<– 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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