The following was written by Sgt. 1st Class Mark F. Ounan, an Active/ Guard infantry Soldier currently assigned to the 324th Military Police Btn., Chambersburg, Pa. Ounan is also the only current Soldier and Military Vehicle Preservation Association member taking place in the 2009 MVPA Convoy. Here's an exert from the journal he's keeping as he travels cross-country.
The intrepid little Dodge - today the car is running great. I think I finally got the grease and oil mixture right. The transmission is quiet and shifts a lot better. The battery is fully charged, and if I don't run the lights the car will work all day. And I'll even have a little juice left over to blow the horn now and then.
Whenever we go through a small town the people come out to see us. It's hard for me not to blow the horn, because it makes everyone smile and laugh. The little kids love to hear it.
We are moving pretty fast today. Part of our trip is on the highway, and I can get up to 35 easily and sometimes 40 miles per hour for short periods if I have to.
Today was the first time we drove on dirt roads, the original part of the Lincoln Highway - what I really came to see. My car was made for dirt roads, and takes them very easily.
It's exciting to see people come out of their house or sitting in a lawn chair in their yard on a road that you know probably has 10 cars on it a week. And they've been waiting just to see us.
The car keeps up with no problem. She's doing her best, even though I'm pushing it to the limits.
My traveling companion, 985-year-old Harry Fike, has been riding with me the entire trip - getting rained on, breaking down and cooking in the sun right along with me. I think this trip is the adventure of a lifetime, but he had so many adventures, and he still wants to be on this one, more than anything.
An 85-year-old man in a 91-year-old car, and me. What an adventure!
We're supposed to get more storms tonight. So I better cover up the car and get to sleep.
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