Finally!  Maxi the military Model A, along with Jay and George, are back on track, working their way toward Washington DC.  The goal for Tuesday night is Durham, NC (411 miles).

But first the guys spent a little more time with Jack and Carol, and Jay fell in love with some of Jack’s wood.  Think there’s a future guitar in the works for him…

On the road again:

And the night’s stop in Durham:

(I see it’s still raining…) And here’s the next day’s plan (212 miles):

Considering that the purpose of this cross country trip is to join the Lincoln Highway Association’s recreation of the 1919 military convoy, and the tour begins in Washington DC, I’d say this is a VERY good plan!

This beautiful building is the Richmond (VA) train station. Richmond’s Main Street Station in the downtown area was built in 1901 by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railway. In the 1950s, Seaboard shifted its Richmond passenger service to another location, but C&O maintained offices in the upper floors, and its passenger service continued here until Amtrak took over in 1971. 

This historic building has a rough life, though. In 1972, Hurricane Agnes caused the James River to flood the station. The damage was so severe that in 1975, Amtrak moved its Richmond stops to a smaller suburban station north of downtown. To make matters worse, the station was damaged by fires in 1976 and again in 1983. Rail service did not return until 2003, when the station was renovated.

Above is a view of the Richmond city scape, evidence of the cheapest  gas of the trip so far (at Costco, of course), and Maxie is getting ready to take George’s brother Wally and wife Robyn for a ride.

Looks like they enjoyed the old car! And here’s an interesting bug we don’t have at home:

Male cicadas hoping to attract a mate with their fabulous(?) vocal skills are the insects responsible for the noisy calls, or screeching, that we hear here. Robyn explained that her puppy finds pleasure in catching them in his mouth while they make their crazy noise buzzing around inside! She just pulled this particular one out of his mouth so they could take a picture!

The next day,  Wally, Robyn, Jay and George visited the US Marine Corps National Museum at Quantico.

After a final lunch together at the Quantico Marine Corps Museum, the guys launched Maxie, and Jay and George separated.

George is going to return the modern car and trailer to Cambria, with another stop to visit his brother in Colorado Springs.  Jay is going to Alexandria to prepare for the real tour, and to visit with former Cambrians John Ruml and Pam Weeks.

More to follow soon.  Maxi is going WAY faster than I am, but I’ll try to catch up!