Dave Reese

Our next exhibit officially opens on Saturday, April 14 and will run until October. Included in the exhibit are: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car Nelly Belle 1946 Jeep from the Roy Rogers Show Ernie's Taxi from Its a Wonderful Life Megatron from Transformers 3 (on site April 14 &15) Muppet Car from The Muppet Movie 2002 pink Honda S200 driven by Suki in 2 Fast 2 Furious 1998 VW Beetle from Austin Powers 2 1940 Ford coupe from The Blob Bette Davis Buick "Woody" Warner Bros. recognition gift car David Lee Roth's 1951 Mercury seen in "California Girls" video 1932 Rick Nelson Ford Hot Rod (coming July 2012) April 14 will also be our second annual Slot Car Show, and on July 7 we will have a Muscle Car Cruise as well as our annual HO Slot Car race, the America On Wheels Grand Prix. Learn more at www.AmericaOnWheels.org I hope to see some of you there!

I too am way behind many here for complete state coverage. I just tallied the list and find I have 16 states to hit, although counting being in airports would cut 2 from the list, although the Atlantic Seaboard has been hit hard with lots of road trips and visits. Welcome to all our new members. Keep posting so that we have more and more places we still "need" to visit.

Cort, Glad to see that you are back here...I had seen your return on Facebook as well as you respond to my posts on the America On Wheels page. Keep getting better!

Cort, My TR3B spent most of the summer in the garage as I could not figure out the problems with the turn signals and the brake lights. A friend came over this week, and found a bad wire plus we cleaned up a lot of connections, so the lights are working again. But due to schedule I missed my two favorite shows that I have attended every years since I bought the car. And with all the rain we had in August, a roadster without side curtains would not have been practical anyway. I am not even going to drive the Triumph today when I head down the museum to prep a Jaguar XKE Coupe that just came in because of predicted thunderstorms.So it will be mostly drives down to America On Wheels, and sometimes taking Fagin out for a run on local country roads this year. I plan to keep the car at home this winter and out of the shop and hope that next summer's schedule works out better for driving.

Hey gang... Does anyone have a lead on someone who might be willing to loan a camper from somewhere between 1930 and 1965 to America On Wheels Museum? Our galleries are filled with items that are loaned to us so that the displays are constantly changing. We currently have a 1935 Chevy Suburban, Chassis #1, in our vacation display. It should not be the Long, Long Trailer, but more of a small unit that could be displayed with an open door so people could see inside from behind the barriers. If we find the right unit, we would hope to borrow it for a minimum of 6 months, but that would be negotiated between the museum and the owner. The display in the "Are We There Yet" includes a 1940's vintage Columbia bicycle, a 1950's vintage tricycle, a portable cook stove, and two mannequins loading Samsonite luggage into their 1957 Chevrolet Station Wagon. Any and all leads will be greatly appreciated. I know that Pat Bremer has been trying to find a fitting unit for me, but I felt there were others here who also may be able to help me with this quest. And if we can't find a small trailer, we are looking for a 1960's VW Camper. Thanks for your help.

I will be praying for a speedy resolution to your current condition. Keep the head up, and take care of yourself guy!

Denny, I have found that some locations that Google Maps added to my Garmin Nuvi 1450LMT were incorrect. I did not try downloading any routes due to not knowing our schedule on our trip to New Mexico because everything depended on when our son was available. But my question concerns your mention of the Roadside America feature on your Garmin. Does it just alert you when you are within a certain number of miles from one of their "sites", or do you need to program in how to get to these places? Do you recommend adding this for finding locations while driving or is it better for advance planning? Thanks for your advice when you get the opportunity.

Thanks Dave, All of these photos are also in the full Flickr slide show, so I hope you can see them there again if you are interested in any of those. And I am sure that there are many who prefer the new Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. It is easier to find a gas station and restaurant without a delay for seating than it is in the less developed parts of OBX. And I actually wished we had a decent Mini-Golf course between Rodanthe and Cape Hatteras as I love to lose to Peg at these places. But I am glad that much of Hatteras is preserved with less activity to allow beach time and fishing charters fill much of the slow paced time when traveling there. As always, thanks for the inputs and commentary. It is always great to hear from another wise Dave.

I am not a writer like many of the members here, but I have started the write-up of our two summer trips at my Blog. The first part just gets us to Rodanthe, NC, and does not cover what we did and enjoyed in the Outer Banks before Hurricane Irene caused so much damage there. The house we rented was about 1/4 mile south of the area where the Atlantic now meets the Sound in the north end of the town. I have no idea if our rental survived as of yet, but I know that the island is still officially "evacuated" meaning that no renters are enjoying vacations until at least September 17. Here is a photo of the break in the island and Route 12 near our rental. This photo looks south with the Atlantic on the right hand side.

The New Mexico trip is sadly over although it is great to be home. We missed the earthquake which occurred as we waited in the Albuquerque Sunport (Airport), but we are back in time for Hurricane Irene to graze us this weekend. I have posted some photos of the trip on Flickr.

I am glad you liked the photos. When we get home the middle of next week I will try to write up a bit about the Outer Banks in my Blog, as well as do a photo show about our trip to New Mexico. As to the slide show, it happened when I put the link to the photos in the body of the text. I then also added the clickable link so you could see the photos individually with captions. And now I am learning how to post here on the iPad.

The Outer Banks vacation is over. We found a number of wonderful places to eat including Big's Place in Exmore, VA and Oceana's Bistro and the Mad Crabber, both in Avon, NC. You can find photos from our trip at Flickr or the slide show below.

Although I am driving from Allentown PA to Rodanthe, NC, this is not really a road trip in the normal sense as we are planning one stop overnight on the way south, and have not decided the return route yet. I am heading using the Chesapeake Tunnel/Bridge route south with a hotel stay overnight. What I really hope to find from this group is a number of restaurants to try in OBX, as well as some interesting places to visit around Rodanthe besides the obvious Kitty Hawk and The Lost Colony, plus an overnight suggestion for the northern trip. After 36 hours at home we will fly to Albuquerque hoping our son is still in training at Kirtland AFB. If he is, we will not be needing as many day trips, but if he has returned to Okinawa by the time we arrive, we will want a number of day trips as we are booked for a week in the Nativo Lodge. We have been to Sante Fe, Tinkertown, El Malpais, the Unser Museum, Old Town, Madrid, Sandia Tramway, and the petrogylph site in the past. I wonder if anyone has information on the Wild Wolf Sanctuary which is west of Albuquerque, or other reasonable suggestions in the area. We are also always on the lookout for new places to dine, but we are not adventurous eaters of spice food. Thanks for any suggestions.

I voted, but I was really sorry to see Lost In America was not on the list...

Ed, Sounds like a wonderful itinerary. I can only really make mention for Alexandria Bay. We loved Hills Motor Court, although I believe the owners when I was there about 4 years ago have sold the place. You can see some of my photos of the hotel and the rest of our Alexandria Bay visit at Flickr. I hope this helps your planning.

Nice find Dale... I have not seen a plaque like that on my brief sojourns on the Lincoln Highway.

Well, I am finally the coordinator and creator of an event at America On Wheels museum in Allentown PA. This weekend we will be holding our first ever slot car race when East Coast HO Road Racing brings one of their tracks to the museum for a sanctioned HO race on Saturday. Also on Saturday Carerra USA will be bringing one of their digital 1/32 tracks to the museum to allow patrons to try it out on Saturday. On Sunday, the ECHORR track will be available for patrons to try the hand at running an HO car on a quality track. On both days we will have vendors from multiple states selling slot car sets, tracks, cars, and parts in several scales, and my display case of slot cars will be there as normal too. One of the racers who will be participating on Saturday is Henry Harnish who won the first Aurora/Ford Nationals on the Today show at age 15. Admission to the slot car show includes admission to the museum, and our changing collection of transportation. Our current show is 100 Years of Chevrolet that includes a 1918 V-18, a 1953 Corvette, a 1955 Nomad, and 1967 Camaro Indianapolis Pace Car, plus much more. You can see some of the museum and get an idea of what a slot car show includes by watching I hope to see some of you at America On Wheels this weekend.