DESPATCHES
|
7.
Bluegrass Birthday Party
June 14th
Breakfast
surprise, Julian and Lawerence arrive with a flourish
of presents for me, a labrador loo holder and lovely wooden
box with mare and foal engraved on the lid. Inside are a
collection of animals to use as bath salts. What a treat.
A lovely surprise birthday present.
Leave Athens, Ohio, in much cooler weather, cloudy skies
and rain threatening. I take the first drive again as it
is my birthday. Quiet road, good bends, through Cross Creek,
the smallest village in Ohio. Sign says 'Coffee at Cross
Creek, sorry you missed us'. On to Chillicothe, the first
capital of Ohio. Oil pressure light is flickering, Peter
goes rather quiet and tells me to stop for oil. Pressure
is not holding at tick-over. Fill up and carry on. All sorts
of dire problems are racing through my head. All my questions
are answered with a grunt. Just let's see what happens.
Suddenly it shoots to over 60 psi and after that, all seems
O.K. Possibly a bit of dirt in the pressure relief valve.
Phew! What a relief. I keep going and have a great drive
through Hillsborough to Cincinnati.
We hit Interstate 275 and circuit Cincinnati, cross the
Ohio and briefly enter the State of Kentucky. Back onto
Route 50 we enter Indiana and take a left onto route 62.
This is a very scenic route that passes through Farmer's
retreat, Friendship and China - wonderful names. There is
a muzzle loading competition at Friendship with flea market
and fair attached. It would be lovely to stop but
we can't risk leaving the car. Buy some goodies and stop
by a shaded stream for a bite of lunch. I've covered 207
miles, enjoying every minute.
Peter takes over and we do some off -piste work down to
a little village called Bethlehem on the banks of the Ohio,
passing this wonderful old barn en route. Beside it are
a herd of Charollais cattle and some horses. Home from home.
Time to move on and into Clarksville where the Bluegrass
Austin Healey Club are hosting a dinner party . At last
we meet Jim Werner, who gave us so much help initially on
the Around the World Rally. We can't thank you enough, Jim
for the work you did. Also the club produce a surprise
cake shown below that was created for my birthday. It is
such a work of art it is a shame to eat it.
A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE SECRET
next
Return
to despatches |
Old
barn
Surprise
birthday cake |
