You're probably wondering why we go to some of these places like Big Sandy or New Perris, Ohio. "Never heard of those places," you say. The truth would be somewhere between, "we just wanted to explore that particular road and we happened to stumble over a camp there," and "that was the first camp displayed by the GPS." But whatever the reason we stop and camp anywhere has a lot to do with the things we like to see, which is anything historic." If there's a historic site nearby like a Fort, or an archaeological site, or perhaps even just a statue of someone like General Custer, we'll be more likely to choose it as our nightly campsite.
Take last night for instance. Concetta and I were headed south into Ohio from the southern Michigan border when we read that our intended route would take us near the Fallen Timbers battlefield site of 1794. Since we didn't know anything about that particular battle, we decided to take a look. Then, after touring the battlefield, we just looked for the campground nearest our location. The fact that the battlefield site was out in the middle of nowhere didn't enter into the equation.
Too bad we didn't find a better camp to spend our money. Though the rent was fairly cheap, and the park owners wonderfully accommodating, their camp was a tad on the rundown side. The first thing we learned was that there were no full hookups available for single-night patrons. Okay, we said, since it was getting pretty late in the afternoon by then, we'll take it. I checked the showers out and they looked pretty good, so we didn't think we'd be inconvenienced by no sewer connection.
I set up the rig pretty quickly, since the ground was mostly level and no drive-up blocks were needed. I connected the water and the electrical cord and then went off to take my shower. But just after I returned to the rig, another RV showed up and backed in behind us. When they plugged their rig into the same electrical tree as we were using, the circuit went into overload and knocked us off. The readout said, "Missing Ground." Not wanting to make a big deal out of the problem, but not wanting to ruin our electrical system, I just broke out my extra-long electrical extension cable, and we were able to plug into the empty camp next door. Why the newcomers didn't plug in there in the first place we'll never know.
As it was getting dark, I began to worry about our cord stretched forty feet away into the next camp. What if someone shows up late and pulls in there and runs over our cord. So, I went out in the dark and disconnected the cord, packed it all away, and for the rest of the night we had no shore power. I didn't think we'd have any additional problems, but then as I was going to sleep, I realized that without power there would be no coffee for breakfast in the morning. Fortunately, I realized that all I had to do was hook up the 110 volt power in the morning and we'd have coffee without plugging in the 30-amp cable.
Our main reason for heading into southwest Ohio, before doubling back to Akron for the class reunion and wedding we planned to attend, was more Model A Ford parts. Some time ago I had ordered a couple of replacement parts for some severely rusted out parts on the 1929 sedan I'm building. But when the parts arrived, I realized that they weren't correct for my car. When I called the vendor he told me that I should send them back, and he'd send new ones. But when I learned that he was in southwestern Ohio, I hatched a scheme to return the parts in person and pick up the new ones. That way there would be no postage due.
And that's what we did today. First we contacted the seller of the part and he told us he couldn't possibly have the replacement parts until two days hence because he still had to pick up the parts at the manufacturer about twenty miles away. I'm sure my eyes got much wider at that point. But thinking fast I told the seller that I'd be happy to pick up the part at the manufacturer, and then come to his location and make the swap. Fortunately, he agreed to allow me to make the pickup. He agreed to call the manufacturer and ask them to get the parts ready for pickup. This is where the story gets interesting.
After I had hung up with the seller, I began to question in my own mind just why he decided to trust me to pick up a part for which I hadn't paid, and then bring it to his location to give him my incorrect part plus the difference in cash. He'd never met me, but had only corresponded with me by email and phone. Oh, well, wondering if he would soon be on the phone to alter the deal, we set off for our destination, the famous sheetmetal manufacturer of vintage automobile replacement parts, Brookfield.
Once Concetta and the GPS had navigated us to the manufacturer's location, I went inside to find that the seller's contact there, Pete, had not gotten the parts ready for pickup. But no matter, I had a good time looking around the showroom while he disappeared for a moment before returning with the two cowl panel sides that I needed. It was in the process of getting these parts and talking about my project with Pete, that he revealed that he had some leftover parts to a 1929 Model A tudor sedan that he once owned. Among other things, he had the rear seats!
I got really excited as I already had purchased the front seats, and we had picked them up a couple of weeks ago in Minneapolis. Now I was being offered the rear seats for the same model car! "Would you ship them?" I asked Pete, and he said sure. So we struck a deal for a hundred dollars for the two seats and I gave him fifty for shipping with a promise of more money for shipping if it required more.
After we left Brookfield, we scurried right over to the vendor's address and returned the incorrect parts, paid the balance on the new parts that I retrieved at Brookfield, and the two of us parted as friends. The bottom line is this. If I hadn't made a mistake all those months ago and ordered the wrong parts, I wouldn't have been in Brookfield today, and wouldn't have been offered two more parts I need for the restoration of my Model A. Fate sure moves in mysterious ways.
Anyway, once we had the metal parts safely stowed away, we had to find a camp nearby and that's why we're here in Perris, Ohio this evening. Thankfully, this time, the camp is light years ahead of Big Sandy in quality. We have a concrete patio, a gravel pad that's already level, and we have all the utilities right alongside with no substandard hookups to deal with.
In addition, we have no neighbors to compete with us for the two washers and four dryers as there are only three tenants in the whole park at the moment. The manager said that the park is over 98% long-term residents who only come up for holidays and weekends, especially after the kids go back to school.
The only bad part about today was having to travel on Interstate 75 for much of the day. Let me tell you, judging by the hundreds of 18-wheelers that swarmed on all sides of us throughout the day, commerce in this country is going full tilt. Concetta and I agreed that we don't believe we've ever seen more tractor-trailer rigs than we saw in one four-hour period today on Interstate 75.
But tomorrow we'll be headed in an easterly direction, right through Columbus, Ohio and out the other side, and we're going to stick to the two-lane roads whenever and wherever possible. Tomorrow night I expect we'll be about a hundred miles from here and perhaps just south of our ultimate destination, Akron, Ohio. We're hoping that along the way we'll stumble over other interesting and educational things in this great state of Ohio.
And when you head out on the two-lanes to make your travel dreams come true, the Happy Wanderers wish you happy travels and exciting destinations.
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