First of all, I left out a picture from last night's blog.  I certainly hope you appreciate the work I go to when I'm letting you know where you've been! :)  Our hotel last night was very very very small.  Not at all what we have been used to. But what do you expect when the hotel was built in 1928??  Anyway, here is the picture of me trying to blog

There was no desk, and so I had to balance the laptop on my lap (no wonder its called a laptop!) and put the mouse on the dresser, and it doesn't show in the picture, but Vaughn put his suitcase by my left side, and balanced the book of our itinerary on it so I could remember what we had done.  It worked!
Now on to todays highlights.

Day 4

Ely Nevada to Tooele Utah

 

 

We were up very early this morning. Breakfast was at 6 am and then we were in our cars and driving at 7.  We met at a rest area to begin our trek through the desert and over 170 miles of gravel road.

 

At the rest area was a monument for the Pony Express which went through the area and desert.

 

 

We formed a caravan so no one would be left behind if they had car problems.  Picture 40 cars strung out over a mile or so.  You could see dust flying as far ahead and behind of you that went on forever.  Our first stop was at Tippet Ghost Ranch.  Here's a few photos.

 

The bottom picture was of a store that was there.  The buildings were very sad and tired looking.  Oh the stories they could tell.

Our next stop was at the JP General Store.  There we met Justin Parker (JP) and I think it was his father.  They ran a cute little store where they also lived.  We were able to look around and take pictures.

This is a picture of a Lincoln Highway marker that was hanging on the wall inside.  Notice it also mentions the Tippets Ranch.

 

 

 



Our next stop was at the Anderson Ranch/Willow Springs Pony Express Station in Callao, Utah.  They fed us under the trees in their yard, and we had barbecue beef sandwiches, salad and fruit.  Then they brought out the ice cream.  They were a very nice couple who made us feel very welcome.

The above picture is of the pony express station that was built about 1850. It was first used as a stage stop.  There was so many period antiques there that was used in the building during those times. 

Then we briefly stopped at the Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge in Fish Springs Utah.  We were told about a man who had a business there and he wasn't very nice.  He rigged a mud hole in the road, and then would pull people out who got stuck, charged them $10. One man was upset about the charge and the business man had trained his horses to put the car back in the mud. When that happened the man who was stuck had him pull him out again, then was charged $30. Ten for pulling him out, ten for putting him back, then ten for pulling him back again.  He had quite a business going!

Our last stop was another Pony Express Station at Simpson Springs.  They had reconstructed a building that was the same as the one that had been there..

After that, we all headed back to civilization.  Wow it was a long day in the desert.  This is what a car looks like after 170 miles of dirt

Actually it looks worse in real life!  We missed a few stops that were scheduled because it took so long for all the cars to make it on this road.  The little yellow car from yesterdays blog had to be put on the  roll back car carrier who follows us everyday, because it lost its fuel pump, one car had a blowout, and a few of the older ones overheated.  The rest of the cars, about 30, went on an alternate route, over regular roads.  They are the smart people???
We arrived late for dinner which was at the Miller Motorsports Park. We were so tired, but the food was wonderful.  Then off to check in at our hotels. 

Tomorrow we travel through our home town of Coalville!!!! All you people in Coalville be out on Main Street about 9:30 - 10:30 to watch some pretty neat cars roll through.  Cheer us on!!!!!

Today we traveled about 270 miles (170 miles of dirt)  in more hours than I care to think about!

See ya tomorrow

 

 

 

Day 3

Fallon NV to Ely NV

 

 

We pulled out of Fallon at about 8:30, a little late because one of the couples who was trailering a 1926 Model T had a little problem getting it out of the trailer.  He forgot to move the spare tire out from under it and while backing it out of the trailer, the tire stopped him, so he tried to pull forward back into the trailer to move the tire and when he did the rear tire on the car spun the right  ramp off and put his car on the frame on the trailer.  All the other men ran from the breakfast  room in the hotel and lifted the car up to put it back in the trailer.  I wish I would have had my cell phone or camera with me, but no, they were up in the room. Dang it. It was pretty impressive, about 15 men lifting this car up.  All went well, the car wasn't hurt at all.

 

Our first stop this morning was at Middlegate Station Restaurant and Bar.  Oh, my!  Mind you, the road between Fallon and Ely was named  "The Loneliest Road in America", by Time Magazine in 1968, and they were not kidding!  I was glad to finally get to that point!  Here are some great pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Next we visited the famous Shoe Tree.  Actually, the original was cut down in 2010, by a man who was upset because his wife met her lover there.  Darn him!!!! But the people have started a new one, and it is quite spectacular

 

 

This is what is left of the original shoe tree

 

 

                                                              And this is the new one



 

 

There is a couple on this tour from California, their names are Scott and Noon, yes that is right, no typo!  When he introduced her to us he said her name was Noon, like as in High Noon!  She is so sweet.  This is a picture of them with their car.

 

 

 

 

Anyway, she threw 12 pair, or maybe it was 12 shoes, I'm not sure, up in the Shoe Tree!  Wow, I don't think I could part with that many of my own.

We also stopped and saw the Eastgate  Overland Stage Station. It was a Pony Express Stop.

 

 

Next we arrived in Austin at the International Café and Bar for Lunch.  I feel so sorry for the waitresses when all 100 or so of us arrive starved!  And they know we are coming, but wow, what a lot of people. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next stop was Eureka!!!  There we visited the Court House, which was really neat.  It looked a lot like the court house in Coalville.  A little smaller though.  We also visited the Opera House.  That was smaller than I thought it would be, but I guess it was pretty grand for being built in the late 1880's.  They fed us cookies and punch, and gave us a mug with the Pony Express and a picture of the Lincoln Highway that was near there.

We finally arrived at our Hotel for the evening!  Yeah...it has been a very long day and long drive
We are staying at the Historic hotel Nevada. It was built in 1928 and has somewhat been modernized. Then we went on a train ride and had dinner on the ride. It was a lot of fun.

Today we drove approximately 317 miles and it took about 8 hours with stops.

Tomorrow is a very long drive and we have to leave at 7 sharp.  Get your rest!





 

 

Day 2 on the Lincoln Highway

 

 

 

This morning we left the hotel in Sacramento, California and headed east on the LH.  We stopped just a few blocks from our starting point to get gas for the car.  We started fueling up and this is what came out of the station.....

 

 

He was dressed in black, with a batman mask, knee pads since he was riding a bike, (in the background).
 He danced and jived for us, told us he was a father, grandfather and great grandfather all in rap, and that he had been homeless for 10 years.  He was really quite a fellow. Great entertainment.  Asked for some money, then when we gave him some, he gave it back. 

After this we headed towards Auburn City.  Along this road was a section of highway that was the original 1914 Lincoln Highway with concrete paving.  In the picture you can see that it has been patched over the years but also you can see the original road.  It was quite bumpy but fun to know that we were driving on a 99 year old piece of road.

When we arrived at Auburn City, we went to the City Hall and there the Lincoln Highway Association presented the mayor a plaque for their help in preserving the Lincoln Highway.

Then there was a boy scout who was doing his Eagle Project by collecting money and donations of time and materials to replace two LH markers in their city.  He was a wonderful boy to talk to and it is great to see someone so young take an interest in history such as this

From there we headed up the backside of Donner Pass to eat lunch at the Donner Ski Ranch.  This was a beautiful drive even though it was raining very hard, so there was not much hope of taking many pictures.  I tried several times to take some through the windshield, but got the wipers every time!

We were able to snap this picture just before we got to the lunch spot.  These buildings are from the 1930's.  The larger building was the Forest Gift Shop and the smaller one was the Forest Orange Juice Stand.  They were very well preserved.

                                              
                                                                 Our lunch stop

From there we headed on to Reno.  Along the way we stopped to see some original concrete abutments.  These are the first bridge rails built to say "Lincoln Highway".  There is one other set and they are located in Iowa.  Hopefully we will get pictures of them too.

You can see these if you look close on each side of the photo.  The one on the right says Lincoln and the one on the left says Highway.

Next we arrived in Reno and this is the original 1926 Reno Arch Sign

Then we went to the National Automobile Museum in downtown Reno, but since we have been there we decided to skip that and went with some people we met on the tour to their home so they could trade in their Corvette for a SUV so they can travel the gravel road in a couple of days.

Then off towards Fallon where we will stay the night.  We had dinner at the Overland Hotel. Across the street was a neat collection of cars and gas station items.  They had unboarded the windows just for us so we could see it.  Very neat collection. American Pickers would love this guy!

and these were the Model A's all lined up on the street at dinner.

Today we traveled approximately 205 miles in about 10 hours including stops.

Well, the 2nd day has ended, and we are pretty tired.  Get your rest, and don't sleep in because we leave at 8 sharp in the morning!



 

 

Welcome to San Francisco !!

 





 

 

 

We started our day at Lincoln Park in San Francisco for opening ceremonies.  It was so cold and foggy that everyone was bundled up as if it was winter.  There were so many neat old cars, new cars and just plain interesting vehicles.  And one group was dressed in proper attire for the vintage automobiles they were driving.

 

 

 

We left Lincoln Park and headed to downtown San Francisco.  There were people standing on the streets waving and asking us where we were going.  Our answer....NEW YORK!!!

 

 We even saw Mels Drive In, from the movie American Graffiti...it brought back a lot of memories from that fun movie

 

 

 

We then arrived at Duarte Garage and Lincoln Highway Museum in Livermore, CA.  The cars lined the streets and there again were many people talking to us and asking questions.  We have met many fun, and yes I'll call them friends, on this tour.  And this is the FIRST day! 

 

We traveled farther and stopped at the Banta Inn in Banta for lunch, where we were served cold cut sandwiches and salads.  Once again our cars filled the streets.

 

From there we travelled to the Elk Grove Hotel and Stagecoach Stop Museum in Elk Grove.  They welcomed us with cookies, punch, and other treats.  There were a few buildings there we were able to see, and the house was wonderful with the tour guides dressed in period attire.

 

  

After this we traveled on to Sacramento and found our hotel for the evening.  After checking in we rested for about an hour and a half (yes, driving and navigating through these cities is really tiring!), we found our way to the California Automobile Museum, for dinner and to see some awesome old and not so old cars.

 

 

 

So for this first day on the road, we travelled approximately 165 miles and it took us about 9 hours including all the stops.  Wow, what a fun day.

 

 

Get your rest, we head out tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. sharp!

 

 

Here is a picture of the Model A's in our group all lined up

 

 

And a few other fun pictures

                                         An original LH bridge from 1913



 

 

IN MOURNING

 

One week ago, on Saturday, Wade and a good friend, Jeremy took the engine out of the GTO.  Monday morning it was sitting in the machine shop in SLC.  There they tore it down and replaced parts. They did everything they could to get it in and out quickly. Tuesday afternoon it was back in Coalville.  Tuesday evening Wade and Jeremy again put the heart of the car back in.  Wednesday afternoon it was running!  There was joy all around.  Vaughn arrived back home from work Wednesday evening and tinkered with a few things he thought was needed.  He put clips on the windows (?) adjusted the headlights, we took several rides up and down Chalk Creek, wow we were in heaven!  It sounded great, drove like a charm and we were READY!!!!

 

Thursday morning, we lovingly hand washed it, dried it, polished it, and took pictures! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then Vaughn headed to Park City, (Crandalls) where our son Dallas, had it aligned, charged the AC, and fine tuned it.  It was running great, looked great, and Vaughn headed home to put the luggage in the trunk, put me in the passenger seat, and we were headed to San Francisco.  WOW, we were really going and so was the GTO!

 

About 1 mile out of Coalville, Vaughn heard something he really didn't want to hear.  A noise from the engine.  NO NO NO, not again.  He pulled it in the shop and had several people listen to it.  Sure enough, we had another rod bearing going out.  Can you believe it?  Well, we sure couldn't!  How could this possibly be happening again?  Two engines in 10 days.  There was nothing we could do.  Personally I think that engine is possessed! I know there are "demons" involved!  We had made plane reservations a week prior when the first engine had failed.  So we flew to Reno and stayed with my sister and brother-in-law, who we had planned to stay with when we were going to be driving to San Francisco.  The next morning we rented our car to drive on the tour.  I told my sister while we were waiting for Vaughn to meet us with the rental, that we needed to rent a white car so we could pretend we were in the goat,  but just then she looked out the window, saw Vaughn, and told me that we must be in mourning, he had pulled up in this....

 

 

A black (actually a dark grey) Chevrolet Impala.  Yup, we are in mourning.    Sometimes things work out differently than any of us would like.  But we have found that maybe its for the best.  I'm certainly glad the car broke down where it did, instead of out in the middle of Nevada.  Yup, sometimes things work out for the best.

 

A friend of Vaughn's told him that we needed to take a picture of the GTO with us so that it is actually going on the tour.  So we are....

 

Tomorrow morning, Sunday, we head out from Lincoln Park in San Francisco,  us, the GTO, and the rental. 

So, quoting from my favorite license plate holder...."Get in Sit down Shut Up and Hang On" 

Or, if that is too harsh.....Keep your arms and legs inside at all times, Enjoy your ride!

 

 

 



 

A Roller Coaster of a Week

 

 

 

So, we finally sent the car to the body shop.  There it went through a lot of transformations.  After several agonizing weeks, a paint redo, and minor adjustments, our car was ready for the upholstery shop!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Kenny, the guy who made this car SHINE !

 

 

 

Arriving at R&M upholstery shop.

 

 

Finally the day came when it was delivered to the upholstery shop.  Yeahhhhh, we were almost done.  The seats had been finished and waiting for this moment.  The guys known as Rick and Mike  only had to install the carpet, headliner, then install the seats!  Within a few days the GTO was on its way back to Coalville!  Finally, only a few more minor interior installations and we were home free!

 

 

OR SO WE THOUGHT!!!

 

 

After getting the car home, Wade started getting all the lights working, the console installed, wipers on, etc.... and the big day finally arrived.  Time for a test drive.

 

 

Last Sunday, June 9th, Wade, his wife Sara and their 2 boys were going to go for a little ride around our valley, nothing long, just a few miles to get a feel for the car.  They put the car seats in the back seat for their boys and I just had to have a picture of it.



 

 

Vaughn and I decided the back seats in cars from the '60s were really BIG!

 

What a Beauty

 

 

 

So they loaded the boys in the car and off they went. Wow, that car sounded good as it took off down the road.  I had visions in my head of Vaughn and I roaring off into the sunset.  Would we look cool or what?  I was really getting excited!

 

A few minutes went by, then a few more, finally I couldn't take it any longer.  I called Wade.  He answered and I asked him how things were going, was the car running OK? He said, "Let me call you back".  Oh Oh...

 

A few minutes later he called back.  Or rather his wife Sara did.  She said, "Wade needs you to bring us a couple of gallons of water.  The car overheated, we are at Echo Canyon junction."  

 

Nooooooo......

 

 

I filled a couple of jugs and off I went, on a rescue mission.   He finally got the car running again, and I followed them home. 

 

The next few days were not fun.  They found that something had come apart inside the engine, ( I don't know much about that stuff!) and this is how the car sits today.

 

 

 

Not a very nice picture when we are supposed to take off for this trip of a lifetime in just a few days.

 

While all this was taking place this past week, Vaughn had been in touch with me since I had run away from home for my annual quilt retreat in Idaho.  We had discussed what we were going to drive on our trip, wondering if this car would be up and running, or do we go another direction and rent a car to drive across the country.  Vaughn suggested renting a Corvette, but I told him that I didn't think I could get out of one, IF I got in it, and suggested he might want to find a dealership and try one on for size.  Then we found out that some of the car rentals didn't let you rent a car on one coast and drive to the opposite side of the country.  So we thought that it would be fun to rent one car, drive it to the edge of their boundaries, then pick up a different one, drive that one and so on. Wow, we could drive several different cars and still have fun. 

 

Then Vaughn called one day, Friday to be exact, and said he felt like we needed to try our hardest to get the GTO up and running. We had worked too hard for so long to give up so easy.  So, he called on Wade again, and we are trying our hardest to make this dream come true.