Saturday, June 23, 2012

Hello All,

I was happy to get to Santa Cruz on Thursday and see our friends Pete & Flo at the Ocean Pacific where we will spend 3 nights for the Woodys on the Wharf Car show.

Friday we visited our new Godson Baby "Gio" and it was great to see him and get to hold him. He has grown so much in two months! Oh yeah, his Mom was there too! HA! When you have a new baby no one even knows you are in the room, sorry Laurita, it was a great visit with you too! :)

At about 5 pm we were in front of our hotel waiting for my nephews Dominic and Derek and my niece Kristen to arrive. There parents were there too. Again, the kids come first with Uncle Gagee and Auntie Ta-Ta (aka Gary & Terry!) Gary's mom and James Dad came too and it was a wonderful dinner catching up on the last two months and seeing how much the kids had grown.

Today Gar headed to the wharf at about 5:30 am and I got up at 6 to get ready for a fun day with the family and especially waiting to see my sons and daughter in law who were due to come in around lunch time. When you are gone for an extended period of time you really miss seeing their faces. Of course I talked to my kids through out the trip, but I really missed seeing their faces! Ok they are not little I know (One is married for heaven's sake and the other is 23!) But I am kind of a psyco mother who loves and likes her kids and two months away was the longest I have ever been away from my boys!

My cousin Laurie and her friend Tom came from San Diego to photograph the cars and Gar & I at the end of our trip. It was so great to see them and thanks Laurie for taking the pics of us, we really appreciate it!

Finally my boys made it out and OMG it was so Wonderful to see them, I really missed them so much! We spent the day just enjoying each others company and the day(which was beautiful, sunny and breezy...Not windy!) and all had another fun dinner all 11 of us together!

Tomorrow we are heading home and I can't wait to get there! Monday I pick up my crazy old dog from the vet and hope the old boy still remembers his mama! I have missed him too and was happy Ian was there to take care of him for us. Thanks son I know he was a burden sometimes! :)

I will try to do a photo wrap up tomorrow of some of the hi-lights from the trip.

See ya on the Road (the one leading home!)
Ter :)

'From the driver's seat'.....We've been so flippin' busy we haven't had time to blog... I was very happy to head north on 101 out of LA, pointing the car towards home. The drive to Santa Cruz was easy and we got to drive several miles along the coast arriving at the hotel at 4:30. We had dinner with our friends Pete and Flo Passof at a little Mexican place down the street that serves the best tacos. Good conversation and a lot of laughs followed. Later that night I washed 11,000 miles of crud off the car and got it cleaned to the point that it just needs a little touch up on the Wharf.

Today we got to see our family again! We visited our niece Laura and her new son Sergio for a couple hours. He is so sweet and spending time with them was a wonderful reminder of what we've been missing. Later Karen and James, my mom and James' dad, Dominic, Derek and little Kristen arrived for dinner...it was wonderful to see them all again!

Tomorrow morning is Woodies on the Wharf....I'm usually up fairly early to get a good parking spot...looking forward to a great day and Stagnaro's fish and chips!!!!!!

Saturday........This morning I was up at 5:30 so I could get my favorite parking spot on the wharf...part way between the fish-n-chips place and the ice cream place, on the west side so the shade comes in the afternoon....and finished up the cleaning. Other cars came along and filled in the spaces around me and pretty soon there were 150+ woodies on the wharf. The above mentioned family members showed up as well as Terry's cousin Laurie and her friend Tom and later our sons Ian and Mike and Mike's new bride Leeanna arrived. This car show is always a family reunion and I treasure the time I have with all of them.....I am so blessed!

A surprise visitor came from Texas....he bought my first headliner kit in 2007 (www.shoeboxtops.com) and came to this car show. I had only spoken with him via email so to be able to meet him face to face was a real treat! The rest of the day was spent reconnecting with old woodies friends (Thanks for the great chat, Gary B!) and making new ones.

Tomorrow, we head for home. We have driven 11,248 relatively trouble free miles so far....125 more and our journey will be done.....for now.

I don't know who you are or what a Godmother is???

This is what it is all about, my family!
Gary, Bill P., Mikey, Leana, Me, James, Karen, Ian
Derek, Dominic and Kristen.
Hidden behind Karen is Bernice Gar's (and my) Mom

Wednesday June 20, 2012

Hello All,

Today we woke up to fog and I was sooo happy! It was cool and overcast, not hot and windy! :) I guess I'm just a San Francisco girl at heart, love the fog and cool weather!

We met our tour guide Mr. Dougger Anderson and his buddies Hal and Richard this morning and I knew it was going to be fun when it started off with hugs! We were right along the ocean in Santa Monica, does it get any cooler than that? I don't think so... Great tour along the coast, Gar elaborated below, and lunch at the Malibu Inn, in case you don't know, that was the place for the famous and infamous to go when at the coast. It was great out on the patio enjoying the beautiful weather and great company. Since there were five of us, we pushed two tables together and I sat with my new buddy Hal. Hal is 90 and I so enjoyed having lunch with him and hearing his stories. He was a realator in L A for years and told me alot about the price of homes and property and of his adventures in Mexico with his nephew. We talked about what travel does for you as a person, how it opens you up to new cultures, people and experiences. How he and his wife traveled by train and their great party house that was custom built by his father-in-law for them on property near the airport. The airport eventually bought their house and tore it down for an expansion, but he has some great memories of that house. Hal is a very wise man and one of the most interesting people I have met on this trip. I'm so happy he came along today with Dougger so I had the opportunity to meet him.


I am getting closer to home and feeling kind of rejuvenated. The weather agrees with me more, I "get" the people here!

Heading to Santa Cruz tomorrow to try and clean up our poor car for Saturday. I'm thinking it will take all of Friday to do that, it has been through so much! My two sons and my new daughter-in-law will be coming in on Saturday and Gary's (and Mine too) family will be heading down on Friday, along with my cousin from San Diego to take photos at WoW! There will be 12 of them visiting us on Saturday and I can't wait. Friday will be 8 weeks since we have seen them and that is a long time for a close knit family like ours.


I've posted some pics from today.....

See ya on the Road,
Ter :)
　
"From the driver's seat"..... Woke up this morning to an overcast sky....that was a VERY welcome sight after a few days in 100+ degree weather. We had arranged to meet with fellow woodie owner Dougger Anderson, his 90 yr old buddy Hal and Richard Albrecht in Santa Monica for a tour and other activities. The Garmin said it was 10 minutes away so we left a half hour ahead of time and were still 10 miutes late!!!! The Garmin doesn't take the 405's traffic at 8:30 AM into affect! We hit some of the sights (Venice Beach, Venice Canals, a neighborhood of beautiful craftsman style homes), met surf legend Big Wave Dave, hung out at the Santa Monica pier for some photo ops and headed up to Malibu for lunch. There we met up with Bill Sampson and had a great lunch and a lot of laughs. Dougger then got us set up with a tour of the Adamson house, owned by the owner of a tile factory.....even the persion rugs are actually floor tiles! It's a crazy, beautiful place and well worth the time to tour. Thanks, Dougger!!!!

A couple more highlights from Vegas that I remembered.....we went to the pawn shop featured on the Discovery Channel show "Pawn Stars"...when we got there, a line wound it's way down the street with a guy on a stool at the door apparently deciding who got in and who didn't...we didn't try but kinda laughed at all the suckers standing in the heat! We also went to a show in Harrahs called 'Legends', with Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Lady Gaga and Blues Brothers impersonators....they were GREAT! Sometimes during their act the screens along the sides of the stage showed the actual performers and the impersonators fairly well sinc'd .....it was cool! I guess Vegas wasn't ALL bad....

After our tour, we headed back down to the pier and did a little shopping and enjoyed a frozen custard. It was rush hour but we braved the traffic and drove north to our room for the night in Oxnard ( Bill Sampson says "Oxnard....more than just a beautiful name!).

Tomorrow we'll be staying in Santa Cruz (YYYYAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!) gettinig ready for Woodies on the Wharf Saturday......then home. Can't wait!

Vegas Baby!!

Pawn stars line up!

Hal, Dougger & Bill

                  

End of Rt. 66

Tuesday June 19, 2012

Hello All,

Sorry we haven't done the blog since we got to Vegas, but you know..... What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

Ok, that would be cool if we were party people but it's us, Gar & Ter, we are not bar hopping drunk off our rears partying till 4am people.... The truth is we didn't have internet! Can you believe that? Seriously, there is internet at Harrah's but we for some unknown reason to us and to the hotel tech guy and the people we spoke to in India could not connect. So no blog...

We did have a fun time in Vegas, I won, I lost, I laughed, I cried! We saw a show, ate at Toby Keith's restaurant and relaxed! It was freaking hot, 107, 109, 107............ and W I N D Y !! And you know how I love hot and windy!!


This morning we checked out of the hotel and hit the road by 9am for a nice drive to LA... Isn't it funny how the universe has a different plan for you sometimes? We made it about 20 miles out of Vegas and the car started going slower and slower....So we pulled over in Primm and Gar popped the hood and looked and it looked fine, he gunned it a few times and it sounded good, so off we went... The universe said NO again and we only made it to the next exit where we sat for about 25 minutes and Gar tried again.... Nope backed down the exit again, Gary checks everything, again, we wait 10 minutes and try again, still can't go faster than like 30 MPH.. Did I mention it is freak'in hot already? We head back to Vegas and and AutoZone.... Takes awhile at 30 MPH but we make it. The "Car Whisperer" thinks its the fuel pump so he jacks the car up in the Autozone parkinglot, (no shade for my man to work in!) He gets almost everything unhooked and goes in to get the fuel pump...They don't have one.
Now here you might be thinking, "Hey, maybe you guys should have asked before you did all that work?" Well, yes, under normal circumstances I might agree, but we were stressed out, and hot, so I blame the weather! So he reconnects it all, takes the jack off and we go to another parts store a few blocks away....
He checks first (we aren't that Stupid!) and they don't have it either, but they send us a few miles away to an O'Reiley Auto Parts store that has one tree that we park under so my man can work on the car in shade (Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus!), they have the part (YAY!) and the clerk is a young kid who loves old cars and wants to do anything he can to help us out without leaving his post for more than 15 minutes! Long story short 2 1/2 hours later the car has a new fuel pump on it, my man is covered in grease, gasoline, dirt (parkinglots are not that clean when you have to lay on the ground!) and sweat, but that damn thing is on... We thank the nice clerk and we are off...It is now 2:30 we are hot, need gas and something to drink. We go to a gas station, Gar fills up, I get the drinks and I'm back in the car and Gar says"The car is running like Crap already!" Oh my heart sinks, he is so tired and has worked so hard, how can this be? We drive again at about 20 MPH to a shopping center and park behind a Home Depot where there is shade from the building and he decides to take off the carburator and check that out... It has some gunk in it he blows it out puts it back together and we try again... Hmmm... Seems to be running fine, we head for Hwy 15, we make the turn on to the Hwy and the car chokes and sputters! OMG! Are you kidding me..I have to pull out the big guns as it is about 110 degrees, my man is exhusted so I do what everyone in a desperate situation does, I say "Hey Universe! How about cutting us a freak'in break? Let us make it to LA tonight huh?" Just as I finish that thought, my man guns the hell out of it, and it seems to have blown out anything that was blocking whatever, and we are on our way! Car runs great! We are up to speed and in our hotel room by 9pm... Again, I need to say my husband is a genius. I was never worried he wouldn't figure it out, he knows that car inside and out but I think today the heat really played a part in what was wrong... Vapor lock was part of it as well today.

Tomorrow some nice people in Santa Monica are going to show us around. They have the day planned with a visit to a Mansion and lunch. Looking forward to that and driving on the last part of Rt. 66.

Sorry no pictures tonight I left the camera in the car and there it will stay  we are too tired to go get it!

See ya on the Road,
Ter :)
　
'From the driver's seat'.....Every night, regardless of where we stay, we have the internet at our disposal....middle of Arkansas, got wifi.....Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, got it. Harrah's in Las Vegas.....nope! They have hard wire but it didn't work and had no interest in making it work...WHAT?????. Their options were buy computer time in the business center but it closes at 4:00 PM...again, WHAT????, or buy time at a private company's kiosk at 35 cents a minute....yeah.Thanks for all the help....NOT. We finally found a Starbucks with wifi and at least booked tonight's room.

Terry gave a pretty good description of today's happenings....once again the car didn't leave us on the side of the road but managed to limp back to Vegas. I was fortunate to happen upon a young guy who knew small block Chevys and immediately pulled the pump I needed....everyone else wanted the year and make of car....OK dimwit, '51 Ford. I love 'old school' thinking in the next generation...he's getting his grandfather's '49 Ford sedan and came out and talked 'shoeboxes' with me. While we were working he brought us a couple bottles of cold water and after I bought the pump I still needed some extra parts which he wouldn't let me pay for. I'll be writing to O'Reilly's to brag on him....
The fuel pump barely put enough fuel in the carb to do 30 mph and once the new pump was installed it sucked up some debris and plugged up the filters inside the carb...once I cleaned them all up, reassembled the carb and put it back on we were under way with only one hick-up in the next 250 miles. I cannot tell you how happy I was to get out of Vegas!!!!!

By the time we get to Santa Cruz we will have driven 11,000+ miles in eight weeks. A fuel pump, a few electrical problems and a water pump gasket aren't too bad for a 60 year old car...I'm still happy with it. We've still maintained our schedule and we've never been left out on the road....it's still the journey, not the destination although tonight it was the destination.

Friday June 15, 2012

Hello All,

Left New Mexico this morning and the clouds were so low it felt like you could reach up and touch them. I took a few pics but I'm sure they won't look as awesome as they did in the sky this morning. We had some beautiful scenery today, saw some sad old towns with not many old hotels or signs to photograph. I always feel kinda sad when I see towns like that... To think that not too long ago, they were busseling towns with families stopping by in their Woody station wagons on their car vacations across this country......

We went to the Meteor Crater outside of Flagstaff, that was way cool! It is Huge! Got some good pics and hiked up to the top of the catwalk they have there to get a good overall picture of it, but again, you gotta see it to believe it!

Went to a cool cruise in tonight and the people were so nice, we really enjoyed meeting them all and talking cars. And yes, I did eat about 5 bites of Frozen Custard! It was soooo good!

Gar talkes about our hotel problems below, it is the first time on this whole trip that we have gotten a bad hotel. We use Travelocity and go by the ratings and I don't know where those people stayed but it wasn't this Travelodge. This was also our first Travelodge so we learned a lesson.

Need to say Happy 1st Birthday to my niece Princess Sweetpea! Happy Birthday Kristen, we wish we were there to celebrate with you!!!

Tomorrow we are off to Vegas for a few days and I am looking forward to that! I always have fun in Vegas!

See ya on the Road!
Ter :)
　
"From the driver's seat"...... headed out of town early, headed for Flagstaff. Uneventful drive (my favorite!) and we dirverted off the route to see the Meteor Crater....it was amazing!!!!! It's a mile across and several hundred feet deep, all done by a single 150 foot diameter meteor in about ten seconds! The largest remaining piece is probably 7-800 pounds and is sitting in the main lobby, out there for all to touch and see. It's been touched so much the edges are becoming polished metal since its mostly an iron alloy. Check that one off the bucket list!

This evening we were invited to a cruise in at a Freddy's Frozen Custard stand. Contrary to past recent experiences we were warmly welcomed by about 25 rodders and there were two other woodies!

We had some dinner and custard (duh!) and headed beack to the motel....our second motel of the night. I had made a reservation at a Travelodge wrong night (my mistake) so I just got another room for the night....we walked in and the room was so bad we walked back out and the clown wouldn't give me a refund....kharma, pal...kharma. We're at the Radisson tonight.....All I'm saying about that.

Vegas tomorrow!!!!!!

          

                                          

Thursday June 14, 2012

Hello All, 

The last couple of days were mostly spent driving... I actually like that, it's relaxing, except for the car being buffeted around so much by the wind... You know the song "OOOOOOOOOklahoma where the wind comes whipping down the plain"? Well it should also include Texas and New Mexico in there as well! I'm not exaggerating when I say they were 40- 60 MPH winds, I watched the news and that is what they said... They said it like it was nothing. You know why? Cuz it happens every day !
If you know me or have been reading the blog, you know how much I "love" wind... and hot weather, so it was best that I just went to sleep last night and didn't blog... :)

Thankfully today wasn't so hot, (ok, if you think 89 isn't hot!!) and we had a mostly freeway day with some cool turnoff's onto Rt. 66..
We of course went to the Cadillac Ranch... I stayed in the car (remember the wind!!!) I saw all I needed to see from there, and really this is the first thing I didn't do in 7 weeks, I just couldn't walk out there it was sooooo windy! Truthfully I don't get it. 10 cars upended out in the desert??? Why? What does it mean? Maybe it's a guy thing?? There were alot of people out there in the wind, so maybe its just me???

We went to the Dinosaur Museum, which was way cool! I wish my nephews were with us, they would have loved it! I didn't kiss a dinosaur though, too scary!!

We went to a Rt. 66 Auto Museum, they had about 30 cars (one Woody!!) and it was just this woman's family that ran it... $5.00 well spent! I saw a few guys there I had to kiss, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Michael Waltrip (Man is he tall!), and Buddy Holly...
The kissing thing might seem weird to you I know, but I wanted to do something in every town and so I just decided to look like I was kissing statues, animals, people.... It was either that or wear my tiarra in every picture and I couldn't figure out how to bring it along without it getting squished or broken so kissing it is!

We ate at Josephs Bar & Grill which has been on Rt.66 since 1956! Dang! That is older than me!! Good food, and lots of history.

We got to Albuquerque around 4 today and Gar had to make a run to the parts store (I'm sure he will elaborate), then we headed to Old Town, which is super cute. It is obviously the "old" part of Albuquerque, with a square, a church, and a park, and then the houses were built around that square.. The buildings are about 300 years old and really cool. It reminded us of Sonoma, same sort of style.
We shopped a bit and then had fantastic mexican food at "Little Anita's". The food was so good and they had a duo siging traditional mexican songs and they were fantastic too! Her voice was so pure, unbelievable, the same quality as Linda Ronstadt.


We had a great dinner then hopped in the car and headed out Rt.66 to see what was out there as we came in on Hwy 40 today... Old hotels, movie houses, stores and lots of old neon signs pointing to things that were not there any more... Kinda gave you a sad feeling to think about what it was, but still cool that the city left the signs to remind us all of what it was like in its heyday...

Tomorrow we are off to Flagstaff Arizona, someone contacted us to tell us of a "Cruise In" and they are saving us a spot. Looking forward to that. It's at a Frozen Custard Drive in!! Yummy!!! I will break my rule of being good for a few bites of frozen delishiousness!

See ya on the Road,
Ter :)
　
"From the driver's seat...."(Wednesday)Today it was about the destination, not the journey. The route for Rt. 66 is not well delineated through Oklahoma and we spent too much time getting back on track. I was able to 'cypher' my way back several times but even when we found the road it was in disrepair so we were 'happy' that the freeway had swallowed up the original road so we had some smooth roads and well marked 'Historical Rt. 66' side trips.
We have been reflecting on where we've been and how long we've been gone...... just like the Simon and Garfunkle song says '...Michigan seems like dream to me now...." it does. We have about 10 days left one and side of me hates to see it end but the other side can't wait to park in my own garage. We'll be properly exhausted when we get there, meaning we were out long enough.
The car ran nicely again today...took it to Jiffy Lube for an oil change....first one I have EVER paid someone to do. Several people stopped by to look at the car, asking what it is, who made it, what year..... it'll be nice to drive my Scion too....for a while. I've had three experiences with agressive drivers, all in Cadillacs. Numbers one and three were in the fast lane, behind me far enough that I could see them in the rear view mirror, looking at the car and I'm pulling up on a slower moving truck...the moment I put on my left turn signal to say that I was going around the truck they floor it....really? I continued with my lane change, putting them both on the inside shoulder. Number two was a similar situation, I'm trying to change lanes, a Cadillac behind me...again as soon as I put my signal to change lanes he jumps on it and whips into the lane I was indicating I was going into.... I let them all know that I thought they were number one!
We stopped into the Rt. 66 Museum in Clinton, OK, (located on the Gary Expressway) which nicely covered the Mother Road from Indian trails to six lanes of asphalt. Very nicely done with lots of old photos, movies and historic items, including a '51 Ford sedan. I highly recommend it if youi ever do 66.

We're going to go to Cadillac Ranch tomorrow (ironic, isn't it?) before heading off to Albuquerque, then Flagstaff, Vegas, Santa Monica, Santa Cruz and then home !!!!!!!!

(Thursday)...Got to visit the above mentioned Cadillac Ranch....it's been there forever and the area is littered with spray cans. The cars have so much paint on them that the metal details are gone. It was really windy walking out there which brings me to another topic.....energy.
While in Arkansas and Kansas (why are they spelled the same but pronounced so differently?) I saw gas stations with signs reading "No ethanol!!!! Pure gas!!!"..... now, first of all the ethanol cuts down emissions, secondly, isn't ethanol made from corn? And what is it you farmers grow and sell? Isn't that corn?....is it just me? The next is a huge media push by the petroleum companies pushing coal for electricity production....remember the aforementioned wind???? These ads use smoke and mirrors to say the EPA isn't taking advantage of our existing supply of coal.....which produced massive emissions and wind turbines make.....how much pollution was that? Oh, yes, ZERO!!!!!!!
All I will say in closing is that these are the same people who put 'Dubya' in office for eight years....I honestly don't get it....and that's why I don't live here. A couple old ladies were looking at the car and when they saw the CA plates they shook their heads and turned away...that attitude is rampant.

Nice drive today, mostly freeway as it replaced 66 except in a few places through towns...well marked, lots of remaining signs and buildings from its heyday. There are a number of Rt.66 museums along the way, we skipped most of them as they looked kinda lame. The dinosaur museum in Tucumcari was outstanding....the displays looked like something in a big city museum, very well done and lots of hands on displays...again, don't miss it if you're there.

Tomorrow we're on to Flagstaff, then Vegas, Baby!!!!

      

       

Tuesday June 12, 2012

　
Hello All,

Been a couple of days of not blogging as we are just too dang tired to blog once we get to our room... Who knew just driving would be sooo tiring? The thing about following Rt.66 is that it is all about the journey and not about the destination... It's kinda hard to slow down after going crazy trying to see everything in every town for 6 weeks... I sometimes feel like we are moving sooooo slow, I have to keep repeating to myself, "It's the journey, It's the journey".....

Gary has given a great account of our last few days so I won't repeat it. Every day has something amazing and I can't believe that in less than 2 weeks we will be at Woodies on the Wharf... I'm so looking forward to seeing my kids and my family. Can't wait!

On to Amirrillo tomorrow about 285 miles of Rt.66!

See ya on the Road,
Ter :)


"From the driver's seat".....As well marked as Rt. 66 was marked in Missouri and Kansas, in Oklahoma it's.....not. Turns aren't marked and the signs that ARE there are miles apart. The road is better identified by business names... We have continued to enjoy the drive, a slower pace and more interesting scenery. We get to see all of America, the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, the big cities and tiny towns.
We passed through Joplin, MO, the site of a terrible tornado earlier in the year. I'm not sure where it hit but the entire east end of town looks brand new! We also witnessed the results of a tornado in Branson with several buildings heavily damaged, some being torn down completely. Signs were blown down, roofs torn off and windows broken out. The balcony railings of an apartment building showed sing of material hitting them, bent, twisted and broken out.....very scary!

The car continues to run great and as long as the air conditioning holds up for a couple more weeks I'll consider it a victory! On to Oklahoma City tomorrow....

6/12.....After getting into Oklahoma a little further Rt. 66 was better marked and easier to follow but we still got 'lost' a couple times but only by a mile or so. There is very little traffic on 66 which is surprising since so many people say "..oh I want to do that some day...". We see some small motorcycle groups and the rare classic car/hot rod but for the most part we have it all to ourselves. There are so many still existing reminders of a past time, but they won't be there forever. Frankly, I find it surprising so many are still around!
On Sunday we came upon a little local car show in some little town with about 50 cars, mostly newer (70's and later) but some old...we met a guy and his wife had a Model T depot hack (woodie) and he was telling me about a car show he went to that 'had over 300 cars!!!' Then I told him that Good Guys in Pleasanton has 3500 cars....he looked at me like I was crazy...then when we mentioned we were from California, the conversation was over anyway... I guess we're the devil's disciples.

We came across an active drive in movie theater, still well maintained and playing the latest movies....very cool! As you drive the route you see lots of things to see.... stores, gas stations, motels....the coolest yesterday was the ruins of a stone gas station originally built in the late teens or early twenties...lots of history! As we entered Oklahoma City we came upon a place called 'Pops' with a huge soda bottle sculpture out front and literally hundreds of different sodas, or pops as they call them here. We got into OKC and toured Bricktown, an old warehouse district converted to restaurants and music clubs. We had a nice Mexican 'dinch' (early dinner/late lunch) and toured the city a bit.

Had a little car trouble, weird electrical stuff again....the ignition switch went bad in the Bricktown parking lot. I was able to jump the wires and get 'home'. I got a replacement quickly installed as well as replacing a burned plug wire.

This morning we were invited by a local woodie club member, Julian Harris, to visit two private car collections. The first was about 30 cars, all perfectly restored, all in running condition and all older than 1913!!!! One was a 1912 Tincher, the only one known to exist! He also has a Mercer runabout (one recently sold for $1.5 million!) as well as more common cars like Model T's. In his work shop he had several cars in various stages of restoration, all being done in a first class fashion. Oh, by the way, he's 90 years old!!!!!

After that we went to the museum/work shop of Ted Davis....this man is the most amazing crafstman I have ever seen. He presently has several ongoing projects....one is a very early Packard touring car of which seven were built at a cost of $7,000 ($400,000 in todays dollars) but had a couple problems and were all recalled by Packard and destroyed. In a series of 'right place, right time' he managed to get the actual Packard drawings and is building one.....from scratch!!!! Everything...engine, trans, frame...evrything! As if that wouldn't be enough, he's building a replica of the Miller front wheel drive Indy car...again, from scratch excepting only the engine. He's finishing a hot rod Model A pick up he's had since he was 10 ( its gorgeous!) The visit to his shop was both humbling and inspiring to do better work. Thank you Julian, for making this happen.

After those visits we went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial... very moving and sad....so many innocent children killed. Emotionally draining so we returned to our room to take a break and rest up for a long drive to Amarillo, TX, early tomorrow....

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Hello All,
Today was a fun driving day... Met Ed and Ann Peters at the Arch to begin our trip down Route 66.... Went to Ted Dews but of course it was closed at 9am, so took some pics and headed out... Gary talks about the route below so I'll talk about the feelings of the day....Going 50 instead of the usual 70-75 (or faster, Gary is driving after all!) was kinda nice. :)

Went thru little towns, seeing the houses of people you will never meet, imagining what their lives are like in these oh so small towns. What do they do for a living in theses small towns? What is a Friday night like? What do the kids do for fun? So many questions! The day flew lazily by today and we enjoyed it very much.

We stopped at the Worlds Largest Rocking Chair, Danny's Gas Hole (I know, classy name huh?), The Munger Moss Motel, Missouri Hick Bar-B-Q again for lunch (I needed to document that Giant SPUD!) and stopped at The World's Largest Gift Store before getting to our hotel in Springfield.
A quiet but good day today...

Want to send good thoughts to my oldest son who is doing a big Comedy Show tonight in San Francisco! I know he will be Awesome!

On to Tulsa Okahomal tomorrow.

See ya on the Road,
Ter :)
　
"From the driver's seat"...We started the 'official' tour today....met up with woodie owners Ed and Ann Peters with their '39 Ford at the Arch. It was the maiden voyage for their woodie and we were honored to be a part of the trip. I'm happy to say that their rig handled the ride to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard stand and Rt.66 State Park in Eureka MO just fine. There is a little museum at the building (which was a restaurant in a past life and you would be hard pressed to find) which gave a great look at the history of Rt. 66 in general, and a lot of information on the immediate area. We parted ways with Ed and Ann a short way up the freeway and we headed west solo. Thanks so much for joining us!

The next exit had a small sign denoting the route of "Historic Rt. 66" and we jumped off the freeway and spent about 99% of the next 200 miles on the beloved 'two lanes', through small towns and winding it's way through the hills of Missouri. The route is well marked and easy to follow with only a couple 'oopsies' along the way. The slower speeds (55 instead of 75) and winding roads made for a very relaxing drive.

We arrived in Springfield and found our hotel just a couple blocks off 66 and while out running some errands also found a little car show at Culvers, a chain of frozen custard restaurants. We had a couple mini's and headed back 'home'.

Tomorrow we're off to Tulsa....my first time in Oklahoma.

Oh it was BIG!!

That has to be a size 9 potato!!!!!