National Historic Road Caravan Recap

Tin Can Tourists Caravan Celebrated the Bicentennial Anniversary of the Historic National Road

The Tin Can Tourists were honored by the Six State Alliance of the Historic National Road by being chosen to participate in the Bicentennial Celebration. TCT in conjunction with the Six State Alliance chose 30 vintage trailers and motor coaches to travel the road from June 4-10, 2006 from mile marker zero in Cumberland, Maryland to its original terminus in Vandalia, Illinois. The selected RV´s represented some of the industries premier manufactures from Airstream to Vagabond. Tow vehicles of similar vintage towed many of the rigs. The Caravan gave people along the route a chance to see a rare Curtiss Aero Car towed by a custom International from the late 1930s and a 1936 Bowlus Road Chief towed by a 1937 Buick Roadmaster as well as other fine examples of trailers and motor coaches from the 40s 50s and 60s.

Bios of those participating in the caravan - pdf version

Caravan Recap with pictures (html version) - pdf version

Historic National Road Caravan Book

TCT Historic National Road Ca...

Celebrating the Bic...

By Terry Bone

Journal Entries - TIN CAN TOURIST CARAVAN 2006

A different member of the caravan was assigned to write a daily journal of their experiences. Here they are...

Sunday, June 4, 2006 - Cumberland & Grantsville, Maryland - Addison, Pennsylvania

The Rolling Sam´s Club served us a continental breakfast consisting of sweet rolls, juice, coffee, bottled water, etc. Forrest called a meeting at 8:30 to give us the instructions for the day. A special award was given to Sharon Cuyler as the "Hussy of the Tin Can Tourists". An Open House was held from 10-noon with many people viewing our trailers. A drawing for a $100.00 savings bond which was donated by a local bank was won by Doug Cuyler.

We pulled stakes and were lined up and ready to leave with a Police Escort at 1:00 P.M. The drive along Hwy. 40 was beautiful with its rolling hills and scenery. We arrived at Grantsville faced with our first challenge of parking in a small area.....it went fine. Some people ate at the Penn Alps Restaurant while others enjoyed strolling around the Artisan Village taking in the many shops and demonstrations. The Stonebow Inn provided lemonade and cookies for our group. Forrest had us back on the road promptly at 4:00 P.M. for a leisurely ride to Addison. We camped at the Lion´s Club Park which was situated on a hill overlooking the valley. We had some trouble getting everyone in the park as the ground was very soggy from all the rain, so a couple rigs got stuck. Thanks to Gary Lodham (& his 4 wheel drive Dodge) they were pulled out without any further problems.

The "Church Ladies" from the Addison Methodist Church prepared us an outstanding homemade dinner of tender beef, savory chicken, fried potatoes, beans, salads, homemade pies and desserts. A Dinner to Remember!!!! Joan Whetsell, President of the Historical Society spoke to us about the history of Addison and the tours available for Monday. Being it was a cool and rainy evening everyone seemed content to retire early after a perfect day. Submitted by Donald and Deanna Anderson

Monday, June 5, 2006 - Addison to Uniontown Pennsylvania

Forrest called our morning meeting to order at 8:30 and laid out our plans for the day and gave out maps for the property at St. Macrina. Joan Whetsell, from the Historical Society passed out flyers for the National Road. Breakfast was on your own.

At 9:00 two women from the Daughters of the Revolution Society came to open and give tours through the original Toll Keepers House. Almost everyone did the tour. We learned a lot about the life of the toll keeper and their responsibilities. The income (from the toll house) for a year was $1700 and the keeper’s salary was $200 per year. Thanks again for a great tour - Margaret Minnick and Dixie Hyatt.

Next stop was the museum House. Questions were answered by Carol Brair. It was an impressive display of Addison’s past. Further down Main Street was the Old School House. On the teacher’s desk was a list of punishments for small infractions, it was dated 1818. Dirty hands and faces - 2 lashes; playing with girls - 5 lashes; and being late for school - 2 lashes. Thank God I didn’t go to school back then. Our teacher for the day was Barbara Nolf, also a teacher in real life. Moving west on to the Historical Museum of Old Petersburg + Addison. Joan Whetsell served as our guide. There were tools and furniture related to the trades that were important to the area. Reshebarger’s cabinet, wood working shop, and casket maker. Samantha Jane Nicola - Hatter’s Shop, sent hats all over the world. A sales ledger from Moses Ross’s General Store was on display. It dated back 164 years. Most items cost between a penny and two dollars. So, if you worked at the toll house you would make 57 cents a day, which would require that you worked four days to purchase a pair of boots at the General Store. Money management was a pretty important matter.

Everyone left on their own heading toward Uniontown, Pennsylvania. On the way there, a few of us stopped to enjoy Woodland Nemacoling Castle, built by Jacob Bowman in 1786, it contained 22 rooms furnished in early American. Also along the route was a Federal Park, Fort Necessity,

The interpretive center was completed recently (7.5 million) and there was much to see and do. Many of us watched a film that covered the history of the area and a few walked down to the rebuilt fort.

From there it was all downhill, literally, four and a half miles on a 13% grade from the Summit Inn to Uniontown. Once in town, we were treated to a beautiful rebuilt center of town right on Route 40. Passing through town we headed to our day’s destination, St. Basil Macrina Retreat Center. Upon arrival we were taken to an old race track, grassy hill overlooking the city of Uniontown. At 2:00 the Sisters gave two tours of Oak Hill, the J. V. Thompson Mansion. The hour tour was very interesting and informative.

As evening came supper was served at the meeting center by the track. It was a very well catered dinner put on by the Pennsylvania Historical Road Alliance. Thanks to our hosts Debbie Smith, Kim and Melvin King,

Following dinner we had an Open House for all to come and see. It was well attended even though there were a few rain drops through out the evening. Everyone left around 8:00. After the open house, Burt and Dot Kalet showed "From Cape Town to Cairo", Wally Byam’s Airstream Caravan through Africa. Burt also talked about a planned tour duplicating the route, planned for 2010. It is just in the planning stages.

Everyone hit their pillows and closed out another fun filled day. Submitted by Paul Piche and Barbara Greeson

Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - Uniontown to Brownsville, PA on to Wheeling West Virginia

We woke up to a sun drenched day on Mt. Saint Macrina feeling safe in the hands of the sisters in the mother house behind us and the spirits of the saints in the graveyard before us. The cardinal’s song was broken only by the music of Don’s (Mayton) squeegee as he tidied up the Buick and Bowlus. We had so much to celebrate already!

Forrest gave us last minute details, the police escort arrived, and we pulled out waving to the nuns, thankful for their hospitality. We were all traveling together for the first time - what a sight! On route to Brownsville, PA, we saw: · Dogwood, Mountain Laurel, Honey suckle, multi flora rose, wild phlox and carpets of buttercups and daisies
· Tiny old houses hugging the curbside
· A deer that met his demise frantically trying to climb over the guard rail only to catch his hoof
· A house built on such a steep embankment that the roof was resting in the road - perhaps the roof was nailed to the road
· A billboard message to add to our list of excuses "I’m running out of sick time, so I’m calling in dead."
· A fake deer smiling at a cross

Approaching our next stop, we were greeted with the sign "Welcome to Brownsville - a bird sanctuary". As we pulled in to a very small parking lot and began to look around, we thought perhaps the birds were even having second thoughts.

Obviously a bustling community yesterday, built along both river and rail, but today few businesses remain open downtown. Myer’s questions at every stop from Cumberland on were met with negative responses but in Brownsville when now asked "Do you have 35 MM film?" And "Do you have a pay phone?" we heard a resounding ´yes, indeed’.

The residents were helpful, the tours informative and the architecture a photographer’s dream. I even asked Rick to climb between two rail cars to snap a shot of the river. He does everything he is told. "Fiddle Chips" were consumed in haste with Paul and Barb and we were off again absorbing the final Brownstown billboard message:
"Jesus said, you must be born again." And directly underneath, as though it was the next verse, a medical clinic asked, "What’s in your arteries?"

Up and around, over and through we continue our journey towards Wheeling West Virginia. We saw:
· The beautiful vegetable and flower markets along the road in Richeyville. I could kill for an apple.
· The Madonna of the Trail - a monument to the strength and courage of pioneer women
· A large scary black house called "Castle Blood" festooned with gargoyles and skeletons - always ready for trick or treat
· A red tail hawk soaring over a valley
· Picture postcard landscapes around every turn
· A black wall of smoke (thanks to a diesel truck) welcoming us to Washington by obliterating the first three caravanners
· Gorgeous Victorian homes complete with turrets ( a housepainter’s nightmare)
· Sheep in the backyard
· Sunset Beach Park, boasting a huge swimming pool brimming with happy noise. School must be out or everyone has an excuse to be there
· Lots of old stuff for sale along the road, including cars, trucks, school buses, bikes, boats, motor homes, but not a single house for sale. Studying to be a realtor would not be a good career move in Claysville.
· Kids greeting us while bouncing on a trampoline
· Corby’s Inn advertising cigarettes and worms
· Rough and tumble villages with rough and tumble villagers enthusiastically shouting and waving. There is plenty of room for everyone in God’s choir.
· A motel sign indicating "Under New Management". Apparently the previous owners burned the place to the ground!

Rolling into Wheeling, we were greeted with beautiful homes and gorgeous gardens. Winding up a steep slope to Oglebay Park (our home for the night) the old Astro Van started to heat up for the first time.

Turning in to the park, we spotted a deer; we parked the Boler and spotted another one. We had lots of time to set up for the open house, take a leisurely walk around the spectacular grounds and soak up the sunshine. The tiny lake, home to ducks, geese a fountain and paddleboats, was an unexpected surprise.

Janice and Mary Jane enjoyed a communal shower, each standing guard for the other and on the way back to join the others; you guessed it, another deer. Spectacular!

The box supper, warm evening breeze, easy conversation and beautiful music completed a perfect day. Hats off once again to Jeri and Forrest!

May we always see the sacred in the silly and the sublime and everything in between. The journey today was sacred indeed. Submitted by Janice and Rick Myer

Wednesday, June 7, 2006 - Wheeling to Zane Gray Museum to Columbus to Springfield

We had a scenic drive through downtown Wheeling, which culminated with the crossing of the 1849 suspension bridge across the Ohio River by everyone that could get under the height and weight limits.

We then left the county roads and Rt. 40 for the busy interstate 70. We returned to the National Road for our stop at the Zane Gray Museum.

The museum was a "highlight of the road" stop! We enjoyed the video about Zane Gray’s life with all of its up and downs. Most people would have become discouraged and quit writing had they encountered all of the rejections he had. He persevered and became a celebrity with eighty novels to his name.

The museum had a well constructed model of the National Road which traced the development of the road from horse and buggy, wagon days to modern times. There was also an elaborate pottery display.

We enjoyed listening to Sylvia Miller’s CD "The National Road, A Ride through Time", as we traveled from Wheeling, West Virginia to Springfield, Ohio. The CD plus "A traveler’s guide to the Historic National Road in Ohio" gave us a better insight into this area of the National Road. Our caravan is hitting the highlights of the road. An in-depth view would take much more time. We missed a turn in Columbus, but made it to the capital for our visit with the Governor of Ohio. We enjoyed seeing the map of Ohio in the floor of the capital building. A climb up the beautiful staircase revealed an impressive second floor with atrium. Unfortunately the rotunda was closed for renovation.

The land between Columbus and Springfield was filled with acres of corn and soybeans. We left the mountains and rolling hills for flat land.

After stopping for groceries and an extra little tour of Springfield, we found Joe’s Diner and squeezed into the last available spot just as the raining started. We missed all of the parking excitement. Getting 29 rigs into such a small place took some maneuvering.

The surprise of the evening was a performance by Sylvia Miller and her group "One More Time". It was a fitting close to an exciting day. Submitted by Dot Kalet

Thursday, June 8, 2006 - Springfield to Richmond to Knightstown to Indianapolis to Terre Haute

We caught up with our leaders Forrest and Jeri, and Bert and Dot in their Airstream, and followed them to the Indiana Welcome Center. Kim noticed the right tire on Bert´s trailer was getting softer and softer, so when we parked, I changed it out. Sharp eyed Kim then noticed that the inside of the rim was bent in two places nearly off the bead of the tire. Bert said he´d had an intimate encounter with a curb somewhere along the way, and the tire had been losing air slowly since. I got a "whacking tool" out of our trailer, a 16 oz framing hammer, and wailed away at the rim until it looked reasonable straight. A little soapy water confirmed it no longer leaked, so we reinstalled it because their spare was not a trailer tire.

This first stop was brief, as we´d been told our schedule was "tight", but a nice welcome it was. Many people turned out to view the rigs during the brief open house; there was a quick presentation and a beautiful cake (just what we needed after a huge greasy breakfast!). The clouds were getting darker and lower by the minute, so I reluctantly put the top up as we prepared to pull out.

By 0945, right on schedule, we pulled out with a Sheriff´s cruiser escort headed for Knightstown. This guy evidently wasn´t aware of our need to make at least a 45 mph average, as he kept the pace at a leisurely 25 mph for what seemed an eternity. As a result, we got to Knightstown a bit behind our planned arrival time.

It seemed the entire town had turned out to welcome the TCT to the "Hoosier Gym" the site of the 1986 movie with Gene Hackman, and had prepared a great lunch for us with burgers, hot dogs other summertime grill favorites. The gym was beautifully set up for lunch, tablecloths and all. We felt guilty with our "Dine and Dash" program (some folks didn´t have time to eat, but simply bagged lunch and left!) but everyone understood, saying, "We know you´re on a schedule!" With Forrest on his car alarm to round us up, we headed out again for Indy, right on time at 1230.

We were met at our stop in Cumberland by the Indianapolis Police Departments Motorcycle officers, and the reason for our tight schedule became evident. I had been sorely tempted to take the bypass, after the fiasco in Columbus Ohio, and was glad we hadn´t. They were there to be our escort through the city, and they showed us what they drill for! "This is going to be a ´push´ escort", the Capt. explained, "Watch for us in your mirrors, be alert and stay together!" At each light on ramp or crosswalk, was a mounted Officer, traveling with us, was positioned. As the Officer behind approached, passing us in the caravan, he would alert the waiting Officer with his siren and that Officer would accelerate away to the next light and so on, all the way across the big city of Indianapolis. The sight and sound of these polished steeds thundering past, with lights and sirens wailing, was thrilling! The Officers seemed to be having as much fun as we were, I´m sure they don´t get to do that every day. (We later learned that this the first time any group had gotten this type of escort through Indy!) One of the Officers was smoking a big cigar while roaring through town with us, and another showed off his trick riding skills a bit. Kids, don´t try this at home!

All through town, people hearing the sirens and seeing the mile long caravan of vintage cars, trailers and buses, stopped, stared, cheered and waved. In the busy downtown, we heard one woman yell to us, "Who ARE you guys?" The answer to that, at least in our car, was "Just about the happiest people on the planet" Nothing like a motorcade to give one´s ego a boost! The escort continued in this fashion, through each township and counties jurisdiction, all the across the state, whisking us to our destination, Terra Haute. We had a brief stop just outside of Indy, and I commented to one of that departments officers that their Harleys didn´t quite have the same exhaust note (read, THUNDERINGLY LOUD!) as the Indy PD´s bikes. "They ´personalize´ their bikes," he said, "...and get to "break them in" themselves. Our captain doesn´t let us." When we reached Deming Park in Terra Haute, it was clear the advance publicity was the most effective yet, as we were greeted by hundreds of people even as we pulled into the park. The very energetic woman who´d been working with Forrest to set this up told us that no one had ever been allowed to stay overnight in the park, and that this was a record number of visitors for any event there. We were told that over 1,000 cars came in, many local street rods and restored vehicles turned out, so the spectator parking was a car show too!

The park was beautiful, the event well organized and fun and the visitors to the open house were wonderful to us. Almost everyone we spoke with asked if were having fun, were we enjoying our visit to Indiana, and thanked us for visiting Terra Haute. This was a common occurrence across Indiana and Illinois; Great Mid-Western hospitality. Supper was a "Political Supper" of white beans, ham and corn bread. No wonder political rallies in Indiana are "Windy" events! Must be a mid-western thing, because we had beans and ham the next night too!

After supper, our Hostess, a well versed scholar of the history of Indiana´s role in the "National Road" story, got several of us "Canners" to participate in a short play about the history of the Road, and local events. We all rose to the occasion, although I´m not certain any of has a new career ahead as a thespian...

We enjoyed the rest of the evening under a nearly full Indiana moon, in the quiet of the park. We thought perhaps we´d been busted breaking the "No Alcohol" policy of the park, as we were surprised by a Terra Haute Police Officer knocking on the side of the trailer around 1100, and he took Kim away in the cruiser! I didn´t have bail her out though, as she was taking him to Forrest´s trailer to discuss the next day´s plan. Lucky us!

This was the definitely busiest, and probably the most memorable day of the trip for all of us. I know it was for us, we´ll be telling our family and friends about it for years to come. It was truly and honor and a thrill be a part of the tour, hat´s off to Forrest and Jeri, and the all people from the various states and communities, plus the National Road Historical groups efforts to put this all together for us. Thank-you! Submitted by Brian and Kim McCool

FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2006 - Terre Haute to Marshall, to Greenup to Vandalia

Now that I am the Friday documenter, I must talk about Thursday and the Indiana State Police escort across the state. I thought that escort was the coolest thing and now the sixty of us know how the president feels when being escorted through town. If our escort had happened on Monday, we would not have appreciated it. It would have been nice on Tuesday, but then we would have know how lacking police assistance was in Ohio on Wednesday when we drove to the state capital and parked all by ourselves, in the rain, without a police man in sight. Thursday, when we had lots of miles to cover, was a perfect day for a full escort and IT WAS FUN!

Friday, the "Forrest Schedule" reads Tour of the Clabber Girl Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana. Jerry Roll, executive director, National Road Association of Illinois will tour us through the variety of down towns and we will have two hours to shop and eat in Greenup, Illinois and then the final stop in Vandalia!!!..there you go, simple enough, and now here is the rest of the story.

We started off Friday morning without two of our units, not from breakdowns but for a family wedding and to an illness so we started on Friday June 9, twenty-seven strong and ready for the day’s adventure.

First thing, a Conestoga wagon appeared on a trailer with Jerry Roll to lead us for the day, so we did the caravan thing again only with a Conestoga wagon instead of motorcycle cops and off we went to the Clabber Girl Museum for breakfast and a tour.

How much can you do at baking powder museum? Well, it was one of the best museums we toured. The breakfast was continental, with the Clabber Girl fresh made biscuits and fruit. The breakfast counter is in the museum with a commercial kitchen for cooking classes. The commercial kitchen, not the factory, was making 15,000 biscuits for a weekend event so it was popping those biscuits in and out at a very progressive rate. We were allowed to go into the audience sitting area, all of us except Wilma Svec who went right into the kitchen area and helped herself to a biscuit, so many biscuits and so little time. Bill finally had to stop her from stuffing herself with homemade biscuits.

Then we had the tour of the museum, which was beautifully done with hardwood floors and lots of displays of products, furniture, Howdy Doody, photographs, antiques and antique room displays, all from the Hulman family, the founders of Clabber Girl baking powder. That was a nice way to start the day. And we each received a Clapper Girl Collector’s Tin. It is a good place to return and spend more time in the future.

(A side note, on Thursday evening, we spoke to a man from Marshall. He was so surprised we were not stopping in Marshall; in fact, he was so surprised he left. He wanted to find out why we were not stopping in Marshall.)

So Friday comes and as we caravan, we stop in Marshall for a break and gasoline, so we did stop in Marshall after all. In fact, Marshall was the only town we drove into, that had a family standing by their camper, sitting on the edge of town, with a hand made sign welcoming the TCT Caravan. I was glad we stopped. A representative from Marshall came to the gas station and passed out city pins to each of us. Another woman, who makes yellow dog scarves for military families with dogs, gave us two scarves for the two families on the caravan that currently have family members in the military

Another quickie stop on Friday was a covered bridge. Not an old covered bridge, not a suspension bridge with a two ton weight limit, but a new, heavy duty covered bridge that could accommodate all of us. I took pictures of everyone crossing, everyone, except John Culp, who proceeded to drive across the bridge and not stop for the photo op. John thought I would just take it on the move so I lost his shot. Of course, that evening, sitting around the camp, John says to me "Oh, I can’t wait to see that picture of me crossing the bridge". Sometimes you just can’t win!

We seem to be dry camping now; we are staying in city parks, without electric and one shower in the bathrooms so we are looking more like the original National Road travelers with each passing day. I did like Gary Lodholm’s outlook on dry camping. He said, "one day without a shower, it doesn’t seem to matter. Day two, you feel a little uncomfortable, day three, you don’t feel so uncomfortable, but kind of normal. And by day four, you are just fine with yourself and can go on for another 5 or 6 days and it won’t bother you at all." I think if we have traveled for two or three weeks, not just one week, that kind of thinking would have to be considered.

So we drove Route 40, the National Road, in caravan with Jerry leading us, towing his Conestoga wagon. We drove down the narrow two-lane road, with no shoulders, with trees overhanging the lanes providing shade. We drove through Martinsville, and Casey, small towns on the National Road, like so many we had driven through, small, old, kind of depressed, but quaint small towns with friendly people at every stop. We learned a lot of history on this road. People, who knew the history and small town historical societies, were happy to tell us and show us what they knew. And that was the great part of the caravan, the people made it great. We met George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and Sally Rogers, a pioneer woman who traveled the National Road. We met lots of people, some old, some new, some long past, but they all had a story to tell and that made the caravan a "once in a life time" event for all of us travelers.

So on we traveled, to Greenup, Illinois. A stop that was over two hours in length!!! Oh, to have some leisure time, we were all ready for a break. Those 5-7 minute stops for gas and the bathroom just didn’t seem very adequate. And Greenup was a good stop. Greenup is a quaint little town with many antique shops, a couple restaurants, a very friendly historical society and a train depot. The people at the historical society provided us with cookies and lemonade. The train depot was restored and decorated and the restaurants were good. I had lunch at the StockYard restaurant; I passed on the Navy Bean soup special and had the salad bar instead.

The Greenup stop is over, and now on to Vandalia. As we left town Hardy noticed that the alternator on the truck had died so Terry (on the cell phone) located the International dealer in Effingham, where we happily paid the man $153.00 for a new one which Hardy installed later that night.

In Vandalia, we parked on Gallatin Street, or as I would say, we parked on Main Street and blocked the whole downtown, so people could see the units on the caravan and we could attend the ceremony that Vandalia gave us on our arrival. We also had to deliver the "post card" we had carried from Cumberland to the postmaster in Vandalia. The ceremony was in front of the statue, the Madonna of the Trail. A fitting end to the National Road Caravan, almost. We then moved to Sonnemann Park for an open house for the public. We all parked on the grass in the park. We will be dry camping for one more night. We had "the Taste of the National Road" dinner at a school across from the park. Dinner was navy bean soup, rabbit, chicken, many salads and desserts, plenty to eat for everyone. Mary Truitt was our very gracious host, who provided a variety of entertainments for the evening’s program. The singers were great and Mary Truitt became Sally Rogers, the pioneer woman who traveled the National Road to Vandalia, and we heard her story about the National Road.

One more night and our big adventure will be over. Alas, I am not the one assigned to write about Saturday. But, I will say a little bit about Saturday night and Sunday morning. Saturday night provided us with a great light show of lightning and some pouring rain. We, being in the Wayzalot, in the middle of the group, stayed parked for the night. A few of our units moved off the grass and onto the blacktop before the rain. (They were smarter) But not us, we weren’t worried about the storm, rain or being parked on the grass. So the morning comes and we are stuck on the grass. The last day, and after traveling for a month, moving the Wayzalot around in the rain, in the mud, in Joe’s small parking lot, we are now stuck at our last stop! We stop before we make a rut, and Gary Lodholm comes to the rescue again! we put the tow strap on the Wayz and Gary used his dodge with four wheel drive and Hardy and Gary drove out together off the grass. Thanks Gary, you saved us a large tow bill and it worked so easy with your help. Thanks to Gary for the tows in the rain, thanks to Ken for being a great mechanic with the parts we needed. We now know that any caravan we go on, in the future, has to have Gary and Ken to make it work. If not for those two guys, many of us would have had to sit by the wayside for repairs and catch up later. It never happened, everything got fixed as we rolled and it was a great trip. Thanks to Forrest and Jeri.

Thanks to everyone, it was a great ride. Submitted by Hardy & Terry Evans

SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 2006 - VANDALIA - END OF THE ROAD

On Friday, Mary Truitt had divided the group into thirds and each group was assigned a host. At 1:30 the hosts rounded up their group and headed off to a local restaurant for lunch. Having lunch provided was unexpected, but greatly appreciated. After lunch each of the groups began the tour of either the statehouse, historical museum, or the ghost walk at the cemetery. Each group started at a different site, which allowed for a very efficient and enjoyable tour. The historical museum had a great display and Mary Truitt did a outstanding job explaining the various displays. The capital building was equally impressive. The restoration process has been excellent. Although the furniture had been sold many years earlier, the restorers had been able to obtain enough of the original pieces to create replicas that give the entire building a very authentic feel. The highlight of the afternoon, for me, was the Cemetery Ghost Walk. As we moved through the cemetery we were greeted by various characters that had been interred in the cemetery. At each grave, we were provided a nice slice of Vandalia history as told by the grave’s occupant. The role players were quite professional. Their dress and speech mannerisms added to the momentary suspension of disbelief. We were transported to another time as we listened to their life stories. We were fortunate to get a command performance. The Cemetery Ghost Walk is usually a fall activity. Thank you Vandalia!

The days and week’s activities culminated with the End of the Road Banquet at The Depot restaurant. Great food and fellowship capped a very enjoyable caravan.

In addition to the contributors mentioned at the End of the Road Banquet, Jeri and I would like to thank Henry Wallace and Wayne and Linda Moore for post caravan contributions that will be set aside for our next special project.

Special thanks to our Wagon Masters, three generations of Bone family - to our volunteer "Tail Gunners", Ken & Lana Hindley & Morley, for mechanical assistance - to Gary & Sally Lodholm for tow service in some ´Sticky’ places & to the "Canners", that subjected their 29 priceless museum pieces to the rigors of mountain roads and city traffic!

To all participants who so thoughtfully looked out for Bill & Wilma Svec and me, you’re all true Canners and I’m proud to be one of you! Thank you, J. W. "Canner" Culp

The Route 40 tour was for us a once in a life-time trip. You enabled us to do things we would have never done on our own. We are very grateful for all you hard work and abilities to make such great plans for us!

Hope to see you in the fall.

Terry Evans inspired us to make a scrape book which will accompany us.

With much gratitude, John and Mary Jane Merschdorf

The Vandalia Illinois community was very excited about the rigs and was very excited about the wonderful people driving them. Everyone was so very friendly and kind and FUN. Thanks for coming.

Mary Truitt - "The end of the Road"

Terry Evan´s Art

Pictures taken by the Caravan participants

Caravan Press Coverage

Quotes from the caravan