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.