Final Report

It's been a few days since we arrived home and I thought I would take a look back at some of the stats and items I mentioned during the trip to Marquette. 

The trip was just shy of 2900 miles,round trip. 
The trip out to Marquette was 1280 miles and the return trip home was 1136 miles.
We traveled 450 miles at the convention.  Two of the local driving tours were very long.

I averaged 18.5 MPG for the entire trip.  The best gas mileage was 20.8 mpg and the worst was 16.7 mpg.  The day my overdrive was not working the gas mileage was around 17.5 which isn't too bad since I was still doing 45-50 MPH. 

The highest gas price was $5.03 in Canada and the least was $3.49 at home in MA.  I was using mid range gas since the engine experienced more pinging with the regular.  Not sure why the pinging, as that had never been a problem before.

I had a few mechanical items to fix on the road, the first was a fan belt that frayed and eventually flipped off the water pump.  Earlier I had heard a noise I attributed to my water pump, however when the new fan belt was put on that noise disappeared.  So I guess my leakless & greasless WP is still working fine.  I had to repair to the solenoid on my overdrive.  This was an electrical contact problem that I was able to make a temporary repair to get me home.  And, on the last day of travel, my battery died.  No problem, I just parked on a hill so I could roll and pop the clutch to get started.  I did buy a new battery after getting home.

The Superior A's members did a fantastic job putting on the convention and getting the community behind the event.  I think the highlight of the convention was having Edsel Ford II attend the banquet.  Getting to meet and talk to him was special.  We were especially happy that our Friends Mike & Grace were awarded 1st Place and a MAFCA Award of Excellence for their beautiful 1931 Coupe.

If you have never taken a long distance tour in your Model A you really should give it a try.  My wife and I have been doing long distance touring since 1991 and all of these tours have been great fun and have allowed us to visit places we normally might not get to visit.  Our longest was to Vancouver in 2010.  If you want to read about that trip you can visit  http://boston-to-alaska.blogspot.com/

The Home Stretch

For our last day on the road, we were greeted with absolutely perfect weather for the day.  It was so nice that we all had some coffee by the pool as we talked about our last day of travel.  Staying in Bennington brought back good memories of our many years of attending the Bennington Car Show and Flea Market.  It was one of our favorite weekend trips until they moved the venue.  Imagine how happy I was to find out they are moving back to the old field this year. 

We went to Jensen's for breakfast, which is one of our favorite places and one I highly recommend, or the Blue Belle Diner, if you are in Bennington.  Both are great.  The next stop was to the Hemming's Gas Station.  This is another fun place where we could fill up the Model As, in addition to shopping for all kinds of auto related stuff in the garage.  We managed to find few things to buy.

In addition to the Gas Station, there is also a small collection of vehicles that are on display in the basement of the Hemmings headquarters building.  Mike and I did a good job to view all the vehicles and investigate the automobilia/petrolinia that adorns the space as well.  The old fire engine also gave us the chance to get a feel for what it's like to pilot one of these big guys.

Just up the road from Hemming's is a great antique coop and we wanted to search this place before we headed for home.  The shop is in a couple of connected multi-level barns, so it does take time to walk around.  We always manage to find something, however it was only Nan who found an old ice cream scoop to ad to her collection.

I noticed a problem when I started the Model A up at Hemming's, the battery was turning the engine slowly,  so I parked on a slight hill at the antique shop.  Sure enough, the battery was not able to start the Model A.  No problem, I just let her roll a few feet and popped the clutch.  It started right up, but the ammeter never went below 10 amps all the way home.  So it looks like a new battery is in order. 

Our route home would be on the Molly Stark Trail to Brattleboro.  This is a very scenic road and the beautful weather really gave us a great view of Green Mountains.  We did commet on the fact that this was one of the warmest days we've had for travel and we could feel the difference from the cool weather we have enjoyed since arriving at Marquette. 

The Model A's purred along without noticing the air temperature had gone up and before long we turned off in Sudbury and headed home while Mike & Grace continued to Weston.  It was a great trip for both of us, lots of fun together in our Model A's.

Lake Placid - Olympic Gold

This morning the rain had stopped but it was still overcast.  For breakfast we headed to the Downtown Diner which was around the corner from the motor inn.  We have eaten here many times and it was great.  From there we drove up town to visit the world famous Olympic Ice Arena and Museum.  What a great facility to follow the history of the USA winter Olympic teams back to 1924.  Unquestionably, the most famous event ever held there was the hockey game between the USA and Russia in the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980.  Needless to say Mike and I enjoyed the museum....while Nan and Grace ditched us for the the many gift shops on Main St.

Fortunately they were still in the first gift shop, surprise!  From there we walked the many shops on Lake Placid's main street while enjoying the atmosphere and scenery.  I was drawn into an IZOD store by a big sale, and Mike and I both managed to buy something.

We stopped for a snack and then headed to the Olympic Jumping Complex.  This is where the monster ski jumps are located as well as the freestyle jump.  We missed the freestyle training by a few minutes.  It would have been fun to see these kids do their jumps and then land in the aerated swimming pool.  The blast of air bubbles softens the water for landing, so we were told.  The dominant things here though, are the 90 M and 120 M ski jump towers.  Wow are these things huge.  It's hard to believe that the jumpers are 200 feet up to reach the starting point for their jump.  Sorry, this aint for me!

Back on the road, we headed down the mountains and were on some very curvy roads.  Nan and Grace were a little concerned, but for Mike and I there must have been some security holding on to the steering wheel as the road didn't seem bad at all.  Once down on more flat terrain the roads were nice to travel and we were soon in Ticonderoga for our ferry ride across Lake Champlain.  Now this isn't a big ferry, it only holds 15 cars, but it's a fun ride.  The Model A's looked special on the deck of the little ferry.

Once on the other side of the lake we followed RT 22A, which was very rural and we pretty much had the road to ourselves.  Our destination would be Bennington, VT and we arrived without any problems.  At dinner we commented on how this would be our last dinner on our trip and tomorrow we would be home.  Grace pointed out however, since there was no food in the house, we would problably have to go out for dinner at home anyway.  You know, she is probably right.

Today the GPS said we did 147 miles.  It should be about the same to reach home tomorrow.

Back in the US of A

I know it has been warm back home, but this morning it was pretty cool in Pembroke, in spite of the sun shinning brightly.  Last night Mike and I re-worked my overdrive and today we would test it out.  So, after breakfast, with the A's all packed, we headed out on the roadway.  When I got up to speed, about 40 mph, I engaged the OD.....and it slipped right in.  Yippee! now back up to highway speeds.  Actually we were only traveling about 6 mph faster than yesterday, but the engine noise was down about 75%. 

RT 17 is the primary road in the area.  It's a straight road with few hills, but it still goes through towns and passes by some very nice farms.  For some reason it seemed like the A's were really running great today.  We were able to zip right along even with the wind blowing, BUT, the wind was coming from the rear and may have been pushing us along too.  The other thing to note is that Canadian gas contains NO ethanol, which also may be helping.

We did get off the highway to take a break from the other cars, but it seems Canada is doing work on all their roads.  We hit some detours so we decided to get back on the highway.  That was OK, since we were able to get to the bridge to cross back into the US.  This bridge was the metal grid type and the Model A's really wiggled all over the road making it feel like you had a flat tire.    Finally over to the other side we got in line for security.  What a breeze this was, as the guard was more interested in talking about the cars.  I guess his dad had a Model T.

Back on US soil, it was getting more overcast as we headed to the Adirondacks and Lake Placid.  It wasn't long before we started to get some rain and it rained off and on the rest of the day.  We also seemed to find road construction along the route too.  I guess the road construction crews are doing well this year. 

Arriving in Lake Placid we noticed how crowded it was, with loads of people on the sidewalks and not a parking place to be found.  We eventually got settled into Art Devlin's Olympic Motor Inn.   Art was an Olympic Ski Jumper and ABC TV commentator, BUT he also had a couple of Model A's which his son, Art Jr., still uses.  The roadster was under the portico at the Inn when we arrived.

Trouble on the Road

Yesterday I was having some trouble with my overdrive engaging, so this morning I checked to see if the cable had slipped.  That would have been an easy fix, but, it hadn't.  So after breakfast we set out with a planned stop for the day in Pembroke, ON.   I tried the OD many times, but it just wouldn't shift.  Consequently,  I had to lead and set my new non-OD pace, which was about 45-48MPH.  At that speed the Model A seemed to run the best.

The weather today was perfect for traveling and we just putted along.  We traveled RT 17 again and it was a pleasant drive.  But I was anxious to see if I could fix the OD, so after about 40 miles we stopped at a Canadian Tire store (love these stores) and I pulled the solenoid apart.  I could see that something was messed up with an internal point set, but I couldn't see away of fixing the problem.  Of course I have three solenoids at home.  Grrr!

Back on the road we just plodded along until we got to North Bay, where we were told about an auto parts store who's owner had stored away lots of old parts for older fords.  Hoping that he might have a solenoid we decided to stop there.  Just by luck we found the store and found out the guy sold out 2 years ago and all that old stuff was gone.  We tried a junk yard, but it too had nothing old.

We were kind of disappointed that we didn't get a chance to do any side trips today.  But, Nan found a museum at the Canadian Air Base in Petawawa.   We took a quick turn and barged right trough the gate.  No sense stopping as there were no guards.  We eventually came to the museum, but it was closed.  Fortunately they had a good display of military vehicles and a nice C47 airplane for us to examine.

The airbase was only a few miles from our destination and it wasn't long before we were able to settle into the hotel.  After a quiet dinner (compared to last night) in the hotel restaurant, I decided to reinvestigate the solenoid problem.  With some long distance help from Jack Stokinger, who sent me a nice picture of what the solenoid was supposed to look like, Mike and I got up close to the solenoid and could see the burnt points.  We reformed the movable contact so that even without a real contact point, it made electrical contact with the fixed point.  Then we needed to make sure that when the solenoid was activated, it was able to break the contact made by the points Mike and I just fixed.  It took a few tries, but we finally got it.  So tomorrow we should be back in the fast lane.

Today, according to the GPS,  we managed to put on 229 miles.  Tomorrow we will head back across the border into NY.

O Canada!

The rain arrived during the night and things were pretty damp when the wake up call went off.  No, not the one at the hotel, but the one provided by the 1969 GTO which blasted out a roar from its dual exhaust.  This was one of the Great Race cars staying at our hotel and I guess he needed an early start.  The rain was going to be traveling with us today as well as the Great Racers.  From the hotel breakfast room we could see the race cars pass by with some stopping to put Rain-X on their windshields.

The rain had moved on by the time we crossed over the bridge to Canada.  Not much was planned today but driving to Sudbury, ON, which incidentally is where the Great Race was going to stop for the night.  Once getting through Sault Saint Marie, ON we found RT 17 and stayed on it all day.  Not much navigating to do today.

Our first rest stop was at a neat antique shop called the Round Barn.  It was a beautiful barn made with huge timbers and logs built in 1928.  The main support pole looked like a mast of a ship.  If you happen to pass through Thessalon, ON you might want to visit this place.

We eventually drove into the rain and the temperature seemed to drop.  To counter this change we stopped at Tim Horton's and has some warm soup/chili/pasta.  That hit the spot and we were back on the road towards Sudbury.

We knew the Great Race entourage was in town and sure enough some of the hotels near the day's finish line were sold out.  No problem, we found something a little down the road and barely got settled before a thunder storm moved in. 

After dinner Mike and I decided to head back to the race to see view the cars.  Tonight we talked with a lot of the teams while they were maintaining their cars.  Mike was able to help out the Alan Travis team try to fix a gas leak in their 1909 Renault.  His tube of Seal All did the trick.  I also talked to Jonathan Klinger, who is driving his 1929 Tudor in the race.  Jonathan drove his Model A all last year, snow and all, and blogged the entire challenge.

Tomorrow we will continue toward Ottawa.

Mileage today was 204

sano näkemiin Marquette

Today it was time to say goodbye to Marquette.  I would be remiss if I didn't thank Steve & Diane Pellinen and all the members of the Superior A's for a job well done.   I also have to say I have never seen a city get behind one of our conventions like the city of Marquette did.  Thanks to you all for a great event.  

It was another beautiful day in the U.P.  However, since Mike had to get his Model A out of the Dome first thing in the morning, we didn't have to rush.  It was 10 AM when we hit the road and pointed the Model A's east to our stop for the night, Sault Saint Marie, MI.

There was not much activity to the day, just some easy driving on the roads of the U.P.  Our lunch stop in Newberry was a winner, literally, as I won some cash playing Keno while enjoying my pastie. 

As we got closer to Sault Saint Marie we decided to go to Soo Locks and do some sightseeing.  Our timing was perfect as we arrived as a freighter was passing through the locks.  It's quite a process and to think it's just done by moving water around.  We toured the visitors center which was loaded with interesting displays and facts about the Soo Locks.  We also found out the Great race was coming to town tonight.  That would be great to stop by and see this later.

The hotel wasn't far away and when we checked in we were met by Dave & Peggy Gill and other members of the Capitol A's.  What a nice surprise.  After a little happy hour in the Lobby, we headed to the Great race site.  Mike and I were able to join in the local cruise in for the event and had front row parking.  Watching the cars cross the finish line was fun, we were also impressed by the number of Model A's in the race.  It turned out to be nice visit. 

To close out the evening we headed to the Kewadin casino to try our luck.  I double my money, on paper for awhile, but gave it all back by the time we left.

Tomorrow we cross over the boarder into Ontario, see you then.

Travel today was about 170 miles.