Over-and-out for the overdrive!

Pictures L to R: Harper's Ferry from the bridge over the Potomoc; Civil War canon; Burnside Bridge at Antietam.

14 June 2009 Endinburg, VA to Brunswick, MD 90.3 miles
West Virginia for a brief moment…The campground we have landed in is maybe not one of our better choices. It's on the Maryland side of the Potomoc. The campground is city owned and operated, and the campground is nice, but the tent area is a bit swampy, so we’ve snuck into an RV site. Some of the people, who I think are “full time residents” are interesting, to say the least. Even the hosts in the office are a bit iffy.

It’s Sunday, so David did his lube thing while I set up camp. Hopefully we’ll still be alive tomorrow.

15 June 2009 Brunswick, MD to Shepherdstown, WV miles? will update later

We got up early this morning, and packed the car in record time (30 minutes!) (We didn’t really want to stay at this campground any longer than necessary.) We headed into Harper’s Ferry, and had the town to ourselves as we walked around. It was actually kind of nice being there in the quiet dawn. After walking through the town, we headed toward Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland. Dave had been here before, but never got to see the Burnside Bridge, which is the location of the last engagement in this battle. We spent about and hour or so at the visitor’s center watching the video, and listening to the ranger presentation on the battle, then began the auto tour.

This is a beautiful area, and it looks like either the park service leases out the land for farming, or they plant the fields for looks. The auto tour went well…until stop #9, the Burnside Bridge. As we crested the hill to the parking lot, the car made “a snapping, popping, grinding” sound. At that, Dave proclaimed, “This is as far as we are going today!” We coasted backward, down the hill (no turn around space), and stopped along the road—thankfully it was a wide, shady spot. (Actually a disabled persons parking area for the bridge.) Next step…MAFCA Roster Directory.

We located a MAFCA member in Hagerstown, MD who put us in touch with Ron Meyer, owner of Meyer’s Model A Ford Parts in Williamsport, MD. Ron was able to hook us up with Dave and Becky Krolak, in Sharpsburg, MD. Dave owns Nostalgia Works, an antique and classic automotive maintenance, repair, and restoration shop. Turns out, Dave’s shop was about six miles from where we were stranded. He came to our rescue with his transport trailer in tow.

We are saddened to announce the demise of Borge-Warner, our much beloved overdrive. With no other overdrive available locally, Dave decided to replace ours with a stock drive shaft and torque tube—so we can finish our trip, albeit at a much slower pace. Ron Meyer was able to supply us with a used differential, drive shaft, torque tube and gasket set. Dave Krolak and Dave (Gill!) are working on changing them out. As night fell, Dave K. drove us to the nearest hotel—in Shepherdstown, WV. So Baby is having her first sleepover in an out-of-state (from us) garage. Henry is staying with her so she doesn’t get homesick.