<– Day 10 & 11 – Mon. May 13th Rest & Tue. May 14th: Crust, Raisins, and Smoked Pork  | Trip Overview | Day 14 – Fri. May 17th: Day 1 of the Midwest Willys Reunion –>

Wednesday, May 15th: We spent all of Wednesday at Ann’s Great Aunt Alice’s place in Greenville, Ohio.

Thursday May 16th: We drove from Greenville, Ohio, to Hudson, Ohio. Along the way, we made more new friends!

Me and Roger Martin in front of his CJ-2A.

This morning we were back on the road. Our ultimate destination was Hudson

On Thursday we drove from Greenville, Ohio, to Hudson, Ohio.

We began the morning heading to the Kitchen Aide Experience. Having never been, I pictured it as part tour and part museum in the Kitchen Aide factory itself. Instead, it’s a giant Kitchen Aide store where you can buy new or used Kitchen Aide products of every color and kind. Downstairs there are some beautiful refurbed mixers and blenders. Those ‘in the know’ tell us the refurbs are actually better than the new ones. They certainly were better prices.

Next to all the refurb machines in the lower level was a mini-museum. Since Ann assured me we didn’t have room to bring a refurbed 6 quart 575KW mixer with a glass bowl home, I had to make due with the mini-museum. What amazed me most about the museum was how little some of the attachments had changed. Here are a few pics from the museum:

After the Kitchen Aide Experience, we were told we HAD to see the gumwall at the local Made-Rite Sandwich Shoppe. It turns out it’s not a wall, but the entire building. Ann followed the local custom by chewing a piece of gum and sticking it to the wall. I was perfectly happy to keep my distance and take pictures.

By 9:30am we were done with Greenville. I suggested we head straight for Jungle Jim’s International Market in Fairfield, OH.

Sometime in the 1990s I read about Jungle Jim’s in a Smithsonian Magazine article. Ever since then I’ve wanted to visit. I have to say the place exceeded my expectations. The variety was immense. Besides many standard items, I found ostrich eggs, lamb bacon, a large assortment of Galangal (a horse radish-like citrus flavored root used in Tom Ka Gai), nine aisles of wines, an entire frozen section of exotic meats, a wing of butters, and so much more. Even their store sushi was excellent (we tried some). If you like to cook or just love food, you shouldn’t miss this place.

Yeah, I was pretty excited about this place!

Every grocery store needs a jungle scene outside!

Different types of displays over the food were everywhere.

Ostrich eggs! If only I could find a way to take this with me. They also had an egg from a bird (batel?) I’d never heard of. Their duck eggs were very large.

Who knows why this is here.

Yes, that’s a real fire engine. It’s over the enormous hot sauce aisle.

Those were all different types of cheese. The opposite side of this cooler also had cheese. There was a third case of cheese also. Stunning!

Our last stop of the day before heading to Hudson was to visit Roger Marin’s place in Waynesville, OH. Roger operates R.J. Martin Service & Excavating, INC. If you need dirt moved, he’s got the tools to do it – (937) 862-4182.

Roger also collects Caterpillars, FCs and CJ-2As (both real and toy versions). He took us on a tour of his toys first. His collection of old steam shovel toys was amazing. It’s all I could do not to grab one and run outside to dig in the dirt. As we talked toys, one of Roger’s friend’s Paul showed up with his GPW. A friend of Paul’s, John, showed up with his M-38. Soon, Roger was pulling out his 1947 CJ-2A.

A very tiny sample of Rogers toys.

Paul and John checking out John’s M-38.

Paul’s GPW.

After we’d discussion just about every part of each jeep, Roger offered to let me drive. He barely got the offer out before I was in the front seat ready to go. His CJ-2A purred down the old country road. I enjoyed myself immensely!

Me driving. Roger hanging on for his life.

After we returned to his house, Roger showed us around his FC collection. He talked about different tractors he owned. One of his favorites was a ten ton caterpillar he keeps in his shop. He’d hope to take us for a ride, but he didn’t have time to get it out. But, he started it up. To start it he had to jam a steel bar into the fly wheel and pull. It sounded awesome! Thanks for everything Roger!

A couple of the FCs Roger has.

After we completed our visit with Roger, we headed in a northereasternly direction to Hudson, Ohio, and the Willys Spring Reunion.

<– Day 10 & 11 – Mon. May 13th Rest & Tue. May 14th: Crust, Raisins, and Smoked Pork  | Trip Overview | Day 14 – Fri. May 17th: Day 1 of the Midwest Willys Reunion –>