ALBERTA NATIONAL T TOUR – Days 5,6,7

Okotoks to Calgary to Cochrane, AB, a bunch of miles on trains, planes, and automobiles.        Whew, whirlwind.  Calgary Stampede, here we come. 

Grounds are huge, almost downtown, look at the buildings, in the background, not bad for a cow town.
 
We waded past the carnival parts and found the ag buildings.  Eat Alberta beef!!
Pat loves the draft horses, good thing the trailer is small.
Almost front row for the chuck wagon races.
Chuck wagon races are crazy. Check out the videos.  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5tzXiEnjYovbzZxNXQwWjZqcDQ/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5tzXiEnjYovcDVqNWR3U1VGRTQ/view?usp=sharing
Madhouse when the show was over. Can you spot David in this picture? 
We survived two days at the Stampede and then headed for Cochrane, Alberta.    But,,,,,,,,  we had to stop at Heritage Park in Calgary, even though it was dripping rain.  And guess what we found to look at,,,,,   They have a new building called Gasoline Alley.
And now,,,, we have arrived at Cochrane,   this must be the place, lot of Model T’s out there.  

Guess what we had for the welcome BBQ?    ALBERTA BEEF by the local Lions Club and entertainment by some local talent..  Remember this girls name, Katie Jo Kirk,  could be the next Sheryl Crow.

That is just the tip of all the stuff we have been doing, and tomorrow, make that this morning, we are off to Banff.

ALBERTA NATIONAL T TOUR – Day 4

Kalispell, MT to Okotoks, AB, 260 miles.   Less miles, more stops.  We circled around Glacier National Park on route 2.  Actually first stop was at 8:00AM for Huckleberry stuff.
I had Huckleberry ice cream for breakfast.  Then on to Glacier Park Lodge, one of those magnificent old National Park Lodges. 


Inside, Becky treated us to a little classical concert on their piano.

Just across the road is the old original and still functional train station.  Just had to go look at that.

The guys discovered that the tracks were being worked on with these fascinating machines.  This required at least a half hour of figuring out how they worked.

They had replaced some of the ties and were tamping the gravel around the new ones.  One guy operating the first machine and the second one worked all by itself, fully automated somehow, finding the new tie and tamping around and under it.  Notice it is a drone.

Ray and I picked up a couple souvenirs.  Mine only weighs 1/4 pound, Ray’s weighs 10 lbs.

On to the border, only 10 minutes to cross, I guess we don’t look too undesirable, very light traffic at our little 2 lane road crossing.

Heading north, the landscape immediately changed to Alberta prairie, wheat fields and canola fields.    Canola fields are this bright yellow color, quite pretty.

Stopped in High River, to see Maggies Diner which is prominently featured in the Canadian TV series “Heartland”.  Bob and Pat are big Heartland fans, it is only available in the US on Netflix.

Tomorrow, the Calgary Stampede.  We probably won’t post again until Sunday.
Pat’s signs for the day:
Bear Spray for Sale
Be Bear Aware
Distracting Driving Rule in Effect
I go where I am towed.

ALBERTA NATIONAL TOUR – 3

McCall, ID to Kalispell, MT, 365 miles.  Have to start off with this picture, Ray and a friend he bearly knows.  Click to get large pic.

Did a lot of canyon driving as we went up the Clearwater and Lochsa River canyons.

Only stopped once for construction.

Guess what, we went over Lolo Pass, just keeping up with the several Model A folks who were long distance touring and also went over Lolo Pass just a few weeks ago. And now we are in Montana.

These are unique to Montana, animal crossovers.

And got snagged at the Miracle of America Museum.  Even though we were there 5 years ago, it was a treat. 


Pat’s signs that tickled her funnybone:
Lowell, pop 29 23
Animal Bridge  (see picture above)
Cell phone pull-out.   (Come on, who is going to use those??)
And just lots of scenery.    Tomorrow,,,,,,   Canada.

ALBERTA NATIONAL T TOUR – Day 2

Lakeview, OR to McCall, ID, 360 miles.   Started out  nice and cool driving through the high desert cattle country, beautiful in a harsh kind of way.

The area around Lakeview was originally known as the MC Ranch, roughly a million acres, larger than Rhode Island. Imagine that, one of the 4 largest ranches ever in the USA.  All the fences are anchored by these stone postpiles, there must be millions of them in Oregon.  We didn’t really steal those rocks.

One rule of touring, never drive past an outhouse.  In Oregon, they are real outhouses, small houses for the small roads.

One stop at this establishment out in the middle of nowhere.  Riley, population maybe 4.

And inside, everything for the bow hunter, and trophies on every wall.   We had ice cream here.  After all, it was after 9 o’clock.    We introduced Vicki to ice cream Snicker bars, obviously has led a sheltered life.
 
The next place that we actually had to turn around and come back to, again in the middle of nowhere, but a must for old rust seekers.

The previous owner actually built a ramp behind the building and drove it up there decades ago.   The gentleman who runs Oard’s Service said that people have even climbed up to steal a part, but it is pretty much intact.  We offered to start it up and drive it off, no dice.

And inside the other part of the building, holy cow!!  This buisness has been in the family for 135 years, three generations!

And this is for John Guzzetta.   We went over both Stinkwater Pass and Drinkwater Pass.  I am not sure which one gave us all the Model A vaporlock problems back in 2002 but the grades are still steep and the temperature is still hot.  And the Oasis Cafe is still there down in the valley.   The Oasis saved our lives in 2002,  air conditioned cars saved our lives today.

We finished the day with different scenery, lots of big trees.  McCall is a winter sports area, ski lift and all. 

That’s all folks, except for Pat’s weird signs.
Wagontire – population 3
Whoa, missed Riley.
What Knot Shop.
Pistol Packin Pickles  (for sale, I guess.)

ALBERTA NATIONAL T TOUR – Day 1

Finally our departure date arrived for the National Model T Tour in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada.  The group (Bratts, Fontaines, Meneelys, and Harrisons) met in Pleasanton, and after a little confusion about which way to point the vehicles, we hit the road.

You know what 680 does to tiedown straps.   The coupe would like to just dance right off the trailer.

But we survived the rough roads and traffic in the bay area and ,,,,,,,   finally,,,,,   got out into the countryside on two lane roads where we belong.

Took 299 to Alturas, made a little stop to peer down at the Pit River Canyon,,,,,,

Come on,,,, let’s walk down there and have a closer look at the falls and that cute little bridge.  No takers,,,,,,,      

And then,  what in the world is that?    It is rain, all you have to do is cross the Oregon border and there it is.

But, even in Oregon, they are short of water,  20 mile long Goose Lake is bone dry, just looks like a giant cattle pasture.  Been that way for 3 years, they say.

Overnighting in Lakeview, OR.  Wildmans caught up to us in their motorhome here just in time for dinner.  And here is the end to a good day on good old uncrowded two lane roads.  By the by, Glenn and Vicki hit the mother of all potholes and cracked the passenger side windshield.   Big piece of glass to be replaced.

Patti’s funny signs for the day:
“You can hold it a little longer”
“What happens in Corning stays in Corning.”
“Welcome  to Jefferson, the 51st state.”
“Buy a house, become earthbound.”    ????

MODEL T ENDURANCE RUN – 2015

 

June 14, 2015: 24 cars pulled up to the starting line at Oracle Agnews Campus in Santa Clara, CA. We had three lady drivers making the start (Pat was one of them), and 12 lady mechanics. 

 

The crowd loved it, especially when some pink flags appeared and were waved. This is always a great part of the Endurance Run, the interaction between the speedsters and the Lowland folk, lots of well-wishing and excitement, the national anthem, and announcing the starting grid. And then, "Gentlemen, and ladies, start your engines." "Is it running? I can't hear it with all the other cars running. I think so, feels like it is vibrating." We're off!!!!

The good thing about starting on an early Sunday morning and using the expressways is the traffic lights are all green. Made for a great drive all the way up Central Expressway to Palo Alto, although we had our first two casualties on that stretch. Glenn's #96 decided to make a little too much noise with a loose piece of bendix flying around inside the hogshead and Dan Gulko had a cracked drum which ate the low band.

Missed the turn off of Sand Hill onto Manzanita, but managed to signal to the cars behind and they all made the turn. Recovered and got back on track to the first check point at Dick Deluna's mighty fine garage in Woodside. We did spend some time there, lots of fine machines and petroliana for the drivers and mechanics to take in while our T's oiled Dick's driveway.

Times up already??? Okay, back on the road and time to climb. Old LaHonda Road??? Piece of cake, steep??? No problem. Switchbacks??? Crank that baby around. Made it to the top, crossed Skyline in the fog and started down the other side. Holy Cow, I was passed by bicycles on the way down, do you know a bicycle can go around the switchbacks faster than a speedster? That's because they can just lean way over into the turn and the speedster leans way over out of the turn. Exciting times.

We discovered that the coast side of the mountains can be a little COLD. We hit the bottom, took Stage Road to Highway 1 to Tunitas Creek Road. I call it Refrigerator Canyon. I swear you can get frostbite in the middle of the summer on that road. Up and over and down to the lunch stop at Towne Ford in Redwood City. Catered by Harry's Hofbrau, this was a fine lunch. During lunch a little repair work took place, Grover's "Old Yeller" came in on a flatbed and was revived in the parking lot. You can't keep a speedster with a name like that down.

After lunch, back to the hills, the route this time took us up through the Emerald Lakes area of Redwood City. This stretch was like a Laurel and Hardy film, cars coming and going every which way. I have heard tales of a Model T still circling in that area, but that is the stuff of legends and might not be true.

And then, up Kings Mountain Road, remember that one? The switchbacks have switchbacks, full throttle and lean into the uphill side. I had a flashback on one particular switchback that was the scene of a bicycle taking a shortcut across Ed Archer's hood many years ago. At the top, such an easy cruise down Skyline Blvd to the last check point at Skyline Preserve.

This was the home stretch, down Page Mill, assuming you didn't miss the turn at Page Mill, more twists and turns and braking, whew, arms getting tired. Made our way to Central Expressway and headed for the finish. You know what, we have not seen another speedster since we left Skyline, it's getting late, we must be last. Imagine our surprise when we turned onto Laurelwood and found we were the first car in!!! We beat Troed in, we must have totally busted the time. Actually, I think we were the least lost in the group, and,,,,,,,,,,, no milkshake stop this year.

 

  That would have been a deal breaker, because we WON!!! First car in was closest to the official time. Who'd a thunk it?

Twenty cars finished, two were really late, (The Bratt girls ran out of gas, and Old Yeller might have been lost for the second time) and two more were lost somewhere in the last half. Larry Harness threw a rod, and we never saw Chris Kent at the finish, possibly still in Emerald Hills.  Pat shared rookie of the year with Noreen Blaze.

 

Good route, lot of fun, many thanks to the McKenzies for chairing this one.

So, what’s next?  We leave on Monday, July 6 for Alberta, Canada for a National Tour put on by the Model T Ford Club of America.  We will catch a little bit of the Calgary Stampede and then hit the backroads in Alberta.  Stay tuned,  bob meneely