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6000 Miles: From Maine to Hawaii with Love (For Jeepsters)

• CATEGORIES: Features, Jeepster, Reader Stories This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Glenn wrote this nice story which was published in the June 2010 issue of Jeepster News.


(ABOVE:) At The Pearl Harbor Memorial- ’50 Willys Jeepster, Left- Randy Spangler,  Middle- Glenn  Byron, Right- Maurice Goguen.

EAST MEETS WEST – 6000 MILE JEEPSTER EVENT By Glenn Byron

Sometimes we take for granted the many benefits our membership in WOJC [Willys Overland Jeepster Club] pro- vides. For example, that booklet you received titled “ WOJC 2010 ROSTER” is just something that arrives. Larry & Shirley Wozniak volunteered a bunch of time and effort to get this quality product to club members. Using it as a tool is a bonus for paying our meager dues. Let’s look at where this can take us. Recently, in planning for a cruise to visit our 50th state, Hawaii, I noticed a scheduled one day port call in Honolulu.

Just for kicks, I grabbed that Roster to see if we had members there. Garage tours and visits with other enthusiasts are always great sidelines to get away from usual tourist activities. Sure enough, all of Hawaii has one lonely WOJC member, Randy Spangler, right there in Honolulu. A quick email to Randy to intro- duce myself and inform him of my visit, yielded a friendly response with encourage- ment to see what we could put together. Nothing concrete, just loose parameters to keep both of us available as all the unknowns could allow. Our first port was Hilo, on the big island of Hawaii, with Honolulu, on Oahu, the following day. “Call me from Hilo and we’ll see what the cards hold” was Randy’s invitation. Here’s how it came down.


ABOVE: Randy Spangler’s Island Cruiser, a ’50 Willys Jeepster mounted on a Chevy Blazer chassis- A great performing unit for Boulevard or Beach. 

Three couples on a cruise ship make too large a load for a Willys Jeepster, so careful strategy had to happen to be sure no one felt compromised. The girls were anxious to see Waikiki Beach, and with great personal sacrifice, I crossed that off my list. The other two guys, though not car oriented, agreed to back seat status and a full load resulted. Contact with Randy was made from Hilo and plans laid down for Willys Jeepster to meet Golden Princess at the dock in Honolulu. How’s that for a welcoming committee? Heads turn when ever we put our Jeepsters on display, but this may be a first! Randy’s 1950 Jeepster is especially suited to the hustle and bustle of Oahu gridlock traffic.

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Bob’s CJ-2A

• CATEGORIES: CJ-2A, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Blaine took these pictures of Bob’s CJ-2A at last year’s FC Roundup.   Looks great!  He says the details are very nice.

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Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Mesa, Az

• CATEGORIES: Features, Museums This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Blaine forwarded this picture of this jeep from the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force at Falcon Field in Mesa, Az.  Since Ann and I will be staying in Mesa and will be down there a couple days before this year’s FC Roundup, we plan to visit the museum.

Unfortunately, upon closer inspection, this is a mix of CJ-3A and M-38 parts. Once again, the reason for a jeep museum.  Hopefully, the airplanes are more accurate.  Looks like I need to schedule a meeting with the curator.

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Roberto’s Limited Edition CJ-3B T-Shirt

• CATEGORIES: Artists/Drawings, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Roberto still has shirts available

– All the t-shirts are 100% cotton.
– Shipping costs for 1 tee to the States, 17 USD.
– Sizes and quantity available:

S ———————— 3
L ————————- 7
M ————————- 7
XL ———————— 6
XXL ———————– 7

– I have printed only in sand colored tees´. At this moment there aren´t any other colors available.
– Payment by Pay Pal or transfer to bank account.  Contact Roberto at robflores@robertoflores.com with any questions.

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Roberto informed me he has created a limited edition run of 30 CJ-3B Shirts.  I will publish more info regarding mailing costs (from Spain) as soon as I know more.

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No Updates Tonight (Monday Night)

• CATEGORIES: Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

The pass was too snowy for us to cross today, so we took the long way down to Portland and east to Pasco. I’m tired. So, no updates tonight.  I’ll update tomorrow night.

Just for fun, here are a few pics of the recycled Starbucks in Tukwila Washington we visited on Friday.  It is made out of shipping containers, among other items.

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The DJ-3A Surrey at the Wailea Hotel on Maui, Hawaii

• CATEGORIES: DJ-3A, Features, Women & Jeeps • TAGS: , , This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

I received an email from Paul the other day and the subject read ‘Refreshing’.  One quick look at the picture in the email explained what he meant (see the 1st picture below).

Yep, that is one pretty jeep!

Using the keyword “Wailea” I started tracking down more pictures of it.  It turns out Colin has a couple of them too, as does a friend of his.  So, here are a few of this jeep that is still owned by the Wailea Hotel in Maui (boy, after today’s cold weather, Maui is sounding awfully nice!)

More pictures I found on the internet:

And from Colin, you can see the jeep prior to the stenciling:

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Moonshiner’s 2012 Swapmeet Report

• CATEGORIES: Event, Features This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.

Thanks to Herm, Richard, Don and Marty for sharing their space with us!

It was a wet and cold morning when Ann and I arrived at the Puyallup Fair Grounds for the 2012 Swap Meet.  Because we dropped our stuff off on Saturday, there was very little for us to bring in, so we arrived at 7:30AM, pulled out some books, tshirts and business cards and began our wait for the gates to open at 9AM.

It was a cold wait as I was under the impression that they would close the large doors to the build where the space was located, so neither Ann nor I were dressed especially warm,  but the windy cold weather blew in all day.  We did our best to keep warm.

I really didn’t know what to expect when the crowds arrived, but eventually we were selling both books and tshirts, so by day’s end I was pleased by the results.  Even better, there were a surprising number of people who hadn’t heard of eWillys, so many business cards were passed out.  Ann also went around letting people with older jeeps know that I would list their jeeps for free if they didn’t sell.  More than a few wondered what the ‘catch’ was.  She tried to explain that there was no catch, but I don’t think everyone was sold on that.

A number of readers stopped by, some to just say hi and that they loved the site, others stayed longer and talked.  Even my cousin came by, though I’d forgotten to text him I was there.  A few of the guys from the space next to us came over.  It turns out they were from the Misfits Jeep Club, which was a club based partly in Renton, so I was familiar with the club (truth be told, I had a crush on one of the female members of the club in high school, but that’s another long story).  Anyway, Bob Miles and Bob Moran were members of the Seattle Jeep Club, so they knew many of the older PNW4WDA and Wandering Willys Jeep Club Member folks that I knew.

So, despite the cold weather, the swap meet was bigger than ever and people found treasures in other peoples junk.  Ann did takes some pics, but I will download and publish them tomorrow.  I’m wiped today.

Looks like snow in Snoqualmie Pass tomorrow (pass is currently closed as of Sunday Evening) so we will be taking the longer way back to Pasco.  We are hoping to have time to drop by the WAAAM to take pictures of the jeeps on our way through The Dalles, Oregon.

 

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