Day 37. Home at last

We left Lebanon, TN this morning in misty rain. It rained hard last night and the saturated ground can't handle any more water. Water is standing everywhere and there is localized flooding. We drove up to Mont Eagle where it was pretty foggy. The weather got better after that. In fact the sun came out later. We stayed on I-24 until Chattanooga where we took US 27 to Carrolton and GA 16 to Newnan and then home to Peachtree City. I honestly say that the ride home was uneventful. We did not have any breakdowns the entire 37 days. Jim lost 2 fan belts, one the first day out and the other one yesterday, the second to last day of our adventure. But they were caught before the broke completely so no damage was done. We were in 15 states. (Our Model A has been in 35 states now.) The rest of the group made it to 14 states. We drove through Ohio when we left the group to attend our niece's wedding. We were in 2 Canadian Provinces. We made lots of memories. As for favorites. Maine and Vermont were the most scenic. The Bay of Fundy was amazing. The power of Niagara Falls is aweing. The areas close to the falls are overpriced and full of tourists. We went to many great museums. Jim was happy to have finally been to Saratoga Battlefield. Teri can now say that she has been in all five of the Great Lakes but didn't get to go to Nova Scotia. Ray & Teri ate lobster at least once a day while in Maine. Betty didn't care because she ate steak. Our total miles for the trip was 6,177.6 miles. Cost was about $8,700.00.The group agreed that the worst roads overall were in Pennsylvania. However, I-24 in Chattanooga had one terrible pothole. We saw Jim's car jump to the right as it went over it. Would we make the same trip again? That would be a qualified yes. We loved Williamsburg area, Gettysburg, Maine, Vermont, New Brunswick, parts of Michigan but the beauty of Niagara Falls is cheapened by the tourist attractions around it. We were there 30+ years ago and it was so much nicer then.

Last night on the road

We left central Indiana today about 8:30AM. We drove through many miles of corn fields with an occasional farm house and barns. We crossed over the Ohio River into Kentucky. The scenery changed from flat fields to rolling hills. We meandered through Kentucky, enjoying the change in scenery. We passed a unique place to stay, in tepee-shaped little cabins. Just before we arrived at the hotel, we stopped for gas. We left because there wasn't anything but 87 octane gas & the neighborhood was questionable. Jim forgot his gas cap and went back to get it. He was able to find it and stopped and took some pictures of the local Lebanon, Tennessee court square area. We will continue towards home tomorrow and barring any unforeseen problems, we will be at home tomorrow night. Today we drove over 400 miles. Tomorrow will be about 270 miles. Our total trip mileage will be over 6000 miles. As you can see, we celebrated a little last night.

Auburn, Cord, Duesenburg Museum

We arrived at the Early V8 Museum about 9:30. The lights were on, the sign said open but no one was home. We checked at a building next door and and no one knew where they were. We toured their facility. It was like a flea market with prices as high as the American Pickers. We gave up on the V-8 Museum and went to the Auburn Cord Duesenburg Museum. What a classy group of cars! What makes it better is that the museum is in the original showroom for dealers when the cars were new. Jim had never been there and he felt that it was one of the best automobile museums he had ever seen. After lunch, we drove about 100 miles. We are spending the night in Anderson, IN. Tomorrow we will start the trek south towards home.

We've Been to Hell & Back

Well it's official. All of us can say that we've been to hell & back. In fact, we got our exit visa! Hell.Michigan is unincorporated but they do have their own post office. The person running the gift store has a great sense of humor. From there, we went to a Hudson Museum in Shipshewana, IN. where the 91~year-old museum owner was there to greet us. We are in Amish country where the farms are pretty and horse and buggies are everywhere, The evening was spent at a cruise night close by where there are over 400 cars. we are staying at a nice modern Amish motel. They have wifi they don't have a business office. So that's why the pictures are a day late.

Lake Michigan's East Coast & Last Full Day in Michigan

We left Acme, Michigan this morning a little after 8AM. We had hoped for better weather but it continued to be cool and rainy. Ray & Jim climbed up 113 steps to a lookout over Lake Michigan. (I would have too but was fighting a bug that I picked up over night.) The weather didn't allow us the views we had hoped for. We continued along Lake Michigan's eastern coast, following a scenic highway that wasn't very scenic. Then we went east, around Grand Rapids. We passed through lots of pretty farmland, including seeing 2 spotted fawns in the road before stopping for the night in Charlotte(pronounced Char-lot). Tomorrow we are going to a small town called Hell, Michigan. That way we can say that we've been to hell and back. The pictures of our cars in front of a caboose was an ice cream stop. Please ignore the broken links. Again I can't delete them without starting over. :( /VZSDUdtoLuI/AAAAAAAAAx4/dEIDFb74iaM/s320/deer.jpg" /> blogspot.com/-vfDHkpnnJhc/VZSDdcQXdJI/AAAAAAAAAyA/3pAtnp_9pLs/s320/Farms.JPG" />

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

We left Hastings, Michigan a little after 8 this morning. It was cloudy and drizzled on & off all day. We stopped for lunch in Kingsley at the Kingsley Cafe. Wow! What great prices! We ordered our food, hamburger, grilled cheese, fries and two drinks for $11.00. We sat down when some ladies from the Red Hat Society came in. One of the feisty ones told us to move because they wanted our table. Needless to say we were surprised. She told us to go sit in a booth. (It wasn't big enough for 5 people). They wanted our table for their group. The management apologized for their behavior and said that they did not reserve tables. After lunch, we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We've heard that it is absolutely beautiful but we couldn't see much. From the top of a huge sand dune, there was a sign warning people not to go down to the bottom because it is costly to get help to get back up to the top and very time consuming to climb back up to the top. It took us longer than we thought to get there because of slow speed limits and foggy conditions. We left there and drove through through the countryside through Traverse City to Acme where we are spending the night. Tomorrow we plan to head south, following the Lake Michigan shore. The weather is supposed to be much better. Today's high was in the low sixties. I apologize for the duplicate picture.

At the Gilmore Museum today

We met back up with Tom, Betty, & Jim at the Gilmore Museum this morning. I had an added bonus when my brother, Tony, sister in law, Sharon & 2 of their 5 boys (Vincent & Spencer) came too. (They only live 30 minutes from the Gilmore & had never been there). The weather was cloudy and threatened rain but there was only a quick shower in the afternoon. The Model A Museum is exceptionally well done. I found some bricks from people I knew in front. My brother & his boys sat in the gnome mobile for a photo. They enjoyed the props. Ray found a pedal car like the one he had when he was little. It was a darker blue though. By the time he outgrew it, it was ready for the scrap pile. The Gilmore staff was gracious and allowed us to drive inside as you can see from the photos. Tomorrow we are heading north to Traverse City. The picture of a horse was across the street from the pub where we ate dinner.

Ray & Teri Family Picnic Dowagiac, MI; Tom, Betty & Jim in Hastings, MI

Ray & Teri spent a lazy morning before were left for the picnic. It was at my brother-in-laws family farm that has been in his family more than 60 years. You will see a picture of it below. There is a 4 generation shot of Bailey, her Mom, Kris, me, & my Mom Peggy. There are also a pictures of a church where the hymn, "The Old Rugged Cross" was first sung, in 1913. There were 4 people in the choir. Tomorrow we will meet Tom, Betty, & Jim at the Gilmore. The Millers & Jim left Flint about 8:30. It was a beautiful cool day. We traveled to Hastings MI and reserved rooms for the group. We then toured around town and had lunch at Richies Cafe. They had a great burger and were nice people. We went to the largest second hand store in the state just down the block. Then we went down to the public park on the Thornapple River. Pretty but mosquitos were everywhere. Then decided to make a run to the Gilmore because it was such a nice day. They were having a steam and tractor event. Jim & Tom went to Charlton Park (a 1840's town - a Michigan historical site). All buildings furnished for living - such as a bank, school, barber, law offices, jail and a stagecoach stop. Last we went to dinner at the Seasonal Grill and of course the evening is not complete without ice cream. This time at Mikes Monster Ice Cream (Mooville - voted best ice cream in Michigan).