DEATH VALLEY TOUR – DAY 7

Click on any pic for a larger version, actually didn’t take many pictures today. Today was the final day and the dash for home, Bakersfield to San Jose.  Everyone was out early and champing at the bit.  It had rained overnight and everything was sopping wet this morning, but that did give us all an opportunity to finish the job and wipe all the grime off of the cars.We were all lined up and ready to go and Rodger Griffin found his car would not start.  After poking around under the hood, Pat Lovejoy spotted a trail of water down the firewall onto the coil.  Closer inspection revealed that the rubber cap on the coil wire was full of water, so the spark just took the easy way out and the heck with the plugs.  A couple swipes with a towel and she fired right off.  We headed out with 12 A’s on the road.

Considering the dismal weather forecast for today, we were a little worried and figured we would spend the day driving in the rain.  As it turned out, it was a lovely day, all the predicted rain just turned into fluffy white clouds in a blue sky.  We did hit one rain shower just outside of Hollister, but it did not last very long. 

It was a great drive up route 33 to Coalinga, and no wind this time, just nice and  green and lots of yellow flowers.  After lunch in Coalinga, we hopped over the hills to Priest Valley and drove up route 25 through the cattle country to Hollister.  That road is so pretty this time of year, green hills, lots of flowers, and

lots of cattle to oogah at.  They get this real quizzical look and put their ears straight out as though they can’t believe this mutant cow sound. 

 

 

We gassed up in Hollister, found ice cream and then we pretty much disbursed as  we got on the freeway (everyone getting anxious to get home) and headed for the barn.

Now just in case you think the day was totally boring from a mechanical standpoint, the A’s threw in a couple things to liven it up. Besides the water drowned coil in the morning,  Bill Bratt had a flat tire in Priest Valley, and as we approached Hollister, Bill Nicholsons fan started making noise.  He removed it, and proved that a Model A will run cool with a thermo-siphon cooling system as long as you keep your speed up.  In San Martin, Beamans went to the side of the road, the carburetor was definitely not happy.  But Bob found that with a deft touch on the choke, he could keep it running, and limped on home.

So, 12 A’s started out this morning, and 12 A’s made it home.  Whew!!  And here is the irony, we got a call from John Polland in Hollister, and with his A on a AAA flatbed, he was already home.  And of course, Wildmans also beat us home trailering their A.  Ahhh, but we got to drive on all those Model A roads with all that pretty scenery.   Stay tuned for the Epilogue tomorrow.