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 Slick ’33 five window.  We see this truck every year at our hotel- it’s neat because it has a Welder Series Mustang II crossmember!  You could spend hours looking over all the details on this roadster.  Check out the trunk -er- tank :)  Kirby getting set up to stripe a bowling pin trophy for the annual BMX race on Saturday night.  I took the plastic coating off and sanded the wood. After painting it, I sort of ran out of talent and figured I should pass it on to someone who would be able to stripe it.  Enter Kirby. This is a neat story… Mark Cain was looking at our parts Thursday morning, and we got talking and I asked him if he knew anyone who would be able to stripe this bowling pin I had. Mark got this look on his face like a kid who just found a dollar, made a phone call, and said “Kirby will be here tomorrow!” He’s just outlining the black ovals I painted here.  Kirby’s fun bucket.  Watching him was a bit mesmerizing.  So who won it? Actually it was Tim Strange… I have one of his painted bowling pins in my living room from last year, and he’ll be able to add this to his art collection! According to a lot of BMXers at the track, Tim had never biked so hard- I like to think he was going for my special edition Kirby- striped trophy :)  Never thought I’d see a Beetle parked in the circle at Louisville! Neat touches on it though, and it looks like a blast to drive.  WUMP. Love it.  It’s hard to tell, but Tim Strange is driving the kart. A kid couldn’t believe he saw TIM STRANGE, host of Search & Restore, at the show, and Tim had told him we were going go karting that night. He didn’t stop asking his grandparents if he could go too until they brought him. He wouldn’t stop chanting “TIMTIMTIMTIMTIMTIM”! So Tim took him for a few rides around the track, making memories for years to come, I’m sure.  Troopers back in.  This is for John, who is building a cab over.
Home again!
A few driving statistics:
6,318 miles driven, over 24 days.
263.25 miles/day.
10.97 mph for 24 days straight. Hey, it’s faster than walking!
 24th & last day of our trip. We Cross from Indiana to Ohio at 9:30 am.  Green fields & farms along I-75 North.  Toledo, Ohio behind us, we head for Detroit Michigan. Don’t know if there are other parkways named after cars around here or not.  La la la…. Listening to our book, thinking about home, in la-la land, whatever. Suddenly, Paul notices the gas gauge needle is lower than we thought it possible to sit. We’ve always considered it near empty if it gets below quarter tank (something to do with the sender position). Now it’s barely above the E. Thankfully, there was a station within a couple of miles. Tank holds 12 US gallons.  Another nice welcome center. Needed this to complete the set.  Detroit scene on I-75. We have travelled this stretch many times over the last 35+ years. When DW & Christopher (our sons) were younger we would always comment on the various items discarded along the interstate in Detroit. There have been mattresses, tires, chairs. Today I just missed getting a picture of a soggy mattress. This picture doesn’t show the extent of the trash. Don’t recall seeing another interstate or road like it.  Very busy border crossing, but one with many booths. We stopped going through Detroit and opted for Sarnia Ontario / Port Huron Michigan for several years. But wait times at that crossing have increased and we’ve sat for 1-1/2 hours during summer crossings. Detroit has improved the road surface (finally – after 35+ years of being horrid) and so we’re back to favoring the Detroit MI / Windsor ON crossing.  In the background, you can see the Ambassador Bridge leading to Canada.  Permanent condition at the Detroit border. They must move the concrete dividers around on a regular basis so the roads won’t get worn out in the same lanes! Each year it seems you drive a different path to get to customs.  Ambassador Bridge – more pylons.  Our turn at Canada Customs.  Cleared and welcomed to Canada (Windsor Ontario at least).  Welcome to Ontario. Didn’t stop at the official Ontario Welcome Center to get a proper picture. We’ve been there in years past but only to use the washroom facilities.  The Canadian side of the border at Windsor ON looks a bit different than the US side at Detroit. They have many differences and population is a major one. I read that Detroit has 50% of Michigan’s population living in it, while Windsor INCLUDING Sarnia has just 2% of Ontario’s population.  What would a ‘welcome back’ picture be without a Tim Horton’s? Didn’t stop, but we’re not ‘normal’ Canadians or we would have.  Scenes of crops & farms along the 401. King’s Highway 401, also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway and colloquially as the four-oh-one, stretches from Windsor to the Quebec border. The segment of Highway 401 passing through Toronto is the busiest highway in North America, and one of the widest and busiest in the world. Together with Quebec Autoroute 20, it forms the transportation backbone of the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, along which over half of Canada’s population resides. The posted speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) throughout its length. People around Toronto would love the 80 MPH limit we had in Texas.  Some crops are still in the early stages, but everything was green and lush. Hopefully, rainfall will keep them that way.  Typical scenery outside of the larger 401 cities of London, Cambridge, and definitely Toronto (16 lanes each direction).  and more scenery about 30 minutes from home.  Exiting the 401 on one of several exits we could take to get home. We exit where the mood dictates.  Home again. Young man is spending the summer helping his grandparents who live next door. He had never seen our car and was shocked when we drove up. I think he expected to see someone else driving – maybe someone younger?  Hugs from Ava, DW’s youngest. Ava was just waking up from a nap when we got home. As Sarah was getting her out of bed, Ava commented, “I hope Grandma & Grandpa had fun!” We did, but it was good to be home and see everyone again.  Miles driven this trip: 6,318. Speedo total of 22,119 is actually about 1,500 miles on the low side. The day after we got it on the road on August 1, 2009 we drove it to Louisville for the NSRA Nationals, but the speedo wasn’t working. The car has been on the road for a total of 12 months: August through October 2009; May through November 2010; May & June 2011. Car ran and held up beautifully. Thanks, DW, for a job well done!
 Approaching St. Louis. Weather Channel showed severe storms for a large swath of our driving path. The south badly needs rain and the north central area is flooded. We drove all day on dry roads always in front of or behind the rain.  Roads weren’t the best in St. Louis. But every state has had good sections & bad.  The city of St. Louis will surely want to use my photos of the famous arch for their promotional material. This was the best of the lot. I think you’re supposed to stop to get decent pictures of famous landmarks & scenery.  Welcome to Indiana – the place of Dorothy’s birth. Dorothy grew up in Sellersburg IN, just north of Louisville KY.  You meet the nicest people and driving a street rod sure opens the door for conversation. Brandon & his mother Edith from Arkansas were staying at our hotel in Greenfield Indiana. They were ‘stuck’ there for a week while the 18-wheeler Edith was driving was waiting to get unloaded. Brandon loved the coupe and Paul & Dorothy loved his enthusiasm. Edith, you have raised a polite and gentlemanly son.
 Welcome to Missouri. Getting a welcome sign at the rest stops ensures better success than snapping the sign from the car at 70 MPH. It was easier going south because the exit number go DOWN to zero so you can keep track of it easier. Going north, they go higher. Suddenly you’re at exit #267 or whatever – yikes, where’s the iphone??!!!  Welcome Center at Joplin, Missouri was the neatest one we’d seen on the trip (and we certainly did not stop at them all).  Inside the lobby of the Welcome Center an artist had made a collage using license plates from all over the US. The pictured part spelled JOPLIN. Shown here is the JO. Wouldn’t this make a cool garage wall?  The IN part of JOPLIN surrounded by more license plates.  Decided to stop at a few shops in Missouri today since they were not too far off our path home. We made no advance phone calls since it was a Saturday, just thought we’d take a chance and at least drop off a catalog. This was an extremely clean shop in Monett MO. We apparently just missed the owner – according to some nice business neighbors.  LRS in Mt. Vernon MO. No one there.  Hotshoe Hotrods in Billings MO. Dan Morley & son Chad were still open! Had a good visit and viewed several shop projects. By this time it was 5:30 so we drove about an hour to Lebanon MO and got a room. Had a good catfish dinner at Dowd’s Catfish & BBQ.
 Going to try to visit some shops on our way home. We arrived here at American Street Rods in Oklahoma City at 1:17. They work from 5:00 AM to 1:00 PM due to the heat. We knew that ahead of time, but thought maybe we could make it – did not.  Parr Automotive in Oklahoma City.  Parr’s showroom.  Reno Hot Rods in Oklahoma City.  Mo – Bros in Oklahoma City.  Beauty ’32 belongs to a shop friend.  Loved the finish on the ’32′s dash. Very nice car!  We took Route 66 (again) out of Oklahoma City and had another great drive. We were told by several of the guys at the OKC shops that we needed to see Pops in Arcadia. The 66-ft LED pop bottle is hard to miss. Pop’s is where modern architecture meets roadside attraction. The huge futuristic canopy stretches 100 feet (unsupported!), to shelter car and their occupants from sun, rain and snow. Pop’s signature is soda pop – with a selection of more than 400 ice-cold sodas and beverages. There is a full-service grill and self-serve gas station. Burger was hand-pattied and delicious. With 400 varieties of pop, we drank water with our meal.  Gives an idea of how large this ‘bottle’ is. Hmmmm, is that a police car beside the ’32?  Paul had pulled beside the bottle and I was ready to take pictures when this police car pulled up. I thought it was about where the coupe was parked (hoping it was something that minor), but it was about how much he like the car! He talked to Paul for quite awhile.  View from near our table inside. Each shelf has about 24 of the same colored pop glued to the glass shelf.  Very pretty. The place was busy!!  Everyone also mentioned seeing the “Round Barn” in Arcadia. Built in 1898, it originally served as a home for livestock and also as a place where dances were held for the local townspeople. As traffic slowly declined down Old Route 66, the town of Arcadia declined with it and after suffering decades of neglect, in 1988 the barn’s immense 60′ diameter roof finally collapsed. The cost of repair: a staggering $165,000 dollars. http://www.arcadiaroundbarn.org/history.htm  Seaba Station Motorcycle Museum on Route 66 in Warwick OK. Housed in the former Seaba Filling Station and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this Route 66 landmark is now filled with over 65 vintage motorcycles from 1908 to present. The Seaba Station was built in 1921, five years before historic Route 66 was certified as a national highway. It was closed, but we got the picture.  Home for the night in Tulsa OK at the Microtel.
 Another one of those “we should have gotten gas when we saw gas stations at that exit way back there” statements. Saw a small sign at an exit off I-40 east that there was gas & food here. Sign said “open” but everything was locked up. Unlike the station in Texas where we could still get gas, it was not possible here. Drove more slowly (60 MPH) and got to the next available gas at Tucumcari NM. Drove 228 miles since last fill-up.  Driving I-40 east, minding our own business, listening to a book on our MP3 player with our headphones, when suddenly the interstate is closed both directions. The eastbound lanes are directed off at San Jon NM to go south on 469. Two lane road doesn’t look too bad. The entire line of vehicles turns left (east) and we follow, though the road doesn’t show up on my map of Texas. It is on the GPS and it says we are on Historic Route 66. Well, this part of Route 66 is original and has not been paved – ever, it seems. We think it can’t go on like this for too long, and we don’t have much choice with 18-wheelers in front and behind. This picture was taken at 1:42 pm.  It’s 2:07 now. The road is going AWAY from I-40, it is now 2″ gravel washboard and the trucks & cars behind us are wanting to go faster than we are travelling. We can’t go any faster, no where to turn around and to go where??  2:09 pm. “Bridge” signs says 4 ton limit. Since everything from I-40 is now travelling this road, you can imagine how many trucks travelled this bridge.  Looking right (south) from the “bridge” as we crossed. Not much here.  2:30 pm. After 45 minutes of literally bouncing on a deep washboard gravel road and smelling our antifreeze boiling over, I (Dorothy) could tell from the GPS that another road, #93, turned left (north)and went to I-40. We could see I-40 in the distance and traffic was now moving on it. But no one else was taking #93 – they were all following like sheep down this road from hell. We passed #93, but decided we would take a chance and try to turn around. Paul pulled over as best he could when there was a break in traffic, made a U-turn and got on #93. We sat there a minute because this road wasn’t in any better condition. What to do? Suddenly a police car came rushing down #93 toward us. Paul waved at him and asked if we could get to I-40 on this road and he said yes. The policeman was rushing to try to turn the others back to get them on #93. We learned later that there were several bridges barely safe for cars, let alone 18 wheelers.  2:33 pm. It didn’t take trucks long to start passing us. We had had enough and just got over as best we could. We both admitted later that we had wondered what we would do if something broke. We just didn’t want to say it aloud at the time.  2:43 pm. One hour and 16 miles later (I checked on Google maps), we’re safe at the truck stop. A DOT worker told us that smoke from a grass fire made it necessary to close the interstate due to poor visibility. He said that no one had been there to direct traffic and it was a dangerous situation to have 18-wheelers using those old bridges. That’s why the police car finally came rushing down when they realized what had happened. It was 108 degrees, too.  Pile of dust built up on the lower adjuster of the 4-link bracket. There was a layer of dust on the seat and inside the door.  3:28 pm. After calming down and cooling off, we left New Mexico behind.  Missed the “Welcome to Texas” sign and got this somehow. Miles travelled today: 437  Welcome to Oklahoma. It’s easier to take a picture of the Welcome Center than driving by the sign at 70 MPH. We have been very impressed by all of the Welcome Centers. Great literature if you need it and coupon books for hotels that offer nice discounts. We should have stopped at these years ago! Stayed the night in Clinton OK
 Road leading to Sedona AZ. We’ve heard so many great things from friends who have raved about Sedona, so we had to make a 45 minute drive south from Flagstaff to check it out for ourselves.  Were they wrong? They were definitely correct in all of their praises.  Outstanding views on various stops on the way into town.  Love the layers of rock and the odd-shaped peaks. Some T shirts in town were apparently dyed with the red dirt giving them a dark rust color.  Didn’t find out anything about this bridge, but it made a nice picture.  Stayed in the town of Sedona for about an HOUR & A HALF. Strolled through a few shops, had a fruit smoothie and sat outside (in the heat). Then back north to pick up I-40 East at Flagstaff. This is our third trip to Flagstaff in 2 days.  About one hour east of Flagstaff is the town of Winslow AZ on the historic Route 66. Not much to see as you approach town. One lens of my (Dorothy) glasses kept falling out. Passed by Vision Care and went in to see if they could tighten the tiny screw. Very kind lady fixed it right up.  Closer to the famous corner in Winslow Arizona made famous by the song “Take it Easy” recorded by the Eagles.  Probably served a good meal in its day. Maybe someone will renovate it to fit into most of the rest of the town.  Across the street from the “corner” is another old building which now houses a neat shop. Lots of memorabilia here. Bought a nice little book on the Grand Canyon (probably something we should have read BEFORE we went to the Grand Canyon).  In that iconic song “Take it Easy” recorded by the Eagles there is a line attributed to a hitchhiker who is standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona who sings “…when a girl, my lord, in a flat bed Ford slows down to take a look at me…”. A bronze statue stands near a lamp post, securing an acoustic guitar between his right hand and the shoe of his right foot. The red flat bed Ford is just behind the coupe. Too bad about the construction flags. Pretty neat.  I know there are a lot of roadside scenery pictures, but it just amazes both of us at the variety. It changes so quickly and you think you just can’t let this view go by without taking a picture!  This picture was taken just one hour after the previous picture. Stayed in Albuquerque NM for the night.
 Across the street from our Motor Inn in Williams was this Route 66 Diner. Perfect place for breakfast.  Typical decor for a Route 66 diner, but it’s still neat. I’m talking about the wall, not my husband, tho’ he’s neat, too.  Instead of driving straight north from Williams to the Grand Canyon, we took the advice of our friend, John Adams, who said we should drive by the canyon from EAST to WEST. So we drove east on I-40 to Flagstaff AZ, then north on 89, west on SR 84 which runs beside the south rim of the canyon. I took this picture on I-40 because it was the first time I had seen GREEN in many,many days. Everything has been rock, sand and red dirt – all pretty in their own way. By the way, that’s not road kill on the highway, it’s bug kill on our windshield.  Just happened to notice this as we were getting gas in Flagstaff – 4,000 miles exactly.  Back to red dirt & rocks. This is on 89 heading north through the Navajo Indian Reservation. It’s a bird… it’s a plane … it’s a bug.  Starting to see some ‘cracks’ in the earth as we near the canyon itself.  Our first stop along the south rim. Words cannot express how beautiful it is. Each time we pulled over to one of the sites, the view was different and breathtaking.  Held my camera out (clutching it in a death grip) to attempt a view of what I was actually experiencing.  Proof to friends & family (who know Paul is afraid of heights) that he was really there – but not too close to the railing.  Grand Canyon – several different views.  One of the lookout sites. This is the last picture we took before the battery died. All of our pictures have been taken with an iphone. We have been really pleased with the quality, but here we were at the Grand Canyon and the iphone battery was dying by leaps and bounds. Every time we looked, it was down about 10% more. It finally died 100%. Later we found out that in areas of “no service” like the Grand Canyon and several other places we’ve been recently, it kept searching for service. Paul found on the Apple website that he should have had “airplane mode” ON so it will discontinue searching. No problems since then.  Many of the lookout points are suitable for viewing (obviously) but do not allow you to get a vehicle nearby. This spot was perfect so we pulled over, but … our camera was dead. We asked a man and his wife if they would mind taking a picture of our car and then to email it to us. They took several and the ones taken with their Blackberry (a device made in Waterloo Ontario only minutes from our shop) were received that same evening! Thanks to Marty Schleiff for your kindness. Very much appreciated.
 Two of the Norwegian Vette Club members who were staying at our same hotel in Kingman AZ.  Their group of 22 guys & gals pull out of the motel for the next leg of their adventure.  We also finish packing the ’32. We’ve carried this one gallon container of gas for emergencies. Haven’t needed it yet, hopefully it stays that way.  Day 17 – 3,739 miles  Approaching Lake Havasu City, AZ. Our friend, Jim Prowse from London, Ontario gave us the names of some friends of his from Lake Havasu City and said we should give them a call.  Syl & Shirley Szucsko’s home & large shop. They were very welcoming and showed us their projects and comfortable motor home that Syl converted from a Greyhound bus. With the extreme the heat, it seems that trying to grow grass is a waste of time. You also save time by not having to mow! What a concept.  Syl & Shirley’s current ride is a ’34 Dodge. Very pretty.  View from Syl & Shirley’s home.  A visit to Speedway Customs in Lake Havasu City.  A visit to Havasu Speed Equipment.  If you were wondering whatever happened to the London Bridge of London England fame, worry no more. It’s safe and sound in Lake Havasu City. Brought over and reassembled brick by brick. A very pretty sight.  Thanks to Syl & Shirley for taking us around. Hope to see you next time you visit Jim & Barb in Ontario. Paul & Dorothy now head for Williams AZ.  Took this for DW, nobody else.  Arrived Williams AZ – neat town on Route 66. This diner had a street rod body on the roof. Phantom ’37 Ford body was made in Quebec! Ignore the pick up truck.  Another place on the main street. Dorothy snapped pictures as we drove through hunting for a “Motor Inn” in keeping with the Route 66 theme.  Here’s what we found. Clean room, good price, walking distance to the heart of town. Straight north from Williams is the Grand Canyon, tomorrow’s adventure. But tonight we’ll wander down the main street of Williams.  As we walked down the street, we heard an amazing guitar player at the diner with the car on the roof. Had to eat here! We stayed until dark listening to Steve Reynolds (www.stevedreynolds.com) as the temperature dropped to low 50′s! Steve Reynolds commented that we were “real troopers” in our short sleeved shirts as everyone else donned sweatshirts & jackets.
Randy Clark (of Hot Rods & Custom Stuff) and Chick Koszis did the road tour in just about as efficient a way as Paul and Dorothy… via Escondido, CA. That’s California to Texas to California. They had a bunch of fun along the way, and took some great pictures too.
Check out their coverage on the HR&CS blog: http://hrcsroadtrip0611.blogspot.com/
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