Spoffords Travel

Day 12 September 24, 2024 Gettysburg 80.5 miles

The day didn’t start too well. Woodie would not start no matter what. Rob swapped out several different parts and called his brother several times trying to figure out the problem. Three hours later the problem turned out to be that the spark plugs needed to be re-gapped. It was a simple fix but it took quite a bit of time to identify.

We headed for the lunch spot of the tour hoping we could catch up with the rest of the group. The odds of making lunch were slim since it was almost twelve when we left and the drive there was about 45 minutes. When we started it wasn’t raining but it was before long. We arrived at the address in the tour book to find out that it was the headquarters and the banquet location was another five miles or so away. Surprisingly we made it there before they stopped serving. Lunch was baked beans, deep fried chicken, corn on the cob, hamburgers and crab. Dessert was cake and or ice cream.

Next stop was Mount Oliver Cemetery. Several significant individuals are buried here to include Francis Scott Key, the first governor of Maryland and the first president of the United States under the Articles of Confederation. Too bad it was raining so hard. Made taking good pictures impossible and marginal pictures very wet.

Then we went to Bill McGrew Farm to see his collection of antique tractors and trucks. He has some very large old farm tractors that most likely still run. The trucks were impressive too. Then he had a large collection of toy trucks.

We got back to our hotel about 6 pm. Rob checked the car lights and discovered that when you turn on the cowl lights it blows a fuse. Another item for the fix it list.

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.

Day 10 September 22, 2024 Gettysburg Pennsylvania 78.3 miles

Rain fell over night and the forecast is for more to come. Rob did some minor maintenance between rain drops. We didn’t have to be at the host hotel until about 10 am so it left us a little time. We are staying about 8.5 miles from the host hotel. Then he tried to start the car. It really did not want to start. He tried for quite a while before it finally started. His best guess was that the car really does not like the rain.

We twisted and turned through county roads. The roads are not very wide but they also don’t carry much traffic. We got to the host hotel in plenty of time. We checked in and got our goodie bag. Some good stuff but also some throw away. Then we had to go for a safety inspection. That included do your headlights work. Do you have a fire extinguisher. Do you have tire chocks. Then they took pictures of the car and of us beside the car.

We decided to do the Sunday bonus tour even though most of it will be repeated tomorrow. The directions seem pretty good. The first stop was a winery. They were really busy with locals more than tour folks. They had lots of kinds of wine. Most of it was sweet varieties. Quite a few had other fruits in addition to the grape. We ordered a pizza and Connie had a glass of wine. The pizza made Flying Pie Pizza at home look like a real bargain.

We missed a turn and ended up at stops three and four. That was okay because we can still go to stop two afterwards. One of these was a small cafe and the other was a round barn that now sells fresh produce, canned goods and souvenirs. The round barns were first built by the Shakers as the perfect shape. That way the devil could not get you in a corner. This is a very large building capable of holding 50 head of cattle and 16 horses. The upper level is now used as an event site and the bottom is for food items. They had lots of different kinds of apples, salsa, jam, sauces and other items.

We doubled back a little and took the scenic route to stop number two. We saw so many different apple orchards. Most still have apples on the trees. Pennsylvania is the fourth largest producer of apples behind Washington, Michigan, and New York. The drive is very pretty. Not many houses. Sure glad we don’t have to drive this in the winter. The roads are narrow and some of the inclines are relatively steep.

Stop number two also sells fresh produce and lots of other stuff. One of the better things is fresh apple cider. We bought a gallon because that was only $2.00 more than half a gallon. We drank a glass each before leaving. They had a football player made from hay bales near one of the parking lot entrances. He was big enough to be drafted.

Then it was back to the host hotel to wait for the evening banquet. We stayed in the parking lot for a short time and cleaned up the car. We visited the hospitality suite which can’t have any outside food so there was not much there. They did have numerous baskets they are going to draw raffle tickets for on Thursday. We put in for a couple of items. Very doubtful we will win either item. But just like the lottery, you must play to win.

The banquet food was not one of the better meals. The food was lukewarm and dry. Both of us had the chicken option. The beef looked better. We did get to talk with some people we had met on other Glidden tours. The drive home was all in the dark which is not easy with Model A lights and narrow winding roads. For some unknown reason, we have no taillights on high beam. So, low beam was the only option tonight. Something new for the to-do list. Luckily no animals appeared on the road other than one road kill deer.

Day 9 September 21, 2024 Brookville Pennsylvania to Gettysburg Pennsylvania 193 miles

Today started with a light rain and ended with a light rain. In between was mostly cloudy. The drive was really beautiful. The roads curved this way and that. A few hairpin turns for good measure. Also up and down hills. Lots of trees both evergreen and deciduous. Some of the deciduous trees are beginning to turn colors. The hills are all round on top with not rocky outcroppings.

We saw several signs about Amish buggies but only saw two. One was parked and the other being driven down the road. The driver even waved at us. He did not have a windshield or a windshield wiper.

The only wildlife for the day was unfortunately roadkill. Four deer and one fox. All looked fairly recent.

We went passed one lake. Even though this is Saturday we didn’t see any activity on the lake.

A few houses have really gotten in the Halloween decorating mood. One house with a large yard had a four horse hitch of skeleton horses pulling a wagon with a scary driver. They were surrounded by a graveyard and other skeletons. Some other houses have scary characters and some have cute ones.

When we arrived in Gettysburg the town was filled with people. There are lots of small restaurants and pubs with outdoor seating. Lots of historical sites too. Once out of town we drove between parts of the battlefield and memorials. Sometime during the week we should see more of that. We also passed the Eisenhower Farm where they were having some kind of World War II festivities.

We got to the hotel about 3 pm. After a short nap we went to do laundry and go to the grocery store to buy dinner and breakfast. This motel doesn’t offer a breakfast and there is not a restaurant nearby. A new first. This hotel charges for ice. Hopefully this is not the tip of the iceberg.

Day 8 September 20, 2024 Willard Ohio to Brookville Pennsylvania 215 miles

Well the day started with Woodie refusing to start. We were nearly out of gas but adding the spare gas didn’t help. Rob investigated different possibilities and determined that the points needed to be replaced. When he checked these points had been in the car for over 13,000 miles. Woodie has worked just fine all day after that. The whole thing took about an hour.

We drove to Medina Ohio to take a look at a Model A Mail truck. We ended up looking at four of them. Two were in great condition and two were in pieces. The one for sale is in pieces. Definitely a lot of work to be done. This guy had quite a few Model As in a large storage unit. We spent two hours there.

We were going along just fine until we encountered a road closed sign in the direction we wanted to go. The GPS didn’t handle it very well but we kept following the detour signs and did eventually get back on the correct route. We stopped for lunch while on the detour. We picked the first fast food which just happened to be McDonald’s. They had removed the play area and replaced it with overstuffed chairs and sofas. Certainly was a different look.

Then just before we came to a stop sign a single person horse drawn cart went passed us. We had not seen any buggy signs recently. A little further down the road we did see signs a couple of times. In the next town we did see what would seem to be an Amish lady walking down the street. We never saw any others.

We have passed many cemeteries. Most of them have tombstones that are quite tall more like pillars. We didn’t stop to determine the ages. Since some of them were leaning we are guessing they are older.

We crossed over a lake named Mosquito Creek Lake. We did not stop to check if it had mosquitoes but it did have lots of lily pads. An interesting pirate ship was aground at the entrance to an RV park.

More houses today had Halloween decorations out. Pumpkins and mums are for sale everywhere.

The terrain has given way to rolling hills with more small communities and smaller farms. We didn’t see the big John Deere dealerships. Most houses have large front lawns unless they are in town. There are more deciduous trees. I bet the trees get colorful in another week or two. Lots of political signs are out too. One town had supporters for Trump on one side of the street and those for Harris on the other. Both sides were trying to out chant each other. Everyone seemed friendly enough when we went between them. Hopefully they will still be peaceful on November 5th.

Just outside of town Connie saw two deer. Pretty much the only wildlife we have seen in a few days. At least they weren’t road kill or trying to kill us on the road. We arrived at the hotel a little after 7:00 pm. That makes for another long day.

Day 7 September 19, 2024 Joliet Illinois to Willard Ohio 307 miles

We talked with a guy at the gas station this morning that had two of the cutest miniature schnauzers. They were really friendly too. The male dog had been part of a breeding program. His puppies sold for $8000 each. I found that quite hard to believe.

We were on the road by about 9 am again. The day is sunny and quite warm for this early. Luckily very little wind.

We spent all morning on city roads in commercial areas. There must have been at least 100 stoplights and we hit most of them red. I don’t think we averaged over 30 miles per hour. That doesn’t leave anything interesting to photograph either.

We did cross over one large draw bridge that spanned the Des Plaines River. The bridge was not very interesting. The roads through all of this area were really bumpy. It was almost like being on the gravel roads but without the dust.

We drove along one side of Purdue University. Took a little bit to realize what we were seeing. We didn’t drive through the campus.

After about 6.5 hours we finally reached open farm land and small towns. Still lots of corn and beans. Some of the churches had interesting architecture. More of them were brick. Some were wooden.

Off in the distance are a bunch of windmills again. Some of these are turning but very slowly. Not as much wind here as some of the other days.

And then we reached Ohio. Seemed to take forever. We arrived at the hotel about 7 pm so that was a long day. The car ran fine and Rob’s jerry rigged fix to hold the turn signal switch to the steering column held. When he uses his left arm as a turn signal many drivers think he is just waving at them.

Day 6 September 18, 2024 Ames Iowa to Joliet Illinois 319 miles

The day is partly cloudy with some breeze. We were the only people in the hotel last night. Don’t think that happens often. Good thing we weren’t there on the weekend. Iowa State University is here and they have a home football game. The hotel will be full.

We are out of town very quickly. (It is not a veery big town.) Two large plants are just outside of town. One is Barilla which makes pasta and the other is Verbio which makes renewable natural gas. We saw lots of large plants today. Most had no visible name and if they did nothing as to what they made. I guess you are just supposed to know.

Before long we are on a four lane divided highway. It’s not a freeway because side roads cross rather than having exit ramps. For some unknown reason the GPS keeps taking us on little side routes but always returns to the main highway. Some of those are gravel roads. The dust on those is so fine that everything in the car is covered with dust. After the third side trip we stop using the GPS and just follow the highway. We had looked and know that we should stay on US Highway 30 until it intersects with US Highway 52. Then follow that into Joliet. We get back on the GPS when we get closer to Joliet.

We did encounter one long stretch of construction where the road is being resurfaced. We had to wait for the pilot car. That must have been 3-4 miles long. Our morning break took us just a little off the highway. As we returned to the highway we met about 8 very large pieces of farm equipment going the opposite direction. They do take up more than a lane. Harvesting season is upon us.

John Deere has stores in almost every town. Equipment comes in all sizes but very few color choices. One of the stores had certified pre-owned equipment. Surprisingly for all that equipment we saw very little was out in the fields.

Speaking of fields we have never seen so much corn. The fields are huge and there are lots of them. Miles and miles of corn on both sides of the road. No wonder there is so much ethanol in the fuel. Some of the gas stations offer 15% ethanol. Only a handful of the fields were harvesting. Even then they only had one machine cutting the corn and one hauling away the corn.

Well with all that corn there must be lots of raccoons because we sure saw a lot of roadkill raccoons. No antelope and maybe only one deer.

Very few cattle today but we did smell hogs. When we came through Iowa a few years ago it seemed like every farm had hogs. However, we were further south on that trip.

Not many windmills until we got closer to Joliet. Then they were all still. Granted the wind was calm but seems they should have been moving some.

US Highway 30 skirted most of the towns similar to a freeway. It just went through all the corn fields. Well once in a while there was a bean field. Still saw lots of silos but no grain fields. The grain must have been in the few fields that were bare.

A couple of signs about buggies were posted but we never saw any buggies. The Amish population must not be large. The small towns we did drive through usually had big older homes that were well cared for.

We arrived at the hotel at 6:00 pm. Later than usual. The mounting bracket for the turn signal device on the car broke off today. Rob had to make at least a temporary fix. Tomorrow will tell if it works.