanks for allowing us to be a part of your worlds, even if briefly.
TRIP STATS: 9,751 miles through 24 states over 39 days. Below is a rough map of the trip.
That’s it for the 2018 East Coast Willys Reunion trip!
<– Day 37 – Monday June 4th: Up and Over the Rockies | No More Additional Posts
Derek’s Look at the 2018 Willys Reunion
I happily did very little on Tuesday, so just this one post for Wednesday. On Wednesday, we drive home. On Thursday, I’ll provide a look back on our trip.
In the mean time, Derek wrote a three page article about his time at the Willys Reunion. You can read it all here:
Day 37 – Monday June 4th: Up and Over the Rockies
<– Day 36 – Sunday June 3rd: Leaving The Plains | Day 38/39 – Tues/Wed June 5th/6th: Road Home – Epilogue –>

Lincoln looking down upon us at a rest stop along I-80.
Day 37: On Monday we drove from Denver, Colorado, to Salt Lake City, Utah, with a short stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
We thanked our new-found cousin Gary and his wife Kathy for hosting us, then off we went to find a place they think serves the best Bagels in Denver, the Woodgrain Bagels. They didn’t have a very wide selection of bagels, but they had the proper chewiness. I enjoyed them (of course, Ann can’t eat them because of her gluten issues).

Along with a half-dozen bagels, I bought some poblano cream cheese. Oh boy, was that excellent!

Coincidently, the bagelry and numerous other nearby shops and houses are located at the old Lowry Air Force Base. Ann had spent time there (as did Bob Christy). Needless to say, Ann was shocked at the transformation of the base from one with endless goose excrement (she remembers having to march through goosepoop) into a place with a museum, restaurants, beer garden, high end shops, and storage facilities. It was quite disorienting.
The 2018 Willys Overland Rally in Moab
The Willys Overland Rally 2018 in Moab this year was successful again. According David, “The Willys event in Moab went very well. Over 110 people and almost 50 Willys jeeps of various types. People came from Utah, Montana, Arizona, Colorado, California, Idaho, and others I can’t remember. Some big bucks beautiful restorations and some low bucks leaky originals ! Red Cliffs Lodge is a great place for an event like this although approx. 20 miles outside of Moab. Trail ride was mild but fun and scenic. Had a fun and challenging rocky hill some of us tried. Jp magazine was there and will have an article later this year.”
View all the photos here: http://www.willysrally.com/gallery18/gallery18.php
Great Willys Picnic & Bantam Festival This Weekened
It’s a busy weekend for jeeps in Pennsylvania this weekend. Have fun all!
The Great Willys Picnic will be held Sunday, June 10th:
The Bantam Jeep Festival will be held June 8-10:

Day 36 – Sunday June 3rd: Leaving The Plains
<– Day 35 – Saturday June 2nd: Following the Western Cattle Trail | Day 37 – Monday June 4th: Up and Over the Rockies –>
Day 36: On Sunday we drove from Garden City, Kansas, to Denver, Colorado.
Our day began unexpectedly. While driving to get some coffee Ann noticed a guy in a 3rd story hotel window changing clothes with his back/butt to the window, and I mean almost pressing up against the window. The morning sun was shining right on the window, so he wasn’t hard to see. What happens in Garden City, stays in Garden City?
As we drove to our first destination, Monument Rocks, I learned I was in trouble. It turns out, Ann had a dream about me accepting a job to do a reality show with Trump and Kelly Ann Conway. Kelly and I had to pretend we were married. For some reason, Ann wasn’t happy about this arrangement. Thankfully, her short term memory is awful and, once I found some caffeine for her, she’d forgot all about it.
We had a problem as we drove north. Neither my iPhone nor our Jeep’s nav system was giving us the proper turnoff road for Monument Rocks. I’d mapped out several times on my computer, so I knew approximately where the turn off was (there are actually two of them, but the southern one doesn’t have any signs along the highway). Fortunatley, Ann tried her Android and it found the turn off just in time. (for those traveling from the south, turn right on Dakota, just across from the Keystone Gallery. Dakota becames 450, then Elk, then Gove E, then turn left — north — on Gove 16).
This photo shows the drive up Gove 16 from the south:

Here’s what we saw as we approached Monument Rocks:
The chalk formations are on private land and several signs ask visitors not to climb the cliffs. The early morning sun and blue skies made for some neat photos.
Day 35 – Saturday June 2nd: Following the Western Cattle Trail
<– Day 34 – Friday June 1st: The Route of Confusion | Day 36 – Sunday June 3rd: Leaving The Plains –>
Day 35: We spent Saturday driving north from Clinton, Oklahoma, to Garden City, Kansas. Unbeknownst to us most of the day, we were roughly following (from Clinton to Dodge City) an old cow drive trail called the Great Western Cattle Trail. Our route:
Western Cattle Trail (and the other major trails):
We began the morning with one last Route 66 task: visit the Clinton Route 66 Museum. The outside of the building was cleverly done as a vintage-looking Route 66 motel:
Inside the lobby, we found signs, a car, gas pumps, and other items.
To enter the museum portion, it costs $7. Once paid, visitors enter through a set of doors. Among the sights that greet visitors is this large map showing Route 66, along with some early history of road as it relates to Oklahoma. The museum claims that Oklahoma has more original road than any other state. That certainly seemed like a legitimate claim given the length of the road within Oklahoma..
Saturday at the Willys Rally
Chris, Patrick, and Roger all shared photos from the Willys Rally on Saturday. Here’s a compilation of their photos:


Day 34 – Friday June 1st: The Route of Confusion
<– Day 33 – Thursday May 31st: Getting Our Kicks on Route 66 | Day 35 – Saturday June 2nd: Following the Western Cattle Trail –>
Day 34: On Friday we drove from Clarmore, Oklahoma, to Clinton, Oklahoma.

On Friday we drove from Claremore, Oklahoma, to Clinton, Oklahoma. Multiple times we hopped on Route 66, but it proved elusive at times as well.
We started out Friday hunting down the Will Rogers statue in downtown Claremore. It didn’t take long to find it. Having read two biographies about Will, one thing I learned is that he was an early day blogger, always traveling with a laptop typewriter and writing when he had a spare moment. I can relate. So, I thought I’d show him how we do a selfie. He was a natural.
In fact, between our glasses and the hardware in our laps, you can barely tell us apart … (Hint: I’m the one with the ball cap). I could tell right away he liked me. After all, he never met a man he didn’t like, or so he said once.
Our next stop was the Will Rogers Memorial Museum, which is also in Claremore. On our way, we passed this mural. Below I show two of the three panes (the third has been hidden by a tree).



















