Day 15 - Over the top

The sun was shining brightly today so it looked like it was going to be another great day for a Model A ride. However, before we got started Dick wanted to reset the timing on the Woody. Just as he raised the hood the Model A group from Oregon went by with Ahooga horns blaring. The good thing is the timing adjustment made a big difference in performance.




We left the hotel, stopped for gas and then took a side trip to the Fish Hatchery which was just down the road. Even the ride to get there was nice as it followed a fast moving river. We were given a brief explanation of the facility which raises King and Chinook Salmon. The holding tanks for the juvenile fish held 1.2 million fish. But it's the giant ones in the mature tank that were the stars of the show. Boy were these guys huge...I bet 3 to 4 feet in length. Although the river looked great, there were no fish at this time. It was past season.


Back on the road it was time to head over Stevens Pass and down into the coastal area of Seattle. The pass is at 4000 ft so we had some climbing to do. The good thing was that it was cold outside which kept the radiator temperature down. The scenery along the road was spectacular, with the mountains rising sharply, the river raging down along side of the road and snow on some of the mountain peaks. Up we went, although at a gradual rate until we got close to the pass and then the grade increased to the point where I had to shift into second gear overdrive. (Boy, I do miss the added power of my touring engine.) We made it over the pass and on the way down stopped at the Iron Goat Scenic area to check out some of the relics of the past, which included an old railroad caboose. The mountains rising in the background was a sight to see. A little further down the road was Deception Falls. The water was roaring down the rocks, making quite a racket. In spite of the noise, it was kind of restful too.



We were soon out of the mountain area and the air temperature started to go up. It was lunch by now so we stopped at an Applebee's. When leaving we had a nice conversation with a local woman who's grandfather, who just turned 100, had a 1930 Chevy years ago. She had just found some old pictures of the Chevy and wanted to show him pictures of our cars and let him know about our Model A adventure.



The plan was to head for the Mukilteo to Clinton ferry and take it to Whidbey Island, a picturesque island in Puget Sound which is about 60 miles long. Unfortunately there was over an hour wait, but fortunately the time seemed to go quickly. It was a long wait for a short ride to the island. We stopped and visited Fort Casey State Park and Lighthouse. The wind was blowing and it was cold but the view was spectacular. The "Model A Passport" was put into action and we were allowed to park the A's in front of the lighthouse for some picture taking. In addition to the lighthouse was a fort that had two 10" canons for coastal protection. The view of the mountains from the island was specatcular also, with Glacier Mtn being the tallest visable.



We left the island heading for Bellingham and our hotel for the night. The GPS took us over secondary roads, but one of those roads, Chuckanut Drive http://www.chuckanutdrive.com/ was really spectacular. This narrow road followed the coast with steep cliffs down to the water. It may have been slow but it was a road we all thought was great.


For a day that we didn't have much planned we found a lot to see and enjoy and we did manage to put on 230 miles today. Tomorrow it's across the border to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Day 14 - Cool Dam Tour

It was a beautiful morning in Couer d'Alene. Fortunately Dick & Barbara somehow managed to resist the red heart shaped hot tub in their bridal suite and met us for breakfast at the suggested time.
We got underway with the plan to stop at the Spokane Valley Mall to have Lens Crafters repair my sunglasses. We got there when the mall opened and 15 minutes later we were back on the road. We left I 90 for US 2 with a plan to visit the Grand Coulee Dam.

The loop to the dam was via RT 174/155 and have I mentioned that this area is FLAT! I think I could see the curvature of the earth it was so flat. The only problem was it was also hot. But the Model A's just purred along oblivious to the heat. During our trip we have seen a lot of farming, but I think this area has to have the largest fields of wheat I have seen in all our travels. It made me think of Steve Plucker in Walla Walla, WA doing his harvesting now and not being able to attend the Vancouver meet. Thanks for the offer to help you Steve, but I think I'll pass. Also of note, was the road which was straight as an arrow, nothing but a line of black surrounded by golden wheat.

The view of the blue lake as we approached the dam was quite a contrast to parched landscape. We arrived at the visitor center and were amazed at the size of the dam. I'm kind of a details nut and enjoyed the displays of the dam construction and power generating facilities. The video on the flood control aspects of the dam was also very interesting as I was amazed to see the destruction the river caused before the dam. Lunch was at a local eatery (R & A Cafe) which was excellent if you ever happen to be in the town of Grand Coulee.

Leaving the area, RT 155 skirts Banks Lake and is a beautiful ride with great views of the high cliffs and blue waters of the lake. Have I also mentioned that it was hot! The road was pretty Model A friendly as far as traffic goes, but downright nasty when it came to hills. We had to pull a few that tested the little 40 HP engines, but only one required a stop to give the Model A's a rest. A little breather and we were up and over the top without further incident.

We needed a people break and a little Ice Cream stand provided the relief needed. It was there that I spotted a thermometer (in the shade) that was reading 92 degrees. It wasn't long until we arrived in Leavenworth, WA which is a quaint little town that has a Bavarian theme. All the buildings in the town have a Bavarian look and it is really something to see. Granted, it's all geared towards the tourist and there are plenty of them. We enjoyed walking around downtown and visiting a small portion of the shops before stopping for dinner and trying some Wiener Schnitzel and beer.

Walking back to the hotel we noticed some Model A's in a hotel parking lot and had a nice chat with one of the owners, Dick Mace and his wife, from Oregon as they and some other members are touring to Vancouver. Dick was thankful to be on the tour considering the serious accident he and his Model A were in last summer. Check it out: http://www.mafca.com/seat_belts.html. Dick and the Model A are back on the road. Today we managed to put on 240 miles. Tomorrow we are headed over Stevens Pass and to the Pacific coast.

Day 13 - Eye-Dah-Hoe

At breakfast today we had a nice visit with Harlan & Gini from Vancouver, WA who own a 1930 Tudor sedan. It's amazing how many Model A enthusiasts you meet on the road. We enjoyed our breakfast visit and wished each other pleasant travels.

The sun was shining brightly, but the temperature was only 48 degrees. However, it wasn't long before the sun did it's thing and it warmed up. We fired up the Model A's and headed off to the small town of Deer Lodge, MT. Why Deer Lodge? Well, it has the Montana Auto and Prison Museum there. Although we were again on I-90, we were almost the only cars on the roadway. Sure is nothing like riding the Mass Pike, 128 or 495 back home. Arriving at Deer Lodge it was pretty easy to spot the prison, although the sign was in plain view. Our admission included the car museum and the prison tour. Let me tell you right now, if you are in the area you should definitely stop here as it is a real gem. The car museum has about 130 cars, from 1899 to the 70's. Lot's of Model A's too. We all gave this place the "thumbs-up". They had some great cars, but the one that caught Dick's eye was the 1929 Woody that the owner ( Ed Towe) bought from the original owner when it had 13K miles on it. Ed Towe noted that when the Woody was on the trailer, a friend ask if Ed new where the side curtains were stored. Of course Ed had no idea, so the friend opened up the storage compartment and there, still in the original wrapper was the entire set of curtains... they had never been used.

We then toured the prison, which looked like it was something from and old gangster movie. But, this place was used until 1979. How they could have used that place that long still baffles me. We all agreed that this was no place to have to spend time in, but I guess if your a convicted criminal, you get what you deserve.

Back on the road we headed the radiator caps to Missoula, MT. We were almost there when Dick radioed that the Woody was skipping, so we got into a parking lot where Dick tried another carb. Seemed like a good bet, as when I took the carb apart it had a lot of sediment in the bowl.

Unfortunately a little driving and the problem came back. A new coil was tried and another road test seemed good, but that was short lived. Dick finally just changed the distributor (unfortunately on the side of the highway) and that solved the problem.

On the road again.

This time we were not settling for anything less than Coeur d'Alene, ID. We were cruising along now and just soaking in all the scenery, which was beautiful. I really do like Montana, but it takes so long to get through it. One thing I should mention is how much damage to the Pine Trees we are seeing. From SD to MT and ID we have seen dying trees from the Pine Beetle which is killing the trees in large numbers.

Getting into Idaho was like crossing the divide again, what a hill, I just made it before the temp gauge went Red! Fortunately once over the crest the water temp fell like a rock going downhill. The ride to Coeur d'Alene was very scenic as we had a great view of Lake Coeur d'Alene for miles. We checked into the La Quinta hotel and settled in for the night.

Mileage for the day was 320 which was pretty good when we include our museum visit and our roadside seminars. Tomorrow we will be in Washington state.

Day 12 - Beautiful Big Sky Country

After breakfast Dick and I did some parking lot maintenance. Dick wanted to change his points since the woody was experiencing some skipping on the long upgrades we were doing. I wanted to repair the overflow tank as there was a leak at the radiator cap and the tank would not flow back to the radiator. (On a side note; I was able to cure the leak so the overflow tank is working again, but Dick still has an intermittent skipping problem.)


Leaving Sheridan on I 90 we were concerned about the overcast skies, but it wasn't long before the sun appeared making it a beautifully cool day. Our plan for today was to visit Custer National Park and the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We first stopped at the Custer Museum where Dick and I enjoyed the displays and actual artifacts from the battle and other items of the army and Indian culture. It was a five mile ride to the actual national park. Using our "old timers" passes we got in without paying and went to the visitor center where Dick and I checked out the vast collection of Custer artifacts. Our timing was good and we are able to take in a presentation on the time line of the battle. Our park ranger was a college professor who has authored books on the battle. You can tell when someone has a passion about something and he sure did, his program was (to quote Mr. O'Brien) Fantastic! All the time he was telling the details of the battle, from a viewpoint of both sides we were looking at the Memorial to the battle.









We left the park headed for Billings, where we had lunch and gassed up the Model A's. Montana is Big Sky Country and all we can say...It sure is. The mountains are just beautiful. Our sights were now set on Bozeman where we had, what else - ice cream and then decided on going on to Butte. This was going to present us with a challenge as we will have to cross the Continental Divide. The climb started about 9 miles out of Butte and just kept going and going. Fortunately it was a climb that we were able to do in 3rd gear. The other thing was that there was hardly any traffic on the highway. Oh yes, the weather helped a lot as it was pretty chilly today compared to the heat of yesterday, which, I'm sure, would have caused us problems.



We arrived in Butte and checked into the Best Western. We were surprised that we covered 360 miles today since we did get off to a late start and stopped at Custer National Park. Tomorrow we will head towards Idaho.

Day 11 - Close Encounters

Breakfast at Arnold's Diner was the way we started off the day, which was sunny and forecasted to be a warm one. We didn't see The Fonz at the diner, oh well, maybe another time. Our first stop was going to be Deadwood, SD. Leaving Rapid City we took Highway 44 to US 385 and this turned out to be a very scenic drive. When we arrived in Deadwood we stopped at the visitor center and got directions to Nelson's Garage (at the Celebrity Casino) and to Boot Hill. Nelson's Garage is really a museum of movie cars and memorabilia. James Bond's new Aston Martin was on display as well as, Herbie the Love Bug, Mash's Jeep, the General Lee, and a number of other cars and costumes from various movies. We even tried our luck at the slots, but all we did was add to the profits. Back at the Model A's we talked to a few bikers (from Nashua, NH) who were also on a cross country tour. We drove up to Boot Hill (actually Mt Mariah Cemetery) where we wanted to visit the graves of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane. As a young kid I used to watch all the TV westerns and of course one of my favorites was the Wild Bill Hickock show, so we had to check out his grave. Also, Calamity Jane was there too as she always claimed that she and Wild Bill were lovers, so her last wish was to be buried by him.



We left Deadwood and headed off to one of the most spectacular sites in the area, Devils Tower. If you are a fan of the movie " Close Encounters of the Third Kind " this site just seems to stick in your mind. Trying to stay off the interstate we approached the site from the north where we got a tremendous view of the tower from about 30 miles away. However when we got to the entrance of the National Park it was even more impressive. We drove to the visitor center and walked up to the base. OMG, this was one of the most unusual and spectacular places I've seen. The massiveness of the tower and the formation of the rock was really a site to see. But, it was hot (high 90's) so we headed back to take some more pictures of the red rock base. We also got a great chance to check out a Prairie Dog village. I never saw Nan run so fast when the little rodent seemed to chase her. LOL.












We were now interested in turning west and making some tracks. The bad thing about this area is there are few roads as alternatives to the interstate. The good thing is there was so little traffic on the highway that we could do our own speed (45-50) without causing any problems to the other drivers. The only thing we didn't count on was the lack of gas stations. We finally pulled into Buffalo, WY on fumes. Dick took 10.5 gallons and I took 10.3. I know, the 28/29 tank is 10 gals, but he did put in 10.5, albeit right to the top of the neck as the pump didn't shut off automatically. The other good thing is that the young clerk knew the best Ice Cream stand around...how appropriate was that. It was so hot that the ice cream really did the trick and before long we were cruising down I 90 to Sheridan,WY for our stop for the night.



Mileage for the day was 300, more than we expected since we did a lot of sightseeing. Tomorrow will head toward Missoula.

Day Ten - The Black Hills Experience

48 degrees in the hills this morning ... Burr! OK, so the news said it was 58 in Rapid City, but it was chilly just the same. Nan & I had reservations for the Fort Hayes Chuckwagon Tour so we had to get an early start. Dick & Barbara had other plans so they didn't join us. Thanks to it being Sunday there was no traffic and we were at Fort Hayes in plenty of time for our chuckwagon breakfast. A little background of Fort Hayes. It is the fictitious Fort that Kevin Costner was sent to in the Movie "Dances with Wolves". A fellow by the name of Herman Jones bought the entire set and created a whole village around the Fort. We met two very nice couples at breakfast that we enjoyed talking to the rest of the day. Frank & Kathy and Gene & Darlene, both from California. In fact, Frank & Kathy have friends who will be attending the MAFCA meet in Vancouver too. Small world wouldn't you say.


Our first destination was Mt Rushmore. This is clearly the # 1 attractions in the area and rightly so. The view of the Presidents is spectacular. From every angle you get a different perspective and really appreciate what it took to carve this structure. Interesting fact is that most (90%) of the carving was done with dynamite. As it turned out, Mt Rushmore was the first stop on Dick & Barbara's itinerary too, so we were able to meet up with them.


Our tour was going to take us to all the typical tourist spots, which included drives on scenic roads with Pig Tail (hairpin) turns, tunnels and wooded bridges. Needless to say some of these tunnels were just barely big enough for the bus to pass. Lunch was in Custer State Park at the Game Lodge. I think Custer Park was one of the prettiest areas I have seen. It is noted for it's wild life, but we only saw antelope and deer, no Bisons this day. The Game Lodge was made famous by having Calvin Coolidge use it for 3 months as the summer White House.







It was off to the Crazy Horse Memorial via the Needles Highway. This afforded us spectacular views of Needle peak which looked like they would break anytime. We made a pit stop at Sylvan Lake before attempting to negotiate the last tunnel. Which was so tight the bus had to be carefully positioned to make. We had to go so slow that there was a crowd of people taking pictures of us squeezing through. Let me say that it was a tight fit. Crazy Horse was next and it did not disappoint. The immense size of the statue was made clear by a graphic which showed the heads of the Mt Rushmore Presidents fitting in the hair space behind Crazy Horse's head. The other thing that impressed me was the quality of the building at the visitor center. It was gorgeous. We took lots of pictures and really enjoyed the stop.


Back at Fort Hayes we were treated to a chuckwagon dinner and show. The dinner was pretty good and the show was excellent. A group did all kinds of music; country, western, oldies and rock & roll. One of the highlites was the girl fiddle player who did a great version of Charlie Daniels "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and she was only 15 years old.


What a day it was, so many things to see and someone else was doing the driving. And where else would the owner of this place wind up helping you fix a trunk strap. Yup, he was on the ground under the trunk in no time to fix a strap the broke. It's a long story, but all you need to know is the our sedan was parked beside his 32 Ford Coupe all day right in front of the main attraction.




It was a great day, and I only dove 34 miles. Tomorrow we will be heading to Deadwood and Devils Tower and where ever the motormeter takes us..