Bill and Beth White (20471)
West Virginia State Directors
West Virginia Traveling Mountaineers
It’s sad that the camping season is coming to a close, but our last trek was definitely memorable! We had planned to take the Mississippi River Run with Fantasy, but opted to stay closer home and attend Newmar functions instead.
We started our adventure with the Ohio State Rally in Lima. Bev & Flash Miller did an outstanding job entertaining everyone who attended the event at the Allen County Fairgrounds. Rick Fox and his band, Thunder Bay, got the rally off to a roaring start playing 60s and 70s music that we all knew and could sing along. We toured the Allen County Historical Society Museum and the MacDonnell House, a Victorian mansion; ate at Kewpees; Shirley’s Gourmet Popcorn; and Sarah’s Gourmet Cupcakes. We certainly celebrated the Ohio Buckeyes 35th Anniversary.
We then went to Port Clinton, Ohio for the very first rally of Ohio’s Lake Erie Drifters. Joe & Gail Swartz hosted the newly chartered chapter at the “Resort at Erie Landing” and had a great turn out. We visited the Aviation Museum that told the story of the Ford Tri-Motor airplanes that provided mail service to the island in Lake Erie. Six members flew in an old 1928 Tri-Motor plane. The next day we journeyed to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Hays’ home, Spiegel House in Fremont, Ohio.
The next day, Joe borrowed a 2021 Ford Bronco from a local dealer and allowed us to take a test drive. It’s a very comfortable ride, and we almost bought it.
The next weekend, Bob & Becky Kayden and Devin & Diane Gannon co-hosted the Buckeye’s last rally of the year in Port Clinton at “Camp Perry,” a large Ohio National Guard Camp. One of the highlights was a reception at Kayden’s storage condo. This huge storage unit was big enough to hold a 33-foot cruiser and a 45 foot motorhome side by side. In the back there was an apartment and storage unit with a balcony that had a bedroom and lounge chair while downstairs was a kitchen and bathroom. Impressive!
Many took the ferry to Put-In-Bay for the day while others toured Port Clinton. We spent a lazy afternoon with Bev & Flash Miller, checking out the festivities at Lakeside and Marblehead Lighthouse and ended the day with Toft’s Ice Cream. You’ve never been to an ice cream joint until you have taken Flash — he needs no cone!
The last of our four-week tour was spent in Florence, Indiana for the last Indiana rally of the year. Hosts Kenny & Connie Beckett welcomed us at the “Follow The River RV Park” which is a very beautiful location on the Ohio River just below a set of river locks.
We arrived late to the RV Park, but Kenny was there to meet us and show us our camping spot. The reason for our lateness was on the way to Indiana, we had an incident that caused us to have to replace our old 2014 Jeep Cherokee. A person in a flat-bed truck cut us off causing Bill to have to stand on the brakes. Apparently, the toad brakes did not engage and the force of the sudden stop caused the attachment points on the Jeep to tear out. The Jeep stopped about 2 inches from the back of the London Aire with only the tow bar keeping us from having a badly damaged motorhome. The old Blue Ox tow bar did its job and saved us. We were sad to see the Cherokee go. It had over 60,000 miles on it and had been towed over 100,000 miles, but the insurance company said it was a total loss. Beth is now the proud owner of a 2021 Ford Escape Hybrid. It got over 45 MPG on the way home and we both love it.
During our stay in Florence we visited the Ohio County Historical Society Museum in Rising Sun, Indiana. This museum was housed in an old chair factory and contained the first electric chair in the US and the local jail. There was a whole room dedicated to the exploits of JW Whitlock and his inventions and innovations. One of his inventions was an automatic harp which he patented in 1899 and it was such a success that he was able to finance, build and pilot one of the fastest speed boats on the Ohio River in the early 1900s.
One of the highlights of the Indiana trip was a visit to Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, a very interesting old town with a great little food truck and a store that contained products for sale that were popular in 60s and 70s such as Beeman’s and Black Jack Gum and Moon Pies.
After four weeks on the road, we are home. We are finalizing plans for the 2022 West Virginia State Rally together. It will be held in Moundsville, West Virginia the first weekend of June. It should be an interesting rally. We’ll have more details in our next column.
Have a safe winter! God Bless you all. We can be reached by email: janelewbill@gmail.com.
