Gold Country Tour - Day 3

May 11, 2019.  Another action packed day.   At our drivers meeting, first order of business was to present David with his 2019 driving patch....

And off we went to the Veerkamp Caterpillar Collection.   Veerkamp is a construction contractor in Placerville, hence all the big iron that we parked beside,,,,

I dare say the Veerkamp Collection of Caterpillars is number one world-wide.  Even Caterpillar Company comes to him when they need a display of vintage equipment.  Our  host in the midst of  the vintage iron,,,,

I had to climb to try this big Best on just for size,,,,

Veerkamp has the first tracklayer that was made under the Caterpillar name after Best and Holt merged,  it was white, with chrome and brass trim and was used as a showpiece.  Caterpillar would like to have that one back.

This Cat actually came from the factory with a Model T top,  imagine that,.

We did finally tear ourselves away for a lunch in David's shop.   Needless to say, it was awesome gourmet,  thank you David and Becky, 

Becky,  how did you do all this???? Everything was delicious especially the home made pies and truffles!

After lunch, we did a quick stop at Sutters Mill,,,,,

And headed for the fairgrounds for the dirt track races.   Had a good parking spot on the grass beside the grandstand,,,,

My gosh, those sprint cars are fast,,,

But my favorite has to be the vintage stocks,  looked just like the cars I watched racing on dirt in the fifties,,,,

And then, our own two Model T speedsters took the track,,,,

The crowd loved it, I know Peder and Ed had fun, 5 laps around that bumpy track,,,,

And so we bring our Gold Country adventure to a close,  time to load up, head for home and do a bunch of repairs on my poor Model T.   I think I have a cracked brake drum, it is eating the Kevlar band resulting in basically no foot brake, adjusted twice so far, does not last.   Darn.

We can not thank David and Becky enough for all the planning and preparation that went into our tour here.  Our tour days were so well done,  as Pat would say,  "Fantastic!!!"    Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Gold Country Tour - Day 2

May 10,2019.  This was one full day.  Started with a new snake infestation,,,

Drivers meeting at 8:00,,,,

 

And off to see a wood burning Model T,,,

 

 

 

 

The stuff on the back is a gasifier, heats up wood chips to make burnable hydrogen and methane which is piped to the carburetor.     Once warmed up, the engine runs along just fine.   This was a technology that was used in WWII when fuel became scarce.  A few of our folks got a ride in it,,,,

Lo

Lots of interesting things to look at,,,,,

One man sawmill using a chain saw blade, worked remarkably well,,,,

And then to a patio lunch at the Diamond Springs Hotel,,,,

Second stop of the day,  Travers collection of everything, hit and miss engines of every kind and size,  model T's  nickelodeons and more,   overwhelming...

Look at this 2 cylinder hit or miss, running engine, great sound,,,,

 In the junk pile, I found the rim I need and made a deal,,,,

 Final activity for the day, a visit to an Iris farm on Apple Hill,,,,

Finished this full day with a visit to Boa Vista Apple Shed on Apple Hill,  cider and turnovers and dumplings and fritters came away,,,,,,,    Hope we can still make the hills tomorrow....

By the way,, should this be my next project?

Or maybe this????

Gold Country Tour - Day 1

May 9, 2019.  Arrival in Placerville.  Six trailered, four intrepid souls drove.   All arrived, but some needing a little maintenance along the way.  Early arrivals got to visit Placerville Hardware, quilt shops and museums.  Eventually, the group gathered for poolside snacks and chats,,,,

And free happy hour wine at our hotel,,,,,

Followed by Mexican dinner at the next door restaurant,,,,

Believe you me, we got enough to eat,,,,

Major discussion item at the dinner table.....     On the way up, Beamans T made some rattling noises in the transmission.   Pulled the cover and this was in the screen.   WHAT IS IT?  It is no longer rattling but where did this come from?????  

One other problem on the way up,  Jim's 32 developed some clacking valves.   Pulling the valve cover off revealed that some of the lock nuts on the adjustable valve lifters had loosened.   This did require some ingenuity to reset the valves, as we could only get two wrenches on these three wrench lifters.   Finished the job by flashlight after dinner....

As you can see, lots of hands, lots of interest,,,,  

Ready for touring tomorrow,,,,,,

California Dreamin' - Day 6

May 3, 2019  38 miles.  Later start this morning gave time for a little local exploration.  Out at the edge of town, spotted this machine planting broccoli seedlings.   Eight ladies sitting on the back feeding the seedlings into a mechanism which put them in the ground.  The amazing thing was it planted 16 rows moving about as fast as you would normally walk.  

Oh, and being Friday, spotted a couple garage sales, Pat came out with this, just no accounting for some folks taste,,,,,

When  the official tour began, first stop was at a miniature horse ranch,,,,

And we did obey all the signs,,,,

One little baby out in the pasture, so-o-o-o sleepy,,,

On to Santa Ynez and the Carriage Museum,,,,,

After lunch, we took another one of those crowded Model T roads that they have down here,,,,

Which took us to Nojoqui Falls.  Now they had these signs,  kind of a CYA thing I think,  ignored by everyone.  Got to admit, it was a little bit of a mountain goat trail...

Falls were really pretty,,,,

Next stop was Mission Santa Ines.  

When we came out to the parking lot, came upon a "quince era" celebration, taking pictures of this young girl in this fabulous dress.   Her photog asked if she could use our cars as a backdrop.   Funny the things that cross paths with us.....

Anyway, tonight was the final banquet,  stuffed us to the gills.  There was a special award made to a good Samaritan observed under a car assisting with a muffler,,,,,  Call Barbara for mobile repairs!!!

There were door prizes, our gang won some,,,

And finally, a picture of all the attendees from Santa Clara Valley Model T Ford Club.

The end.        Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.