Ride along with me...
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
The purpose of this day, April 26, 2016, was to see (finally) some of Glacier National Park and to finish up in Alberta. This was the only province of Canada which has a border with the USA that I haven’t previously visited.
One of the things that really opened my eyes to visiting this National Park was learning of the Red open-top buses they run around the park, buses built in the thirties and still in use.
Well, almost from the thirties. Originally built by White, today they have a more modern chassis and engine, but look the same.
So we set out from Kalispell and soon found Columbia Falls, not that there were any falls to be seen. This little town provided Sandra with some photo subjects she liked…
Fort Hungry Horse. Lots of displays and animal carvings here were to Sandra’s liking.
US2 ahead. Good roads connect the places here despite the terrain.
We headed off down the highway then to West Glacier, but we weren’t to know what disappointments lay ahead due to the time of the year.
Imposing entry. While it looks imposing, it’s only because they had to take the road under a railway bridge.
West Glacier. Inside there was this proper entry, still imposing in its own way. We were at Glacier National Park now.
Having quickly learned that most amenities weren’t open, that the buses weren’t running and that the park generally hadn’t awoken from its Winter slumber, we made our way to the edge of a lake where true beauty lurked.
Reflections. Just magical the way the reflections enhance the raw beauty of the setting, even in the overcast conditions of the day.
And more... These reflections could keep an army of cameras busy all day long. And, no doubt, they sometimes do.
Various kinds of accommodation are to be found in the park, these log cabins look comfortable enough:
Log Cabins. Not yet filled up with Summer vacationers, these cabins looked like a good place to stay.
Running Deer. No reference to an Indian name, I luckily caught this deer with my camera before she got away.
There was a lot of animal carvings around, both here and at other places. Totem poles, carvings of bears holding up verandah posts, providing seating, all sorts of things. Again, it attracted Sandra’s attention.
Bears! Carved bears were everywhere, but few were as lazy-looking as this one.
Waterfall. With all the melting snow there are plenty of opportunities for water to fall over the abundant rocks and ledges. This was a small one.
We hit the road again and drove around to East Glacier, enjoying the views as we drove and sometimes pulling up for a closer look. Here the Blackfoot Indian nation was honored but we didn’t meet any injuns at all.
Indian country. This tribe once had solid connections with this area, it seems.
Closed! A sign that helped remind us that we were a month or so too early to enjoy many of the area’s features. It was the story of our day.
As we headed for the next stage in our discovery tour, the Two Medicine Park, we spotted a warning sign which would have us worried for a time…
Bear Country! Well, you’re okay if you’re in your car, aren’t you?
Running Eagle Falls. The desire to see a decent waterfall was overcoming Sandra, but it was several hundred yards’ walk through scrubland to find it!
...and that got worse as we got separated somehow. Was calling out to each other a good idea? We didn’t know. But in the end we both safely made it to see the falls and back to the van.
We drove on through Browning and headed for the Canadian border. The sun was going down in the West, though it wasn’t that low, so it put a heavy back-lighting on the clouds and mists out there in the mountains over which we were now looking.
Mountain vista. As we neared St Mary I felt this setting was just too good to escape the camera’s attention, despite the difficulty with the sun. Magnificent country.
The scenes kept on coming, too. Varying all the time. Sandra wanted to get something special here so we stopped and she walked across the road…
Sandra shoots. It seemed worthwhile to cross the road to get a shot so Sandra took a walk as I waited.
Sandra’s shot. A bit extra in the scene as it shows the road going down the hill and doesn’t have any interruptions to the foot of the picture, like the road is in my shot, and the sign.
...and took a couple of pics. To be honest, the second one could have been good but it was just a bit too distant.
Not so distant now was the Canadian border. We pulled up at Babb, the last town in Montana, and went through the formalities at the border crossing to drive on into Alberta.
Alberta. Another milestone as we entered Alberta, the vehicle inspection didn’t present any problems.
Driving from there to Cardston took us through farmland, far less spectacular than the country we’d been enjoying all day. Haybales were seen and the few miles were easily covered.
Motel. Sandra has snapped this as I walked across to the motel’s reception to book our room for the night.
A motel with a vacancy sign, free wi-fi, a coin laundry and air conditioning was right there as we entered the town. And just what we needed. The air conditioning was, of course, reverse cycle, so it made our night comfortable. Way more comfortable than it would have been to sleep in the van.
One of the things that really opened my eyes to visiting this National Park was learning of the Red open-top buses they run around the park, buses built in the thirties and still in use.
Well, almost from the thirties. Originally built by White, today they have a more modern chassis and engine, but look the same.
So we set out from Kalispell and soon found Columbia Falls, not that there were any falls to be seen. This little town provided Sandra with some photo subjects she liked…
Fort Hungry Horse. Lots of displays and animal carvings here were to Sandra’s liking.
US2 ahead. Good roads connect the places here despite the terrain.
We headed off down the highway then to West Glacier, but we weren’t to know what disappointments lay ahead due to the time of the year.
Imposing entry. While it looks imposing, it’s only because they had to take the road under a railway bridge.
West Glacier. Inside there was this proper entry, still imposing in its own way. We were at Glacier National Park now.
Having quickly learned that most amenities weren’t open, that the buses weren’t running and that the park generally hadn’t awoken from its Winter slumber, we made our way to the edge of a lake where true beauty lurked.
Reflections. Just magical the way the reflections enhance the raw beauty of the setting, even in the overcast conditions of the day.
And more... These reflections could keep an army of cameras busy all day long. And, no doubt, they sometimes do.
Various kinds of accommodation are to be found in the park, these log cabins look comfortable enough:
Log Cabins. Not yet filled up with Summer vacationers, these cabins looked like a good place to stay.
Running Deer. No reference to an Indian name, I luckily caught this deer with my camera before she got away.
There was a lot of animal carvings around, both here and at other places. Totem poles, carvings of bears holding up verandah posts, providing seating, all sorts of things. Again, it attracted Sandra’s attention.
Bears! Carved bears were everywhere, but few were as lazy-looking as this one.
Waterfall. With all the melting snow there are plenty of opportunities for water to fall over the abundant rocks and ledges. This was a small one.
We hit the road again and drove around to East Glacier, enjoying the views as we drove and sometimes pulling up for a closer look. Here the Blackfoot Indian nation was honored but we didn’t meet any injuns at all.
Indian country. This tribe once had solid connections with this area, it seems.
Closed! A sign that helped remind us that we were a month or so too early to enjoy many of the area’s features. It was the story of our day.
As we headed for the next stage in our discovery tour, the Two Medicine Park, we spotted a warning sign which would have us worried for a time…
Bear Country! Well, you’re okay if you’re in your car, aren’t you?
Running Eagle Falls. The desire to see a decent waterfall was overcoming Sandra, but it was several hundred yards’ walk through scrubland to find it!
...and that got worse as we got separated somehow. Was calling out to each other a good idea? We didn’t know. But in the end we both safely made it to see the falls and back to the van.
We drove on through Browning and headed for the Canadian border. The sun was going down in the West, though it wasn’t that low, so it put a heavy back-lighting on the clouds and mists out there in the mountains over which we were now looking.
Mountain vista. As we neared St Mary I felt this setting was just too good to escape the camera’s attention, despite the difficulty with the sun. Magnificent country.
The scenes kept on coming, too. Varying all the time. Sandra wanted to get something special here so we stopped and she walked across the road…
Sandra shoots. It seemed worthwhile to cross the road to get a shot so Sandra took a walk as I waited.
Sandra’s shot. A bit extra in the scene as it shows the road going down the hill and doesn’t have any interruptions to the foot of the picture, like the road is in my shot, and the sign.
...and took a couple of pics. To be honest, the second one could have been good but it was just a bit too distant.
Not so distant now was the Canadian border. We pulled up at Babb, the last town in Montana, and went through the formalities at the border crossing to drive on into Alberta.
Alberta. Another milestone as we entered Alberta, the vehicle inspection didn’t present any problems.
Driving from there to Cardston took us through farmland, far less spectacular than the country we’d been enjoying all day. Haybales were seen and the few miles were easily covered.
Motel. Sandra has snapped this as I walked across to the motel’s reception to book our room for the night.
A motel with a vacancy sign, free wi-fi, a coin laundry and air conditioning was right there as we entered the town. And just what we needed. The air conditioning was, of course, reverse cycle, so it made our night comfortable. Way more comfortable than it would have been to sleep in the van.
Last edited by Ray Bell; Nov 23, 2019 at 07:39 AM.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
Our plan for April 28 was to head across to Craddock, join the highway down through Great Falls, viewing more of Montana’s pretty countryside en-route to Helena.
We loaded up the van and drove to the other end of Cardston, the distant hill in the last pic above, and pulled up to buy something.
It didn’t take long, so I hit the starter and the motor turned over – but wouldn’t start! Trying this several times, I hadn’t a clue what was wrong, but we were parked on a hill and I let it roll and clutch-started it. From then on it went fine. Of course, Sandra was concerned whenever we stopped for the balance of the day, but we had no further problem.
The road across to Craddock, where we’d rejoin the North-South highway which would become the I15 in the US was a nice 2-lane road and it took us through Raymond. Where, of course, I had to pose with the ‘Welcome to Raymond’ sign:
Raymond in Raymond. I’m not much of one for selfies, but seeing as my new wife asked… mind you, I need a haircut and could have tidied myself up a bit!
There was an old wagon there too, she got a photo of that and was ready to embark on a photo-shooting spree. Only nine or ten kilometres down the road from there she wanted to take a photo of these sheds:
Disaster in the making. Just about the time Sandra took this shot she stepped in the way of the back wheel as I reversed to try and get traction to drive out of the boggy ground.
I offered to drive down onto the grass so she could get a closer shot, which she wanted to do because of the ‘Remax’ sign (at home she rented a storage shed through Remax) and when I did so I got a little resistance from the wet ground to driving forward to regain the road. I reversed back a little way and Sandra wasn’t taking any notice, she stepped back as I reversed and did some damage to her heel. That changed her mood considerably.
At Craddock we joined a broad divided freeway with almost no traffic…
Gas well. I guess this is a little income earner for the farmer near Craddock.
Open highway. Not much traffic and plenty of nice smooth road as we head for the US border.
...This travelled through mostly flat country were it was obvious that haymaking and cattle growing were the main activities. At Coutts I slipped off the highway to have a quick look at some older cars at the 'Smugglers Saloon'...
Smugglers Fords. I’m guessing these Fords are ‘57 models, so much different to the ones we had in Australia which were based on the ‘54 body style.
Smugglers Chrysler. I’m also guessing at this, while I know it’s a late forties’ Chrysler, I’m thinking that the reference to smuggling is related to people running booze into the US during the prohibition years.
...which were outside the ‘Smugglers Saloon’. And as we continued South to the border crossing we had little trouble re-entering the US and continued on the I15 towards our destination. Broad prairie grasslands s surrounded us as we kept heading South. The US town at the border was named ‘Sweet Grass’, and I guess it would be to the ever-present cattle.
We were about thirty miles into the US when we went off the Interstate at Shelby for some fuel. Sandra had resumed taking photos and here she got a shot of a long goods train…
Shelby diversion. Back in the USA we could refuel at lower prices than we’d avoided in Canada. This goods train looks well-laden for cross-border goods trading.
...and a little bird…
Little bird. As usual, Sandra kept her eyes open for the little things of nature. Does anyone know what breed of bird this is?
...followed by another stretch of long, straight Interstate…
Straight Interstate. Over hill and dale, the Interstate keeps up the flow for the little bit of traffic using it.
...through country where a few hills interrupted the flat farmlands…
Farms and crops. Ceaseless production is typified in this grey-weather shot over cropping and grazing land, with an outcrop making a hill that interrupts the flatness of the land.
Another rocky outcrop. Geologists will explain how it all came about, but to us this scenery was something to enjoy.
...led to Great Falls. We slipped on by there and it wasn’t very far at all before we were treated to the sights of the Adel Mountain Volcanic Field near Cascade. This was an impressive area to see, where volcanoes have thrust rock masses up and eventually the Missouri River has carved its way through. We got a lot of pictures of this area:
Adel Mountains. We didn’t know it yet, but we were about to enter a spectacular part of Montana. It’s clear to see the remains of volcanic activity here.
Two ridges. These hills each have a clear rocky ridge running down from them towards the road. This caused us to pull up for a closer look.
Tower Rock picnic area. We immediately took an exit and looked more closely, finding a picnic area but not using it as such.
Goats. Goats can live and climb anywhere, of course, and these ones seem to make the rocky area their home.
Magnificent setting. When we rejoined the Interstate it wasn’t far before we saw this lovely setting in which a number of people make their homes on the banks of the Missouri River. They are on the old US91.
One thing that impressed me here was the sight of the Hardy Bridge down on the river level, visible from a few places on the Interstate. It was a part of the old US91, which helped open up this country almost a hundred years ago. What I didn’t realise at the time was that if we’d continued past that picnic area we could have driven over this bridge and come back to the Interstate after just a couple of miles on it.
Hardy Bridge. It’s right down there between the rocks, still in use and giving the local residents easy access to the road North.
US91 Explained. This sign adjoins the spot from which the previous photo was taken and...
Bridge information....this one explains more about the bridge.
Adel Mountains explained. Some geological explanation for this spectacular setting.
And we also used the Rest Area there to get out the camp stove and cook some lunch. Unfortunately the centre was unmanned, but it provided us with a nice setting in which to dine and provided us with nice clean amenities…
Nice amenities. Although unmanned, this rest area gave us information about the area, a place to cook our lunch and clean washrooms.
...on this dreary and otherwise dull overcast day. Well, when it wasn’t spotting us with rain it was merely overcast, anyway, and you can see that low clouds were hanging over some of the rocky outcrops there.
Lunchtime viewing. And while we cooked and dined we could admire the view. Occasional light showers kept us on our toes, however.
From there to Helena was easy running through farmlands which were getting a bit of watering as we drove.
Nearing Helena. I commented before that Helena was more like a country town than a capital city, and the same is true of the roads heading there. No heavy traffic, nice rural outlooks.
Expansion. And like any big town or city, there’s always some development going on at the outskirts as the place grows.
We sought out the Super 8 motel when we got to Montana’s capital city and arranged a room there, finding to our dismay that there was an awkward parking arrangement where the parking area is on a higher level than the ground floor of the building...
Carpark difficulty. Being built on a slope, the motel had its carpark above ground level which was an inconvenience when making many trips between the room and the car.
...So it required everything to be carried down a flight of stairs before going in to access your room.
We asked about a nice, but not too expensive, place to eat and were directed to the ‘Suds Hut’, a restaurant specialising in chicken dishes…
Suds Hut. A local restaurant which has made a name for itself and its chicken dishes, they play heavily on their chicken theme.
...It was warm and welcoming in there with a nice fire going…
Warm inside. On a day like this, the evening was going to be cold, but not while we ate.
...while the emphasis on chickens extended to the toilets as well…
Hens and Roosters. There was no stopping the chicken theme.
...and they had some very interesting looking taps in those bathrooms:
Interesting taps. Looking like old-fashioned pumps, the taps were different.
That night I had to send away a receipt for my inheritance from my mother so that the money could be transferred to my bank. The delays were over and my financial position was to be improved greatly from that point on.
We loaded up the van and drove to the other end of Cardston, the distant hill in the last pic above, and pulled up to buy something.
It didn’t take long, so I hit the starter and the motor turned over – but wouldn’t start! Trying this several times, I hadn’t a clue what was wrong, but we were parked on a hill and I let it roll and clutch-started it. From then on it went fine. Of course, Sandra was concerned whenever we stopped for the balance of the day, but we had no further problem.
The road across to Craddock, where we’d rejoin the North-South highway which would become the I15 in the US was a nice 2-lane road and it took us through Raymond. Where, of course, I had to pose with the ‘Welcome to Raymond’ sign:
Raymond in Raymond. I’m not much of one for selfies, but seeing as my new wife asked… mind you, I need a haircut and could have tidied myself up a bit!
There was an old wagon there too, she got a photo of that and was ready to embark on a photo-shooting spree. Only nine or ten kilometres down the road from there she wanted to take a photo of these sheds:
Disaster in the making. Just about the time Sandra took this shot she stepped in the way of the back wheel as I reversed to try and get traction to drive out of the boggy ground.
I offered to drive down onto the grass so she could get a closer shot, which she wanted to do because of the ‘Remax’ sign (at home she rented a storage shed through Remax) and when I did so I got a little resistance from the wet ground to driving forward to regain the road. I reversed back a little way and Sandra wasn’t taking any notice, she stepped back as I reversed and did some damage to her heel. That changed her mood considerably.
At Craddock we joined a broad divided freeway with almost no traffic…
Gas well. I guess this is a little income earner for the farmer near Craddock.
Open highway. Not much traffic and plenty of nice smooth road as we head for the US border.
...This travelled through mostly flat country were it was obvious that haymaking and cattle growing were the main activities. At Coutts I slipped off the highway to have a quick look at some older cars at the 'Smugglers Saloon'...
Smugglers Fords. I’m guessing these Fords are ‘57 models, so much different to the ones we had in Australia which were based on the ‘54 body style.
Smugglers Chrysler. I’m also guessing at this, while I know it’s a late forties’ Chrysler, I’m thinking that the reference to smuggling is related to people running booze into the US during the prohibition years.
...which were outside the ‘Smugglers Saloon’. And as we continued South to the border crossing we had little trouble re-entering the US and continued on the I15 towards our destination. Broad prairie grasslands s surrounded us as we kept heading South. The US town at the border was named ‘Sweet Grass’, and I guess it would be to the ever-present cattle.
We were about thirty miles into the US when we went off the Interstate at Shelby for some fuel. Sandra had resumed taking photos and here she got a shot of a long goods train…
Shelby diversion. Back in the USA we could refuel at lower prices than we’d avoided in Canada. This goods train looks well-laden for cross-border goods trading.
...and a little bird…
Little bird. As usual, Sandra kept her eyes open for the little things of nature. Does anyone know what breed of bird this is?
...followed by another stretch of long, straight Interstate…
Straight Interstate. Over hill and dale, the Interstate keeps up the flow for the little bit of traffic using it.
...through country where a few hills interrupted the flat farmlands…
Farms and crops. Ceaseless production is typified in this grey-weather shot over cropping and grazing land, with an outcrop making a hill that interrupts the flatness of the land.
Another rocky outcrop. Geologists will explain how it all came about, but to us this scenery was something to enjoy.
...led to Great Falls. We slipped on by there and it wasn’t very far at all before we were treated to the sights of the Adel Mountain Volcanic Field near Cascade. This was an impressive area to see, where volcanoes have thrust rock masses up and eventually the Missouri River has carved its way through. We got a lot of pictures of this area:
Adel Mountains. We didn’t know it yet, but we were about to enter a spectacular part of Montana. It’s clear to see the remains of volcanic activity here.
Two ridges. These hills each have a clear rocky ridge running down from them towards the road. This caused us to pull up for a closer look.
Tower Rock picnic area. We immediately took an exit and looked more closely, finding a picnic area but not using it as such.
Goats. Goats can live and climb anywhere, of course, and these ones seem to make the rocky area their home.
Magnificent setting. When we rejoined the Interstate it wasn’t far before we saw this lovely setting in which a number of people make their homes on the banks of the Missouri River. They are on the old US91.
One thing that impressed me here was the sight of the Hardy Bridge down on the river level, visible from a few places on the Interstate. It was a part of the old US91, which helped open up this country almost a hundred years ago. What I didn’t realise at the time was that if we’d continued past that picnic area we could have driven over this bridge and come back to the Interstate after just a couple of miles on it.
Hardy Bridge. It’s right down there between the rocks, still in use and giving the local residents easy access to the road North.
US91 Explained. This sign adjoins the spot from which the previous photo was taken and...
Bridge information....this one explains more about the bridge.
Adel Mountains explained. Some geological explanation for this spectacular setting.
And we also used the Rest Area there to get out the camp stove and cook some lunch. Unfortunately the centre was unmanned, but it provided us with a nice setting in which to dine and provided us with nice clean amenities…
Nice amenities. Although unmanned, this rest area gave us information about the area, a place to cook our lunch and clean washrooms.
...on this dreary and otherwise dull overcast day. Well, when it wasn’t spotting us with rain it was merely overcast, anyway, and you can see that low clouds were hanging over some of the rocky outcrops there.
Lunchtime viewing. And while we cooked and dined we could admire the view. Occasional light showers kept us on our toes, however.
From there to Helena was easy running through farmlands which were getting a bit of watering as we drove.
Nearing Helena. I commented before that Helena was more like a country town than a capital city, and the same is true of the roads heading there. No heavy traffic, nice rural outlooks.
Expansion. And like any big town or city, there’s always some development going on at the outskirts as the place grows.
We sought out the Super 8 motel when we got to Montana’s capital city and arranged a room there, finding to our dismay that there was an awkward parking arrangement where the parking area is on a higher level than the ground floor of the building...
Carpark difficulty. Being built on a slope, the motel had its carpark above ground level which was an inconvenience when making many trips between the room and the car.
...So it required everything to be carried down a flight of stairs before going in to access your room.
We asked about a nice, but not too expensive, place to eat and were directed to the ‘Suds Hut’, a restaurant specialising in chicken dishes…
Suds Hut. A local restaurant which has made a name for itself and its chicken dishes, they play heavily on their chicken theme.
...It was warm and welcoming in there with a nice fire going…
Warm inside. On a day like this, the evening was going to be cold, but not while we ate.
...while the emphasis on chickens extended to the toilets as well…
Hens and Roosters. There was no stopping the chicken theme.
...and they had some very interesting looking taps in those bathrooms:
Interesting taps. Looking like old-fashioned pumps, the taps were different.
That night I had to send away a receipt for my inheritance from my mother so that the money could be transferred to my bank. The delays were over and my financial position was to be improved greatly from that point on.
Last edited by Ray Bell; May 8, 2020 at 12:32 AM.
Thread Starter
|
Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
The problem we had on Thursday with the van not restarting after an initial very short run was repeated on Friday.
Much to my dismay, after driving from the motel to the Conoco station it once again refused to play ball. And there was no decent hill to roll it down, so I set about trying to work out what to do.
Perhaps it was a recollection of that flooding event with the pickup four years earlier that made me think to pull the spark plugs, but for whatever reason I bought a new set and fitted them, taking care not to have more than one plug lead undone at a time so I wouldn’t cross any wires. Until I did the last two and I knew I couldn’t mix them up. I also bought new leads but didn’t fit them.
I was at it for a long time doing this until, finally, it ran. Sandra, meanwhile had been taking photos of odd things around the place…
Montana montage. Sandra snapped these artifacts as I struggled with the van.
Not all bull. Clearly this one is made to move about. But I don’t think it’s light enough to blow over in the wind.
So we drove off. This day, now abbreviated by this early problem, would see us go through to Billings, though the plan was a visit to Yellowstone National Park and to proceed from the Western end of that park through to rejoin the I80 somewhere in Wyoming.
The next problem we struck was that the engine started backfiring. Every minute, or maybe half a minute, or maybe two minutes perhaps sometimes four or five even, it would give a great backfire through the carby. And it would jolt through the drivetrain and, worst of all, feed that jolt into Sandra’s poor back. I have to say at this juncture, if only I’d tackled this problem immediately rather than drive on we’d have been better off, but my first thought was that we’d been wasting a lot of time and I didn’t really want to waste more.
Again, if only I’d thought it through properly… and I’m not a good tuning person, my best work is in dismantling and reassembling things.
I phoned Ben in Australia and asked him, he had a couple of suggestions. it would have seemed logical to take it to a workshop and get it checked out. But nobody I spoke to could do it before the weekend. I needed to be in Michigan before they could touch it or I’d miss the flight from Toronto to Paris and I was supposed to call in to see my son in Indiana on the way through.
We drove on from Helena, down through the road I’d used the previous trip in the opposite direction, all along the way enjoying the Montana scenery, this time with lots of snowy caps…
I did know someone who I was sure could help with the van’s problem, Pedro in Bozeman. I got there and found his workshop, but he wasn’t there any more. I found his phone number and gave him a call and he recommended another workshop just around the corner. But, as usual, they were too busy and couldn’t look at it until next week.
Montana background. Every time I drive across Montana I’m impressed by its backdrops. The snow did nothing to detract from it.
Weather closing. While the day started with sunshine, the patches of blue became less frequent as we drove.
But they did allow me to use a bench there, so I removed the carby and stripped it down, cleaned it all up and they checked up on how I was going every so often. Between us we couldn’t see anything wrong (I have never had a V8 carby apart before anyway) and so I carefully reassembled it, refitted it and drove on. With no difference in the way the engine was running. That, I see now, should have been a seriously big clue.
Sandra snapping. While I was working with the carby Sandra photographed things nearby.
Bozeman decorations. I don’t know if these were garbage bins or just some kind of decoration.
Mike’s Off-Road. This was at the place where I dismantled the carby. The people were very generous to me.
We drove on to Livingston and headed South from there towards Gardiner and the entry to Yellowstone National Park. The weather was still not good, but some patches of sunshine gave us hope. The one-year pass to go into all National Parks was purchased and we headed in…
...And the trucks. We rejoined the I90 with our problem unresolved, as always the Interstate was carrying a lot of trucks.
Mountains and weather. The photos show how the weather was changing, the mountains remained a highlight.
Onto the 2-lane. In to Gardiner we travelled this 2-lane road. Snow fences show it’s not always green here.
River and mountains. And Montana kept on rewarding us with great views.
Deer farm. We stopped briefly to look at the deer at this farm.
Gardiner. This town is the Montana ‘gateway’ to Yellowstone.
Friendly smile. Our admission to the park came via this friendly gentleman.
Bison. This big fellow was on the side of the road not far from the entry, but we would see more than just him.
Seeing bison for the first time spurred Sandra into taking more photos, then we had a look at the first lot of hot springs. The plan was to go from there further into the park and then turn left to head out of the park through to Cody and on to Sheridan. It would add virtually no distance to the trip and give us some scenery neither of us had seen before.
Liberty Cap. Named for its similarity to the peaked caps worn during the French Revolution, it marks a defunct geyser or hot spring and is 37 feet tall.
Colour inclusion. This board explained why the colour is impregnated in the spring’s flow.
Hot Springs. Mammoth Hot Spring was the only hot spring we saw due to unforeseen circumstances.
Yes, hot springs! As we climbed the hill beyond the springs the rising steam showed it really was hot.
After climbing the first long hill we came to a waterfall. So we stopped and took photos of that with light snow falling. Then, as we drove on it got a bit more consistent and after a short while I took the decision to head back to Livingston and the I80 to avoid being caught up on roads we couldn’t traverse in this weather.
Waterfall. Where the road meets the start of the plateau this waterfall was flowing plenty of melting ice and snow.
Turn around time. As the snow started to come down we were forced to turn back. Our ever-tightening schedule wouldn’t allow us to get stuck.
That led to an amazing little experience as we came to the point where the waterfall was, with a traffic jam (comprising about three cars…) there in the snow. No, it wasn’t the cars holding us up, it was a number of bison walking up the roadway to reach the high ground:
Traffic jam. But not the cars, it’s the little herd of bison who took charge of the road as they headed for the top of the hill.
Snow on the fur. Maybe they’d prefer that the Spring would be warmer? Snow settled on the backs of these huge beasts.
Picturesque bridge. From Mammoth this road ultimately goes through the mountains to Laurel, Montana. It would be the slow way.
We were now back to the issue of keeping on going and not losing time, so we’d soon start looking for somewhere to stay the night. A Walmart carpark would be the chosen destination and we put down about sixty miles in the dark before we called in to the Walmart at Laurel, just shy of Billings. The staff carpark there, however, was around the corner from the front of the store and near the loading docks, so Sandra was concerned about the noise of trucks coming and going through the night and so we went on to Billings.
Snow caps. We returned to enjoying the endless snow-capped backgrounds along the I90.
Billings 107. Billings was 107 miles as we followed this bend in the river, Laurel was only a few miles closer.
If we needed a bright spot in our night, this scene (from where – I don’t have a clue!) was the only one we had.
It goes without saying, of course, that our engine problem was accompanied by an alarming increase in fuel usage. About 8 or 9 mpg.
Much to my dismay, after driving from the motel to the Conoco station it once again refused to play ball. And there was no decent hill to roll it down, so I set about trying to work out what to do.
Perhaps it was a recollection of that flooding event with the pickup four years earlier that made me think to pull the spark plugs, but for whatever reason I bought a new set and fitted them, taking care not to have more than one plug lead undone at a time so I wouldn’t cross any wires. Until I did the last two and I knew I couldn’t mix them up. I also bought new leads but didn’t fit them.
I was at it for a long time doing this until, finally, it ran. Sandra, meanwhile had been taking photos of odd things around the place…
Montana montage. Sandra snapped these artifacts as I struggled with the van.
Not all bull. Clearly this one is made to move about. But I don’t think it’s light enough to blow over in the wind.
So we drove off. This day, now abbreviated by this early problem, would see us go through to Billings, though the plan was a visit to Yellowstone National Park and to proceed from the Western end of that park through to rejoin the I80 somewhere in Wyoming.
The next problem we struck was that the engine started backfiring. Every minute, or maybe half a minute, or maybe two minutes perhaps sometimes four or five even, it would give a great backfire through the carby. And it would jolt through the drivetrain and, worst of all, feed that jolt into Sandra’s poor back. I have to say at this juncture, if only I’d tackled this problem immediately rather than drive on we’d have been better off, but my first thought was that we’d been wasting a lot of time and I didn’t really want to waste more.
Again, if only I’d thought it through properly… and I’m not a good tuning person, my best work is in dismantling and reassembling things.
I phoned Ben in Australia and asked him, he had a couple of suggestions. it would have seemed logical to take it to a workshop and get it checked out. But nobody I spoke to could do it before the weekend. I needed to be in Michigan before they could touch it or I’d miss the flight from Toronto to Paris and I was supposed to call in to see my son in Indiana on the way through.
We drove on from Helena, down through the road I’d used the previous trip in the opposite direction, all along the way enjoying the Montana scenery, this time with lots of snowy caps…
I did know someone who I was sure could help with the van’s problem, Pedro in Bozeman. I got there and found his workshop, but he wasn’t there any more. I found his phone number and gave him a call and he recommended another workshop just around the corner. But, as usual, they were too busy and couldn’t look at it until next week.
Montana background. Every time I drive across Montana I’m impressed by its backdrops. The snow did nothing to detract from it.
Weather closing. While the day started with sunshine, the patches of blue became less frequent as we drove.
But they did allow me to use a bench there, so I removed the carby and stripped it down, cleaned it all up and they checked up on how I was going every so often. Between us we couldn’t see anything wrong (I have never had a V8 carby apart before anyway) and so I carefully reassembled it, refitted it and drove on. With no difference in the way the engine was running. That, I see now, should have been a seriously big clue.
Sandra snapping. While I was working with the carby Sandra photographed things nearby.
Bozeman decorations. I don’t know if these were garbage bins or just some kind of decoration.
Mike’s Off-Road. This was at the place where I dismantled the carby. The people were very generous to me.
We drove on to Livingston and headed South from there towards Gardiner and the entry to Yellowstone National Park. The weather was still not good, but some patches of sunshine gave us hope. The one-year pass to go into all National Parks was purchased and we headed in…
...And the trucks. We rejoined the I90 with our problem unresolved, as always the Interstate was carrying a lot of trucks.
Mountains and weather. The photos show how the weather was changing, the mountains remained a highlight.
Onto the 2-lane. In to Gardiner we travelled this 2-lane road. Snow fences show it’s not always green here.
River and mountains. And Montana kept on rewarding us with great views.
Deer farm. We stopped briefly to look at the deer at this farm.
Gardiner. This town is the Montana ‘gateway’ to Yellowstone.
Friendly smile. Our admission to the park came via this friendly gentleman.
Bison. This big fellow was on the side of the road not far from the entry, but we would see more than just him.
Seeing bison for the first time spurred Sandra into taking more photos, then we had a look at the first lot of hot springs. The plan was to go from there further into the park and then turn left to head out of the park through to Cody and on to Sheridan. It would add virtually no distance to the trip and give us some scenery neither of us had seen before.
Liberty Cap. Named for its similarity to the peaked caps worn during the French Revolution, it marks a defunct geyser or hot spring and is 37 feet tall.
Colour inclusion. This board explained why the colour is impregnated in the spring’s flow.
Hot Springs. Mammoth Hot Spring was the only hot spring we saw due to unforeseen circumstances.
Yes, hot springs! As we climbed the hill beyond the springs the rising steam showed it really was hot.
After climbing the first long hill we came to a waterfall. So we stopped and took photos of that with light snow falling. Then, as we drove on it got a bit more consistent and after a short while I took the decision to head back to Livingston and the I80 to avoid being caught up on roads we couldn’t traverse in this weather.
Waterfall. Where the road meets the start of the plateau this waterfall was flowing plenty of melting ice and snow.
Turn around time. As the snow started to come down we were forced to turn back. Our ever-tightening schedule wouldn’t allow us to get stuck.
That led to an amazing little experience as we came to the point where the waterfall was, with a traffic jam (comprising about three cars…) there in the snow. No, it wasn’t the cars holding us up, it was a number of bison walking up the roadway to reach the high ground:
Traffic jam. But not the cars, it’s the little herd of bison who took charge of the road as they headed for the top of the hill.
Snow on the fur. Maybe they’d prefer that the Spring would be warmer? Snow settled on the backs of these huge beasts.
Picturesque bridge. From Mammoth this road ultimately goes through the mountains to Laurel, Montana. It would be the slow way.
We were now back to the issue of keeping on going and not losing time, so we’d soon start looking for somewhere to stay the night. A Walmart carpark would be the chosen destination and we put down about sixty miles in the dark before we called in to the Walmart at Laurel, just shy of Billings. The staff carpark there, however, was around the corner from the front of the store and near the loading docks, so Sandra was concerned about the noise of trucks coming and going through the night and so we went on to Billings.
Snow caps. We returned to enjoying the endless snow-capped backgrounds along the I90.
Billings 107. Billings was 107 miles as we followed this bend in the river, Laurel was only a few miles closer.
If we needed a bright spot in our night, this scene (from where – I don’t have a clue!) was the only one we had.
It goes without saying, of course, that our engine problem was accompanied by an alarming increase in fuel usage. About 8 or 9 mpg.
Last edited by Ray Bell; May 8, 2020 at 12:35 AM.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
Pressure was starting to overcome me as Saturday arrived. We had been in America for over a week and a half and we weren’t yet halfway across. We were going to go to the Devil’s Tower but apart from that I felt that I should go back to the Crazy Horse carving and show that to Sandra. Spearfish had to be the minimum goal for the day.
Stopping to refuel had become more frequent, of course, and this was country through which I’d travelled a couple of times before. For Sandra it was all-new, but the jolting of each backfire was doing her back pain no good at all.
Rattlesnakes. We didn’t see any, but this sign at a rest area made it clear that they exist in the region.
Scenery changing. While the road was the same, the nature of the scenery changes as you head Eastwards in Montana, blending in more with the Wyoming type of country.
Needing some things, we called in to the little town of Lodge Grass, which is off the stretch of the I90 where it swings South and heads for the Wyoming border. We got some supplies at the supermarket there, a barn, really, Sandra noted that the staff in the shop were mostly Indians and she had some brief discussions with them. Looking up the stats it appears that about 85% of the population of the area are Native American and that they are mostly Crow.
Little Horn IGA. With a name like that, it’s no surprise that it’s run by Native Americans.
Coming out of the store we had a surprise as the goods train rumbling across the level crossing opposite was carrying two aircraft fuselages. I didn’t have my camera or I would have definitely got a picture of it all. On looking it up I found that the Boeing 737 fuselages are built in Wichita, Kansas, and sent to Boeing in Seattle by train for assembly. Surprising to me were the numbers – at that time 52 per month were going through and they’d been building the 737s since 1968. The 10,000th one was railed through in February, 2018.
Wyoming. Like I said, I’ve been here before. Both Wyoming and Montana have colourful welcome signs.
We just kept on going through on the I90 after that, stopping briefly for a snack (and to get hotel coupons) at the big new Tourist Center at Sheridan, which looked out over part of the town…
Keeping us informed. This board was at the new Tourist Centre overlooking Sheridan.
Sheridan motels. Huge motels from the Hampton Inn and Motel 6 chains dominate the scene here.
From Marverik. While I refuelled Sandra shot this pic from the forecourt. Note that the road-blocking ice and snow barriers are there.
...We had a snack there and got some fuel from the Maverik gas station in Sheridan, and lunch and for just a little photography. We hit the road, off towards Gillette…
Roadworks and different scenery. Roadworks drove us right off the normal paved lanes here as the backgrounds became less attractive.
Still some... There were, however, still some snow-capped ranges off in the distance at different places.
Less inviting. Generally the scenery was less-inviting than that we’d been seeing.
Gillette looms. The next landmark is close as we head towards the Devil’s Tower.
Even so, it was fairly late by the time we got to Devil’s Tower and we drove in, used our National Parks permit again, and went right on past the prairie dogs, which Sandra had been looking forward to seeing.
But she was to be severely disappointed, and it was all her own doing. When we got to the Tower she wanted to walk around it. I can understand that because the walk promised to put her in contact with some of the wildlife, but mostly it would give her back a chance to get away from the jolting it was getting in the van.
She got some pics of those little animals, however, and some other features…
Entry point. Here’s the point where we had to show our National Parks pass. The road sweeps to the left and immediately goes through the field full of prairie dog holes.
Tower info. Naturally there was plenty of information about the formation of the tower, with the various alternatives showing there’s some guesswork involved.
Cattlemen’s heaven. Good fertile prairie makes for good cattle country, and when the buffalo were hunted near to extinction the cattle were move in to take advantage of the country’s natural advantages.
Vertical view. Looking up from the walk at this point gives a good view of the formation and subsequent breaking off of the hexagonal sections. Piles of rock lie all around the tower from where these sections have tumbled to the ground.
Cracked up. Again there were explanations of that feature to be found as we walked along the trail.
Sandra hugs a tree. This is perhaps the best photo I have of my new wife. A bit of a nature lover, she hugged this tree as I took her photo during this walk.
Rabbit. And as a nature lover she was delighted to catch sight of this rabbit and get its photo.
Squirrel. Even more so when this busy little squirrel didn’t run away from its acorn meal.
Red sandstone. More like we’d see at home, this red sandstone looked out of place at the foot of one section of the tower.
...the prairie dogs were asleep as we drove out…
Prairie dog info. Sandra had to make do with this information about the prairie dogs...
Prairie dog field. ...while all the holes seemed inactive as the little creatures tucked themselves away underground. Their mounds and holes are clearly seen here.
...We pressed on towards Spearfish, finding a motel for the night.
Wyoming sunset. As the sun went down over Wyoming we headed into the darkness of South Dakota.
The saving grace was that my son, in the course of a phone call, told us we didn’t have to worry about seeing him on our way to Toronto, we could save that time because his wife was up to her armpits in work and we’d catch up on our return.
See what I mean about pressure?
Stopping to refuel had become more frequent, of course, and this was country through which I’d travelled a couple of times before. For Sandra it was all-new, but the jolting of each backfire was doing her back pain no good at all.
Rattlesnakes. We didn’t see any, but this sign at a rest area made it clear that they exist in the region.
Scenery changing. While the road was the same, the nature of the scenery changes as you head Eastwards in Montana, blending in more with the Wyoming type of country.
Needing some things, we called in to the little town of Lodge Grass, which is off the stretch of the I90 where it swings South and heads for the Wyoming border. We got some supplies at the supermarket there, a barn, really, Sandra noted that the staff in the shop were mostly Indians and she had some brief discussions with them. Looking up the stats it appears that about 85% of the population of the area are Native American and that they are mostly Crow.
Little Horn IGA. With a name like that, it’s no surprise that it’s run by Native Americans.
Coming out of the store we had a surprise as the goods train rumbling across the level crossing opposite was carrying two aircraft fuselages. I didn’t have my camera or I would have definitely got a picture of it all. On looking it up I found that the Boeing 737 fuselages are built in Wichita, Kansas, and sent to Boeing in Seattle by train for assembly. Surprising to me were the numbers – at that time 52 per month were going through and they’d been building the 737s since 1968. The 10,000th one was railed through in February, 2018.
Wyoming. Like I said, I’ve been here before. Both Wyoming and Montana have colourful welcome signs.
We just kept on going through on the I90 after that, stopping briefly for a snack (and to get hotel coupons) at the big new Tourist Center at Sheridan, which looked out over part of the town…
Keeping us informed. This board was at the new Tourist Centre overlooking Sheridan.
Sheridan motels. Huge motels from the Hampton Inn and Motel 6 chains dominate the scene here.
From Marverik. While I refuelled Sandra shot this pic from the forecourt. Note that the road-blocking ice and snow barriers are there.
...We had a snack there and got some fuel from the Maverik gas station in Sheridan, and lunch and for just a little photography. We hit the road, off towards Gillette…
Roadworks and different scenery. Roadworks drove us right off the normal paved lanes here as the backgrounds became less attractive.
Still some... There were, however, still some snow-capped ranges off in the distance at different places.
Less inviting. Generally the scenery was less-inviting than that we’d been seeing.
Gillette looms. The next landmark is close as we head towards the Devil’s Tower.
Even so, it was fairly late by the time we got to Devil’s Tower and we drove in, used our National Parks permit again, and went right on past the prairie dogs, which Sandra had been looking forward to seeing.
But she was to be severely disappointed, and it was all her own doing. When we got to the Tower she wanted to walk around it. I can understand that because the walk promised to put her in contact with some of the wildlife, but mostly it would give her back a chance to get away from the jolting it was getting in the van.
She got some pics of those little animals, however, and some other features…
Entry point. Here’s the point where we had to show our National Parks pass. The road sweeps to the left and immediately goes through the field full of prairie dog holes.
Tower info. Naturally there was plenty of information about the formation of the tower, with the various alternatives showing there’s some guesswork involved.
Cattlemen’s heaven. Good fertile prairie makes for good cattle country, and when the buffalo were hunted near to extinction the cattle were move in to take advantage of the country’s natural advantages.
Vertical view. Looking up from the walk at this point gives a good view of the formation and subsequent breaking off of the hexagonal sections. Piles of rock lie all around the tower from where these sections have tumbled to the ground.
Cracked up. Again there were explanations of that feature to be found as we walked along the trail.
Sandra hugs a tree. This is perhaps the best photo I have of my new wife. A bit of a nature lover, she hugged this tree as I took her photo during this walk.
Rabbit. And as a nature lover she was delighted to catch sight of this rabbit and get its photo.
Squirrel. Even more so when this busy little squirrel didn’t run away from its acorn meal.
Red sandstone. More like we’d see at home, this red sandstone looked out of place at the foot of one section of the tower.
...the prairie dogs were asleep as we drove out…
Prairie dog info. Sandra had to make do with this information about the prairie dogs...
Prairie dog field. ...while all the holes seemed inactive as the little creatures tucked themselves away underground. Their mounds and holes are clearly seen here.
...We pressed on towards Spearfish, finding a motel for the night.
Wyoming sunset. As the sun went down over Wyoming we headed into the darkness of South Dakota.
The saving grace was that my son, in the course of a phone call, told us we didn’t have to worry about seeing him on our way to Toronto, we could save that time because his wife was up to her armpits in work and we’d catch up on our return.
See what I mean about pressure?
Last edited by Ray Bell; May 8, 2020 at 12:36 AM.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
South Dakota was to present me with some positives and some negatives…
Spearfish sprawl. Like so many places, modern development is spreading the outskirts of Spearfish.
This Sunday was to see us head well into Minnesota, but Sandra’s back condition combined with the pressure we were under to get to Toronto by the following Friday to catch a ‘plane to France left me disappointed that I wasn’t to see the Crazy Horse carving after she said she didn’t want to see it. Disappointed more for Sandra’s sake, with both that and the Mount Rushmore carvings not to be seen I felt she was missing out on some important sights.
But that would be a greater problem in the weeks to come. For now we were in the Black Hills of Dakota and it is a lovely part of the world. With Sandra rejecting covering the miles to the South necessary to see the carvings, we followed the advice of a number of local people we met and went into an area I’d never heard of – Spearfish Canyon – and spent much of the afternoon there.
And as I said, by the end of the day (or the start of the next one, as will be revealed) we would be well into Minnesota.
This is best done as a kind of photo-essay because much of the day’s activity was all in the one place, so here is an assortment of photos taken in the Spearfish Canyon:
A Day of Waterfalls. The first photo taken out of Spearfish was of this waterfall and it was a pointer to what would fill the afternoon.
Into the Canyon. The road to the Spearfish Canyon showed the kind of country that we were entering.
Snow around. For us, seeing snow on the ground is very unusual. It was just the first of May so there were still traces of winter’s snowfalls.
Flowing freely. Because of the snows melting these waters were flowing freely, glistening in the sun and dancing over the rocks.
Parkland streams. Well-manicured parklands surrounded the streaming water, it would seem that the canyon is maintained by people who care.
Tall trees and picnics. Nice picnic tables and benches, in other places benches just to sit and rest, visitors were able to take full advantage of the beauties around them.
Signs of building. Up in those trees something’s been building a nest, it appears. Does anybody know what kind of nests these might be?
Chipmunk. This little bloke stood still long enough for us to get a nice shot of him. Perhaps he thinks he’s photogenic? Well, he is.
Sparkling waters. Unlike the desert canyons, the Spearfish Canyon features lush vegetation and sparkling waters that are sometimes still, sometimes babbling, often falling.
Our picture. How rough we look, too, as someone consented to get a picture of us together on this bridge.
Canyon walls. Yes, it’s a fair dinkum canyon, walls of rocks that were at one time carved by the streams within. When they were less tame, one imagines.
Other people. We were far from being alone in the canyon, lots of people of all ages were there enjoying it with us.
Fish? I took this photo trying to capture the sight of some fish where were swimming about here. But the reflections defeated the camera in this task.
After leaving there we drove around a bit of the local area, eventually heading off to Deadwood and getting a few pics there:
Remax and canyon walls. Once again, Sandra spied the logo of the chain of estate agents she deals with back home. But it wouldn’t be a bad spot to buy a home either, would it?
Savoy Heading further South we went through Savoy...
Roughlock Falls. …and on to Roughlock Falls...
Sugarloaf Village. ...and saw the Sugarloaf Village tourist place, where there was even snow on the roof.
Driving to Deadwood. The road to Deadwood was a nice drive through the Black Hills.
Mines Hardware. There’s a definite old-time feel about Deadwood, the signage on this building gives an inkling of a distant past in the town.
Deadwood. And the entry into Deadwood announces it’s been around nearly 150 years.
Silverado. Can you see the fights in this place now? Movie makers have spread the knowledge of Deadwood world-wide.
Stretched Caddy... Oh, I hate stretched stuff this long. Ponderous, excessive, unnecessary...
Utility? ...and this one has a utility-style rear grafted onto it too.
Rusting. I hope they fix this and protect their investment.
And then it was time to go on to Rapid City, refuel the van and ourselves and head East. As we drove, we discussed the problem of us not getting very far and that we had so far to still cover before we caught the Air Canada flight. I was happy to drive all night through this country and Sandra suggested that she try to sleep in the bed in the back as I drove.
So for about three or four hours this was the situation. Covering miles, towards our next targeted stop in Austin, Minnesota, with the van still doing its crazy backfiring and jolting as Sandra tried to sleep, but all the same catching up a little time on our seriously upset schedule.
After that Sandra returned to her seat up front and from there we saw the sunrise together. It was just over four hundred miles from Spearfish to our first stop the next morning at Beaver Creek in Minnesota.
As the two days blended into one, this was our progress map for the first and second of May, 2016:
I reckon that overnight drive broke the back of the task of getting to Toronto in time...
Spearfish sprawl. Like so many places, modern development is spreading the outskirts of Spearfish.
This Sunday was to see us head well into Minnesota, but Sandra’s back condition combined with the pressure we were under to get to Toronto by the following Friday to catch a ‘plane to France left me disappointed that I wasn’t to see the Crazy Horse carving after she said she didn’t want to see it. Disappointed more for Sandra’s sake, with both that and the Mount Rushmore carvings not to be seen I felt she was missing out on some important sights.
But that would be a greater problem in the weeks to come. For now we were in the Black Hills of Dakota and it is a lovely part of the world. With Sandra rejecting covering the miles to the South necessary to see the carvings, we followed the advice of a number of local people we met and went into an area I’d never heard of – Spearfish Canyon – and spent much of the afternoon there.
And as I said, by the end of the day (or the start of the next one, as will be revealed) we would be well into Minnesota.
This is best done as a kind of photo-essay because much of the day’s activity was all in the one place, so here is an assortment of photos taken in the Spearfish Canyon:
A Day of Waterfalls. The first photo taken out of Spearfish was of this waterfall and it was a pointer to what would fill the afternoon.
Into the Canyon. The road to the Spearfish Canyon showed the kind of country that we were entering.
Snow around. For us, seeing snow on the ground is very unusual. It was just the first of May so there were still traces of winter’s snowfalls.
Flowing freely. Because of the snows melting these waters were flowing freely, glistening in the sun and dancing over the rocks.
Parkland streams. Well-manicured parklands surrounded the streaming water, it would seem that the canyon is maintained by people who care.
Tall trees and picnics. Nice picnic tables and benches, in other places benches just to sit and rest, visitors were able to take full advantage of the beauties around them.
Signs of building. Up in those trees something’s been building a nest, it appears. Does anybody know what kind of nests these might be?
Chipmunk. This little bloke stood still long enough for us to get a nice shot of him. Perhaps he thinks he’s photogenic? Well, he is.
Sparkling waters. Unlike the desert canyons, the Spearfish Canyon features lush vegetation and sparkling waters that are sometimes still, sometimes babbling, often falling.
Our picture. How rough we look, too, as someone consented to get a picture of us together on this bridge.
Canyon walls. Yes, it’s a fair dinkum canyon, walls of rocks that were at one time carved by the streams within. When they were less tame, one imagines.
Other people. We were far from being alone in the canyon, lots of people of all ages were there enjoying it with us.
Fish? I took this photo trying to capture the sight of some fish where were swimming about here. But the reflections defeated the camera in this task.
After leaving there we drove around a bit of the local area, eventually heading off to Deadwood and getting a few pics there:
Remax and canyon walls. Once again, Sandra spied the logo of the chain of estate agents she deals with back home. But it wouldn’t be a bad spot to buy a home either, would it?
Savoy Heading further South we went through Savoy...
Roughlock Falls. …and on to Roughlock Falls...
Sugarloaf Village. ...and saw the Sugarloaf Village tourist place, where there was even snow on the roof.
Driving to Deadwood. The road to Deadwood was a nice drive through the Black Hills.
Mines Hardware. There’s a definite old-time feel about Deadwood, the signage on this building gives an inkling of a distant past in the town.
Deadwood. And the entry into Deadwood announces it’s been around nearly 150 years.
Silverado. Can you see the fights in this place now? Movie makers have spread the knowledge of Deadwood world-wide.
Stretched Caddy... Oh, I hate stretched stuff this long. Ponderous, excessive, unnecessary...
Utility? ...and this one has a utility-style rear grafted onto it too.
Rusting. I hope they fix this and protect their investment.
And then it was time to go on to Rapid City, refuel the van and ourselves and head East. As we drove, we discussed the problem of us not getting very far and that we had so far to still cover before we caught the Air Canada flight. I was happy to drive all night through this country and Sandra suggested that she try to sleep in the bed in the back as I drove.
So for about three or four hours this was the situation. Covering miles, towards our next targeted stop in Austin, Minnesota, with the van still doing its crazy backfiring and jolting as Sandra tried to sleep, but all the same catching up a little time on our seriously upset schedule.
After that Sandra returned to her seat up front and from there we saw the sunrise together. It was just over four hundred miles from Spearfish to our first stop the next morning at Beaver Creek in Minnesota.
As the two days blended into one, this was our progress map for the first and second of May, 2016:
I reckon that overnight drive broke the back of the task of getting to Toronto in time...
Last edited by Ray Bell; May 8, 2020 at 12:38 AM.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
It was just a matter of keeping on rolling overnight. Before I left home I had bought some windscreen and rear window rubbers for my VG Valiant, which used the majority of the ‘68 Dart body but had a slightly extended front so it could fit the all-Australian Hemi 6 engine in more comfortably.
Checking with different forum members I learned that Fran Bishop in Austin, Minnesota, supplied these. His repro rubbers are in a slightly more pliable material than the originals for better sealing, a more modern material. And Fran’s place was my immediate destination thanks to Gary H of the 1962 to 1965 Mopar mailing list.
Driving through the night meant I got a glimpse of the sunrise…
Driving to dawn. Sometimes you just have to do it. I actually felt quite good through the night, though I was unhappy that Sandra was still taking a beating with the backfiring.
...and once the light of day arrived Sandra was looking for things to photograph. Her first burst of shooting was of the Porter Sculpture Park, near Montrose as we were getting close to the Minnesota border. We had no idea what it was but she shot a couple of pics and now we do know:
Art flower. Porter Sculpture Park first presented this flower to us...
More imaginative. ...but then there was all this graphic display to be seen from the Interstate.
Barn waking too. A more typical kind of ‘sculpture’ seen along the road.
Once we crossed the border it didn’t take long to find the Beaver Creek rest area and pull up there to stretch our legs. Some interesting information was available about how the prairie in this area once conserved its water supplies for year-round use, something the farmers are now apparently trying to emulate after years of ‘draining the swamp.’
Beaver Creek. It was still early when we pulled in here...
Prairie water conservation. ...but not too early to learn something from the information boards.
We cruised on into Austin and found Fran’s place. It took a little while to look over his Mopar vehicles and to find out more about his ‘windshield gasket’ business. He even told me he’d recently seen an Aussie Valiant in one of the Western states at a show.
Fran and his Coronet. With a business called ‘Just Mopar’ it’s no surprise that Fran has cars like this Coronet in immaculate condition.
Crossram. Even an engine like this is no real surprise. A crossram with two 4bbl carbies.
Swinger. The 1976 Dodge Dart Swinger was also V8-powered and a desirable model.
Then we moved on again, soon enough the 2-lane had us crossing the border…
Welcome to Iowa. It was only a 2-lane road we took now, but with not much traffic about it was still easy travelling.
...into Iowa. At Nashua we pulled into the town…
Nashua. As the afternoon advanced we stopped again at this small town.
...for some refreshments before getting back on the road. My next commitment was to pick up the 1965 Dodge Monaco bits I’d left with John two years earlier, further South in Iowa, as I’d managed to find a buyer, once again through the 1962 to 1965 Mailing list. He was in Texas and so I needed to get these things back from John and carry them until much later in the trip to deliver them.
Bits to retrieve. Dodge Monaco parts I’d bought the previous trip and left with John in the hope that someone might want them. Someone did, but it was someone from Texas and so I had to pick them up and take them there later in the trip.
This meant going a bit out of our way, but I could see a way here to prevent Sandra having to endure some of the jolting. I booked us into a motel in Iowa City just as the sun was going down and the plan then was for me to leave there early, do the 140-mile round trip to John’s and then pick up a more refreshed young lady for the drive towards Michigan.
In reality, too, doing it this way enabled my driving day to start much earlier and so put us closer to being on some kind of schedule.
And yes, the backfiring was still going on, the fuel consumption was still double what it should have been and everything in the transmission train was getting a beating.
Checking with different forum members I learned that Fran Bishop in Austin, Minnesota, supplied these. His repro rubbers are in a slightly more pliable material than the originals for better sealing, a more modern material. And Fran’s place was my immediate destination thanks to Gary H of the 1962 to 1965 Mopar mailing list.
Driving through the night meant I got a glimpse of the sunrise…
Driving to dawn. Sometimes you just have to do it. I actually felt quite good through the night, though I was unhappy that Sandra was still taking a beating with the backfiring.
...and once the light of day arrived Sandra was looking for things to photograph. Her first burst of shooting was of the Porter Sculpture Park, near Montrose as we were getting close to the Minnesota border. We had no idea what it was but she shot a couple of pics and now we do know:
Art flower. Porter Sculpture Park first presented this flower to us...
More imaginative. ...but then there was all this graphic display to be seen from the Interstate.
Barn waking too. A more typical kind of ‘sculpture’ seen along the road.
Once we crossed the border it didn’t take long to find the Beaver Creek rest area and pull up there to stretch our legs. Some interesting information was available about how the prairie in this area once conserved its water supplies for year-round use, something the farmers are now apparently trying to emulate after years of ‘draining the swamp.’
Beaver Creek. It was still early when we pulled in here...
Prairie water conservation. ...but not too early to learn something from the information boards.
We cruised on into Austin and found Fran’s place. It took a little while to look over his Mopar vehicles and to find out more about his ‘windshield gasket’ business. He even told me he’d recently seen an Aussie Valiant in one of the Western states at a show.
Fran and his Coronet. With a business called ‘Just Mopar’ it’s no surprise that Fran has cars like this Coronet in immaculate condition.
Crossram. Even an engine like this is no real surprise. A crossram with two 4bbl carbies.
Swinger. The 1976 Dodge Dart Swinger was also V8-powered and a desirable model.
Then we moved on again, soon enough the 2-lane had us crossing the border…
Welcome to Iowa. It was only a 2-lane road we took now, but with not much traffic about it was still easy travelling.
...into Iowa. At Nashua we pulled into the town…
Nashua. As the afternoon advanced we stopped again at this small town.
...for some refreshments before getting back on the road. My next commitment was to pick up the 1965 Dodge Monaco bits I’d left with John two years earlier, further South in Iowa, as I’d managed to find a buyer, once again through the 1962 to 1965 Mailing list. He was in Texas and so I needed to get these things back from John and carry them until much later in the trip to deliver them.
Bits to retrieve. Dodge Monaco parts I’d bought the previous trip and left with John in the hope that someone might want them. Someone did, but it was someone from Texas and so I had to pick them up and take them there later in the trip.
This meant going a bit out of our way, but I could see a way here to prevent Sandra having to endure some of the jolting. I booked us into a motel in Iowa City just as the sun was going down and the plan then was for me to leave there early, do the 140-mile round trip to John’s and then pick up a more refreshed young lady for the drive towards Michigan.
In reality, too, doing it this way enabled my driving day to start much earlier and so put us closer to being on some kind of schedule.
And yes, the backfiring was still going on, the fuel consumption was still double what it should have been and everything in the transmission train was getting a beating.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
I was up really early and on the phone to John as I headed out of Iowa City. It was to be a case of go straight down there, pick up the stuff and return the same way.
Then the strangest thing happened. About halfway to John’s place the backfiring and jolting stopped! Unbelievable!
So I raced down there…
…picked up my Monaco parts and then returned to Sandra to give her the good news.
She was pessimistic that it would last, but I felt confident she’d have a more comfortable day...
Then the strangest thing happened. About halfway to John’s place the backfiring and jolting stopped! Unbelievable!
So I raced down there…
…picked up my Monaco parts and then returned to Sandra to give her the good news.
She was pessimistic that it would last, but I felt confident she’d have a more comfortable day...
Last edited by Ray Bell; May 8, 2020 at 12:41 AM.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
May 3 would see us move into a different kind of country to what we’d been seeing so far. We would, by the end of the day, leave the prairie and we’d be seeing some much more heavily-populated places, the edge of great cities and area which adjoined the Great Lakes rather than flowing into the Mississippi. It was to be a bright sunny day of steady driving.
After returning to the motel in Iowa City we packed the van and headed East. This was the path we would follow:
It was about 10am when we refuelled at the ‘Kum & Go’ at West Branch…
Kum & Go. I asked Sandra to get this shot because I thought the name was interesting.
Fuel price. Compared to my earlier trips the fuel prices were much lower.
...and not much further along, at the Wilton Eastbound Rest Area, we stopped to have a cooked breakfast. Sandra took this photo of the nice building at the Rest Area…
Wilton rest area. A fancy building surrounded by trees and shrubs, nice lawns and places to sit and rest, very nice surroundings for our breakfast.
...but then she had a fall when she turned around from getting things out of the van to cook on our camp stove. She forgot there was a kerbing then and went crashing down with her hands full, it really knocked her about.
I helped her get the breakfast done and then we repacked and drove on. Soon we were crossing the river at Davenport…
Across the Mississippi. Down on the right here you can see some rock walls where people living on the river keep their boats. The Mississippi is still one huge river.
Illinois. As we got across to the other side we were welcomed into Illinois and reminded that Abraham Lincoln came from that state.
...and we were in Illinois. A couple of hours later we pulled up at the Great Sauk Trail rest area and Sandra relaxed herself to take photos of the flowers growing there as well as other decorations:
Great Sauk Trail. To us this was just another rest area where we could pull up and get ourselves a meal and stretch out legs. But the ‘Great Sauk Trail’ dates back to Indian times and relates to a pathway (or a couple of pathways) followed by Indians and later by early settlers.
Decoration. Whether or not this has any relevance to the Great Sauk Trail rest area I don’t know, but Sandra obviously like it.
It took us a while to get from there to the lower Chicago area, this photo she took at Lansing…
Busy interchange. As the I80 got into Lansing, just South of Chicago, it also became the I94 and the I 294, and there were junctions everywhere. Why it looks like we’re on the wrong side of the road here is because the truck in the far lane has come on from a side road and its entry to the I80, either the I94’s Northern arm (ultimately from Madison, WI and via Milwaukee), or the 394 from the South and was not complete until after the next interchange at Torrence Avenue. Check Google Earth for the co-ordinates 41°34’38.37”N and 87°33’554”W to see how it works.
...and very soon after that we pulled in to the Indiana Tourist Office at Gary, where the photographic efforts continued down some different paths:
Gary Tourist Office. This is a very comprehensive place with everything you’d need to tour Indiana.
Enhanced. The office has a number of artefacts to entertain visitors.
Clean. Sandra was obviously impressed by the washroom facilities.
A different kind of flush. It took her a while, but Sandra finally snapped a shot of the full toilet bowl type of flush used in the US. Ours don’t have nearly that much water in them.
Arty duck. A nice bit of ceramic work, someone must have laboured over this for many days.
Then it was onto the I94 for a short burst, stopping at the New Buffalo Welcome Center with its lighthouse and lake…
Back on the I94. It isn’t far from Lansing through Gary to Michigan, and there’s plenty of trucks keep on rolling through these busy roads. Made a bit tighter by the roadworks, of course.
Michigan Welcome Centre. At New Buffalo this ornamental lake and lighthouse pictured the importance of the lakes and lighthouses to this state.
...before finding our way to Benton Harbor. We were there taking these pics…
Beach and lifeguard. A total novelty to us Australians, where the only beaches are on the ocean fronts.
Benton Harbor. We walked along a stretch of the beach and found the harbour inlet as well as the pergola, all lit up. No doubt on a sunny day it’s a very busy recreational area.
Beach view. Again, something familiar to us, but only the salt-water versions.
Silver Beach Hotel. Officially located in St Joseph, this big hotel is right on the Benton Harbor beach and undoubtedly is busy in holiday times.
..at around 7pm, as the light was going away. It was different to us to see a sandy beach on the shores of a lake like this, while the sunset was nice across the lake and we wandered about for a little while taking it all in. I wish now that I had encouraged my water-baby new wife to dip her toes into the water but I didn’t.
By 8:30 we’d dined at the Takahomasak ‘Burgers and Shakes’ place:
Burgers for dinner. And a brand I hadn’t seen or tried anywhere else. Takhomasak was totally new to us and we didn’t see it anywhere again.
Where did they go wrong? This picture shows that Takhomashak could have become as big as McDonalds. Couldn’t they?
And then we found somewhere to sleep that night. We weren’t too far now from Jerry Entin’s place at Spring Lake, which would be an early call the next day.
From the very rural outlook of Iowa that morning to the industrial centres of Michigan that evening, it had been a day of changes. The biggest change, of course, was the lack of backfiring from the engine, but the performance was still down and the fuel consumption hadn’t improved at all.
I was hoping that Jerry would know someone who could take a look at it the next day...
After returning to the motel in Iowa City we packed the van and headed East. This was the path we would follow:
It was about 10am when we refuelled at the ‘Kum & Go’ at West Branch…
Kum & Go. I asked Sandra to get this shot because I thought the name was interesting.
Fuel price. Compared to my earlier trips the fuel prices were much lower.
...and not much further along, at the Wilton Eastbound Rest Area, we stopped to have a cooked breakfast. Sandra took this photo of the nice building at the Rest Area…
Wilton rest area. A fancy building surrounded by trees and shrubs, nice lawns and places to sit and rest, very nice surroundings for our breakfast.
...but then she had a fall when she turned around from getting things out of the van to cook on our camp stove. She forgot there was a kerbing then and went crashing down with her hands full, it really knocked her about.
I helped her get the breakfast done and then we repacked and drove on. Soon we were crossing the river at Davenport…
Across the Mississippi. Down on the right here you can see some rock walls where people living on the river keep their boats. The Mississippi is still one huge river.
Illinois. As we got across to the other side we were welcomed into Illinois and reminded that Abraham Lincoln came from that state.
...and we were in Illinois. A couple of hours later we pulled up at the Great Sauk Trail rest area and Sandra relaxed herself to take photos of the flowers growing there as well as other decorations:
Great Sauk Trail. To us this was just another rest area where we could pull up and get ourselves a meal and stretch out legs. But the ‘Great Sauk Trail’ dates back to Indian times and relates to a pathway (or a couple of pathways) followed by Indians and later by early settlers.
Decoration. Whether or not this has any relevance to the Great Sauk Trail rest area I don’t know, but Sandra obviously like it.
It took us a while to get from there to the lower Chicago area, this photo she took at Lansing…
Busy interchange. As the I80 got into Lansing, just South of Chicago, it also became the I94 and the I 294, and there were junctions everywhere. Why it looks like we’re on the wrong side of the road here is because the truck in the far lane has come on from a side road and its entry to the I80, either the I94’s Northern arm (ultimately from Madison, WI and via Milwaukee), or the 394 from the South and was not complete until after the next interchange at Torrence Avenue. Check Google Earth for the co-ordinates 41°34’38.37”N and 87°33’554”W to see how it works.
...and very soon after that we pulled in to the Indiana Tourist Office at Gary, where the photographic efforts continued down some different paths:
Gary Tourist Office. This is a very comprehensive place with everything you’d need to tour Indiana.
Enhanced. The office has a number of artefacts to entertain visitors.
Clean. Sandra was obviously impressed by the washroom facilities.
A different kind of flush. It took her a while, but Sandra finally snapped a shot of the full toilet bowl type of flush used in the US. Ours don’t have nearly that much water in them.
Arty duck. A nice bit of ceramic work, someone must have laboured over this for many days.
Then it was onto the I94 for a short burst, stopping at the New Buffalo Welcome Center with its lighthouse and lake…
Back on the I94. It isn’t far from Lansing through Gary to Michigan, and there’s plenty of trucks keep on rolling through these busy roads. Made a bit tighter by the roadworks, of course.
Michigan Welcome Centre. At New Buffalo this ornamental lake and lighthouse pictured the importance of the lakes and lighthouses to this state.
...before finding our way to Benton Harbor. We were there taking these pics…
Beach and lifeguard. A total novelty to us Australians, where the only beaches are on the ocean fronts.
Benton Harbor. We walked along a stretch of the beach and found the harbour inlet as well as the pergola, all lit up. No doubt on a sunny day it’s a very busy recreational area.
Beach view. Again, something familiar to us, but only the salt-water versions.
Silver Beach Hotel. Officially located in St Joseph, this big hotel is right on the Benton Harbor beach and undoubtedly is busy in holiday times.
..at around 7pm, as the light was going away. It was different to us to see a sandy beach on the shores of a lake like this, while the sunset was nice across the lake and we wandered about for a little while taking it all in. I wish now that I had encouraged my water-baby new wife to dip her toes into the water but I didn’t.
By 8:30 we’d dined at the Takahomasak ‘Burgers and Shakes’ place:
Burgers for dinner. And a brand I hadn’t seen or tried anywhere else. Takhomasak was totally new to us and we didn’t see it anywhere again.
Where did they go wrong? This picture shows that Takhomashak could have become as big as McDonalds. Couldn’t they?
And then we found somewhere to sleep that night. We weren’t too far now from Jerry Entin’s place at Spring Lake, which would be an early call the next day.
From the very rural outlook of Iowa that morning to the industrial centres of Michigan that evening, it had been a day of changes. The biggest change, of course, was the lack of backfiring from the engine, but the performance was still down and the fuel consumption hadn’t improved at all.
I was hoping that Jerry would know someone who could take a look at it the next day...
Last edited by Ray Bell; May 8, 2020 at 12:42 AM.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
Wednesday, May 4, 2016…
Another day which was to be tinged with disappointment despite the joy of meeting up with friends again and seeing more of their cars. We didn’t go all that far on this day:
The first call was to Bill Wiswidel’s facility in Holland, Michigan. Jerry Entin joined me there and I had a good time catching up with both of them. At one point, Bill said to me, “You know that Plymouth GTX that you had a ride in last time?” He was, of course, referring to the car in which Pedro had taken down to the gas station to get some beer.
“I’ve got that now,” Bill said. No longer was it part of the Montana Dodge Boys inventory, but it sat in Bill’s shed alongside some very illustrious and diverse machinery.
In fact, to say Bill’s collection is ‘eclectic’ is definitely understating the case. From the obscure to the famous and much in between. The one I really liked, the Kurtis-Buick, was gone, but the Indy cars I’d seen the last two visits were still there. And this oddity had arrived…
Motorcycle power. Jerry shot this pic of me sitting on this strange vehicle, a new member of Bill's 'eclectic' collection.
...with motorcycle power and a leaning towards the drag strip. I think. Amid the various engines…
Engines and a picture. A couple of obviously hot V8 engines sit on the floor and an interesting-looking pic hangs on the wall.
...and the ex-Indy and F5000 Eisert-Chevrolet...
The Eisert Chev. Jerry and Bill beside the Eisert which was once used on the roads of Nebraska.
...and the other multitudes of things was a ’29 Ford hot-rod…
A-Model. Sporting the flathead 4, this A-model hot-rod is definitely 'old-school.'
...the Plymouth GTX with its huge Hemi engine…
Hemi GTX/ I know this flies because I rode in it in Montana. Jerry peers under the hood of the Plymouth.
...and a Formula Vee chassis alongside a V8-engined Sprint Car.
Vee chassis. You wouldn't normally find these things side by side. A Formula Vee chassis and a V8 Sprint Car lurk in the shadows.
As always it was good to catch up with Bill. He is so knowledgeable and has such an enthusiasm for these cars that there’s always something of interest to look at or talk about.
But my mind was also on sorting out the problem with the van. We went further North to Muskegon, where Ron Mack’s workshop awaited us. It was now raining and not very comfortable to be looking over the mechanicals, but they did try to help. I now realise, however, that I was more of a hindrance than a help in this as I was determined that I could have done nothing wrong when I changed those spark plugs.
We made yet another attempt there to check the timing, but were again defeated by the shrouding around the fan and the illogical placement of the timing marks, Ron did say it wasn’t firing on all 8 but we knew not why.
I came away from there wet and disheartened, but at least I’d been able to get pics of a couple of nice restorations:
AC restoration. This AC has been getting the resto treatment from Ron Mack and his crew.
E-type. Or 'XKE'? This Jaguar was absolutely resplendent and looking like it was ready to go to a show.
We then went to Jerry and Carmen’s place on Spring Lake. Yes, their dog was there too, playing with its pink plastic ball. But we were unable to stay very long because we still had to make ground towards that flight which would be awaiting us the two days later in Toronto.
Jerry, Sandra and Carmen. If ever there were more obliging hosts than Jerry and Carmen, I don’t know where they are. Sandra sits with them during our all-too-brief visit.
The dog. Jerry and Carmen have had this dog for a long time, but I don’t know how long the pink ball will last!
After leaving Jerry and Carmen we had a wet drive across Michigan to be in a position to look over a bit of Detroit the following day. I don’t mind admitting that the whole thing with the van’s not running right, the extra fuel usage and also the exhaust leak on that right hand bank which was causing Sandra further discomfort was making it all wear a bit thin.
And I don’t know exactly what Sandra was intending to capture with this photo at a rest area, but it definitely shows that it was wet...
Moist Michigan. Somewhere between Muskegon and Detroit we stopped and Sandra got this picture of the bush and the wet parking area.
On Thursday’s menu was to be my first visit to a zoo since… since… yeah, since about 1952!
Another day which was to be tinged with disappointment despite the joy of meeting up with friends again and seeing more of their cars. We didn’t go all that far on this day:
The first call was to Bill Wiswidel’s facility in Holland, Michigan. Jerry Entin joined me there and I had a good time catching up with both of them. At one point, Bill said to me, “You know that Plymouth GTX that you had a ride in last time?” He was, of course, referring to the car in which Pedro had taken down to the gas station to get some beer.
“I’ve got that now,” Bill said. No longer was it part of the Montana Dodge Boys inventory, but it sat in Bill’s shed alongside some very illustrious and diverse machinery.
In fact, to say Bill’s collection is ‘eclectic’ is definitely understating the case. From the obscure to the famous and much in between. The one I really liked, the Kurtis-Buick, was gone, but the Indy cars I’d seen the last two visits were still there. And this oddity had arrived…
Motorcycle power. Jerry shot this pic of me sitting on this strange vehicle, a new member of Bill's 'eclectic' collection.
...with motorcycle power and a leaning towards the drag strip. I think. Amid the various engines…
Engines and a picture. A couple of obviously hot V8 engines sit on the floor and an interesting-looking pic hangs on the wall.
...and the ex-Indy and F5000 Eisert-Chevrolet...
The Eisert Chev. Jerry and Bill beside the Eisert which was once used on the roads of Nebraska.
...and the other multitudes of things was a ’29 Ford hot-rod…
A-Model. Sporting the flathead 4, this A-model hot-rod is definitely 'old-school.'
...the Plymouth GTX with its huge Hemi engine…
Hemi GTX/ I know this flies because I rode in it in Montana. Jerry peers under the hood of the Plymouth.
...and a Formula Vee chassis alongside a V8-engined Sprint Car.
Vee chassis. You wouldn't normally find these things side by side. A Formula Vee chassis and a V8 Sprint Car lurk in the shadows.
As always it was good to catch up with Bill. He is so knowledgeable and has such an enthusiasm for these cars that there’s always something of interest to look at or talk about.
But my mind was also on sorting out the problem with the van. We went further North to Muskegon, where Ron Mack’s workshop awaited us. It was now raining and not very comfortable to be looking over the mechanicals, but they did try to help. I now realise, however, that I was more of a hindrance than a help in this as I was determined that I could have done nothing wrong when I changed those spark plugs.
We made yet another attempt there to check the timing, but were again defeated by the shrouding around the fan and the illogical placement of the timing marks, Ron did say it wasn’t firing on all 8 but we knew not why.
I came away from there wet and disheartened, but at least I’d been able to get pics of a couple of nice restorations:
AC restoration. This AC has been getting the resto treatment from Ron Mack and his crew.
E-type. Or 'XKE'? This Jaguar was absolutely resplendent and looking like it was ready to go to a show.
We then went to Jerry and Carmen’s place on Spring Lake. Yes, their dog was there too, playing with its pink plastic ball. But we were unable to stay very long because we still had to make ground towards that flight which would be awaiting us the two days later in Toronto.
Jerry, Sandra and Carmen. If ever there were more obliging hosts than Jerry and Carmen, I don’t know where they are. Sandra sits with them during our all-too-brief visit.
The dog. Jerry and Carmen have had this dog for a long time, but I don’t know how long the pink ball will last!
After leaving Jerry and Carmen we had a wet drive across Michigan to be in a position to look over a bit of Detroit the following day. I don’t mind admitting that the whole thing with the van’s not running right, the extra fuel usage and also the exhaust leak on that right hand bank which was causing Sandra further discomfort was making it all wear a bit thin.
And I don’t know exactly what Sandra was intending to capture with this photo at a rest area, but it definitely shows that it was wet...
Moist Michigan. Somewhere between Muskegon and Detroit we stopped and Sandra got this picture of the bush and the wet parking area.
On Thursday’s menu was to be my first visit to a zoo since… since… yeah, since about 1952!
Last edited by Ray Bell; May 8, 2020 at 12:43 AM.
Thread Starter
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Captain
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 568
Likes: 8
From: The Summit, Queensland, Australia
Detroit had been a major stopover for me in my 2014 trip…
But on that occasion, though I was offered a visit to the zoo, I opted instead to spend that day at the Henry Ford museum. A day with Sandra, however, meant that the zoo was a high priority. She loves her animals and this would be special for her.
I’ll treat it as a photo-essay more than anything, I think I can identify almost all of the birds and animals we saw. But it started with arriving and finding a parking spot, in which endeavour we had some help:
There was, actually, plenty of parking available, we got a spot in the area outside the multi-storey park.
The first section of the zoo we visited was the butterfly area, which is made up of large cages and you walk inside with the butterflies. You can get pretty close to it all:
Similarly, the birds are an ‘up close and personal’ viewing experience:
The scarlet ibis was in with the boat-billed heron… both from South America…
...and other scarlet ibis playmates:
Then there was the blue-bellied roller… these birds come from all around the world, of course… this one from Central and Western Africa…
The Jambu Fruit Dove from South-East Asia:
All of this you learn by flipping pages on this convenient guide:
Birds of a different kind were to be found in the lavishly laid-out penguin display. You can look at them from above, from their own level and from under the water here:
From under the water gives you a whole new perspective on them...
...and was appreciated and photographed by all sorts of people:
Just gliding through the water, they travel quite quickly. They have to, of course, to catch their fill of fish in the wild...
...and then they emerge from the water in a kind of jumping motion...
...which usually results on them standing on their feet, but not always...
...inevitably, however, they rise to the occasion and walk away:
The sea lion seemed a bit lazy this day:
And so we wandered on in search of more animals...
This peahen was just walking around free...
...possibly being a mate to this peacock who was keeping time with some bald eagles:
The eagles had a bit of a stern look about them...
Further on the flamingoes put on their pink display...
I’ll sort out the rest of the pics and post them soon…
But on that occasion, though I was offered a visit to the zoo, I opted instead to spend that day at the Henry Ford museum. A day with Sandra, however, meant that the zoo was a high priority. She loves her animals and this would be special for her.
I’ll treat it as a photo-essay more than anything, I think I can identify almost all of the birds and animals we saw. But it started with arriving and finding a parking spot, in which endeavour we had some help:
There was, actually, plenty of parking available, we got a spot in the area outside the multi-storey park.
The first section of the zoo we visited was the butterfly area, which is made up of large cages and you walk inside with the butterflies. You can get pretty close to it all:
Similarly, the birds are an ‘up close and personal’ viewing experience:
The scarlet ibis was in with the boat-billed heron… both from South America…
...and other scarlet ibis playmates:
Then there was the blue-bellied roller… these birds come from all around the world, of course… this one from Central and Western Africa…
The Jambu Fruit Dove from South-East Asia:
All of this you learn by flipping pages on this convenient guide:
Birds of a different kind were to be found in the lavishly laid-out penguin display. You can look at them from above, from their own level and from under the water here:
From under the water gives you a whole new perspective on them...
...and was appreciated and photographed by all sorts of people:
Just gliding through the water, they travel quite quickly. They have to, of course, to catch their fill of fish in the wild...
...and then they emerge from the water in a kind of jumping motion...
...which usually results on them standing on their feet, but not always...
...inevitably, however, they rise to the occasion and walk away:
The sea lion seemed a bit lazy this day:
And so we wandered on in search of more animals...
This peahen was just walking around free...
...possibly being a mate to this peacock who was keeping time with some bald eagles:
The eagles had a bit of a stern look about them...
Further on the flamingoes put on their pink display...
I’ll sort out the rest of the pics and post them soon…
Last edited by Ray Bell; Dec 6, 2019 at 06:47 AM.