Gettysburg

Day 11 September 23, 2024 Gettysburg 112 miles

Once again it rained during the night and was still raining when we got up. Woodie didn’t want to start. It took Rob several minutes to get it going. We decided to go directly to the Round Barn which was the first stop on the tour rather than go to the host hotel and drive back to the barn. That stop was for coffee and donuts. They were served in the upstairs of the barn. That was a good place to have it because it was inside and there were plenty of chairs.

Then it was off to the lunch site by driving through the countryside. I am sure this was beautiful with the orchards and forest areas. Rob saw the windshield wiper going all day and Connie saw lots of rain dots on her side. The clouds were down low so you couldn’t see very far. We were glad we had driven some of this the day before when you could see at least some of the scenery.

We had lunch at the fire station in Youngstown. The fire station was built to be somewhat of a community center as well. They had plenty of room for all of us and they had a large commercial kitchen. They had prepared a large lunch of roast beef, chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, beans and corn. They had a variety of cakes for dessert. The only down side was the group arrived early so we had to wait for lunch. We thought it was worth the wait. Some of those cars from the 30s and 40s drive faster than anticipated.

A short drive after lunch took us to the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing. The building was crammed full of race cars, pictures, trophies, clothes and other memorabilia. This was not as interesting to us as it was to some. That is alright though we didn’t have to stay long.

Then it was off to the farmers market we visited yesterday. They were serving ice cream. On the way we encountered a short traffic delay. A dead tree had fallen over and blocked the road. One of the cars used a tow strap to pull the tree at least partially off the road. Then several drivers pushed enough off to get by. Someone called in the problem to authorities. Everyone was talking about it. Lucky no one was hurt.

The ice cream stop provided a choice of vanilla or chocolate. The chocolate had chunks of brownie in it as well as chocolate syrup. The ice cream is made locally.

We then returned to the host hotel to turn in our report card. The AAA always determines the average time spent touring and then gives an award to the car closest to that average. We have never really figured out the purpose of this. The report card includes the number of minutes you drove in the morning and then the number of minutes you drove in the afternoon. Seems so odd because the time we were in the museum counts as touring time but lunch does not. I think its just busy work for one of the guys from AAA. AAA is the main sponsor of the tour and provides two tow trucks at no charge for participants that have breakdowns.

The only time it wasn’t raining was a short time during lunch. Too bad because it think the scenery today would have been beautiful. Several drivers took their modern cars based on the weather. Most of the cars are trailered to the event so they have an SUV or pickup as an option. Rob has loaned our spare gas can out twice so far. Not everyone carefully watches their fluid levels.