Just a quick note this evening to update you. No pictures this evening.
We drove through more beautiful conifer forests in Eastern Montana and then into Idaho to Sandpoint, ID which is situated near a number of lakes and rivers. The temperature was about 106 - a bit of a change from a couple of weeks ago when we were bundled up in winter coats and had to wear our "thermies" to stay warm. As long as the car keeps moving and there is a slight breeze it is very comfortable even when the temperature is over 100. If you are stopped or in town traffic it gets pretty hot. Since we got into Sandpoint early afternoon, we had some time to look around the area and explore antique shops. I had some minor success in those shops.
Everything out here is extremely hot and dry. We have been traveling Rt 2 in Montana, Idaho and now in Washington State and have been concerned about forest fires. We found out that there is a forest fire about 130 miles from where we are staying this evening near Spokane, WA that has affected over 30 homes. We will probably be in the fire area tomorrow or the next day. I don't know what conditions we'll encounter or if we will have to find an alternate route. Finding an alternate route could get tricky since we need to avoid the mountains if at all possible. One thing is for sure, we can't outrun a fire in the E-M-F.
More tomorrow.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Ever had that "Oh ,#*#* feeling? Joe and I were driving yesterday somewhere west of Kalispell, MT when out of the corner of my eye I spotted something. Joe looked at his mirror and saw papers flying everywhere. It was our Montana map atlas with our route and all the attached notes of who to see, where to see them, phone numbers and which day to see them. It was our "bible" on the state of Montana. When we reached a safe place to pull over a pickup pulled over and the lady inside said, "Something just flew out of your car". Like we didn't know, I politely told her "Thank you".
As we walked all the way back up the hill, I saw papers fluttering everywhere. Joe took one side of the road and I took the other. We retrieved papers from the road and the tall grass beside the road. Joe's side had a ditch and my side had a guard rail, a narrow 3 foot ledge that looked way down a drop off. I climbed over the guard rail and carefully looked down to see if I could spot any papers. I didn't see anything down there and thankfully didn't have to make the decision to risk life and limb for a piece of paper.
Back on the road with our Montana "bible" once again, we carried on. We've now driven about 3,400 miles and this trip has become a lifestyle.
As we walked all the way back up the hill, I saw papers fluttering everywhere. Joe took one side of the road and I took the other. We retrieved papers from the road and the tall grass beside the road. Joe's side had a ditch and my side had a guard rail, a narrow 3 foot ledge that looked way down a drop off. I climbed over the guard rail and carefully looked down to see if I could spot any papers. I didn't see anything down there and thankfully didn't have to make the decision to risk life and limb for a piece of paper.
Back on the road with our Montana "bible" once again, we carried on. We've now driven about 3,400 miles and this trip has become a lifestyle.
Friday, June 26, 2015
More about Glacier Park:
One of the highlights of any trip to Glacier Park is driving on "Going to the Sun Road" that meanders through the park through spectacular scenery. On this particular day, an old 1912 car was as much an attraction as the scenery. I wish I had a nickle for every picture taken of the car today on that road!
A view of "Going to the Sun Road".
Tunnel through sheer rock on "Going to the Sun Road".
Joe filling a jug with water from a waterfall just beside the road. They had been doing construction on the road and had us waiting about 15 minutes before they let us through. Joe had left the car running and it started to get a little hot so he decided to add water to the radiator. Had there not been road construction, there would not have been any problem at all with overheating. The car performed beautifully all the way.
Betty and the E-M-F beside the road near the top.
Mountain stream showing the beautiful and unique turquoise of glacial snow melt. It is the most amazing sight. The streams were clear and the lakes so clear you could see the rocks on the bottom way out from shore until the lake bottom was so deep it was just turquoise to dark blue.
Just one of many types of wildflowers in bloom in the park. These were a lavender purple with bright blue at the tips. Just beautiful.
Glacier Park was spectacular! I have wanted to visit the park since I was a teenager and this was a dream come true. What better way to visit than in a 1912 E-M-F, just toodling along enjoying the scenery!
One of the highlights of any trip to Glacier Park is driving on "Going to the Sun Road" that meanders through the park through spectacular scenery. On this particular day, an old 1912 car was as much an attraction as the scenery. I wish I had a nickle for every picture taken of the car today on that road!
A view of "Going to the Sun Road".
Joe filling a jug with water from a waterfall just beside the road. They had been doing construction on the road and had us waiting about 15 minutes before they let us through. Joe had left the car running and it started to get a little hot so he decided to add water to the radiator. Had there not been road construction, there would not have been any problem at all with overheating. The car performed beautifully all the way.
Betty and the E-M-F beside the road near the top.
Mountain stream showing the beautiful and unique turquoise of glacial snow melt. It is the most amazing sight. The streams were clear and the lakes so clear you could see the rocks on the bottom way out from shore until the lake bottom was so deep it was just turquoise to dark blue.
Just one of many types of wildflowers in bloom in the park. These were a lavender purple with bright blue at the tips. Just beautiful.
Glacier Park was spectacular! I have wanted to visit the park since I was a teenager and this was a dream come true. What better way to visit than in a 1912 E-M-F, just toodling along enjoying the scenery!
Yesterday we traveled to the East Entrance of Glacier National Park and spent the night at St. Mary's, a very small village with only a couple of motels, a couple of restaurants, one combination grocery/gas station/curio shop and not much else.
We had met an older gentleman in Browning, MT, not far from Glacier earlier in the day who told us of a beautiful area that locals think is just as pretty as Glacier Park. He grew up in Glacier and still lives out in the wilderness without electricity or indoor plumbing. We followed his advice and stayed on Rt 2 out of Browning and took Rt 49 at the village of East Glacier Park. This took us to Two Medicine Lake, an incredibly beautiful area.
Two Medicine Lake. Spectacular!
Another view of Two Medicine Lake area.
In St Mary's, we spent the night at a little vintage 50's type motel (no air conditioning, clean, but simple). The motel and restaurant near by were originally started by a local couple who lived into their 90's. He was also a guide in the area.
View from the motel toward the lake nearby.
The interior of the restaurant was filled with everything from old signs to old traps to harness, pelts and antlers and everything else you could think of. The walls were log and the tables covered in red and white checked oilcloth. I could very easily just move right in. I love it. The food was just incredible. The bread was homemade, the soup was delicious and our hamburger steak was more like meatloaf. Breakfast was oatmeal and more homemade bread. Can't beat that kind of food!
We entered Glacier Park from the east and the peaks were beautiful but not as snow covered as I had expected. We had been told that the pass had only been opened the week before and I had visions of snow covering the peaks and drifts 8 feet high on each side of the road.
We had just entered the park and saw several cars parked and people rushing to the other side of the road. We knew that they had probably spotted some type of wildlife and were trying to get a photo. Look at about the middle of the photo above. That brown thing in the middle just below the trees is a GRIZZLY BEAR!!!!!! just ambling along. He was big and I was pretty glad that he was way up on that hill. I never dreamed I would actually see one in the wild.
Above is a Big Horn Sheep resting on a spot of snow. It was really pretty hot today (mid 90's) and he had picked a great spot to cool off.
This was about the most snow covered peak we saw. In the 1850's there were about 150 glaciers in the park and by the mid 1960's that had dropped to about 50. There are now only about 25 glaciers left and they are receding rapidly. Scientists believe that they will all be gone in 2 to 3 decades. What a shame.
We had met an older gentleman in Browning, MT, not far from Glacier earlier in the day who told us of a beautiful area that locals think is just as pretty as Glacier Park. He grew up in Glacier and still lives out in the wilderness without electricity or indoor plumbing. We followed his advice and stayed on Rt 2 out of Browning and took Rt 49 at the village of East Glacier Park. This took us to Two Medicine Lake, an incredibly beautiful area.
Two Medicine Lake. Spectacular!
Another view of Two Medicine Lake area.
In St Mary's, we spent the night at a little vintage 50's type motel (no air conditioning, clean, but simple). The motel and restaurant near by were originally started by a local couple who lived into their 90's. He was also a guide in the area.
View from the motel toward the lake nearby.
The interior of the restaurant was filled with everything from old signs to old traps to harness, pelts and antlers and everything else you could think of. The walls were log and the tables covered in red and white checked oilcloth. I could very easily just move right in. I love it. The food was just incredible. The bread was homemade, the soup was delicious and our hamburger steak was more like meatloaf. Breakfast was oatmeal and more homemade bread. Can't beat that kind of food!
We entered Glacier Park from the east and the peaks were beautiful but not as snow covered as I had expected. We had been told that the pass had only been opened the week before and I had visions of snow covering the peaks and drifts 8 feet high on each side of the road.
We had just entered the park and saw several cars parked and people rushing to the other side of the road. We knew that they had probably spotted some type of wildlife and were trying to get a photo. Look at about the middle of the photo above. That brown thing in the middle just below the trees is a GRIZZLY BEAR!!!!!! just ambling along. He was big and I was pretty glad that he was way up on that hill. I never dreamed I would actually see one in the wild.
Above is a Big Horn Sheep resting on a spot of snow. It was really pretty hot today (mid 90's) and he had picked a great spot to cool off.
This was about the most snow covered peak we saw. In the 1850's there were about 150 glaciers in the park and by the mid 1960's that had dropped to about 50. There are now only about 25 glaciers left and they are receding rapidly. Scientists believe that they will all be gone in 2 to 3 decades. What a shame.
THE STEERING COLUMN
Now, back to my information to the layperson.
A week or so ago I talked about what needs to be done to a Brass-era car to make it road-worthy for serious touring.
Now, what do I do to the car each day as far as daily maintenance?
The first thing I do is walk around the car and give it a good visual inspection to see that the tires are up, there is no sign of loose lug nuts (wheel nuts) or anything else that might be out of the ordinary. I do a visual inspection on each side of the engine to see that the fan belt is tight, that there are no signs of unusual oil, water, or gas leaks. I look to see if anything might be loose, etc. Each day I lubricate the car - grease all the fittings, fill all the oil cups with oil, check and add oil to the engine, check to see that there is sufficient water in the radiator, check the fuel level which requires removing the passenger's seat cushion and inserting a measuring stick into the tank. The fuel in the tank is transferred to the carburetor solely by gravity flow so it is not a good idea to let the fuel level get too low in the tank or else the fuel in the tank will not have sufficient weight to push the fuel into the carburetor. I never let it get below three gallons in the tank. I look under the car to see where gas, oil or water may be dripping. Water dripping from the water pump likely indicates that the packing nuts need to be tightened a little. Gas dripping may indicate that the carburetor float is stuck. The remedy for that is usually tapping on the side of the carburetor with a wrench. It is a little like jiggling the handle on a toilet to keep it from running. It is normal for these cars to leak some oil - the engine, transmission, rear axle, etc. didn't have oil seals in those days. Experience tells me about how much dripping is normal. Excess amounts require further investigation.
Every couple of weeks, I check the air pressure in the tires with a gauge. There should be about 60 pounds of air pressure. About every 3,000 miles, I'll check the oil level in the transmission and the rear axle. On a trip like this one, I'll be changing the oil about every 1,000 miles. These engines don't have oil filters so it is important to change oil often. I use straight 30 weight oil containing high levels of zinc for proper lubrication. I add a dash of Marvel Mystery Oil to each tank of gas. I also add an additive called Ethanol Shield to counteract the effects of ethanol fuel. Most people who work on cars and old cars, especially, will tell you that ethanol is garbage. I use ethanol-free gas whenever I can find it.
Next time we'll talk about what is involved in starting the car.
Now, back to my information to the layperson.
A week or so ago I talked about what needs to be done to a Brass-era car to make it road-worthy for serious touring.
Now, what do I do to the car each day as far as daily maintenance?
The first thing I do is walk around the car and give it a good visual inspection to see that the tires are up, there is no sign of loose lug nuts (wheel nuts) or anything else that might be out of the ordinary. I do a visual inspection on each side of the engine to see that the fan belt is tight, that there are no signs of unusual oil, water, or gas leaks. I look to see if anything might be loose, etc. Each day I lubricate the car - grease all the fittings, fill all the oil cups with oil, check and add oil to the engine, check to see that there is sufficient water in the radiator, check the fuel level which requires removing the passenger's seat cushion and inserting a measuring stick into the tank. The fuel in the tank is transferred to the carburetor solely by gravity flow so it is not a good idea to let the fuel level get too low in the tank or else the fuel in the tank will not have sufficient weight to push the fuel into the carburetor. I never let it get below three gallons in the tank. I look under the car to see where gas, oil or water may be dripping. Water dripping from the water pump likely indicates that the packing nuts need to be tightened a little. Gas dripping may indicate that the carburetor float is stuck. The remedy for that is usually tapping on the side of the carburetor with a wrench. It is a little like jiggling the handle on a toilet to keep it from running. It is normal for these cars to leak some oil - the engine, transmission, rear axle, etc. didn't have oil seals in those days. Experience tells me about how much dripping is normal. Excess amounts require further investigation.
Every couple of weeks, I check the air pressure in the tires with a gauge. There should be about 60 pounds of air pressure. About every 3,000 miles, I'll check the oil level in the transmission and the rear axle. On a trip like this one, I'll be changing the oil about every 1,000 miles. These engines don't have oil filters so it is important to change oil often. I use straight 30 weight oil containing high levels of zinc for proper lubrication. I add a dash of Marvel Mystery Oil to each tank of gas. I also add an additive called Ethanol Shield to counteract the effects of ethanol fuel. Most people who work on cars and old cars, especially, will tell you that ethanol is garbage. I use ethanol-free gas whenever I can find it.
Next time we'll talk about what is involved in starting the car.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
The day before yesterday was a very l-o-n-g day - about 180 miles through wide open prairie grasslands. When the scenery looks about the same all day it just seems to make the day longer and the 180 miles we traveled was, in fact, one of our longer days. This was the first day that we really didn't need jackets most of the day. By afternoon it was in the mid-eighties and the breeze coming through the open car was just right. By the end of the day we just wanted a shower and a good night's sleep. We spent the night in Wolf Point which is located on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, home to the Dakota-Lokota-Nakota (Sioux) and Dakota (Assiniboine) nations. Wolf Point is the home of Montana's oldest rodeo, the Wild Horse Stampede held every July.
Yesterday we traveled through more open grassland prairie. The prairie out here goes on forever! Part of the land is cultivated, part is dedicated to cattle ranching and part is just raw prairie. Cultivated land is measured in really b-i-i-g-g--g fields of hundreds of acres. I saw wheat fields that went as far as the eye could see and that was a long way. They say Montana is "Big Sky" country and on the prairie, from horizon to horizon, it is just grass til it meets the sky.
A hay field cut and ready to be baled.
At the side of the roads are beautiful wildflowers in shades of blue, purple and yellow.
More wildflowers.
In the prairie you can see modern homes and farms and also old homesteads. What is interesting to me is that you can see the transportation and farm machinery history of a family right in their backyard. It seems like every car, truck, tractor, thresher, and other farm implement is kept from day one. It is quite a social history.
We saw a lot of ducks and other birds as the area through which we traveled was dotted with wildlife refuges. Again, the birds were too quick for me to photograph. Also we have seen deer and pheasant. The deer have been too far from the road and the pheasants, so visible as they cross the road, can dart into the tall grass before you can raise your camera. I keep the camera in my hands literally all day so that I can have the least chance of catching wildlife on camera.
Check out the snake on the pavement between the tires. It was about 5 1/2 feet long and very thankfully, D-E-A-D!! Joe picked it up and laid it out by the car and I had to hop over it to get into the car. I DID NOT LIKE IT!! I don't know what kind of snake it was, but it was big and a snake, and that was enough for me.
Today was more prairie, but we did eventually see, far off in the distance, the faint outline of a mountain range. I did also see my first view of cactus, very small, very sparsely scattered and in bloom (yellow). It is beginning to feel like the West.
Our first glimpse of the mountains far in the distance. The trees are following the course of a creek.
We had planned to look up an HCCA (antique car) fellow in Havre, Montana. We called Wally Duchscher and there was no answer. Disappointed, we continued on. We were a ways out of town when a car passed us and pulled over. Later the same car tried to flag us down and kept pointing toward the side of the road. Being way between towns on a road that just went on forever, we were a little concerned about just pulling over. On the third pass, I told Joe that the fellow in the car looked harmless. The car pulled off the road and we followed. It turned out to be Wally Duchscher, the fellow we had tried to call in Havre. He was on his way to an appointment and hadn't expected to see us until Friday, 2 days from now (we are a little ahead of schedule). After a short conversation, we made arrangements to meet him in the little town of Runyon, about 20 miles up the road after he had taken care of his appointment.
Runyon has an interesting vintage car museum which is a private collection housed in an interesting old stone building owned by a German car enthusiast who visited the town some years back.
Vintage Car Museum in Runyon.
Only one of many interesting cars in the collection. Note the high wheel bike on the balcony. Behind the 50's car is a 20's Roosevelt car ( I'd never heard of one before) and one of Wally's cars, a 1926 Dodge. It was a real privilege to get to see this collection and we thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting with Wally. Hope to see him again "down the road"!
Yesterday we traveled through more open grassland prairie. The prairie out here goes on forever! Part of the land is cultivated, part is dedicated to cattle ranching and part is just raw prairie. Cultivated land is measured in really b-i-i-g-g--g fields of hundreds of acres. I saw wheat fields that went as far as the eye could see and that was a long way. They say Montana is "Big Sky" country and on the prairie, from horizon to horizon, it is just grass til it meets the sky.
A hay field cut and ready to be baled.
At the side of the roads are beautiful wildflowers in shades of blue, purple and yellow.
More wildflowers.
In the prairie you can see modern homes and farms and also old homesteads. What is interesting to me is that you can see the transportation and farm machinery history of a family right in their backyard. It seems like every car, truck, tractor, thresher, and other farm implement is kept from day one. It is quite a social history.
We saw a lot of ducks and other birds as the area through which we traveled was dotted with wildlife refuges. Again, the birds were too quick for me to photograph. Also we have seen deer and pheasant. The deer have been too far from the road and the pheasants, so visible as they cross the road, can dart into the tall grass before you can raise your camera. I keep the camera in my hands literally all day so that I can have the least chance of catching wildlife on camera.
Check out the snake on the pavement between the tires. It was about 5 1/2 feet long and very thankfully, D-E-A-D!! Joe picked it up and laid it out by the car and I had to hop over it to get into the car. I DID NOT LIKE IT!! I don't know what kind of snake it was, but it was big and a snake, and that was enough for me.
Today was more prairie, but we did eventually see, far off in the distance, the faint outline of a mountain range. I did also see my first view of cactus, very small, very sparsely scattered and in bloom (yellow). It is beginning to feel like the West.
Our first glimpse of the mountains far in the distance. The trees are following the course of a creek.
We had planned to look up an HCCA (antique car) fellow in Havre, Montana. We called Wally Duchscher and there was no answer. Disappointed, we continued on. We were a ways out of town when a car passed us and pulled over. Later the same car tried to flag us down and kept pointing toward the side of the road. Being way between towns on a road that just went on forever, we were a little concerned about just pulling over. On the third pass, I told Joe that the fellow in the car looked harmless. The car pulled off the road and we followed. It turned out to be Wally Duchscher, the fellow we had tried to call in Havre. He was on his way to an appointment and hadn't expected to see us until Friday, 2 days from now (we are a little ahead of schedule). After a short conversation, we made arrangements to meet him in the little town of Runyon, about 20 miles up the road after he had taken care of his appointment.
Runyon has an interesting vintage car museum which is a private collection housed in an interesting old stone building owned by a German car enthusiast who visited the town some years back.
Vintage Car Museum in Runyon.
Only one of many interesting cars in the collection. Note the high wheel bike on the balcony. Behind the 50's car is a 20's Roosevelt car ( I'd never heard of one before) and one of Wally's cars, a 1926 Dodge. It was a real privilege to get to see this collection and we thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting with Wally. Hope to see him again "down the road"!
Monday, June 22, 2015
Medora, North Dakota was situated in incredible beauty, if you like the badlands, which I do. Rolling green hills covered in trees are beautiful but there is something truly magic about seeing the layers of rock underneath those hills - a history to be unraveled if you only look at it.
Leaving Medora behind, we took back roads, mostly dirt. Joe explained about clearing out the carburetor jet clogged due to dirt.
Joe up under the car doing his magic.
Most of the dirt roads we took today looked like the one below.
I thought you might like to see one of the dirt roads we took. This was, according to the map, a frontage road along the interstate.
The frontage road looked a little rough, but we figured it was better than some of the dirt and mud filled roads we had been on so we drove on.
The flowers along and in the road were beautiful, but the pavement part was getting smaller. On we went. We could see the freeway right beside this road, so how could we go wrong. We knew we were headed in the right direction.
This is what was at the end of the road - a barbed wire fence and ahead we could see a creek that we could probably ford with the road continuing out the other side of the creek. Since the gate was closed, we decided to just backtrack down the frontage road to the freeway. We hated to give up but a closed gate means private property, so turn back we must.
Since there was no alternative, we entered the freeway for about 10 miles but encountered very little traffic and no problems. We rode the shoulder part of the way.
One of many deserted homesteads we saw in eastern Montana. This area is mostly agricultural and crops seem to do well here. The pioneer homesteaders were a hardy and dedicated bunch of people.
We garnered many a strange look as we motored along and we passed many people cycling along the same roads. This group was taking a break along the side of the road. We felt very fortunate to be traveling along at the amazing speed of 35-40 mph under the shade of our canvas top whenever we encountered these poor souls struggling up a hill under pedal power and in the hot sun. I'll take comfort any day!
Leaving Medora behind, we took back roads, mostly dirt. Joe explained about clearing out the carburetor jet clogged due to dirt.
Joe up under the car doing his magic.
Most of the dirt roads we took today looked like the one below.
I thought you might like to see one of the dirt roads we took. This was, according to the map, a frontage road along the interstate.
The frontage road looked a little rough, but we figured it was better than some of the dirt and mud filled roads we had been on so we drove on.
The flowers along and in the road were beautiful, but the pavement part was getting smaller. On we went. We could see the freeway right beside this road, so how could we go wrong. We knew we were headed in the right direction.
This is what was at the end of the road - a barbed wire fence and ahead we could see a creek that we could probably ford with the road continuing out the other side of the creek. Since the gate was closed, we decided to just backtrack down the frontage road to the freeway. We hated to give up but a closed gate means private property, so turn back we must.
Since there was no alternative, we entered the freeway for about 10 miles but encountered very little traffic and no problems. We rode the shoulder part of the way.
One of many deserted homesteads we saw in eastern Montana. This area is mostly agricultural and crops seem to do well here. The pioneer homesteaders were a hardy and dedicated bunch of people.
We garnered many a strange look as we motored along and we passed many people cycling along the same roads. This group was taking a break along the side of the road. We felt very fortunate to be traveling along at the amazing speed of 35-40 mph under the shade of our canvas top whenever we encountered these poor souls struggling up a hill under pedal power and in the hot sun. I'll take comfort any day!
THE STEERING COLUMN
Left Medora, North Dakota this morning and entered eastern Montana, more dirt roads and an abundance of open countryside. Yesterday I was going up a hill and the car was gradually slowing down until it stopped completely. We pushed it off to the side of the road and I removed the carburetor jet again which is a pretty simple procedure - didn't even have to remove the carburetor. All the dust on these roads had stopped up the jet completely again. I poked a torch tip cleaner through it, blew through it, and it was ready to go again - a ten minute fix.
Today we were on mostly hard roads - no further problems.
North Dakota and Montana are nothing if not windy - sometimes it is a little bit of a battle keeping the car on the road. Shortly after we got on the road this morning, I sensed something was wrong with my eyes. I had trouble focusing on things at any distance. I figured I was probably sleepy or the wind was just irritating my eyes. I didn't figure I could get cataracts quick like that. Twenty miles down the road I realized that the North Dakota wind had blown out one of my eye glass lens. I told Betty about my blurred vision and she looked at me and laughed - I had a sunglass lens on one side and an open window on the other. She loaned me her prescription sunglass driving glasses - her prescription is pretty close to mine. I guess I will wear them the rest of the trip and I just love the fancy jewels on the temple! Now when we stop somewhere I pull the sunglasses off quickly before a crowd gathers.
------AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING----
Left Medora, North Dakota this morning and entered eastern Montana, more dirt roads and an abundance of open countryside. Yesterday I was going up a hill and the car was gradually slowing down until it stopped completely. We pushed it off to the side of the road and I removed the carburetor jet again which is a pretty simple procedure - didn't even have to remove the carburetor. All the dust on these roads had stopped up the jet completely again. I poked a torch tip cleaner through it, blew through it, and it was ready to go again - a ten minute fix.
Today we were on mostly hard roads - no further problems.
North Dakota and Montana are nothing if not windy - sometimes it is a little bit of a battle keeping the car on the road. Shortly after we got on the road this morning, I sensed something was wrong with my eyes. I had trouble focusing on things at any distance. I figured I was probably sleepy or the wind was just irritating my eyes. I didn't figure I could get cataracts quick like that. Twenty miles down the road I realized that the North Dakota wind had blown out one of my eye glass lens. I told Betty about my blurred vision and she looked at me and laughed - I had a sunglass lens on one side and an open window on the other. She loaned me her prescription sunglass driving glasses - her prescription is pretty close to mine. I guess I will wear them the rest of the trip and I just love the fancy jewels on the temple! Now when we stop somewhere I pull the sunglasses off quickly before a crowd gathers.
------AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING----
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Doing a little catch up tonight. I wasn't able to post any pictures the other evening as wi-fi was not available.
Update on wildlife:
several more deer, quite a few pheasants, pelicans, all kinds of ducks and waterfowl, white long legged shore birds, numerous small critters like chipmunks
Finally, I got a picture of an animal! These are pelicans in Minnesota in one of the many marshy areas. Next on my bucket list is a pheasant!
We spent one night in Casselton. North Dakota with Evergreen B & B members LeRoy and Dora Spilde. Many thanks for an enjoyable evening visit.
Storm clouds out in the distance one afternoon in North Dakota.
Update on wildlife:
several more deer, quite a few pheasants, pelicans, all kinds of ducks and waterfowl, white long legged shore birds, numerous small critters like chipmunks
Finally, I got a picture of an animal! These are pelicans in Minnesota in one of the many marshy areas. Next on my bucket list is a pheasant!
We spent one night in Casselton. North Dakota with Evergreen B & B members LeRoy and Dora Spilde. Many thanks for an enjoyable evening visit.
Storm clouds out in the distance one afternoon in North Dakota.
Staying off the freeways sometimes leads to some "adventures". This was one of the roads that we ended up on. It had rained really hard in the area for a couple of days.
Chugging along in the mud.
After slogging though several muddy areas, we came to this puddle and the road kind of petered out. We turned around and went right back through all those same mud holes back to the other road and found another way - longer but better roads.
We spotted quite a collection of old cars in someone's field in North Dakota. We stopped but no one was at home. Would liked to have talked to the fellow that owned all of these.
More cars.
And more cars! There were more in other fields. Looked like a Hershey car corral.
We spent last night with Evergreen B & B members Karen and Jim Bonnet in Bismarck, North Dakota. They live out in the country and have a beautiful yard and garden. They recommended that we visit Medora, North Dakota, an area that President Theodore Roosevelt lived in at one time and was the inspiration for his drive to protect areas as national parks for all to enjoy.
Coming into Medora, at least on the backroads we traveled, you enter through the North Dakota Badlands. Amazing rock formations, buttes and scenery.
More badlands, much of the area is open grazing.
More badlands scenery.
Coming into Medora, at least on the backroads we traveled, you enter through the North Dakota Badlands. Amazing rock formations, buttes and scenery.
More badlands, much of the area is open grazing.
More badlands scenery.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
THE STEERING COLUMN
Last evening the car didn't start right away even though I had done my little "starting ritual" as I am supposed to, so I decided to drain a little gasoline out of the carburetor by way of the drain cock on the bottom of the bowl. I drained some out into a clear plastic cup. The clear plastic revealed that I had an eighth of an inch of prime, tillable North Dakota topsoil in the bottom of the cup. There was a little water on top and even some gasoline had found it's way into the carburetor. So this is why it wouldn't start! I didn't try to fix it that night but rather waited til early this morning.
If it had been just dirt in the jet, I would have simply removed the jet and cleaned it out, but under the circumstances, it seemed best to remove the carburetor. I then transformed the bathroom in Room 117 into a carburetor repairs shop. I laid out thick layers of newspaper on the vanity and smuggled the carburetor in by the back door. This carburetor shop had good lighting for shaving, primping or cleaning crud out of a carburetor. It even had a handy exhaust fan to remove gasoline fumes. The E-M-F carburetor is relatively easy to take apart so I dismantled it completely, removed all crud and reassembled it and put the carb back on the car. It now starts on the first or second pull and down the road we go again.
----AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING----
Last evening the car didn't start right away even though I had done my little "starting ritual" as I am supposed to, so I decided to drain a little gasoline out of the carburetor by way of the drain cock on the bottom of the bowl. I drained some out into a clear plastic cup. The clear plastic revealed that I had an eighth of an inch of prime, tillable North Dakota topsoil in the bottom of the cup. There was a little water on top and even some gasoline had found it's way into the carburetor. So this is why it wouldn't start! I didn't try to fix it that night but rather waited til early this morning.
If it had been just dirt in the jet, I would have simply removed the jet and cleaned it out, but under the circumstances, it seemed best to remove the carburetor. I then transformed the bathroom in Room 117 into a carburetor repairs shop. I laid out thick layers of newspaper on the vanity and smuggled the carburetor in by the back door. This carburetor shop had good lighting for shaving, primping or cleaning crud out of a carburetor. It even had a handy exhaust fan to remove gasoline fumes. The E-M-F carburetor is relatively easy to take apart so I dismantled it completely, removed all crud and reassembled it and put the carb back on the car. It now starts on the first or second pull and down the road we go again.
----AND THAT'S ALL PART OF MOTORING----
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Just a few pictures:
This is an eagle's nest we spotted high in a dead tree east of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. It was about 35 feet in the air and about 4 feet across and as deep. I didn't see any eagles there but a lady in town asked if we had spotted the eagle's nest. I told her I had taken a picture of it. She had been watching it for several weeks and had seen an adult sitting on the nest and thought she had also seen youngsters in the nest one time.
This is a picture of the storm clouds out in Minnesota. They looked ominous but it wasn't raining at the time. Thank goodness!! This was taken out in the glacial lakebed, Lake Agassi area.
The beautiful area was west of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, not long before we dropped down into the Lake Agassi glacial lake area. The skies were clear and blue and the landscape
beautiful.
This is an eagle's nest we spotted high in a dead tree east of Fergus Falls, Minnesota. It was about 35 feet in the air and about 4 feet across and as deep. I didn't see any eagles there but a lady in town asked if we had spotted the eagle's nest. I told her I had taken a picture of it. She had been watching it for several weeks and had seen an adult sitting on the nest and thought she had also seen youngsters in the nest one time.
This is a picture of the storm clouds out in Minnesota. They looked ominous but it wasn't raining at the time. Thank goodness!! This was taken out in the glacial lakebed, Lake Agassi area.
beautiful.
THE STEERING COLUMN
In order to give the lay person a feel for what it is like to drive a Brass era car, first the car must be thoroughly restored mechanically. The body, paint and upholstery is optional but a thorough mechanical restoration is a must. Doing an engine overhaul and new brake linings is not a restoration. Every moving part on the car needs to be inspected, rebuilt, replaced, or restored if you are going to do serious driving. Many people drive their cars only a thousand miles or so a year and they can get away with just fixing them as they malfunction. I prefer to restore everything right from the start. Certainly no one is immune from having mechanical problems, but a thorough mechanical restoration greatly reduces the chances of problems. Without having restored it completely mechanically I never would have attempted the trip that we are on. Knowing that my chances of a problem are greatly reduced makes the trip much more enjoyable.
Bear in mind that these early cars were experimental and they all had "issues". Manufacturers were constantly working out difficulties and making improvements. Every make of car in those days had their own individual weak points. These cars are fun to drive but can also be a challenge to drive. It helps greatly if the owner/operator has a "mechanical" mind and understands how things work. He should always do his own restoration if he is able so that he knows his own car, if not, at least be involved closely with the restoration process and understand how things work.
In the next segment I will talk about daily maintenance.
------AND THAT MOTORING!!!!
In order to give the lay person a feel for what it is like to drive a Brass era car, first the car must be thoroughly restored mechanically. The body, paint and upholstery is optional but a thorough mechanical restoration is a must. Doing an engine overhaul and new brake linings is not a restoration. Every moving part on the car needs to be inspected, rebuilt, replaced, or restored if you are going to do serious driving. Many people drive their cars only a thousand miles or so a year and they can get away with just fixing them as they malfunction. I prefer to restore everything right from the start. Certainly no one is immune from having mechanical problems, but a thorough mechanical restoration greatly reduces the chances of problems. Without having restored it completely mechanically I never would have attempted the trip that we are on. Knowing that my chances of a problem are greatly reduced makes the trip much more enjoyable.
Bear in mind that these early cars were experimental and they all had "issues". Manufacturers were constantly working out difficulties and making improvements. Every make of car in those days had their own individual weak points. These cars are fun to drive but can also be a challenge to drive. It helps greatly if the owner/operator has a "mechanical" mind and understands how things work. He should always do his own restoration if he is able so that he knows his own car, if not, at least be involved closely with the restoration process and understand how things work.
In the next segment I will talk about daily maintenance.
------AND THAT MOTORING!!!!
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Glacial lake in Minnesota.
Family of Canadian geese and young on Lake. We have seen Mallard ducks, loons, white crane and many other types of waterfowl but getting them to sit still for portraits is hard. I still see red-winged blackbirds sitting on cattails along the roadside ditches and beautiful yellow finches. I did spot an eagle nest high in a dead tree and an osprey nest the other day east of Crosby near a large lake. They make large nests, high on telephone phones and fish the lakes. Michigan and Minnesota have been full of a variety of birds due to the many lakes. In addition, we have seen many deer, a pheasant and numerous small furry creatures like chipmunks and squirrels.
I can't resist unusual sculpture made of old pieces of machinery and other found objects. This is a mother dragon and youngster sitting out by the side of the road, about 8 feet tall. I thoroughly approve. Joe wonders at my sense of "art"!
Roads were flat and wooded and then farmland, very little traffic and long, straight roads with occasional crossroads and communities. You can make great time along these roads.
Some communities are quite small, but those businesses still open are the meeting place for residents in the neighborhood. Joe and I stopped in the little town of Hewlett, Minnesota for a bite to eat at the cafe above. The food was good and the owners and diners friendly and interested in our adventure.
The afternoon cleared up and we packed away our winter gear and just put on our dusters to cut the breeze a bit. Nice traveling weather. We spent the night in Crosby, Minnesota, a quiet community with a history of open - pit copper mining in the district. Usually open-pit mines, once abandoned, are an eye sore. Crosby and neighboring town, Ironton, have created along with the state, an amazing park area connecting the many connected copper pits into a lake system with bike trails and mountain bike trails. The open pits filled naturally with clear water, in some places 500 feet deep. It is spectacular but I have no photos. I am going to have to learn to ALWAYS have my camera close at hand. When someone says they are going to take us for a ride, I forget to take the camera. I have missed 2 spectacular areas, one along Lake Erie with old lighthouse and a small community chapel and this beautiful chain of lakes near Crosby. We stated with Evergreen B & B members Polly and Jerry Pflepsen. Polly and I found we shared a love of rockhounding, specially Lake Superior Agates.
Yesterday we again traveled through Minnesota farmland with glacial ponds and swamps. As we neared our evening stop in Fergus Falls, we were met about 10 miles out of two by two couples that escorted us into town with a 1916 Maxwell and a Corvette for a free oil change at the Toyota dealer.
Joe took the opportunity to put it on the lift and check things out underneath. Changing the oil was a learning experience for the technicians and old hat for Joe. Bill Larsen and his wife and Don and his wife then took us out to dinner. Really nice people. One couple then escorted us out of town to our next overnight hosts, Dennis and Judy Nims in Fergus Fall, Minnesota. More people came to see the car and eat delicious rhubard cobbler.
Today, we came off of ridge that ringed an extremely large glacial lake during one of the areas periods of glacial activity. The lake, Lake Agassi, is now gone, with the exception of some of the glacial swamps and small lakes. It is now one of the most fertile areas in the world, with black glacial lake soil that is up to 18 inches deep. It looks like 3-yr old manure and is a big sugar beet producing area.
We stopped in a little town for a place to do computer work, a bite to eat and I got a haircut. I was beginning to resemble an English sheepdog. The only way to see was when the wind blew my bangs out of my eyes.
Joe and I have traveled through so much rain for the last several days - drizzle to moderate rain, wearing winter gear and using lap blankets and gloves. For the most part the roads have been rural passing through Minnesota farmland with glacial lakes, swamps and kettle ponds - small depressions that have filled with water over time. It is amazing to see the ever changing landscape created by glacial activity, some areas affected by several periods of glacial activity. The many lakes attract all types of waterfowl from Canadian geese to ducks of several species and ospreys, eagles and loons. Loons have the most amazing beauty with spots and a haunting call that is truly unique.
I am posting in a library at the moment and they need the room I am using so I will close for now and move to another location in the library to continue the posting.
I am posting in a library at the moment and they need the room I am using so I will close for now and move to another location in the library to continue the posting.
Monday, June 15, 2015
I wanted to add one more picture taken at the Phillips Concrete Park. I loved the way the artist decorated the men in this one:
We left Phillips yesterday after visiting the Concrete Park and traveled through drizzle and damp, cool weather in the morning. By afternoon it was warm and sunny.
Typical Wisconsin farm.
Beautiful old theater in a small town in Wisconsin.
We traveled through woodlands most of the afternoon, mostly on paved 2-lane roads until we neared our evening stop which was down about 5 miles of dirt road back to a secluded home in the woods were we stayed with Evergreen B and B members Don and Jeanette Rantala and their son. They enjoy driving horses and had a Morgan and 2 Norwegian Fjord horses.which are one of the oldest recognized breed of horses, first domesticated and used by the Vikings. They are a relatively small draft horse breed from the mountainous regions of Western Norway. Their manes are unique in that they have a black center with more blond coloring on either side and over the rest of their bodies. Really pretty horses.
This morning we left their place and headed for Minnesota with the prospect of warmer weather and bright blue skies and fluffy clouds. We had a route planned over a portion of Lake Superior, but as it turned out, the road came to a dead end with no way to get to the Minnesota side. Oh well, it was a beautiful drive with little traffic (can't imagine why!!) and we only had to backtrack about 10-15 miles. We went another route and crossed over the bridge into Duluth, Minnesota. I had never been to Minnesota so I was pretty excited to get the opportunity to see it. Now only Alaska and Hawaii to see!
No problems today, just a nice, scenic ride.
We left Phillips yesterday after visiting the Concrete Park and traveled through drizzle and damp, cool weather in the morning. By afternoon it was warm and sunny.
Typical Wisconsin farm.
Beautiful old theater in a small town in Wisconsin.
We traveled through woodlands most of the afternoon, mostly on paved 2-lane roads until we neared our evening stop which was down about 5 miles of dirt road back to a secluded home in the woods were we stayed with Evergreen B and B members Don and Jeanette Rantala and their son. They enjoy driving horses and had a Morgan and 2 Norwegian Fjord horses.which are one of the oldest recognized breed of horses, first domesticated and used by the Vikings. They are a relatively small draft horse breed from the mountainous regions of Western Norway. Their manes are unique in that they have a black center with more blond coloring on either side and over the rest of their bodies. Really pretty horses.
This morning we left their place and headed for Minnesota with the prospect of warmer weather and bright blue skies and fluffy clouds. We had a route planned over a portion of Lake Superior, but as it turned out, the road came to a dead end with no way to get to the Minnesota side. Oh well, it was a beautiful drive with little traffic (can't imagine why!!) and we only had to backtrack about 10-15 miles. We went another route and crossed over the bridge into Duluth, Minnesota. I had never been to Minnesota so I was pretty excited to get the opportunity to see it. Now only Alaska and Hawaii to see!
No problems today, just a nice, scenic ride.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Wildlife update for today: several deer, one coyote loping across the road, and one ruffled grouse.
Before we left Phillips where we had spent the night and attended the car show, we backtracked a couple of miles to Fred Smith's Wisconsin Concrete Park. This is an open air museum of sculpture built by artist Fred Smith, born in 1886. He was a lumberjack beginning in his teens and after retirement taught himself to construct life size concrete sculptures to tell stories about life in northern Wisconsin and to represent other historical
moments. He created over 200 statues that surround his home and tavern. He constructed a one foot footer and used chicken wire to form the body of his figures. Arms and Hands were constructed separated and attached. Concrete filled the wire and he used broken bits of glass, mirror and other "found" objects to create his folk art figures.
Indian woman made of concrete, broken glass and pebbles.
Bucking horse and many of his men sculptures.
An eagle, indian and fish behind the tree.
Before we left Phillips where we had spent the night and attended the car show, we backtracked a couple of miles to Fred Smith's Wisconsin Concrete Park. This is an open air museum of sculpture built by artist Fred Smith, born in 1886. He was a lumberjack beginning in his teens and after retirement taught himself to construct life size concrete sculptures to tell stories about life in northern Wisconsin and to represent other historical
moments. He created over 200 statues that surround his home and tavern. He constructed a one foot footer and used chicken wire to form the body of his figures. Arms and Hands were constructed separated and attached. Concrete filled the wire and he used broken bits of glass, mirror and other "found" objects to create his folk art figures.
Indian woman made of concrete, broken glass and pebbles.
An eagle, indian and fish behind the tree.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)