A Convention in Reno - Day 7

June 29, 2018.   10 miles in the A by Pat.   Bus Tour to Fallon NAS for me.   Lots and lots of airplanes,  hot dog.

Bill found his old squadron on the wall.

I always liked this airplane,  they use them as bad guys for training, note the Russian star.

They had a great collection of Mig's, from MIG 15 to 21.  But I was too dazzled to take any pictures of them.   This evening was the final banquet, so we got a little duded up.

So, tomorrow, head for home at 6:00 AM,  supposed to be 105 in the valley tomorrow.  Ugh.

A Convention in Reno - Day 6

June 28, 2018.  I don't know how many miles.   Today was Grand Tour Day, that got the Model A's out on the road.   The routing took us through a lot of scenic areas in around Reno and Carson City and the mountains.   We followed this coupe for a while before we realized the person in the middle was not a person but a poodle!!!   Click on this picture for a close up view....

This is the landmark for the bus station, either that or a runaway bus ran up this pole.

And the famous Reno Arch,,,,

Our traveling group arrived at the Bowers Mansion and set up 63 tables and 500 chairs on the lawn,  whew!!

We had to roll the tables across the lawn, and sometines they would just get away from you,,,,,

Lunch was very pleasant, nice gentle cool breeze, bluegrass band, sandwiches and drinks.....

Finally got a picture of all the cars, or at least most of the cars in one place.


That's all folks,,,,,,

A Convention in Reno - Day 5

June 27, 2018.  65 miles, 4 on dirt.   Today, we went to the Animal Ark, a wildlife sanctuary for injured, orphaned animals and birds.   Bears, bobcats, lynx, mountain lion, and birds make up the population.   This bear was found orphaned, weighed 14 lb, nearly frozen when rescued.  His ears were frostbitten and fell off.   Today he is 240 lb and very active.  Fascinating story on how they fatten up, stop eating and hibernate, even here in captivity.  Hibernate from October to March, not a peep. Fun to watch him play with a tether ball.

That was my only good animal picture, the big cats were all lazing in the shade and didn't show up very well in the pictures.

We drove past an enormous building, Amazon Fulfilment Center, now I know where my packages come from.

Dropped the ladies off at the Fashion T and us menfolk went to the Auto Museum.  Speedsters caught my eye,,,,

 Dig this Rolls Royce,,,,

Have to throw in this one sculpture,  since this is the home of the Reno Air Races.

That's it, all the news that is fit to print.    zzzzzzzzzzz.

A Convention in Reno - Day 4

June 26, 2018.  87 miles.  Started the day right off with a parking garage seminar.   Ray's starter would not engage.  Beat on it with a hammer, nothing, just spinning.  Pulled the starter and found that when Ray had the starter rebuilt, a repro Bendix was installed.   The same one that several members have had trouble with.  The design is such that when the engine starts and flips the Bendix gear away, it jams at the end of travel.   Fortunately, Bob's parts house had an original Bendix which we installed.   Problem solved, moral:  do not buy a repro Bendix they will stick!!!

Finally got started on the Pyramid Lake self guided tour, out into the desert of the Paiute Reservation to Pyramid Lake.  Beautiful huge lake about as big as Lake Tahoe, and turns out the Truckee River which is out of Lake Tahoe ends here in Pyramid Lake.

Little desert pit stop beside the lake,,,,, beautiful in a hostile kind of way....

Pressed on to the Paiute Visitor Center,

Ray caught a fish sculpture out front,,,

As we were leaving, a gentleman by the name of Bob Burres came over and noted an oil spot which my car had left (seeping front seal) and said he had a fix for that.  He handed me a package that contained a PCV valve for Model A's.   New product that he is giving to a few people to try out.

Gotta put it on first thing in the morning....    Anyway we looped back to Reno on Interstate 80, as it was getting rather warm.   So here are a couple signs, mocking us, I think,,,,  "FOG PRONE AREA", "ROAD MAY BE ICY", CHAINS OR SNOW TIRES MAY BE REQUIRED".   Probably not today, dam AC had to pick now to die.

Afternoon activity was an indoor visit to Scheel's sporting goods store, huge, kinda like Bass Pro Shop.   I made friends with a catfish,,,,

And rode the inside!!! ferris  wheel,,,

Finished the day off with all you can eat tacos.  Pat's limit, one, my limit, two, John Guzzetta's limit, four,  Ray's limit, five!!!

Final temperature today, 102, supposed to be slightly cooler tomorrow.

A Convention in Reno - Day 3

June 25, 2018.  110 miles.  Today, the self-guided tour to Truckee.   Out early to beat the heat.  Took the Mt Rose Hwy,  good stiff climb up, quite a bit of 2nd gear.  Still snow up there on Mt Rose, spent one day skiing there last winter.

Finally, the top,,,,,

9% down on the other side,  beautiful alpine meadows.

Stopped to cool things off at this great viewpoint looking over Lake Tahoe.

Back into California, gas now costs 40 cents more, thank you very much.

Poked around Truckee and had lunch.    Successful day, pie ala mode.  Made friends with the waitress and she gave me a quarter of a pie.    Life is good.

Took the old hwy up to the Rainbow Bridge at Donner Summit,,,,

Return trip to Reno was on Interstate 80,  I guess folks thought those signs were the speed limit,,,,,  cause they were really hauling.  Poor little black coupe was tickling with 60.

As we got lower, temperature crept up to 98 degrees,  some of us got a little sleepy,  sure missed the AC.   Patti claims that I was sleeping too, but eyes are definitely open, a little anyway,,,,,

Balmy evening in Reno, great night to walk around.   Lights are quite a sight from the 26th floor.

Keep running into more of our club members,  Pat's count is now up to 74. Another good route, Don Cole!

A Convention in Reno - Day 2

June 24, 2018.  68 miles.  First thing today, hit the convention registration desk along with a thousand other people.   We are now properly badged and ticketed.    And then, off on a self guided tour to Virginia City, forecast hot today, higher elevations looking more attractive.  The road from Reno to Virginia City is one long steep climbing goat trail, but the A did us proud, no overheat, high gear mostly.  tremendous views,,,,

Virginia City clings to the side of the mountain,,,  they claim a 100 mile view.

Parked on a lower street and engineer Bob had to evaluate this retaining wall, obviously low bid,,,

Pat found a friendly burro complete with characters.....

Had a great lunch at a funky little café with a guitar player....

Lookit the popcorn peanut machine!!!!!   Kind of like the one in the History San Jose Restoration Shop right now.

And in the fire museum,,,

Characters everywhere,,    Big Iron on His Hip!!!!

Saw this on our travels today,  all the freeway overpasses have some sort of iron decoration like this, really neat.

Tonight was the welcome party,  did a real good job feeding this 1000 or so people.    More of our club members keep coming out of the woodwork, count now is 73.