E. Joe Brown

Jul 03, 2024 by E. Joe Brown

Linda and I arrived home Monday night from a sixteen-day trip. It started with a book signing at Best of Books bookstore in Edmond, Oklahoma, on June 18th. We stopped overnight in Chickasha, Oklahoma to have dinner and visit my cousin Carla on the 17th.

Then, it was on to Tulsa to attend the WWA convention that would last through Saturday evening. Every year we look forward to this because we see old friends and make new ones while learning from incredible panels, talks, and hallway conversations.

I also worked as a reporter for the WWA's Roundup Magazine this year. I'm writing three short articles that will be part of the magazine's event coverage. Roundup Editor Johnny Boggs honored me by asking me to assist him. The formal part of the convention is full of information provided by many gifted, award-winning writers, editors, and publishers. And then, after things shut down at night, a group of about a half dozen of us perform music for those who want to attend our song circle. I'm always one of the players/singers, and I truly love it. There was a short performance Saturday night, but I didn't play because Linda and I would be up early Sunday morning to leave on our ten-day vacation.

From Tulsa, we drove up into Missouri on Sunday, stopping in Jefferson City for the night. We got up the next morning, filled the car with gas, and drove to St. Louis. On the edge of town, our new 2025 Honda Pilot began to act up. It barely ran. I asked the navigation system where we could find a Honda dealer. There was one less than five miles from us. I drove there, and we spent all day at the dealership while the service department found the problem and fixed it. It was the gas I put into the car in Jeff City. In that part of the country, most gas stations sell a gas/ethanol mixture that exceeds 10% ethanol. (some only sell that type of gas). My Pilot didn't like it. If your car isn't designed for Flexfuel, be careful while buying gas. We were limited in what we saw in St. Louis and continued to Springfield, Illinois.
 
I could give you a detailed trip report, but that experience with the gasoline I felt everyone could learn from. We visited Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana; Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, Canton, and Cleveland in Ohio; Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania; Charleston and Huntington in West Virginia; and Lexington, Frankfort, and Louisville in Kentucky. Then we made a straight dash to I-40 just east of Memphis, Tennessee, and headed west. It was a great trip, and a few bucket list items have been checked off.

Happy Trails,
Joe

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