The last hour of our 31 hour drive from Long Island to Rapid City, SD, was the longest of our trip.  The running joke between Ann and I was that the weather always seemed worst when i was driving.  Well, this time she took the brunt of the bad driving.  With 45 minutes left as we drove into the hills on I-90  just before Rapid City, the snow started falling hard.  With temperatures hovering around 27 degrees, the snow stuck immediately.  The closer we got to Rapid City, the more the snow fell and the snowier the freeway became.  Every mile got worse as the freeway turned white; snow rules were the norm and ‘lanes’ vanished.  We were happy to arrive, tired, rummy, and ready to sleep.

Once we arrived at the motel, after talking with travelers coming from Montana and Wyoming, coupled with reports that it would snow heavy on Saturday, we booked a room for two nights.  So, after two days of racing west hoping to miss the snow, instead we find ourselves buried under it for the next two days.  But, it’s not so bad being trapped in a motel room with Ann …. below is the view out our window.

For his 100th podcast, the History Czar, Paul Bruno, interviewed me last weekend while Ann and I were at Niagara Falls. We discussed a variety of topics during our 48 minute conversation, including my upcoming book, eWillys, my background, and our mutual frustration regarding a jeep museum, or lack thereof.   (The site containing the interview is no longer available).

During our conversation, Paul kindly labeled me a jeep historian; pre-eminent was his adjective of choice.  However, there are many expert jeep nuts out there who know more than I, so don’t let all his kind words fool you:  I’m still learning!

On Sunday night, after our brush with the law at the NYC’s water reservoir, Ann and I stopped in the Catskills to spend the night with Andy and Wallis.  Andy has a few jeeps he wanted to share with me, but we got there too late to look around, so we went down to a local restaurant for a few drinks and some delicious dinner, before returning to the cabin.

Our nightcap for the evening was to watch an episode of Pan Am, because Andy had just sold a jeep to them for use in an episode of the show.  If you watch the episode, you can spot the M-38A1D (the identifier is its unique passenger side piece that runs around the top side rim along the rear of the body).  Here is an example of a stock M-38A1D.

Only a few minutes away from the that start of the tv show that featured the jeep, the power in the cabin suddenly shutdown.  There seemed no cause for the power outage.  We heard no wind, saw no rain, and experienced no weather problems at all.  Sure the power would come back on, said Andy and Wallis, just wait a few minutes.  So, we waited five minutes, then ten minutes, and longer.  While Wallis and Andy apologized, Ann and I were perfectly happy, as it was quiet and peaceful, with the flicker of candles and the fireplace firelight filling the rooms.  Eventually, we gave up  waiting for the power and went to the sleep.

In the middle of the night, power (and civilization) returned, with the tv and the lights powering on.  So, we shut down the lights and tv and went back to sleep.

The next morning Andy took us over to Terry’s Jeep Farm, a visit I highlighted yesterday. When we returned to his place, he showed me a few of his jeeps.  Below are a few pictures from the tour.  I’ve also included a link to the 11/13/2011 tv show of Pan Am.  Thanks to both Andy and Wallis for their hospitality!!

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/pan-am (click on 11/13/2011 video)

Here’s Andy and I in his property cart, a really handy way to get around.

Here’s a nice original piece of Ford Windshield Glass

Based on feedback he has received, Andy believes this GPW had a top added during the Korean War by the motor pool to turn it into an Ambulance.  Andy had this for sale back in October, but it didn’t sell a the price Andy wanted.

It seems the weather gods are attempting to thwart our nice, though quick, tour of Manhattan.  For the moment we are hanging out in the Trump Tower Starbucks.  I’m sipping some hot chocolate and Ann is enjoying some kind of coffee mixture.  Hopefully, the rain will let up soon for the remainder of our trek to my great aunt’s, where we will spend the night and share pictures.

No updates tonight.  Probably none until Thursday evening late.  Here we are in Times Square.

We have almost reached the eastern most point of our trip, Madison, Ct. We are almost at the 3700 mile mark.  In fact, we are just about out of land, so I guess that means it is time to turn around and head east again.  I still have reports to file about my visit with Terry, Andy, and Wallis, so stay tuned for more updates.  Here are a few random pictures from the past few days:

We have emerged from the Catskills and are plugged back into the virtual world.  I have several updates to provide, but first i have to catch up on emails and review more than 700 photos shot by Ann in the last two days to prepare for another round of family history photos on Tuesday.

I managed to receive my second warning of the trip.  It all started with Ann asking me to stop so we could take a picture near the water.  It turns out that water isn’t any old water hole; instead, it is New York City’s main source of water.  And, it turns out, they are mighty protective of that water.  But, there weren’t any fences and there were a lot of little row boats littering the beach.  So, we thought, for the picture, we would be ok … below is the picture of us and a picture of me and the police while they wrote us both a warning.  To the officer’s credit, they were professional and even apologized for writing the warnings.  I guess they quickly concluded we were clueless tourists on a road trip.  I even gave one a card in hopes they’d drop by the website.