West Virginia, Ohio and Michigan

Blog Entry #1 May 24, 2017: Cary, NC to Blacksburg, VA

Introduction:  The high level of Jeep preparation for this trip has thus far paid off nicely.  Looking back at the major trek that we took to the Western United States in 2013; it is scary just how ill prepared we were for that trip; and even less so for our trek to Mississippi in 2003. […]

Blog Entry #2 May 25, 2017: Blacksburg, WV to Huntington, WV

When last we talked, Jean and I were in Blacksburg, WV for our overnight stop on our way to Huntington, WV for the AACA Spring National antique car meet. When we left Blacksburg the morning of May 25, 2017, we encountered a couple of challenges. The first challenge may seem a little trite – purchasing […]

Blog Entry #3 May 26, 2017: Huntington, WV – Blenko Glass, Rose Garden

The morning of May 26th presented us with a warm, sunny day. A welcome respite after driving through 2 days of nearly continuous rain showers. I pulled the Jeep out of the dark, dank parking garage on onto a stretch of parking in the sun in front of the hotel and proceeded to look for […]

Blog Entry #4 May 27, 2017: Huntington, WV – AACA Meet

Saturday, May 27th started out with sky full of broken clouds – not bad weather for the start of the 2017 Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) 2017 South Eastern National Meet. Approximately 180 vehicles had registered for the event. Unfortunately, thunderstorms were predicted for the afternoon. Not a good sign for those who brought […]

Blog Entry #5 May 28, 2017: Huntington, WV to Marion, OH;Hopewell Mounds, Chillicothe, OH

We awoke on the 28th to a beautiful day. Billowing clouds sailing across the sky in the high winds. Tech Stuff About 3am on the morning of the 27tha possible reason for the erratic charging behavior struck me. I recall the service manual specifying that the resistance between the base of the voltage regulator and […]

Blog Entry #6 May 29, 2017: Marion, OH to Ann Arbor, MI; OVERLAND smoke stack, Dundee Park

Woke up on May 29thto a beautiful sunny morning with strong tailwinds. Wiped the morning dew of off the Jeep, did some correspondence, packed up and left Marion, OH for Ann Arbor, MI. One must-do stopon the way to Ann Arbor was the “OVERLAND” smokestack at the site of the original Jeep manufacturing plant in […]

Blog Entry #7 May 30, 2017: Ann Arbor – Howell, MI – Thermofil 25 year reunion

Fellow Thermofil alumna and successful plastics business entrepreneur, Don, arranged a once-in-a-lifetime (my lifetime anyway) opportunity at his business for the members of our prior company to get reacquainted over lunch. In August, 1969 I left my position as Plastics Engineer at Dow Chemical Company in Midland, MI to join a fledgling plastics compounding company […]

Blog Entry #8 May 31, 2017: Ann Arbor, Lavonia, & Saline, MI

By coincidence, on the day that we left Cary, NC on this trek, there arose a need to visit a potential supplier in Lavonia, MI (30 miles from Ann Arbor) for a client. Since that fit with our travel schedule, we elected to have me make the visit while we were in that region on […]

Blog Entry #9 June 1, 2017: Ann Arbor to Ada, Ohio; lunch on the banks of the Maumee River

Mid-morning of June 1st Jean and I repacked the Jeep and headed out from Ann Arbor, MI on the 3 hour, 125 mile back road journey from Ann Arbor, MI to Ada, OH for my 50th year reunion with my fellow graduates of Ohio Northern University’s Class of 1967. The trip through south-central Michigan and […]

Blog Entry #11 June 4, 2017: Ada, OH to Dayton, OH – stop at Mid-Ohio Raceway

In my efforts to entice the members of the engineering Class of 1967 to come to the 50th ONU reunion, I learned that Jack, one of my close mechanical engineering classmates now living in Missouri, is seriously into sports car racing. It so happened that his carclass was among those racing on Sunday, June 4th […]

Blog Entry #12 June 5, 2017: National Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH – Highland, OH

June 5, 2017: Photos taken at the National Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH Monday, June 5th, Jean and I re-packed the Jeep and headed off to the National Air Force Museum, four miles from our previous evening’s lodgingsin Dayton. The newly updated museum currently consists of 4 major hanger-shaped structures interconnected by a central hall […]

Blog Entry #13 June 6, 2017: Highland, OH – Cumberland Gap, KY

Jean and I figured it would be a real stretch (for the Jeep and ourselves) to reach our intended temporary base camp in Blowing Rock, NC from Highland, OH. So, we selected the Cumberland Gap area connecting Virginia and Kentucky as a stop for the evening of June 6th. June 6, 2017: Cruising the southwestern […]

Blog Entry #14 June 7, 2017: Cumberland Gap, VA – Blowing Rock, NC – Grandfather Mountain, NC

The morning of June 7th we drove through the tunnel that passes under the actual Cumberland Gap from Kentucky to Tennessee and proceeded south to Grandfather Mountain in the northwest corner of North Carolina. It is always a thrill to cross over the ridges of the Appalachian (I like to pronounce it “apple chain”) Mountains […]

Blog Entry #15 June 8-9, 2017: Blowing Rock, NC to Cary, NC; NC Transportation Museum

At Jean’s suggestion, we decided to extend our stay in Blowing Rock, NC through June 8th rather than immediately making the run to our home in Cary, NC some 5 hours away. This worked out nicely, providing me an opportunity to catch up on correspondence and both of us time to decompress before completing our […]