<– 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? –>

<– Day 12 – Thurs. May 10th: Willys to Hawgs | Day 14 – Sat. May 12th: Ann Gets the Boot –>

Our welcoming party at Lawrence Elliot’s place. From Left to Right, Carroll, Ann, me, Van, Lawrence, Susie, and Phillip.

Day 13: I only had to drive for 20 minutes today. That was in the morning on our drive to Maury’s. For the rest of our drives, our Chauffeur and tour guide, Maury, took us all over the windy hills of Western North Carolina. I think he could make a living doing this with a DUKW and microphone. He was entertaining and informative! However, I suspect being an architect pays better, so I don’t see him changing careers just yet!

We started out the day by meeting Maury at his shop, where his GPW is located. The GPW, #58671, was drafted into the Army on August 25, 1942. Six years later, it landed in Maury’s hands when he purchased it from Tom Stanek, who’d done a restoration on it and learned that the jeep was a Bechtel reconditioned unit. Maury has written up all the history he’d uncovered on his GPW in a article titled “Tracing the History of GPW 58671”, which appeared in the Winter 2008 issue of Army Motors Magazine.

Here’s Maury giving us a tour:

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