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.

A Dream Day for Sure!

All I can say is, "could this day get any better?"  Probably not.  Let me explain.  The day started with me attending our MAFCA Board meeting.  Nan on the other hand went with Wayne & Sue and Mike & Grace to explore some great lakes lighthouses.  At the board meeting I reported on my efforts on making a major change in the production of the of The Restorer starting with the Sept/Oct issue.  As for Nan and the others, they made it to a great lighthouse, the only problems were the black flies. 

The weather was again unpredictable.  Rain then sun, then thunder, very unusual for sure.  We managed to dodge the rain and by the time the banquet rolled around it was nice and sunny.

Inside the banquet hall, the first thing you noticed was the Model A show cars.  I have to say that Mike's Coupe looked pretty awesome in this line up.  We did some socializing with our new friends from the UP.  Dinner was served and before long it was time to introduce the convention's special guests for the evening;  Mr. Bob Kreipke, Ford Motor Co. Historian AND Mr. Edsel Ford II, great grandson of Henry Ford.  How exciting is that!  Mr Ford gave a wonderful talk about his great grandparents and the development of the Model A.  For me, personally, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to talk to someone who's heritage is closely tied to the development of the Model A.  As Russ Thompson would say "it doesn't get any better than this - what a club." 

Don Haygood, Chief Vehicle Judge, did a great job handling the Vehicle Awards.  He expedited the process and everything went very smoothly.  We all got excited when he got to the Touring class cars.  Mike's name was called, so we new he got a trophy, we just didn't know which one.  Don called the names and he eventually got to Mike and when he announced the Mike got 410 points, first Place and a MAFCA Award of excellence, Mike was shocked.  Needless to say I think you could have knocked Mike over with a feather.  What a treat it was to cheer for Mike when he was on stage.   Following the awards Edsel Ford II personally congratulated Mike on his restoration.  Is that special or what?

So, is there any way this day could have been any better?  I don't think so.

Tomorrow, it's time to pack up and get back on the road for home.

Road Trip - Iron Mountain

The rains of last night were gone and when I rolled out of bed at "0-dark-hundred" to drive Wayne over to the UC for the Vehicle Judges Breakfast, it was very cool, beautiful blue skies and a light breeze.  A perfect day for our tour to a couple of museums in Iron Mountain.  For these tours, Model A's were assigned start times.  Ours was 8:40 AM, however I messed up and we were almost late for our departure group.   Iron Mountain is about a 75 mile drive, so it's not exactly around the corner, but, the ride was pleasant albeit through miles of nothing but trees. 

We arrived at the Cornish Pumping Engine Mining Museum.  All the Model A 's lining the parking lot looked pretty good.  This museum pays tribute to one of the largest reciprocating pumps designed to pump water out of deep mines.  The pump has an impressive  flywheel 40 feet in diameter, weighing 160 tons and rotates at only 10 RPM.  But it's able to pump water at the rate of 3000 GPM.  I'm not sure if the ladies were intrigued by this monster machine as much as the guys were though. 

Next up was the WWII Glider and Military Museum.  This place had a number of nice vintage airplanes and a great display of Ford memorabilia from the collection of Guy Forstrom.  For those of us from the New England area his collection would be similar to that of Don Passardi's.   The star of this museum was the CG-4A Glider.  The glider was made right in Iron Mountain and played an important part in the allied effort.  These gliders were designed to carry not only troops (13) but cargo up to a Jeep.  I enjoyed checking out the details of the construction and operations of the glider.

After lunch we headed back to Ishpeming and we found a great antique shop to meander in.  We spent a little more time there than we expected, consequently when we got back to the hotel we had to head back to the Cliff Shaft Museum to line up for the big parade.  What a parade it was, about 200 Model A's cruised the streets of Ishpeming and Negaune and the streets were lined with residents waving and taking pictures.  The highlight of the parade was that it was lead by the Twenty Millionth Ford.

We finished the parade at the Al Quaal Recreation Area for a pig roast.  Thank goodness the parade was today and not yesterday.  The grounds of the field were filled with Model A's as were the lines for food.  We were entertained by the Blue Notes Drum and Bugle Corps.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the music provided by this group.

Our return trip proved interesting.  As we got close to the hotel I noticed a Model A in a parking lot, wheel off and resting on it's brake drum.  I pulled in to the lot to see what happened and if I could help.  The driver said the wheel came off, all the lug nuts were gone.  The wheel continued down the road and was retrieved by another Model A'er.  To get the wheel on, a scissors jack was need, and guess what I always carry in the Model A, yup a scissors jack.  In few minutes we got the front lifted enough to get the wheel back on, with lug nuts off his dual side mounts.  He was on the road again and had no trouble getting back to his hotel.

We did about 180 miles today.  Tomorrow I will be in a MAFCA board meeting all day, so Nan will be touring with the Champagnes and Doyles visiting lighthouses on Lake Superior. 

Crazy Weather

Today Mother Nature decided to turn up the thermostat.  Wow, what a change from the past few days, which were cool and intermittent showery.  We met Mike in the parking lot while he got ready to bring the Coupe over to the Dome for judging.  Nan & I decided to go to NAPA to get oil so I could service the Model A.   Our next stop was to Sawyer Airport to visit the display of War Birds at the old SAC base.  The display included a few fighter jets, but the big B-52 Stratofortress was our destination.  This plane is very big, with a wingspan of 185 feet. The Model A looked like a pipsqueak beside that monster airplane.  We spent some time checking out this and the other planes.

Retuning to the University Center (UC), I dropped Nan off at the convention, while I went over to the repair tent to change my oil.  The repair tent is a magnet for most guys.  It gives you a chance to see what repairs are under way, and some were serious. An engine was being replaced in the garage, a clutch replacement was just being finished, and another guy was replacing a broken overdrive shaft by converting back to an original drive train.

By now the temperature was getting very warm, I heard it was 92 degrees.  I picked up Nan at the UC and went to get a late lunch, since we had the Presidents Reception tonight it would be hard to fit dinner into the schedule.  I also ran into Mike, who had just returned from cleaning the Coupe.  By the looks of his hands there was a lot of road dust to clean.

I returned to the Dome to see the preparation to start the Pequaming Fire Engine.  This fire engine was a vehicle that Henry Ford himself used to occasionally drive around when he was in the area.  The fire truck has 1100 original miles and was last run over 30 years ago.  A team of Model A'ers worked over the engine and once the local TV station got set up to record the event, the starter button was hit and after a few attempts the fire truck fired right up.

All cleaned up and back to the UC for the President's Reception, we could see the skies getting dark.  As a National Director it was good to greet so many of the convention guests.  It was also good to have Wayne & Sue, and Mike & Grace attending this event.  The ice cream sundaes were great, unfortunately the outside weather was not.  Heavy rain was falling and it was going to be a wet ride to get back to the hotel.  Actually by the time we got back to the hotel the rain had stopped.

Tomorrow it is off to the Iron Mountain area to see the sights there.

PS.  The tour to The Pictured Rocks was well attended and everyone was reported to have a good time,except Wayne who's hat got blown overboard in the wind.

Road Trip - The Ford Bungalow

The Marquette area can't seem to shake the showery weather.  Today was overcast, with rain in the forecast.  Mike and I wanted to get his starter repaired so we had a quick breakfast and got outside.  As we remove the starter the rains came, fortunately there was a tent that we moved the Model A so we could stay dry.  Fortunately the repair was the fairly simple, the bendix Mike bought to replace the broken unit was for a V8 which does not work on a Model A.  I had a spare Model A bendix which we installed to fix the problem.

Nan & I were scheduled for a road trip to the Ford Bungalow and had to be at the starting point at 10:45.  The start point was 12 miles away.  The actual drive to the bungalow would be about 75 miles.  The trip was in and out of the rain and when we arrived at the Bungalow it had stopped raining.  Our tour of the Bungalow was very interesting.  The guides were a group of ladies who rent this facility twice a year and were very knowledgeable about the house.  Walking around the home it was interesting to think about the famous people who have stayed in this house.  I especially liked the upstairs porch and the living room.  The home is much bigger inside than it looks from the outside.  We enjoyed our tour and soon headed out for our return trip. 

After a stop for a quick lunch we headed to Alberta Village Museum.  This facility is the remains of  planned community now own by Northern Michigan University as a research facility.  (Wayne took this picture)  In addition to a planned community, this was a sawmill and a major part of the his Northern Michigan Operation (NMO) which provided wood for Ford's auto production.  I think all of the Model A station wagons were produced here.

The next stop was Michigamee.  This is a little community that looks like it's one step shy of becoming a ghost town.  This was a bustling mining town at one time, but now serves as a fishing and hunting center.  Some of the downtown buildings look like something you would find in a ghost town.  But there is a very nice museum and it had lots of interesting material on display.

Tonight we had a very enjoyable dinner with Wayne & Sue and David & Karen Mossman from New Zealand.

Let the Convention Begin

Well, we got off to a wet start today. After many days of nice weather, we got rain and thunder over night, and the rain continued off and on during the day.  The good thing is that most of us had signed up for seminars, so we were nice and dry inside the conference center.

I was scheduled to attend a seminar on the 20 Millionth Ford.  The video of the car was shown, which was followed by a talk by the car's owner Rod Liimatainen.  He talked about his family's use of the Model A when he was growing up and his recollection of his use of the Model A  when he was a teenager.  Fortunately he realized he better store this historic car before he wrecked it.  My second seminar was the history of the U.P. by Keith Whitman, which again was well done and, to me, very interesting.  Nan on the other hand attended two fashion seminars which she enjoyed.

When we got back to the hotel, we couldn't find Mike.  Eventually we found out Mike was at the repair tent with a starter problem.  I think the bendix broke, fortunately I have a spare and we'll fix the coupe in the morning.

This evening was the Welcome Party.  The venue for this was the Superior Dome, which is the largest wooden dome in the country.  The menu had some unusual U.P. food items on the buffet, How about venison meatballs, Pasties or pork sliders.  We had eaten earlier, but we found the dessert bar to be excellent.  The entertainment was "Da Yoopers."  This was comedy musical group that provided us with many laughs.

Tomorrow we will be off to the Bungalow, which was Henry Ford's private home in the area he was very fond of.