THE KANAB ADVENTURE – Day 10 – the end

Jamestown, CA to Home, 134 miles.  Got up early even though it was a short driving day, just had to get a couple pictures of our hotel.  It is a nice old refurbished structure in the historic section of Jamestown.

This was our latest departure.  Started out the driveway at 9:00, late for us but we did not want to get into rush hour traffic in the Bay area.  Just as we were pulling out, George Fontaine came by in his Model A speedster.  This required a shutdown and detailed inspection, as it is quite a nice work of art.  

From Jamestown, we pounded the highway, running 55 to 60 mph most of the time.  I know traffic is increasing in CA. Even in the middle of the day, the freeways that we have to unavoidably get on are packed and folks are going like hell.  We did take old Altamont and circle Livermore on Tesla and Concannon, but we had to do a stretch on 205 and of course on 680 and 237.  But, we had a nice leisurely lunch break at Garre Winery in Livermore, and almost all the folks are now safe at home.  The two motor homes are still on the road and “Charlotte”  the yellow phaeton when last heard from was in KS heading for MO and going strong.

Here are some statistics from our trip.  My odometer says we traveled 2248 miles.   We had 21 fuel stops. Most expensive gas was in Yosemite at $4.41.  Least expensive gas was in Mesquite, NV at $3.51.  The little black coupe got 18.7 mpg overall.   We had to add 2 quarts of oil, I think most of it is on the bottom mixed with dust, did not have to add any water, overflow bottle worked like a charm.  It is pretty dirty, got a good cleaning job ahead.  Dust and oil is such a great combination. 

And here are some interesting blog statistics:  This blog had over 1000 hits last week, most from the USA and from the Santa Clara Model A Club link, but a large interest from France (69) of all places.  We also had multiple hits from Indonesia(25), Russia(17), Polland(12), Germany(11), UK(6), Japan(4), Italy(3) and Turkey(3).  Isn’t that funny?

So,,,,,,,    goodnight Mrs. Calabash, where ever you are.  Next trip will be in September.

THE KANAB ADVENTURE – Day 9

Tonopah, NV to Jamestown, CA, 248 miles.  When we awoke this morning, some of the cars had been vandalized.  Lovejoy, Polland and Nicholson cars were targeted.  Fortunately, no permanent damage, just stuff thrown on the cars making a mess. What mentality gets enjoyment out of that?

Heading west on Hwy 6, there are modern day ghost towns, places where it looks as though folks just walked away.  And then of course the vandals take over.

After entering CA, we picked up route 120 at its eastern end and this is a fun road.  Besides the beautiful alpine scenery, the road is like a roller coaster, and the faster you go, the more thrilling it is. Bob had to try different speeds, 50 was good, 55 was better and 60 was thrilling.  I think  we would have left the ground if we had gone any faster!

Finally, a glimpse of the Sierras,,,,, 

This Mono Lake view captured us,,,,

So we dirt roaded into the Tufa preserve where we found these Tufa People,,,,

After lunch, we tackled Tioga Pass from the east side.  That is a climb and a test of our poor little Model A’s.  Long stretches of 2nd gear over, and you think you hear new noises.

Yosemite is so spectacular, all the huge granite,,,

We finally made it to Jamestown and our rather funky hotel, very old but refurbished very nicely. (click for a bigger version)

John and Judy Guzzetta threw a welcome home BBQ for our traveling group tonight.  

Also on hand to welcome us were George and Barb Fontaine and George and Diane Oeh.      John had two BBQ’s going,,,, and Judy stacked the side tables with goodies,,,, Believe me, this band of weary travelers was very appreciative, thank you John and Judy.

The gang surprised us with a little 49th anniversary celebration,  we had no idea they even knew it was our anniversary, cake and ice cream, flowers and cards, wow,,,  thanks, guys.

Model A news, Pat Lovejoy changed his water pump this morning, it was developing a squeal.  John Polland’s A was delivered by AAA express to Jamestown via Sonora Pass, he beat all of us to Jamestown.  Lee Dal Canto’s A has a clack.  Pat very cleverly narrowed it down to the timing gear, Lee has decided to flatbed home rather than do a parking lot repair.  That’s it, all the news that’s fit to print.    Home tomorrow.

THE KANAB ADVENTURE – Day 8

Cedar City, UT to Tonopah, NV, 294 miles.  Out there on the Extraterrestrial Highway!!!   We had a run of 155 miles with no gas station today, which can be right at the outer limits for the A.  So we all carried 2 extra gallons of gas.  It was a lovely morning with a good news/bad news weather forecast.  Good news was that forecast temperature for Tonopah was 72, wow, 18 degrees below normal just for us.  Bad news was that strong winds were coming our of NW.     That slowed us down all day, especially uphill into the wind at 5 or 6 thousand feet of elevation.     But things were going really well and we were making really good time until,,,,,,,

 

You know what that means, don’t you?  (click on any picture for a larger version)

Yep, on the trailer.  The pinion bearing apparently locked up just as John Polland was pulling over to investigate.  We had to take a key out of one axle so that it could be moved onto the trailer.  Told people to continue but no dice, not leaving until the problem is dealt with.  Kudos to Joe Davis for bringing that trailer with him.

Since it was the Extraterrestrial Highway, we kept our eyes out for aliens, searched and searched and finally found one.

And apparently if there are aliens in the area they have gone into business selling jerky.  We fell for it, loaded up in case we are abducted as we go by Area 51.

As you go by Area 51, it looks like this.  No signs, just mysterious roads that take off to the south and go over that ridge in the left side of the picture.  And one lonely sign that says “watch out for low-flying aircraft.”  Really?????  Do they actually fly low enough that a Model A on the highway has to actually dodge them???

Stopped in Rachel, NV, for lunch at the Little Ale E Inn, the only outpost on the Extraterrestrial Highway.  That’s Connie, one of the owners in our car.

Chowed down on Alien Burgers, bought a bunch of souvenirs and admired the memorabilia, especially liked this sign on the wall that someone must have liberated.

And then, more of the same, down for 10 miles, then up for 10 miles, empty valley after empty valley.

Took a break at Warm Springs,,,,

So here we are in Tonopah, home of the famous Silvertop Mine.

Tomorrow, Tioga pass, getting close to home, the Model A’s are straining at the bit.  Stay tuned.  By the way, I put in 9 gallons, some folks put in more.

THE KANAB ADVENTURE – Day 7

Kanab to Cedar City, UT, 102d miles.  Today we left Kanab and the Parry Lodge and did one last trip north on 89. 

Our first destination this morning was Coral Pink Sands State Park.  Climbed a sand dune to look down on the parking lot. 

And here are the sand people up on the dune, this was irresistible to get your shoes off and sink into that nice soft cool sand. Everyone loved the color and we all looked for and found a tiger beetle.    Look that one up.

Janet and Lizanne tried out cardboard sleds but they were not slick enough.  Buckaroo is supervising.

Moved on down the road to an observation deck and this group here started to get a little silly.

First they decided to send a greeting to the club,,,,  

And then it became improvisational theater.  I liked this one the best,,,,,

Lunch in Duck Creek Village at Aunt Sues Chalet. 

Now, I am gaining a reputation as a pie connoisseur, because I can not pass up a piece of homemade pie.   Oh, man this mountain berry pie was to die for.

Our next destination was Cedar Breaks and Brian Head, a very tall (11,300 ft) peak in southern Utah and it has a dirt road to the top.  Some of us took it, of course, even dipped the wheels in a trace of snow. 

The view was 360 degrees from the top of the world, and you could see 100 miles.  Notice the sound of the whistling wind.  That is bringing cool air in for tomorrow.

We were a little dirty when we got back to the main road.

We are in Cedar City tonight, and the first thing we did was go to a car wash and get shipshape again.  Only casualty today was one tire on Wildman’s trailer.  Model A’s did fine.  Long day tomorrow.

THE KANAB ADVENTURE – Day 6

214 miles today, nice and cool heading out which is a good thing because it is a long climb out of Kanab at 4000 ft up to the Kaibab Plateau at 8800 feet.  Big vistas, is the canyon out there somewhere? Anyway, here’s what we do on the long drive to the north rim, way up there in the alpine meadow at 8800 feet.

Jorgensens went topless today, probably gained a little speed on the hills. For sure had a better view of the scenery. 

SCVC gang at the canyon way out on a viewpoint.

The canyon does inspire folks to just gaze at the view.

And be silly way out on that point, can you make out who it is?  The ones with their arms in the air. Click on this one to make it big.   

In case you are wondering about the view from way out there,,,,,,

On the way back, we stopped at a full service gas station, holy moley, just like old times, almost looks like the Texaco man.

And look what we saw on the way out of the park,,,, 

The babies were very cute, but the mamas were fearsome.  Stopped at a viewpoint for the men to stretch their legs, the women did a little shopping.  There were 3 Indian ladies selling jewelry. 

  Had a BBQ dinner tonight and then you can guess what we did after that.

We did see Eldertons today just before they headed east on their month long junket.   Rumor has it (from Nora) that Chuck actually took it S L O W on the climb up to North Rim yesterday in the heat of the day.  Even Charlotte can be slowed down by 6% grades and 90 plus temperatures.  Only time Charlotte has been seen going slow, period.  Today was tire day, flats for Polland and Jorgensen, no obvious reason, just went flat.