An update (since you asked).
I auto-hauled my Pearlie back home. It was an ugly rainy drive for the first 250 miles and the Indiana roads were atrocious especially with a car hauler. Luckily it finally stopped when I got to Kentucky and the sun was actually out by the time I got back home.
Even though the consensus among everyone who helped was it was a wheel bearing problem, the fact that the sounds it was making weren't familiar to anyone didn't leave me warm and fuzzy. Hence why I hauled it back.
I took the Pearlie into the shop today. The mechanic did drive it with me along and it was making A LOT of odd noises - much worse and much more consistently than anything we heard in Lafayette.
Diagnosis was (surprise!) the wheel bearing. But possibly the hub could be damaged as well. He said he doubted it would have made it back the 500 miles without causing more damage.
They didn't have the parts in stock and the mechanic doesn't want to take it apart and tie up a lift without the parts so he won't know for certain just how bad it is until the parts come in and he can then disassemble it.
He did say it appears as though the front seal on the bearing is torn which likely is from an improper installation. That might also explain the abundance of grease Huck found in the brakes. The seal wasn't keeping the grease contained.
So wheel bearing and hub are on order. It may be next week before I find out the details of what all is wrong.
THANKS to everyone who assisted! I greatly appreciated the time and efforts you took to try to figure out the problem!
Eric D.
UPDATE:
Here's the Pearlie's final outcome. The wheel bearing was all but destroyed. All the grease was gone, probably due to the one seal being torn. Possibly from a bad installation but no way to know for sure. Without grease, the bearing had overheated, melted the internals and warped the wheel hub. When he took out the bearing, he said it pretty much fell to pieces on the shop floor. He was surprised the car had driven as far as it had with the bearing in that shape. No way it would have made it back driving with that bearing. He replaced the bearing, seals and hub.