Day five...new arrivals

We have all arrived in Pendelton. There's a plethora of stories to tell, however.
John & Judy stayed away from the main group at the Cascade Locks in a little cabin in the midst of re-modelling. The rest of the group stayed at the Best Western, and none of the rooms were under heavy construction.

Anticipating a 7AM start time, J&J arrived at the hotel early, to find no Model A-ers stirring. Will straggled into the lobby to report that the depart time had been revised to 8AM. Linda appeared, and we asked her if she had seen Bill yet this morning, to which she cheerilly replied: "I saw him earlier fiddling with his horn..." A moment passed as J & J looked at each other, before we asked: "Sparton?". We referred to our spiral-bound, official Northwest Regional Driving Schedule, but there was nothing about a new depart time, or fiddling with your horn that early in the morning...
Some of us crossed the bridge to the Washington side of the Columbia River, heading for Pendelton, while others elected to take the nice 4 lane, separated highway on the Oregon side. J & J had a flat about 30 miles out to start the morning,

Daryl is losing oil from the rear main faster than he can pour it in, Bill & Linda have been experiencing Model A hot flashes in this heat, and all of us arrived a tad testy and damp in the heat.
Happy Hour dispelled all our rancor, hosted by Daryl and Jack in a special room they paid for out of their own pocket! Nice touch, guys! We needed to unwind after a 1000 plus miles on the road!

Dave & Susan, Jack & Diana have arrived, and we were tickled to see Chris & Sharon pull into the parking lot in their Model A. We left Bill in the Happy Hour room demonstrating the Blog site to our new travel companions (Delta A's) Ed & Dianne.
As we departed for our rooms, I passed Karla while she was using her key card to open her door. Will was farther down the hall, and I told him Karla was going into a strange room back there. Without a blink, he said "We gotta pay for this trip somehow". Oh Will, oh Will...You gonna pay for that!
Maybe we're just like over-stimulated children...we need to go to bed.

Day 4 - Headin' up the Columbia river

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From John and Judy:

Last night, the main group stayed in a sensible motel in Tillamook. We, on the other hand, stayed up the road and on the beach at the Slippery Sandy Slope Motel in Rockaway Beach. Before we get to the accounting of Day Four, here’s a copy of the e-mail we sent Patti this morning:

“You ever had really bad motel neighbors? Title this: “ Hillbillys visit the Seashore”. Maw and Paw next door had more kids between them than they had teeth. And each one of them kids slammed the back door at least twenty times last night… after midnight. They kept running down to the ocean out back, but the fierce undertow refused to take ‘em. I think Maw and Paw brought Pappy along, because you could hear him cackling and spitting out the back door over the kid’s heads. We abandoned all hopes of sleep about three this morning when one of the misbegotten little idiots began strumming on his home-made banjo…This morning, I can picture them all huddled on the motel floor, like a pack of raccoons, sniffing the air and twitching happily in sniffy contentment.”

Both groups left about 7 AM this morning in the drizzly rain, headed for Astoria and the Maritime Museum. Mel’s coupe is hanging in there, and he’s babying it along. Bill thinks the Sedan is making an odd noise, but no one, so far, can identify the malady. Joel woke to a flat tire, and Bill and Mel sent everyone ahead, while they assessed their situations. They did get to the Maritime Museum, and went on to Sea View for lunch…by 3 PM, they were still there, wondering what that new sound was coming from Jack’s car. Bill cancelled happy hour, since it will probably take four hours to reach the Locks.

When I called Bill from Jack & Dianna’s in Portland, he gave me a new name…”Ditcher John”. Think I better lay low for a few months.

The Jones’ have been staying at Jack & Dianna’s for the last few days, and will drive with them to Pendelton tomorrow.

Less than 200 miles to go to our destination…keep a good thought for our safe arrival.

Drifting around the mighty Columbia River Basin…J & J, Bill, Liz & Ron, Bill & Linda, Joel, Ed & Dianne, Will, Chris & Karla, Pat & Reiko, Chuck & Nora, Mel, Daryl, Ewert & Cathy, Jack, the bird of mechanical woes, and Bob & Patti in spirit…

Day three…and the beat goes on, July 21, 2007

We have a truly wireless connection tonight at the Silver Sandals on the Frigid Beach Motel in Rockaway Beach, Oregon! We’ll even attempt to post some pictures. Most of us left Gold Beach and the Bot’s Dots Motel about 7 AM this morning, although Mel left even earlier. He’s running gingerly along on a motor that may not last much longer. For now, the plan is to take it easy and see how far that little blue coupe will go. Last we heard Mel was in Lincoln City with the main group about 4 PM.
Some of us stopped for a slooow breakfast in Port Orford, while it continued to rain steadily on our parade. Outside of Coos Bay we stopped for a short tour of the Clausen Oyster works conducted by the owner, Lilli Clausen…who is a dead ringer for Doctor Ruth Westheimer. She stands about four foot nothing, but she sure knows her oysters. It continued to rain steadily as we rolled out of there and continued on toward Newport. Chuck and Nora, Jack, and Ron and Liz all waited patiently at the Firehouse Restaurant for lunch with the rest of the group, but schedules were running late and the others decided to skip the date.
It rained all day, and by this time I remembered what I forgot…a toothbrush and the windshield wiper arm for the car. Spent the whole day peering through the dancing rain drops on my windshield. We ran into a gigantic traffic nightmare in Lincoln City. The whole freeway to Eugene was completely closed down and the traffic heading to Astoria and Tillamook was detoured off the main road. We wound up taking a “scenic” route up through a pristine lonely forest…no other vehicles to be seen…real Bigfoot country. And we never did find out was the disaster was that closed down the entire freeway system for miles around Lincoln City.
The main group plans to have oysters tonight in Tillamook . Bill couldn’t pass up buying a sack of them from Doctor Ruth back there in Coos Bay. Bill & Linda hosted the first night’s happy hour back in Bragg, and Will & Karla did the honors last night. Its called happy hour because we’re all so happy we made another day in that Model A!
Let’s try some pictures tonight for the sensible folks who stayed home.

Day Two in the Can, July 20, 2007

We’re in Gold Beach, Oregon tonight. That is, most of us are here. Bob & Patti are in Crescent City on an unscheduled layover, alone, with a broken Model A. It doesn’t even matter much what went wrong. The sad news is that the mechanical problem is so bad that they can’t continue. But the good news is that they are safe, in a good-size town with a U-Haul trailer reserved to carry the old Coupe home Saturday morning. Bob had the great good sense and experience to recognize the problem, and stop in a civilized place before they found themselves disabled on a wind-y, two lane road in the wilds of the Oregon coast. Sometimes, the old Model A DOESN’T get you there, so it helps to be smart…
Mel is having some problems with his “A” as well. Won’t be sure if he’s able to continue until later tonight or tomorrow morning…sure hope the trouble can be repaired. Two of the top mechanics in the club having problems tonight. Makes you stop and think. Long touring is a lot of fun, but it’s also real serious business with some consequences attached to all those primitive miles…
On the fun side, we started out this morning fresh, and ready to drive 270 miles after a continental breakfast at the Holiday in Fort Bragg. We drove through the rugged coastal redwood forest to Leggitt and paid $5 for the privilege of driving your car through a giant redwood …this one is named the “Chandelier” Redwood. Then we ferged on to Forndale to explore the shops and emporiums on Victorian Main Street. Another marathon lunch occurred at the Samoa Cookhouse today outside of Eureka, where many over-ate anonymously. We took a group picture outside the eatery. Some of us kneeled for the shot, and were unable to arise gracefully afterwards. Patti was heard to ask Bob for assistance after a loud “OOMPH”
From here, we took the sinuous, unforgiving two-lane up the 101 coast to Gold Beach. Magnificent scenery and a clear day to enjoy the rocky coastline. The farther we drove, the misty-er it got, until we drove into a rainy motel called Jot’s Resort in Gold Beach.
After some calls back and forth to Bob & Pattti, in an effort to forestall the inevitable, Bob called at 10:20 PM to advise that they are definitely heading home tomorrow morning, which is going to make the party less cheery. Dang…
On to Tillamook and beyond.
Ps: since Rot’s Resort only has wireless WIFI if you trot your computer down to the office and sit nicely at their station, we’ll send this tomorrow from a more civilized venue.

Day 2 – Raining on my parade.

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Bob M: Departed at 7:00am, at 7:15 got a call from Darryl, Jack’s battery was completely dead and they were still at the campground 15 miles south. Bob M gave some shade tree advice, “when you get it started, bang on the cutout, and if that doesn’t get it to charging, put on the alternator which Jack is carrying.” And the group kept on going in true SCVC fashion.

Several calls later, they were at our motel with a battery charger on the car. Except now they are 2 hours behind the pack.

Drove the twisty turny route 1 to Leggett and took pictures at the drive-thru redwood tree, and then made a break for Ferndale on 101 which compared to hwy 1 is a straight and level boulevard. Averaged 55 mph most of the way.

Ferndale is a Victorian town, very quaint, lots of gingerbread on the houses, main street right out of 1920. Great shops, old time soda fountain, general store with stacks of boaters, penny candy for $2 a bag.

12 miles to Eureka, gas is low, Patti claims the gas gauge is no longer bouncing, Bob says no problemo. The tank only took 9.27 gallons, see, lots of gas left. We ate family style for an hour and a half at the Samoa Cookhouse, and Jack and Darryl showed up in time to eat. Afterwards we all decided that we were not going to have dinner ever again, and pushed on north on 101.

And then the fun began, Bob’s little engine rattle became a BIGGER engine rattle. Stopped about 15 miles out of Crescent City to take a closer listen to my engine, and that’s when we decided that we were not going to make it to Pendleton. At 4:45 we passed a U-haul dealer in Crescent City, made a U-ie and got there just before he closed for the weekend and made arrangements for a truck and dolly. Meanwhile, Chuck Elderton came by and stopped to listen to the rattle. He immediately identified it as a broken piston, sounding just like the one he had a couple months ago. Chuck’s advice was to go have a nice dinner and forget about it. Good advice.

Checked into the Super 8, cancelled a bunch of reservations, and decided to go look for some food after all. We walked about a half mile down the road and went for a seafood dinner. As we were sitting there looking out the window, what else, it began to rain. Did we bring an umbrella? What do you think. This was the week that was, so far.

And here is a Jack story. Jack and Darryl met a guy taking pictures of the old cars, turns out they have mutual friends, asked about any cheap motels in Gold Beach, guy says I have a house that I am working on, you can stay there for free. So there they are in this old house, which now that it is raining is leaking a little. Jack is thinking of putting up his tent. But you gotta admit, the price is right.

John Guzzetta is hereby designated as the official blogger for the rest of the trip.

Bob m

Day 1 - July 19, 2007 Let’s get out of town before the house falls down around us, or it’s time to leave when nothing else fits in the car.

Yesterday, the ice maker quit, the toilet in the ¾ bath sprung a leak, the kitchen door slammed shut in the wind knocking the doorbell box off which crashed to the floor, the printer quit printing blue. This morning 5 minutes before we left, the hot water heater started leaking, just lucky we had not left. (this must be the day that the 5 year warranty is up) We turned it off, and as we walked out the door we notice the ants walking in behind us, one by one. We called our daughter and told her to put a for sale sign on the house as is.

Hit the road at 8:05, made the parking lot at the Golden Gate bridge at 9:20 and met up with Jack Castor and Darryl Coe, and a couple from Washington (Paul and Carla Christen) who just bought a Model A roadster in SF this morning sight unseen and are on their way back to WA, hoping to tag along with us. Hope this works out, the timing gear is rattling at low speed, but we discussed that if it goes, they will go find a U-haul and finish the trip that way. Paul is learning Model A maintenance as we go.

Beautiful clear day crossing the Golden Gate and on up 101 to Cloverdale. Glad we were not going south, traffic backed up stop and go for at least 30 miles. In Cloverdale, we met the rest of our contingent who had come up from Pleasanton, and now we total 14 Model A’s and 24 people. That turns a few heads. Had a family style lunch at the Hamburger/Pasta Ranch in Cloverdale. Good smoked salmon pasta and all you could eat. The Model A Food Club is in full swing.

Next stop Navarro Winery for wine and chocolate. A little side trip through the redwoods of Mendocino gave everybody a lot of arm exercise on the winding roads. And I think I have seen enough trees.

Little mechanical problems to date, Bill Rose has a coil wire that keeps falling out, Ewart was blowing fuses till a crossed headlight wire was diagnosed, Darryl Coe stopped with fouled points, finally got a cell call through to the group ahead and so Bill and Melvin started back to assist, but Darryl got it going before they got there. We are at the Holiday Inn in Fort Bragg. It was a little warm in our room so Bob M found a switch on the box under the window and turned it on high, and cool air flowed in at first. Went back to check it 10 minutes later when it seemed to be getting warmer in the room and discovered that it was really an electric heater and we had made it 5 degrees hotter. Patti called the desk and asked how to turn on the air conditioning and they told her to open her windows. We don’t need no stinking AC in Mendocino County.

At happy hour hosted by the Nicholsons, told our heater story and Ron Bueno got a funny look on his face and ran up to his room to shut off his heater. Stuffed ourselves again at dinner at the Wharf Restaurant, walked on the beach, tested the water and it is cold. End of Day 1.
~by bob m



July 19, 2007 from the Guzzettas:
Ever notice how you start out on a long tour with lots of enthusiasm and high expectations? You wake up at 4:31 AM, take a shower, and go over in your groggy mind all the stuff you’ve done to make your Model A bullet-proof on the long haul ahead…But there’s always something there in the back of your remembering that makes you think “I forgot something”.

We started out with nine Model A’s from the Pleasanton meeting place, while another contingent headed off to San Francisco, crossing the Golden Gate to meet up with us in Cloverdale for lunch at the Hamburger Emporium. But we didn’t have hamburger. We had smoked salmon pasta, garlic bread and salad. A lotta pasta, garlic bread and salad. So much, in fact that the following ride to Navarro Vineyard was a little too bumpy…a tad too twisty…and somewhat prolonged. You can’t beat good food. We’ve decided to have a contest to determine who gains the most poundage on the trip. Today, I won.

Along the way, Bill discovered that his coil wire is just too short. You plug it in, and after awhile…it just falls out. Mel tried to wire it in so that it wouldn’t drop out, but most of us think he’s going to just have to get a longer one if he wants to keep up with us.

We all got together at The Wharf, here in Fort Bragg for dinner this evening after Daryl’s little hiccup this afternoon. Something to do with distributors and broken shafts, and a Model A that quit running happy. You’d think that people who had just gorged at lunch might moderate at dinner…Nah!

We head for Gold Beach tomorrow at 7:03 AM. Lots of new faces in the crowd. We’ll explore them all as we wheeze and bump our way to Pendelton.
Keep in mind: if your coil wire’s too short, you’re gonna lose power…
~By John & Judy

2007 - ON THE ROAD AGAIN, GOING PLACES THAT WE'VE NEVER BEEN.

We are at it again, off to Pendleton, OR this time to the Northwest Regional Model A Roundup. The coupe is rested and fit, all the spare parts are tucked under the seat and in the rumble, and it's running like a top, so I think we are ready. Just need to pack a couple suitcases, and a few snacks and off we go on Thursday, July 19, 2007. We have about 15 intrepid Model A travelers in our group. We will be taking the long way round to get to Pendleton, up the California and Oregon coast on Hwy 101 all the way to Ilwaco, Washington and then up the mighty Columbia River basin to Pendleton. We are in no hurry, we will take 5 days to get there, with lots of stopping and sightseeing and poking around. So stay tuned, and we will keep you up to date.

The long long flight

We made it, left Guangzhou at 5:30 am, changed planes in Hong Kong, arrived home at 8:15 am, the next day, we are a little fuzzy.

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Day 11 to the End, Still adding text and pics

We have been falling down on the blog here lately, so will try to catch up. We left Wuhan on China Southern Airlines on another flight packed with businessmen. As near as I can tell, there at least six airlines inside China. Reading in the paper, all are government owned, but now some privately owned airlines are also starting up. Some fly airbuses and some fly Boeing 737’s. Also in the paper, Airbus just inked an order for an additional 150 airplanes, and the Chinese aircraft company which up to now has made only up to RJ size is planning to start manufacturing larger aircraft to compete with Airbus and Boeing.

More newspaper trivia, there are 2 million private automobiles in Beijing, and the number is exploding.

We are now in Guangzhou (Canton) which is more southern and tropical. very balmy this time of year, and they get no snow, population 11 million. The streets and blvds have a lot of trees, noticeably more than Beijing and Wuhan. Some of the streets are very pretty. The Pearl River which is the second largest river in China runs thru Guanzhou on its way to Hong Kong, and it is a freeway for freight. There is a constant stream of motorized barges up and down the river. The smallest are sampan class, about 20 ft long, the largest maybe 200 to 300 feet long. Coal, containers, lot of sand and gravel going up and down the river. At any given time, there are probably 8 to 10 in view from our hotel room.

Guangzhou has a very modern international airport and the expressways into the city worked remarkably well. In the city center, the expressways are elevated up about 3 or 4 stories and snake through the buildings. The upper level is like a freeway with no redlights and you exit to the side and down to the lower level which is the city streets with all the redlights and heavy traffic. Amazing.

We are staying at the White Swan Hotel on the Pearl River, very nice and plush, and definitely the hotel of choice for tourists. Just down the street is a restaurant called Lucy’s which specializes in western food. It is really funny to go down there and see all the Americans ordering hamburgers, french fries, pizza, fish and chips. We are back into a tourist section with all the souvenir stands, although they are not as aggressive as in Beijing.

Yesterday or the day before, we took the ferry across the Pearl River, cost us 7 cents each. We landed in the west part of Guangzhou and walked around. I think we were in an old upscale section, no high rises, just low rise 3 or 4 story apartments, wide tree lined streets, very nice area.

We just got back from a trip to the jewelry mart, an amazing concentration of jewelry shops in a 7 story open mall, must have been a thousand shops all in one place. Took a cab to get there for 7 yuan, walked back following our guide through: a really upscale shopping street, no traffic allowed, and then down a bunch of side streets. One street was devoted to tropical fish for aquariums (the whole darn street), one street devoted to pets (dogs, cats, mice, hermit crabs), one street devoted to medicinal herbs, I do not see how anybody can make a living when there are so many shops/stalls in one place.

Included is a bunch of pictures of the last couple days. (Well, maybe, not doing too well on pictures right now, check back later)

Just click on any picture for a larger version and maybe even a caption.....