Model T National Tour in Spokane - 2021 - Epilogue

 July 18, 2021.  Everyone at home except the Bratts who are visiting their daughter in OR.   I might mention that Ed and Karen were the first to arrive at home on Saturday noon.   Now isn't it interesting that a Model T beat us all home?   We arrived home Sunday noon, one day later.  

We put 1810 miles on the Bronco, and right at 500 miles on the T.  Both performed flawlessly despite being flogged mercilessly  Used 157 gallons of gas in the Bronco, 23 gallons in the T.  The T was very stingy with gasoline and only took one quart of oil on the 4th day of touring.

Everybody and everything taking a well deserved rest,,,,,,    ZZZZZZZZZ!!!!

One last picture,,,   

Model T National Tour in Spokane - 2021 - Day 9

 Day 9, July 15, 2021.  On the road for home.  Today might be a good time to list our cast of characters on the Spokane Tour,  so here we go.

I

And some local folks who met us in Spokane,,,,,

One final item,  

 

Now, isn't that a good place for a Chevy??????

See you at home....

Model T National Tour in Spokane - 2021 - Day 8

 Day 8, July 14, 2021.  25 miles.  Interesting start to the day.   I was walking to the parking lot when I heard, "look out, they have guns drawn!"  Turns out the cops had pursued a car into the Quest area and they were pointing guns at this car.   They called 3 people out of the car, one at a time, facing away, arms raised high, down on their knees and cuffed.

Don't know what the problem was, but the T activity just kind of flowed around the cop activity.

Today was our final touring day and we went down to Riverside Park in downtown Spokane.  Not an amusement park, it is just a nice park to spend time in.  They have lots of neat things to look at and do.   All the T's were allowed to drive in and park on the grass.

Great place for kids, even big kids,,,,

And little kids,,,,

Have ;you ever tried a lime scooter/      Put it on your bucket list....

This evening was the final banquet,  nice buffet.  

And somehow, Pat and I got a major award,,,,,,   Ed was the presenter talking about the Rosenthal Award,  and it finally dawned on us that he was actually talking about Pat and Bob when he mentioned that this pushy lady got her husband involved in an autoshop class,   among other things..... Never expected to be up there on the platform.. but there we are.....

Wow, what a day, what a night.  And thanks to all the folks who wrote us in for the award, you are too kind.

Model T National Tour in Spokane - 2021 - Day 7

 Day 7, July 13, 2021.  119 miles.   A little smoky today, lots of wildfires burning in western Oregon and Washington.  This morning saw some parking lot maintenance going on, changing a timing gear, not one of our group fortunately.   Moral of this story, do not use a nylon gear, yes they do not make noise (until they fail). nylon does not age well in a T engine.  

Headed west this morning to the town of Davenport.   Out into the endless wheat fields,  nearest neighbors out here have got to be a mile or more....

Our destination in Davenport, the county museum,,,,,

Lots of antiquities to look at here,  check out this photo of an old time reaper.   How many horses?

Old jail was another interesting attraction,fortunately it could not be locked,,,,

Just a little more machinery for the guys,,,,

And on to Fort Spokane museum, which was not open, and then to the Two Rivers Resort for lunch.   Two Rivers because this is where the Spokane River joins the Columbia River.  Lunch was in the Pavilion which has kind of an Indian look to it.   Resort is owned by the Spokane tribe.

After lunch, we went to Reardan to meet up with Barbara B who just flew in for the last couple days of the tour.   Pat jumped in with Ray and Linda and Barbara drove my T on the last 40 miles of the tour.  Wouldn't be right to come all that distance and not do some driving.

This evening, the T's trekked out of town to Rich and Wanda Hummers house for a backyard BBQ.  Rich has a rather unusual BBQ.  It is self powered and it is old and it is repurposed.

Our host,,,,,

The Santa Clara group camped on  the back lawn, and did justice to the vittles.

We did stay a little late and put our Model T headlights to the test.   I plunked my magnetic flashlight on the hood for a little extra, and fired up the two battery powered blinkers on the back of the cab.  The question as we headed back, "Are they on?"  " Are you sure?"    Any way, made it back safe and sound.   

Just one more day left,,,,,,

Model T National Tour in Spokane - 2021 - Day 6

 Day 6, July 12, 2021, north to the Green Bluff area.  95 miles.  Today we headed out of town into the northern suburbs and then into the countryside.   First stop for us was at the Spokane Fish Hatchery which was to be special opened for our tour.  For 25 cents you got a handful of fish food to give to these big guys.  Whoosh, gone in the blink of an eye.

The funny thing was, Peder showed up there and was chased out by an employee who said the place was closed.   Go figure, one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing.  But we had fun anyway.

Coffee break at a little riverside park on the little Spokane River.  These folks just had to walk out into the water.

Our destination for the day was Green Bluff which reminded me of Apple Hill in Placerville.  Lots of little farms and fruit stands and the principal crop seems to be cherries, which are ripe for picking right now.  We went to the Siemer Farm for lunch.  They had lots of things for kids to do, such as a maze and a kingly tower to climb.

Notice the kids up in the tower,,,,,,

Just had  to climb up and look at the view,,,,,

Yes, I climbed the tower, guilty as charged,,,,

Lunch for me, pizza and a salad, in the shade of the old oak tree.

After lunch, our mission, find the ice cream!  It was at the Cherry Shack

.And what did we have?    Ice cream with cherry sauce on top,  Wow, good stuff.  

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Made a few purchases, some cherry jam, and some raspberry/huckleberry jam and a home made carrying bag (for Pat)  Then just had to inspect a cherry tree up close and personal, haven't had that pleasure since I was a little kid.  Love those cherries.  Click on the picture below for a bigger version....

About this time, the temperature was going up fast, so we headed downhill from Green Bluff and hustled back to our hotel.  100 degrees when we got back. Phew, but you know what they say, 
"it's a dry heat!"     Okay, that's all the news fit to print today.

Model T National Tour in Spokane - 2021 - Day 5

 Day 5, July 11, 2021.  South to the Palouse Country, 140 miles.  The day started well for me, I am out in the parking lot at my usual hour, before 6:00AM and one of the local club members came by and gave me an early bird prize, a darn fine Remington knife.  How about that?

Off we went, in 65 degree weather, so nice, south on country roads this time, no redlights, just good old two lane roads through the farmland.  The little towns are just that, very little.   Gas pumps are few and far between, no gas stations, just self serve gas pumps.  These pumps were in Rosalia, WA.   Took a while but we finally figured out how to make our visa card work.

70 miles through the wheat fields and little hamlets and we arrived for lunch in the city park of Oakesdale, WA.  The tour furnished deli sandwiches for lunch and we enjoyed them in the shade in the town park, very pleasant.

After lunch, more country roads through the wheat fields, getting warmer.   Next rest stop was at the Mt. Hope Church, a country church all by itself out in the country.

This was a potty stop, or I should say an outhouse stop, genuine outhouse circa 1900,,,,,

At least it had a seat,,,,

More wheat, lots of big grain elevators, strings of railroad grain cars.  

It was right at 99 degrees when we got back to our hotel,  just a little wilted.

Some miscellaneous notes:  When we see a deer, seems like it is always in a town, which makes sense I guess, they don't eat wheat.  Dave H is still getting gas tank coating stopping up his fuel filter.  Moral of that story, never coat the inside of your gas tank.  Went thru Turnbull Wildlife Refuge, never saw a thing.  There is zero litter on these country roads.  This might be Trump country.  

Wildlife that we did see:  6 turkeys, bunch of geese in an algae covered pond, lots of red tail hawks,,,,

Event of the day:  I was hightailing it as the temp was climbing and a modern car actually pulled over and let me pass!!!

Oddity of the day:  This 4WD Model T.

 Don't know what the problem is, but this has been going on most of the afternoon and evening, not one of our people.....

That's all folks,,,,