Spoffords Travel

October 10, 2022 Day 2 Cumberland MD to Parkersburg WV 183 miles

Today is sunny but cool. We still got a later start but decided not to go as far. Rob also decided to order a new radiator from Snyder’s Antique Auto Parts and have it shipped to his daughter Shelley’s house. That will be our next stop. That way he can replace the radiator. He added water before we left and filled the water cans. He adds about a gallon every time. The car started again without help and we are off. We took all back roads and the drive was beautiful. More small towns with houses sitting only a few feet from the edge of the road. Halloween is very evident based on the house decorations. Some of the places are covered with lights and blow up figures. Two neighboring towns had pink flags and ribbons honoring breast cancer awareness month. The streets of those two towns were lined with the flags. Fall festivals and special dinners were advertised in most of the towns. More road kill was along the road. At least four deer and two skunks. Thankfully we did not see any live animals on the road. One of the carcasses was being consumed by a pair of small vultures. We stopped more frequently today to add gas and water. We had a pizza for lunch at a local pizza parlor. Almost all of the trip was on scenic byways. Traffic is much lighter on these roads as well. Not as many farms today. Stopped to add water and found out that the radiator Rob ordered is out of stock. The phone call this morning said they had nine. Rob called and they said they were out of the one he ordered but they had nine of the cheaper ones. After some discussion they cancelled the one radiator and ordered the other to be shipped to Shelley’s by Wednesday. Sure hope that all works out. We got to our hotel before five pm so its still light. Great improvement. We went to the grocery store to get food for supper and breakfast. It happened to be a Kroger with gas pumps. We got ten cents a gallon off. That made the price $3.259 a gallon.

October 9, 2022 Day 1 Philadelphia PA to Cumberland MD 234 miles

This day actually started very early in the morning. Connie’s flight from Minneapolis was over two hours late. They were waiting for a pilot to be flown in. She arrived at the hotel about 2 am. We did go to bed and slept in some so our driving start was later than usual. The car started without needing any assistance. It took us over an hour to get out of the suburb of Philadelphia and into the countryside. That was a welcome relief from the traffic and stop lights. We drove up and down hills and around curves. The roads are usually narrow. The trees are beginning to turn colors. Sometimes multiple colors on the same tree. Some are very bright reds, yellows, and oranges. Others are more dull. We passed through small towns, farms and forest. Horse jumping must be popular here. We saw more horses and a few small jumps in pastures. One however looked like a real steeplechase course. They had water hazards and jumps made of logs. There were also numerous horse trailers. We came to two short stretches of road that had large dots painted in the middle of the road. The sign said to keep two dots between cars. Must be a social distancing thing. A lot of trees along the road had dropped what we thought at first were apples. Turns out they were walnuts. Obviously people don’t want to bother picking them up, removing the outer husk, drying and cracking them. The wind has picked up to add to the driving hazards. The next area had an Amish population. We saw at least four buggies going down the road. One even had two horses pulling it. Most of these buggies had glass windows. We stopped for lunch at a local drive in. A lot of cars were there but most people were ordering ice cream of some kind. They had many flavors and ways to serve it. The current special is soft serve pumpkin and hot apple sundae. We tried the latter which was similar to eating apple pie ala mode without the crust. Rob had a cheese burger and Connie had a turkey melt. Now the turkey melt was quite different. It was served on a kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, cheese and bacon. The turkey was several slices of deli turkey and all but the lettuce and tomato were hot. It was messy to eat but very delicious. Back on the road we saw several fields with larger than normal mules. They appeared to be a cross with some kind of draft horse. We wondered if the Amish used them as work animals. The radiator is leaking again so we stopped at Advanced Auto Parts for more stop leak. Rob put it in but the hole must be getting too big. The car continues to overheat. The going has been very slow because the engine just doesn’t have the power it used to have. Unfortunately that means it is getting dark. That really adds to making driving challenging. The car really overheated this time. It was too dark to see the temperature gauge. We pulled off the road and opened the hood. It’s too hot to add water. Eventually a man from West Virginia stopped to help. He pulled us to the nearby Love’s truck stop where we could get more water and be off the road. Rob added more water and we ate at the McDonalds there. We have about ten miles to go to get to the hotel. Luckily the car started and we were able to get there by about 10 pm. We were both very tired so it was straight to bed. FYI: The tracker is working again. The password is “Rob”.

September 30, 2022 Day 7 around Princeton New Jersey 73.1 miles

Today is cloudy and windy. Much cooler than the rest of the week. We are glad our car is at least mostly closed in. Some of the open cars will be really cold. Only a few corrections to the directions today so off we go. The first stop is the National Guard Museum where the coffee break will take place. Unfortunately one of the cars on the tour rear ended a modern car at one of the left turns. Minor injuries were sustained by both vehicles and at least the driver of the antique car. The museum is very well done with lots of things to see and read. Like most museums if you read it all you would be there a long time. Next was a scenic drive to the Princeton Battlefield. The park historian was there to give us a tour. He was a very good story teller. Too bad it was cold and we were standing outside. He explained what would have been there before and during the battle. One of the legends is that General Mercer lay mortally wounded under an oak tree. That tree died of old age but a descendent of that one has been planted near the site of the first one. Another short drive to Colonial Park for lunch in the covered picnic area. We had a hot Polish meal which was greatly appreciated. It consisted of potato pancakes, sausage, sauerkraut and cheese perogies. Dessert was left overs of doughnuts, coffee cake and cookies. All very delicious. We ended with a pretty drive along a canal. The roads were narrow but in good shape. We were back to the hotel early so people could prepare for the evening banquet. We noticed that many of the trailered cars left soon after returning. Rob worked on the car’s headlights which we will need to return to the hotel tonight. Banquet attendance may be light. The attendance at the closing banquet was better attended than expected. We had a great meal and were given chocolate cars as souvenirs. The table behind us was vacant so we picked those up too. They will be part of some future cookies. The agenda went quickly. We won furthest driven at 10,644 miles. The prize was a $30 Visa card. We got back to the hotel before the predicted rain started. That was a good thing. This is the last post for a week until we begin the drive home. Rob, brothers Arvin and Ed and nephew Tim will be attending the Hershey swap meet this coming week.

September 29, 2022 Day 6 around Princeton New Jersey 108.1 miles

Today is another partly cloudy day. The drive today is short in comparison. The organizers handed out new directions at the drivers meeting this morning. They are supposed to be simpler. Time will tell on that one. They also told us that there are limitations on the number of individuals that can be at the sites for today. We are to visit the Roebling Museum and the USS New Jersey battleship. So don’t be in a hurry. Some will go to the museum first and some will go to the battleship first. So off we went. We were only about ten lines into the instructions when things no longer seem as described. We gave up on the directions and went with the GPS. We made it there but drove on some rather busy streets. They had us park on the grass near the museum. We are in the group to visit the battleship first. We had our coffee and treats and then walked to the light rail station. We are to take that to the end of the line and walk to the battleship. The train ride is almost an hour from Roebling to Camden New Jersey. When we got off the train we could not see the battleship. But a nearby parking attendant gave us directions. The ship is all self guided. Just follow the lines on the floor. The green line is first and goes to a lot of the ship. Someone has put together an amazing amount of information and items to look at. We might still be there if we stopped to read everything and watch all the video clips. Very near the end of the green line is the enlisted mess hall where we were served a sack lunch. We chose to return to the museum rather than go on any of the other tours. Connie had enough going up and down those little steep stairs. We rode the light rail back to near the museum and walked the rest of the way. When we got close to the museum we could see all the cars lined up. They were really beautiful. Certainly one of the better displays of the cars. The museum is small but very interesting. The Roebling company developed wire rope among other things. They made the wire rope used in numerous suspension bridges to include the Brooklyn and Golden Gate. John Roebling designed the Brooklyn Bridge in addition to manufacturing the wire rope. The company also built an entire town for their workers to live in. The houses are still in use today. The company remained family owned for a couple of generations before selling and in 1974 closing. The plant is no longer there and the museum had been the sheriff’s office and jail. The picture on the wall shows how very small that was in comparison to the plant. We didn’t even attempt to follow the instructions back but used the GPS. We stopped at a grocery store to buy food for supper and breakfast. We were discussing the pros and cons of filling with gas when a Costco gas point appeared. That settled things. Gas there was $3.259 and elsewhere it was $3.399 or higher.

September 28, 2022 Day 5 around Princeton New Jersey 121.7 miles

Today started out mostly sunny and ended mostly cloudy. We traveled multiple lane roads today. For the most part these are smoother and some actually have shoulders. We drove through small towns, horse country, farmland and mansion areas. The most memorable town was Cranbury. School was about to start and I think there were more crossing guards than kids. It’s a pretty little town with numerous unique stores. All the housing today looked middle to high end. Our first stop was Monmouth Battlefield State Park. This was the site of another major battle of the Revolutionary War. Surprisingly both sides claimed victory. Historians call it a draw. The historian at the park showed a video and answered questions about the battle and conditions at the time. He loved to talk about the time period. He was supposed to talk for an hour and then repeat the presentation. He just ran from one story to the next without stopping. Then it was off to Sandy Hook. This is a small peninsula that sits between the Atlantic Ocean and the New York Harbor. It has lots of nice beaches some nude and some not. It has served as a military fort for a long time. Now it is favored by beach goers and bird watchers. The housing is in need of repairs but must have been nice at one time. One of the oldest operational light houses is located here as well. Unfortunately it was not open. We had lunch at the small sandwich shop located near the light house. Touring the area was on our own. We drove around some and then parked in one of the lots and walked a short distance to the edge of the sand. Off to our left we could see Manhattan. Out of the park was a line of houses that had the Atlantic on one side and the harbor on the other. I bet those are worth a lot of money. They didn’t have yards to care for however. The return trip took us back to the battlefield for ice cream bars from another Good Humor truck. The car radiator is leaking again so we went back to a Napa store to get some stop leak. Rob put this in the radiator after we returned to the hotel. We passed many very small signs that marked historical events or locations along todays route. We didn’t stop to read them and they were certainly too small to read from a moving car. We miss the turnouts that we have in Idaho to view historical signage. We did pass the inn where George Washington had breakfast before the big battle. Also passed the house where the British general had stayed. Supposedly many of the roads we traveled today were in existence during the war and were used by the armies. I bet they were really rough then and the road markings have not improved very much.

September 27, 2022 Day 4 around Princeton New Jersey 114.8 miles

Today is partly cloudy again but with more wind. We ate breakfast in the room rather than waiting to eat in the hotel crestaurant. The drivers meeting is 30 minutes later this morning so we got there before they started. One of the roads they had planned to use is closed for some kind of repairs so we got handouts on the new route. Our first stop is the Van Sant Historic Airfield. The drive took about two hours from the hotel but a lot of that was waiting on traffic lights to get out of Princeton. We guessed one of those lines was at least a mile long and only a few cars got through the traffic light at a time. Several cars owned by locals turned around and went another way. Once that was cleared the remainder of the trip was much better. We did see a dead fox on the road. Deer must be a real issue here because several of the fences are really tall. A few houses are decorated for Halloween. Since many of the yards are large the decorations are too. The airport has a grass landing strip. Most of the planes stored there are antiques. Several different kinds from one that looked like a tandem bike with wings to a sleek glider. Our coffee break was scheduled for here as well. Today they served a delicious cinnamon coffee cake. The next stop was at the Washington Crossing Museum. They showed a short video about the crossing and the area. We didn’t look at much of the museum. The river looks so peaceful at this time of the year. Hard to imagine what it was like at the time of the crossing. Every year a reenactment is done on Christmas Day just like in 1776. Well somewhat like it. Now they cross during the day rather than at night when Washington and the troops crossed. We crossed a couple of the covered bridges from yesterday and a couple of the narrow metal bed bridges that make the car shake. It’s a short drive from the museum to the Washington Crossing State Park. We had box lunches from Jersey Mike’s here for lunch. After most people had lunch a historian from the park gave a short lecture about the events and conditions at the time. He was dressed in reproduction period clothing and carried a musket. He told us how to load and fire the gun and then actually did fire it. As we were pulling out of the parking area we heard the ice cream truck would be back in about 10 minutes but we didn’t stay. On the way back to the hotel we saw a doe in someone’s yard and a squirrel dart across the road. Not much in the way of wild life. We turned in our paperwork for the day at the host hotel and then went for fuel and food. Grocery stores are not in the area of the hotel so we had a 3-4 mile drive to one. Really nice store but prices are higher than at home. We bought salad for supper and turnovers and yoghurt for breakfast tomorrow. Then it was off to the gas station. We took a wrong turn somehow and went to a different station than we thought but that is just the way it goes. When we got back to our hotel the lobby was crowded with people from some convention. Rob worked on the car for a little bit before it got dark. I wish I could better describe some of the roads. They are very narrow, rough and winding. The shoulders don’t exist. The side of the road drops off significantly most of the time. Then throw in an occasional hill either up or down. At the foot of the hill is often a stop sign. Roads come together at many different angles and may consist of five or six roads. If you are lucky the view is clear but there are a lot of overgrown trees and bushes blocking the view of oncoming traffic. The stop signs are hidden too so its a good thing a warning sign proceeds them. There are so many signs for hidden driveway that you begin to wonder. I am really glad I don’t have to drive these roads and driveways in the winter.

September 26, 2022 Day 3 around Princeton New Jersey 133 mile

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