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Mon. May 13th Rest & Tue. May 14th: Crust, Raisins, and Smoked Pork

May 16, 2013 • CATEGORIES: Features, Museums • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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<– Day 9 – Sun. May 12th: Tuckered Out? Then Visit a Firehouse   | Trip Overview | Day 12 & 13 – Wed. May 15th & Thurs. May 16th: Mixers, Foodies & Heavy Equipment –>

Monday May 13th:  Instead of trying to squeeze in a long day at the Ford Museum, we decided to take a day off instead, as we have a busy week coming up. So, Monday was a day of rest at Brian’s house in Fenton. Thanks to his hospitality, I was able to finish the 6th draft of the Amber Panels of Konigsburg book.

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Tuesday May 14th: Today, we left Michigan for the state of Ohio.

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That’s the former Willys Overland Smokestack behind me. As you can see, there isn’t much left of the old Willys plant.

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On Tuesday May 14th we drove from Fenton, Michigan, to Ann’s relative’s house in Greenville, Ohio.

We started the morning bidding a fond farewell to Brian, who’d opened his home to us for several days (Thanks!).

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Brian and I posing behind his beautiful 1923 Buick. Unfortunately, it was so cold, we couldn’t take it out for a ride.

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One of the places Brian recommended we visit before we left was a bakery in Fenton, MI, called CRUST. As soon as I looked up the website and examined their menu, I was hooked. Most of their breads are made with starters rather than commercial baking yeast. So, I HAD to visit the place.

I wasn’t disappointed. Everything looked so good, we walked out of there $37 poorer. I can’t recommend the place highly enough.

After the bakery, we’d planned to head for the Ford Museum. But, at the last minute, we changed our minds. I knew we had to be down in Ohio by dinner time, so I was concerned we’d have to rush through museum. Instead, we had the opportunity to take our time to drive south. It proved to be the right decision.

As we drove south, Ann’s cousin recommended we visit the River Raisin Battlefield National Park in Monroe, MI, from which the War of 1812’s “Remember the Raisin” call-to-action originated. At the battle of River Raisin the Americans thought they’d won, but then the Brits & Indians regrouped and beat the US troops. American’s were shocked by the loss, hence the rallying cry of Remember the Raisin. Ann’s cousin claims that one of the men captured was a distant relative of Ann’s. To capture the feeling of Ann’s relative, I put her behind bars.

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Hugh’s Fiberglass Bodied CJ-2A

May 16, 2013 • CATEGORIES: Builds, CJ-2A, Features • TAGS: , . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Congrats to Hugh for completing his fiberglass build. Just in time for summer! Next on his plate is a M-151 Mutt project.

Hugh wrote, “Just got my fiberglass bodied cj2a back from my cousin who painted it.  Chose olive drab because we figured if we scratched it off road it wouldnt break our hearts like a shiny paintjob would.   Well i consider this jeep done  so now we can start on the 48 cj2a with the m151 mutt drivetrain.  That jeep is going to be an interesting project.”

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Sun. May 12th: Tuckered Out? Then Visit a Firehouse

May 14, 2013 • CATEGORIES: Features • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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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.

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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.

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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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Climbing at the Cultus Hole

May 14, 2013 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images Jeeping This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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Ron shared this classic jeeping picture. Thanks for sharing!

“Here’s an old picture from one of my jeeping trips, back in the day. This was in September of  1969. Pictured here is a friend of mine at a place called Cultus Hole, which is west of Yakima, Washington in the Cascade Mountains. He is now a rancher in the Columbia Basin and the last I heard he still has the Jeep sitting out by one of his barns, and he still fires it up occasionally and drives it around the ranch. It is a CJ3B of course, and I think it is a 1953 model, but I’m not positive on the year. The modifications on it were pretty standard for that era; a small block Chevrolet engine (283 cubic inches), an overdrive unit, a roll bar, and oversized tires and wheels are some of the things I remember, although I’m sure he had made many more modifications. The trips he and I made in our Jeeps were always memorable, to say the least.”

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1962 CJ-3B Fruit Fly Sprayer Photo **SOLD**

May 14, 2013 • CATEGORIES: Features, Old Images This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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UPDATE: **SOLD** Was on eBay

How about this unusual photo.

“You are bidding on an original press photo from 1962 featuring Fruit Fly Spraying Dick Burke getting things set on jeep sprayer before going out to the home where fruit flys were found . Photo is 10” x 8” in size.”

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Cragstan Tin Jeep, Boat, and Trailer on eBay

May 14, 2013 • CATEGORIES: Features, toys This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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This looks like a nice set.

“This 1960s CRAGSTAN (Japan) JEEP CJ3 WITH “QUEEN” BOAT AND TRAILER are in Near Mint original condition, in their original box. The 15.5-inch long tin toy has a few minor paint abrasions and box rub. The 7.25-inch long Jeep has a working friction motor. The interior is nicely detailed and lithographed, and the top is nicely fringed. The rubber tires are like new, and the tin hubcaps are lightly age tarnished. The 8.25-inch long boat and motor are lightly scuffed and scratched. The crank up motor works well. The 7.25-inch long boat trailer is like new. The colorful original box is complete, but has minor edge tears, scuffs and a few light stains.”

View all the information on ebay

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Sat. May 11th: Fire Engines, 16,000 Toys and A Destoyer

May 13, 2013 • CATEGORIES: Features, toys • TAGS: . This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated.
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<– Day 7 – Fri. May 10th: From Iron Mountain to Mackinaw City | Trip Overview | Day 9 – Sun. May 12th: Tuckered Out? Then Visit a Firehouse  –>

On Saturday morning May 11, we hoped to escape the cold of Northern MIchigan’s Mackinaw City by driving south. Our goal was Brian’s house in Fenton, MI, where he planned to take us out to dinner at the French Laundry (more on that tomorrow). He’s outdone himself with his generosity and hospitality, so many thanks to him!

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On Saturday we drove from Mackinaw City to Bay City, then southward to Fenton.

Saturday’s first stop was the Antique Toy and Firehouse Museum in Bay City, MI. I can’t remember how I learned about this museum, but it was a wonderful treat.

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When we arrived, there was only two other vehicles in the parking lot. We took a few pictures of the outside and headed into pay. When we stepped inside the door, the foyer was empty; there was no one was around to take our money. I yelled, but didn’t get an answer. I checked the door to make sure the open-sign said ‘open’; it did. I checked the prices and discovered it cost $7 per adult, but they were running a mother’s day weekend special, so Ann didn’t have to pay. Therefore, I laid $7 on the museum’s till and we began our tour.

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Wow. Wow. Wow! There were toy automobiles neatly arranged everywhere. We’d later learn that more than 12,000 toy vehicles were displayed. Another 4,000 were awaiting display. As Ann and I looked around a man in a scooter and a young boy appeared, said hi, then went to the front. We told them we’d paid, and the man didn’t say much, he just continued to the front.

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As we made additional progress through the different rooms a man in a wheel chair appeared. He was very friendly and began to explain the history of the different items. After a while, it became apparent that this wasn’t just a museum, it was one man’s collection: Jim Dobson.  The man who was helping us (I missed his name) pointed out one wall where Jim had placed signs related to some of the companies he’d founded or been involved with. It was a long list.

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