<– Day 14 – Sat. May 12th: Ann Gets the Boot | Day 16 – Monday May 14th: Drive Them Jeeps! –>

Scott and I about to enter the newest Jungle Jims grocery emporium!

Day 15: Though we spent months planning the Alaska Or Rust Adventure, Scott Gilbert and I had never met until Sunday.

We drove from Lexington, Kentucky, to Newtown, Ohio, on Sunday.

As Ann slept, I started Sunday in Lexington, Kentucky, with a coffee run that turned into a cool donut find. I’m not a big donut eater, but the evil donuts at North Lime Coffee & Donuts seduced me into trying a couple: a chocolate glazed and a sprinkled donut. The Chocolate glaze was cut square, giving it a unique look, but the better one was the simple sprinkle donut. It turned out to be a heavy, yet tasty, not too chewy, but substantive treat.

Each day, North Lime puts out a display of the day’s donuts. This was from a different day than I was there (You can see many more pics on YELP):

instead of the old fashioned donut boxes, North Lime uses branded pizza boxes. I thought that pretty clever and a nice update for the college crowd, as this was near the University of Transylvania in Lexington.

From Lexington, Ann drove north while I worked more on the presentation, so we didn’t stop or do anything interesting on the way.

Our goal for the day was to spend the evening with Scott Gilbert, his wife Julie, and their kids. Scott and I had talked extensively on the phone last year during the build up to the Alaska Or Rust event. But, he and I had never had a chance to meet in person, as his wagon’s engine gave out just as he, Bob, and Rick entered Canada. It was a tough loss for the event and a reminder that just getting to Dawson Creek wasn’t a trivial accomplishment.

Scott and I had joked during some of our conversations about my passion for Cincinnati’s Jungle Jim’s International Market, an enormous foodie destination that Ann and I had visited in 2013. So, not long after we arrived at Scott’s, he mentioned there was a newer, second Jungle Jim’s market and it was a short drive from his house. Even better, we could get there in his Willys Wagon. Now that’s style!

After a fun drive, we soon arrived at the capitalist/foodie nirvana. While taking a photo of the store’s exterior, Scott mentioned that the outside didn’t make the store look as large as it really was. He wasn’t joking!

Inside, visitors first walk past several food vendors. Then, visitors have a chance to stop at a theatre and see a video covering the history of Jungle Jims.

After that, it’s all about food and spectacle. I could have taken many more pics.

After cruising the store for an hour (I could have stayed for a day), we grabbed some steaks and headed back to Scott’s for a barbecue. Instead of working on eWillys, we spent the evening talking and relaxing.

On Monday, we head north to meet with Roger, then to Rick’s to see some jeeps.

<– Day 14 – Sat. May 12th: Ann Gets the Boot | Day 16 – Monday May 14th: Drive Them Jeeps! –>