<– Day 30 – Sun. June 2nd: State #49 Was Exciting!  | Trip Overview | Day 32 & 33 – Tues. June 4th & Wed. June 5th: Rudeness at the Parkside Diner –>

The Shelburne Museum was a fun place to visit!

On Monday we traveled from Burlington, Vermont, to Pulaski, New York, via Rome, Poland and Russia!

On Monday we traveled from Burlington, Vermont, to Pulaski, New York.

Ann and I started the day in Burlington, Vermont. As we left our hotel, we decided to wander the streets of Burlington and find some iced black tea. So, we walked over to the nearby walking-mall in downtown Burlington that we’d spotted when we arrived on Sunday evening.

As soon as we stepped onto the plaza, we loved the place. Even on a monday morning with temperatures in the mid-60s, people were milling about. Many restaurants had sitting areas arranged in such a way that it reminded me of the small towns in Eastern Europe I’d visited back in 2003.

This shows the southern half of the outdoor mall.

I spotted this jeep in this long, cool mural on a wall in Burlington, VT.

The mural from one side.

A detail shot.

The mural from the other side.

I guess Burlington fancies itself a ski town?

Outdoor seating for a restaurant.

And what trip to Vermont would be complete without checking out Ben & Jerry’s?

After exploring the city, we eventually found some black tea at a dark, cool coffee shop called Muddy Waters. The tea was good and the atmosphere unique. We followed up the tea with some bagels.

After our walk through Burlington, we were intent on getting into the jeep and driving, because we had about five hours to go. We made it all of fifteen minutes when we spotted a beautiful covered wooden bridge.. Ann immediately wanted to take a picture of it, but we had to figure out how to reach it. As we drove, we discovered several more buildings separated by beautiful landscaping. All were behind a big fence. Eventually it dawned on us we were looking at a museum of some kind.

So, our drive plans immediately changed!

This is the covered bridge we’d spotted from the road.

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<– Day 10 & 11 – Mon. May 13th Rest & Tue. May 14th: Crust, Raisins, and Smoked Pork  | Trip Overview | Day 14 – Fri. May 17th: Day 1 of the Midwest Willys Reunion –>

Wednesday, May 15th: We spent all of Wednesday at Ann’s Great Aunt Alice’s place in Greenville, Ohio.

Thursday May 16th: We drove from Greenville, Ohio, to Hudson, Ohio. Along the way, we made more new friends!

Me and Roger Martin in front of his CJ-2A.

This morning we were back on the road. Our ultimate destination was Hudson

On Thursday we drove from Greenville, Ohio, to Hudson, Ohio.

We began the morning heading to the Kitchen Aide Experience. Having never been, I pictured it as part tour and part museum in the Kitchen Aide factory itself. Instead, it’s a giant Kitchen Aide store where you can buy new or used Kitchen Aide products of every color and kind. Downstairs there are some beautiful refurbed mixers and blenders. Those ‘in the know’ tell us the refurbs are actually better than the new ones. They certainly were better prices.

Next to all the refurb machines in the lower level was a mini-museum. Since Ann assured me we didn’t have room to bring a refurbed 6 quart 575KW mixer with a glass bowl home, I had to make due with the mini-museum. What amazed me most about the museum was how little some of the attachments had changed. Here are a few pics from the museum:

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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.

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

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

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!).

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

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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<– Trip Overview | Day 2 – Sun. May 5th: Cowboys, Vistas, and Pirates –>

Saturday May 4th, our two month trip begins! We will be on the road until the end of June.

For the first leg of our East Coast trip our principal objective today was to make it to the Miracle of America Museum just south of Polson, MT. We left Pasco at 10am knowing it would take 5 1/2 hours to drive there and a 1/2 hour stop for lunch (we had to stop for some pho at our favorite place in Coeur D’ Alene, ID). Doing the math, we realized we’d arrive at the museum at 4pm, which gave us an hour to look around it before it closed at 5pm. Simple math, yes? . . . Wrong.

Our first day of driving, from Pasco to Livingston, Montana.

The first sign of trouble occurred as we crossed into Montana from Idaho on I-90. I was driving when I spotted a sign that informed us we were Entering Mountain Time Zone. Oh crap! I forgot all about the time change. A quick review of the math meant that we’d arrive at 5pm, just as it closed.

However, there was a caveat. The website indicated that the museum stayed open until 8pm during the summer, but never defined what days were considered summer days. So, as we descended out of the pass towards Missoula, Ann gave the museum a call at 3:30pm and it went like this:

Ann: Hi, how late are you open tonight?
Museum: Depends. Where are you now?
Ann (shocked): We are approaching St. Regis, Montana.
Museum: Ok, I’ll keep the museum open for you. I have some paperwork to do anyway.

With that simple phone call, Gil Mangels volunteered to keep his museum open so we could look around the place all by ourselves! I called at 4:40 to update him and say we wouldn’t be there until 5:15. He said that wouldn’t be a problem.

We finally arrived at 5:20pm, just as the last remaining visitor left. We walked inside and there was Gil ready to take our money ($5 each – BARGAIN!) and explain where everything was. We thanked him for staying open and said we didn’t want to use too much of his time. He said just take your time.

We weren’t there five minutes before we knew we had a problem. There was so much cool stuff to look at that we couldn’t move ourselves along fast enough. Gil and his late wife have done a wonderful job of creating a feast for the eyes. Ann and i were giddy school kids pointing things out to each other, reading stuff, and having a blast. We were there forty five minutes and still hadn’t made it through a 1/4 of the complex yet.

We didn’t want to impost on Gil, so we chose to go to plan B:  See the jeeps real quickly, photograph them, and then return later this summer so we could spend all day looking around the place.

Before we left, we got a chance to spend some time talking with Gil. When we explained about eWillys, Gil explained he grew up on a nearby farm and his parents had an old flattie, but he couldn’t remember the model. He said they did everything with it.

Gil belongs to the Military Vehicle Preservation Association and he restored the M-38 below that he proudly displays in one of the rooms. It’s a very nice restoration. It was featured in the MVPA and GIl was kind enough to copy the article for me, but I haven’t had time to go through it yet.

In addition to the M-38, there are two more M-38A1s, a Slat Grille MB, and a M-151, a Mule, and a Jeepster for visitors to see. There is a Pedal Jeep in the toy section, a few hot wheel-like jeep toys. I also spotted several posters, cards and brochures in the war-related areas.

The Miracle of American museum is a gem. It reminded me of my experience to House on the Rock in Wisconsin, where each corner was a feast for the eyes. But, unlike HOR, there’s a better educational and museum experience. I can see why it’s been called the Smithsonian of the west. There is enough wonder — cool stuff, historic stuff, and odd ball stuff — to keep a whole family entertained. Military buffs, car buffs, farm buffs, motorcycle buffs, history buffs (how about a whole shed of old washing machines?) will love this place. It is worth the trip, especially since you get to talk to the guy who made it happen.

Here’s a bunch of pictures we took:

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