Will, Sam, Gerald and I.

On Tuesday’s triple-digit afternoon, Gerald and his two kids dropped by for a short visit. Gerald and his son Will, from Pennsylvania, are visiting daughter Samantha, who now lives in Washington State, for the week.  They’ve been exploring some of the state and on Tuesday their travels brought them to our humble home (technically, we never really made it past the shop).

The last time I’d seen the kids was eleven years ago at the 2013 Bantam Festival, and they were pretty young, so I didn’t recognize them at all. But, Gerald still looked the same … I’m not sure he’s even aged!?! Anyway, in 2013, Gerald gave us the grand tour in his CJ-3B of the Cooper Lake campground, a place they had camped for years.

Gerald was an early reader of eWillys (circa 2009 maybe?). As he put it on Tuesday, his online world consisted of The CJ-3B page and eWillys. Outside, of that, he really didn’t want much to do with the internet. His parents were involved in a local jeep club and also raced, so Gerald and I had shared, via email, many stories of growing up in the old jeep world, desert dogs, camping, etc.

While we talked on Tuesday, Will was checking out the racer, so it wasn’t long before I was running him around the property in it. Here’s a quick clip.

Then he climbed in, all smiles, for a chance to drive it. He didn’t go all that fast, but seemed to be enjoying himself.

The visit was all too short as they needed to make their way back to the Kelso area by nightfall, so we said our goodbyes. Perhaps we’ll see them if we make our way to the Willys Reunion next year.