August 16th, Thursday – Home Is Where We Park It, Western Village, Carlisle PA; AACA Museum Tour

Today was travel day #2.  We were still at the AACA Museum to conclude our tour begun yesterday.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.  Today, after the tour was finished, we were moving further south to Carlisle, PA.

Let’s start with our new home.  From the AACA Museum it was only about an hour away.  So getting a late start was no big deal.  We checked and rechecked for any possible signs of delays on Route 81 before it was jacks up.  We could find nothing of significance, so off we went.

For once, there no unexpected surprises anywhere along our route.  One section one lane was closed for about a mile but traffic continued to move with no problem.  Soon enough we were off of Route 81 moving through a residential neighborhood toward our final destination.  Yes, this campground is right in the middle of a residential neighbor, come to the end of one block and there it is.  No issues getting in the road was wide.

But once in, this is where the fun began.  I had an email with one price and a record of my deposit.  Now, though, they tried to charge Barbara more.  She would not budge.  In the end, we did get the price they had originally given us in the email.  Score one for us.  Here is our new home.  The site is hard packed gravel, it’s level, the utilities are right

where they need to be.  However, there is no shade and absolutely no separation between sites.  This is what we are finding more and more as we travel around.

Most RV parks are made up of probably over 95 percent seasonal residents crammed in one after another.  Hey, we have a site, so we’ll count ourselves lucky and make the most of it for the next 8 nights.  It is what it is.

By the way, can you say hot?  Look at the picture below, the bottom number is the outside temperature at 4:30 this afternoon!  Now, 9 pm its still at 88 degrees.

Now for the AACA Museum in Hershey.  This is a Harvest Host location so it gave us both a place to stay for a night as well as a great museum to visit.

This is the Kissmobile which sits right outside the front door. The Hershey’s Kissmobile cruiser is a 12-foot tall, 26-foot long custom-made vehicle resembling three of Hershey’s

Kisses. Since the creation of Hershey’s Kissmobile in 1997, the cruiser has traveled over 250,000 miles and usually contains over 230,000 Hershey’s Kisses – That’s almost a ton of Kisses!

This is the entrance to the museum and the front foyer just as you enter.

One of the first display rooms that you enter is for Ford Thunderbirds.

On display was a rare four passenger Thunderbird from 1960 known as the square bird so called because of its angular style.  The four passenger Thunderbird came about because the movers and shakers at Ford believed that a two-passenger vehicle was holding sales back especially since in those days most families only owned one car.  It was Motor Trend’s Car of the Year when it debuted in 1958 and it set a sales record in 1960.  In 2012, this car won the coveted AACA Thunderbird award, to date the only four passenger Thunderbird to win.

Next on display was this 1957 Thunderbird with a rumble seat or as the owner called it the Birdnest.  The Birdnest was not a factory option but something that the last owner

wanted and fabricated on their own.  It would seat two children or one adult sitting sideways.  Of course, this addition did away with the spare tire.

Hey, how about this.  This is an early turn signal, batteries included.

Next we have a 1896 Benton Harbor, the first AACA Museum donation.  It was the first vehicle in America built from scratch as an automobile, not a modified horse drawn carriage.

Next to it was a 1909 Zimmerman Surrey.  This auto is the only touring car to survive the junkyard.  They were built from 1907 to 1915.

Around the corner was a highly researched, authentic reproduction of a 1925 Model T Coca-Cola Truck.  It has been used in numerous parades and special events.

Also on display was this 1912 Stearns-Knight Runabout.  Stearns began his automotive career with his own machine shop in the basement of his family’s home.  The Stearns is widely regarded as among the best cars of the early 20^th century.

Lest we forget who we are and what we do, how about this 1928 Zagelmeyer Kamper Car.  It claimed to be the lightest one made.  It’s canvas was permanently attached and had a hard top roof.

Want a bit more room?  A few more creature comforts?  Then how about this early Class A Motorhome.   This is a 1917 Packard powered by a 424 cubic inch V-12 and had a three-speed manual transmission.  It had a rear bedroom with convertible sofas, a mid-bath, front kitchen with two burner gasoline stove, an ice box and a sink.

Then I came across this a display of an early gas station with two pumps.

What really caught my eye, however, was the display on this pump.  Are you kidding me, 19 cents for a gallon of gas. The other day I had to pay $3.13!

And when was the last time you had an attendant do this 8-point driveway service for you on your RV?

In another section of the museum was a display devoted to the Tucker which was one of the most advanced and unusual cars of its day.  This is a 1948 Tucker with a six cylinder horizontally-opposed engine producing 166 horsepower.  It is painted in its original Tucker Grey.  A Tucker was clocked at 131 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1950.

Note the center headlight, when you turned the steering wheel it turned also.

Here is a peek at the inside.

I wondered, what ever happened to the Tucker?  Well, the SEC brought charges against Mr. Tucker for stock fraud.  Though completely cleared of all charges, the negative publicity brought an end to his hope of a new car and car company.  I can’t help wondering, could there have been more to these charges?  Someone working behind the scenes to bring an end to the upstart car maker?

Then it was my turn to go for a spin, well sort of in the land of make believe.  Here is a 1939 American Bantam Roadster with me at the wheel.  The Bantam was built at Butler, PA from 1930 to 1934.  The cars were small, Fuel-efficient and attractive in design.

Much more to come but for now we’ll call it a night.  Trust me when I say I’ve only included just a tiny bit of what is on display.  Some day, if you haven’t already, make time to go yourself.  Go though only if you have several hours free.  There is that much to see.

So we’ll call it a night right now.  Thanks for coming along with us.  We had a good time as always traveling along, side by side, singing our song.  Day by day we continue to be amazed at the many different sights we’ve seen, and are still seeing, new friends we’ve made, and the sheer joy of just being able to travel as we please.  The Road of Retirement is so much more than we had ever hoped.   In closing let me leave you with a thought to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before