Dispatch From The Convoy

Cub Reporter Julia Lawrence has finished her journey with the Transcontinental Motor Convey.  Read about the rest of her historical trip here.

June 18-19
Today we only went about 150 miles at a speed of 30 to 40 mph. Today in Van Wert, OH we had breakfast at the American Legion Post there. They had three choices of breakfast: eggs, sausage, biscuits, and gravy. Then we were on our way to Auburn, IN to eat lunch at the Victory Museum. It was neat to visit another town named Auburn. My dad and I went through the different parts of the museum. It had some cool vehicles and different things. They also had some very old carriages and old automobiles. They also had one of the newer batmobiles. Then we were on our way to South Bend, IN for the next 2 nights at the fairgrounds or at the hotels. My dad and I stayed at a hotel. The next day we did a parade to the airport for display. Then my dad and I went back to the hotel to take naps and then go play in the pool. That night we went to the South Bend Silver Hawks baseball game. In the 4th Inning it started to rain and lighting so they called it a game even though the Silver Hawks were losing by 2. I got a South Bend Silver Hawks patch for $1.00. Then we went back to the hotel.

June 20
We go only about 160 miles per day. That means the fastest we go is only 30 to 40 mph. Today we started from South Bend, IN. We started at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds then we are on our way going through all the little towns where people were waving American flags, signs, and maybe have some treats for us. In some of the towns, they had so many people out there in their towns you couldn’t even count the people. We had lunch in Cantigny, IL.  There were so many cornfields by the road.  I had never seen corn fields like that before. Then we got to Rochelle, IL.  We paraded through Rochelle for the people.  This is where we stopped for the night.  We ate dinner, and they had a dance for the convoy.  Dad and I went on to the hotel to rest.

June 21
Today we only went about 150 miles at a speed of 30 to 40 mph.  We had a church service this morning since it was Sunday.  It was also Father’s Day.  After the church service, we headed to Clinton, IA.  Just like yesterday, there were lots of corn fields along our route.  Even out in the country, there were people waiting for us.  They would wave at us and we would honk our horns and blow our sirens at them.  We ate lunch in Clinton along the Mississippi River.  This was the first time I had ever seen the Mississippi River, and we had to cross the river on a really big wide bridge.  The river was really wide here.  After lunch, we got on the road again. It took us about two hours to get to just outside Louden, IA.  At a cemetery, there were lots of flags waving and veterans wearing their color guard uniforms.  The color guard stood at attention as we drove by.  The people had snacks for us, but we couldn’t stop for very long.  We had to get back to driving so we could get to our stopping point for the day Cedar Rapids, IA.  Dad and I stayed at a hotel again.

June 22
Today is the day Dad and I head for home.  It was sad to say good bye to our new friends.  Our friends signed our “Convoy Ahead” sign and a t-shirt to remember them by.  Someone took our Auburn flag that day.  We think they are going to carry it with them to the convoy’s end point in San Francisco.  Dad and I think they will send it back to us after the convoy.  Since we were not driving in a big group of military vehicles, we could go faster.  We got all the way to St. Louis, MO.  We got to see the Gateway Arch which is close to the Mississippi River.  Today we went about 350 miles.

June 23
Today it was a long, hot day.  We drove all the way from St. Louis to Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  After we left Missouri, we drove through Tennessee and then into Alabama.  The jeep started to whine like it was developing a problem.  Dad checked under the jeep to see if he could see a problem.  He also talked to some of our convoy friends to ask them about the problem.  Everyone thought we should take it a little easier and not push it too hard.  Dad and I were really glad to be back in Alabama.

June 24
We drove home to Auburn today.  We slept in a little and then visited a friend of Dad’s in Decatur before we headed south for home.  We stopped for lunch in Birmingham and ate at one of our family’s favorite restaurants, P.F. Changs.  Then we got on U.S. 280 for the last of the drive to Auburn.  As we drove by the entrance to Asheton Lakes, my aunt and uncle were waiting to wave at us as we drove by.  When we finally got home, I was the first one to hug Mom.  Then, I hugged all my dogs. Dad and I had an excellent time on our adventure.  I got to see Washington D.C. and lots of other places for the first time. The trip went through 13 states ( Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee and it was the first time I had been to nine of them.  It has been a trip of a lifetime and was AWESOME!!!

See more pictures here:  http://www.mvpa.org/  http://www.flickr.com/photos/39112187@N02/  http://www.army.mil/convoy/