I am happy to report that my big American Road Trip in May - June 2015 panned out a lot more successfully than my big Aussie Road Trip had, although it was not without its incidents - as all story-worthy road trips are.
There was enough "epic-ness" to this journey to fill a whole book... and maybe I will one day!
After months and months of preparation, the time had
eventually come for our epic American road trip to begin. My awesome hot rod
mechanic Dave Jobe had installed brand new disc brakes, a new radiator and
exhaust system and given the Hudson a full going over to make sure it was ready
for the trip. I was sent off with gallons of fluids and strict instructions to
check the oil, coolant and automatic transmission fluid every day. The prize giveaway 1956 Mercury was all packed and I
had plenty of room to stash clothes and supplies to last me for two months on
the road. All that was left for me to do
was to hook up, and hit the road.
On the 4
th of May, I set off from Oakland Oregon, meeting up with my
Sister on the Fly travel buddy Linda Hutt in Portland on the first leg of the journey to Chicago. We travelled via Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Minnesota checking out some
amazing sights along the way. By the time we got to Deadwood in South Dakota, we advised by the KOA campground staff to move on as quickly as possible as
they were expecting eight inches of snow the next day. After checking out the
Presidents carved into the rocks of
Mount Rushmore, we hightailed it on to the
Badlands, keeping one step ahead of the storms, or so we thought…
The next morning Linda knocked on my door.
"Lisa, what do you call this?" she said.
It was snowing - a lot! Resembling an arid
moonscape, the Badlands under snow was quite a sight to behold. The storm had hit a day earlier than expected
and when a motorhome pulled in piled high with snow that had just made a hasty
retreat from the blizzard up on the highway, we knew it was time to move on. The Hudson wipers struggled to keep the snow
off the windshield and at the
Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo I had to pull over to scrape the snow off
so that I could see where I was going.
We finally managed to get ahead of the storm and by the time we reached
Sioux Falls, the snow had subsided to heavy rain with wind, lightning and
thunder.
The next day we planned to continue east to La Crosse,
Wisconsin. A chance encounter at one of my many gas stops (the Hudson only has
a fifteen gallon tank and towing was running at about ten miles to the gallon,
so my petrol stops were frequent – thank goodness for cheap American petrol!)
saw us make a change of route.
The Hudson always drew plenty of admirers wherever we went
and at one stop in a small place called Albert Lea in Minnesota we met a lovely
hot rodder called Brian who recommended we take a short cut through Iowa to
Joliet to avoid the traffic and tolls around Chicago. He had a Willy’s Jeep in
a truck and was heading that way, so he cruised with us for a while through the
acres and acres of cornfields of Iowa until we pulled off at Waterloo for the
night and he carried on. Brian had also told us that if we continued on this
way we would drive right past the
American Pickers Iowa store; Antique Archeology, so we made sure we stopped in there on the way to Joliet.
Although they were closed for filming, Rob Wolfe (Mike’s brother) and Danielle
Colby saw the Hudson and the caravan and came out for a chat and a photo.
American
Pickers is my favourite TV show, so this was a definite highlight for me.
On the 12
th of May, after one week on the road, we
crossed over the Mississippi river and cruised into Joliet, Illinois for the “Sisters
Get their kicks on Route 66” kick off party with the rest of our
Sisters on the Fly. On Wednesday we all went into Adams Street, in downtown Chicago for our group
photo with the official start of Route 66 sign before hitting Route 66 with our
caravans in tow and heading towards Springfield, Illinois.
We stopped at the
Gemini Giant in Wilmington and the quaint
old
Standard Oil Gas Station in Odell with its blue and white Winnebago parked out
front and in Pontiac I got a cool photo of the Hudson and the caravan with the
Route 66 mural that is painted on the back of the museum wall. About thirty
miles before Springfield, on some remote stretch of Route 66 in a place called
Braidwell I heard a bang, smelt burning and the car seemed to be stuck in first
gear. Not good!
I pulled over outside a rather scary looking abandoned old
Motel to check the transmission fluid when a couple of my caravanning Sisters stopped
to see if I was OK. I topped up the fluid and added some trans conditioner and
managed to follow them to the
Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield where I
camped the night with the two Connies (Yes, they were both called Connie!) who
had stopped to help me.
The next
afternoon we set off to catch up with the rest of the Sisters but as soon as I
pulled out I knew that I had a serious problem. The car would not budge out of
first, so I pulled over and asked some locals if they knew of any transmission
shops nearby. By some miracle,
Steve’s Transmission Service was just around
the corner from me, but by now it was 3pm on a Friday and Steve said he
wouldn’t be able to work on it until Monday. So, much to my dismay, the Connies
went on without me and I ended up back at the fairgrounds on my own. I called
my mechanic back in Oregon and he called Steve and told him of my mission and
how important this trip was, and Steve agreed to work on it over the weekend
for me. Thanks Steve! In the meantime I had a new camping neighbor called
Dorian Santiago who was resting his weary feet having begun his
Hike for Humanity walking tour of
Route 66 a week prior and that made me feel a lot less sorry for myself.
By midday on Monday the burnt out 700R transmission had been
replaced with a reconditioned Turbo 350 and I was back on the road again and
racing like
Doc Hudson from the Disney movie
Cars to catch up with the rest of the group. I drove straight
through St Louis and managed to catch up with them all in Springfield, Missouri
just in time for dinner that night. Phew - Crisis averted!
After two nights in Springfield, we hit Route 66 again
taking in the thirteen miles that go through Kansas and Doc got to lead the
parade of caravans as we came into town. I stopped in to see Melba and Dean at
the
Cars on the Route store on the
corner where I got a photo of Doc with the tow truck that was the inspiration
for “Tow Mater” in the Disney Pixar movie
Cars before
heading west to Claremore, Oklahoma. That night we all camped up in the rodeo
grounds and had an awesome catered dinner at he
Will Rogers Museum. I got a new
neighbor called Kim and when we hit the road again we ended up travelling
together stopping in at the
Blue Whale in Catooza, for lunch at the Rock Cafe
and marveling at the roof of the
Round Barn in Arcadia before making it into
Oklahoma City.
By this stage it had been pretty much raining non-stop since I
had left Oregon and we were all getting a bit fed up with it. In Oklahoma City
we were camped in the fairgrounds where we were invited to participate in the
OGRA Rodeo with our petticoats and stick ponies. The next day the rain got heavier and heavier
until the campground was awash with puddles. Then all of our phones started
honking with warnings about flash flooding and tornados. I had no idea what to do but figured sitting
in a caravan probably wasn’t the best place to be during a tornado, so I packed
a small backpack with a few essentials such as my laptop, mobile phone and hard
drive (so the business would be safe!) and a change of clothes and a bottle of
whisky (to keep me warm!) and was about to head across the bathroom block
(figuring a concrete structure would be safer than a fifteen-foot aluminium
shell on wheels) when there was a bang, bang, banging on my door.
“Get out, NOW! Come on We’ve go to get out of here, there’s
a tornado coming!” I jumped in the car with some other sisters and we were
directed by security to the main auditorium of the fairgrounds and told to take
shelter under the covered concrete stairs with a film crew from the New York
who had been covering the rodeo. The large roller doors were closed and we were
warned to listen out for the sound of a freight train that would indicate the
tornado had struck. We watched live streaming weather reports on phones and
i-pads as the tornado hit ground just thirty miles from us but thankfully it skirted
around us and after a few hours (and a few shots of whisky) we were free to go
back to camp.
The next morning the rain had subsided and we all packed up
and hit the road as quickly as possible, keen to head towards Amarillo, Texas
and promises of sunshine. On the way there, we stopped in at the Redneck
capitol of the world in Erick, Oklahoma and were entertained by the hilarious
Harley at the Sandhills Curiosity Shop before crossing the border into Texas
where I got a photo of the Hudson at the
U Drop Inn in Shamrock. Both of these
iconic Route 66 stops were also featured in the
Cars movie, so you can see why it was that I chose “Doc Hudson” to
make this trip with me.
That day, we took parts of Route 66 that had been closed
due to floods the day before. We drove down over washed out bridges and across
huge potholes on the original stretch of road that rolled up and down hills like
a roller coaster through some lovely countryside but that gave us, the cars and
the caravans some serious shaking. Doc had started sounding a bit like a Mack
Truck and it became clear I had knocked a hole in my exhaust somewhere. The
next day I was lucky enough to get on to a local hot rodder in Amarillo;
Skeeter and his buddy Andrew who took Doc back to their workshop and fixed up
the hole in the exhaust for me and gave the car a bit of a tune up. Thanks
Skeeter and Andrew!
I finally pulled into Amarillo at around sunset (Yes, there
was sun – and it was good!) and stopped in at the Cadillac Ranch that was just
around the corner from our RV Park.
From Amarillo, we headed to the midpoint Café and crossed
the line that meant we were half way across Route 66 before crossing the border
into New Mexico.
I stopped to check out the awesome car and memorabilia museum
at
Russell’s Truck Stop and really enjoyed driving through the town of
Tucumcari with its old neon motel signs like the
Blue Swallow Motel and the Palomino
Hotel – Classic Route 66 at its finest.
From there I went to the
Blue Hole at Santa Rosa and took a refreshing dip
in the vivid clear blue natural spring that is icy cold all year round before
heading up to Santa Fe.
After a couple of days in Santa Fe, I stopped in to see
Vicki and her Hudson at
Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post and cruised solo along old 66 taking
lots of photos of the abandoned old Motels and service stations along the way
that I find so intriguing. I felt so right at home there on the Mother Road in
my old car, and really enjoyed the freedom and exhilaration of plotting my own
course and took my time to appreciate as much of it as I could and at around
sunset I pulled into the historic
El Rancho Hotel in Gallup for a well-deserved
Margarita.
The next day we set off for Arizona taking in Holbrook and
the Wigwam Motel and the
Jack Rabbit Trading Post with its “Here it is” sign
before heading into Winslow to stand on the corner.
That night we cruised on through Flagstaff and stayed in
Williams where we were treated to a great night out at the
Wild West Junction Saloon the
first night and at Twisters Soda Fountain the next.
After Williams I drove through Ash Fork and Seligman to
Kingman where I opted to stay at the
Kingman KOA campground. As soon as I rolled
into the KOA and checked in, the Hudson died right there in the driveway and I
couldn’t get it started. The KOA manager towed me into my site and called a
mobile mechanic friend of his who agreed to come and check it out the next
morning.
So, once again, the sisters moved on to the next town while
I stayed behind getting a new starter motor put in by the very reasonably
priced Greg from Simplified Automotive. Thanks Greg!
I was back on the road by 2pm and decided to do what we had
been advised not to do, and tow the caravan up an over the steep and winding “make
or break” hill climb over Sitgreaves Pass that had been the end of so many
early Route 66’ers “California or bust” journeys. This part of the road was the most important
to me, and the sense of achievement and satisfaction I felt when Doc, the
Mercury and I made it to the top was indescribable. I was on top of the world
and I felt it! Across in the distance lay the deserts of California and Nevada
and below me the old mining town of Oatman, where descendants of the donkeys
used in the mining days now roam free in the main street. I had made it and the
end of the journey of a lifetime was nearly over.
I continued on old Route 66 for as much of it as I could
across the dips and rises and bumpy, bumpy roads that shook my bones although
some parts were closed due to flood damage. I managed to make it across the
border to California and to the
Bagdad Café just in time to watch the Sunset
over the wrecked old Airstreams made famous in the 1987 movie
Bagdad Café starring
Jack Palance before getting into camp at Barstow at around 8pm that night.
The next day I was thirty-eight miles from our final
destination of Ventura, California, when I realized I had no power and was just
coasting down the big hill on the highway. I pulled over but could not get the car to
start at all. Of all the incidents that I’d dealt with and taken in my stride,
this one got me. I’d come this far and
was determined to make it right to the end. Despite having taken out maximum
AAA coverage before I left, this was the first time I actually had to call in
for a tow. Willy the very funny and sweet tow truck driver thought it was my
fuel pump, but I wasn’t so sure.
“You’ve got no fuel in your fuel filter,” he said and towed
me to nearby
Calabasas Car Care and told them to order a fuel pump for me.
Being 350 Chevy powered the Hudson was always easy and cheap to get parts for,
so I knew it would be an easy fix. Problem was it was now 4pm and they closed
at five.
“You’ve got no fuel in your fuel filter,” the mechanic said.
“We’re trying to get the part now”
Once again I assured them that I did have fuel in my fuel
filter, but that it was clean and the filter was new. But they weren't convinced, so they unscrewed the connector hose and lo and behold fuel spurted out. Feeling quite
smug with myself at this point we then had a new problem. If it wasn’t the fuel
pump, what was it that had stopped the Hudson in its tracks? It turned out to
be some dodgy old wring that had shorted the ignition out when it had broken
loose and been touching the engine, probably from the bumpy roads I had been on
the day before. About half an hour, a few new wires, $210 and some handy
welding later, I was back on the road and feeling victorious. I drove straight
to the beach, took off my shoes, walked across the sand and dipped my toes in
the Pacific Ocean. We had made it!
Over the next day or so, a sense of real sadness swept over
me. I had spent so long dreaming of doing this trip in an old car and caravan,
and this was the end of the my journey on the Mother Road. I was exhausted
beyond belief but feeling very proud of myself and totally in love with the car
and caravan that had made my dreams come true.
Including my journey back to Oregon, I had drove almost 6,000 miles from
one side of America to the other and back again and was on the road for two
months. I made so many new friends and saw so many amazing sights; things that
photos or words will never be able to fully recreate. It felt magical and surreal
and I didn’t want it to be over yet.
I guess I’ve ticked a pretty major achievement off my bucket
list now, and it’s going to take some time to recover, but I’d do it all again
in a heartbeat.
Thank you to all of my wonderful, amazing
Sisters on the Fly sisters who partook of this epic journey across Route 66, to all the hard-working organizers and especially Maurrie & Becky (sisters #1 & #2) who started this whole crazy thing. What an amazing trip it was! There were almost 300 of us at the end of it, and 39 of us who "went all the way". I have made friendships that will last a lifetime and created very special memories that will never leave me...
