bamfordsgarage Posted April 9, 2011 Report Posted April 9, 2011 For those just tuning in, my friend Jerry and I are driving my 1947 D25 Canadian Dodge back to Edmonton, AB from Tim Adams’ place in Elko, GA. This is actually part three of a long road trip that started in late September when we drove from Edmonton to Hershey, PA for the big AACA show and swap meet, on to the east coast then back through DC to Jim Yergin’s place in Virginia where the Dodge wintered in his spare garage (his what?). We picked the car up in early February and headed south toward Florida. Our plan was to head west along the Gulf to Dallas, then meander back to Canada from there. I was called home for a family medical emergency the night we got to Florida — Tim kindly offered to keep the Dodge at his place in Elko until we were able to come back and hit the road again. Tomorrow’s the big day! We’re back in Atlanta now and Don Coatney will be taking us down to Elko in the morning. Tim has organized a regional get-together of Forum Folks at his place tomorrow, much like we enjoyed at Jim’s in February — sounds like Saturday will be a great time for everyone. Here is the tentative itinerary for our return trip. We’d enjoy meeting up with other forum members en route and also appreciate suggestions for things to see and do along the way. Please post or PM and we’ll go from there. Barring mechanical disasters we should be within a day either way of this itinerary, and overnight locations are only approximate. I hope to post a report and pictures every night, Wi-Fi service permitting. Our trip mileage thus far, including the back-track to Elko, is 5,273. According to Google, the bee line to Edmonton would be 2,456 miles but our preferred route is more like 3,700. Sun Apr 10 overnight in Mobile AL Mon Apr 11 overnight in New Orleans, LA Tue Apr 12 overnight in New Orleans, LA Wed Apr 13 overnight in Texarcana, TX Thu Apr 14 overnight in Dallas, TX Fri Apr 15 overnight in Dallas, TX Sat Apr 16 overnight in Oklahoma City, OK Sun Apr 17 overnight in Tulsa, OK Mon Apr 18 overnight in Manhattan KS Tue Apr 19 overnight somewhere in the middle Wed Apr 20 overnight at Pike’s Peak, CO Thu Apr 21 overnight in Laramie, WY Fri Apr 22, overnight in Bozeman, MT Sat Apr 23 overnight in Lethbridge, AB Sun Apr 24 Home! Quote
1940plymouth Posted April 9, 2011 Report Posted April 9, 2011 Have fun today and I will be looking forward to reading about your trip back home, Good luck, Bob Quote
daddyo23 Posted April 9, 2011 Report Posted April 9, 2011 Have a safe ride and hopefully all the excitement is in the sightseeing. Looking forward to your updates. Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted April 9, 2011 Report Posted April 9, 2011 Have a good trip, fellas. I look forward to the daily posts here on the forum. Quote
Oldguy48 Posted April 9, 2011 Report Posted April 9, 2011 Hoping you have a safe and trouble-free trip. Will be anxiously awaiting updates and photos. Have a great time. Quote
P-12 Tommy Posted April 9, 2011 Report Posted April 9, 2011 Be safe and enjoy the trip! Hopefully the weather will be decent. Tom Quote
bamfordsgarage Posted April 10, 2011 Author Report Posted April 10, 2011 (edited) Hello All, Day 1, Elko GA to Panama Beach FL, 240 miles. What a great get together at Tim Adams' place today — good to meet so many forum members, nice to see the cars, the meal was delicious, our old Dodge was fine, too bad about the horseshoes... Besides Tim and family, Jerry and me, the gathering included (and I hope I haven't missed anyone here): Don Coatney, Jim Clark, Wayne Mitchell (Faucet47 — something about a little problem Wayne has after a few beers), Luman Earle, Merle Coggins, Ritchie Hodge, Billy Austin, Dave Milliron (Nobuxrod) and an assortment of neighbors and passers by. Don picked us up at our hotel in Atlanta, and I rode part way with him and then by taxi (Billy's '40 Plymouth). Jerry and Wayne rode together in the convoy. Wayne's '47 D24 was cleverly disguised as a modern Tahoe. It was nice to be back on the road again after the shindig. We made reasonably good time to Panama Beach, although the engine was running a little hot in the late afternoon. We plan to pare down the car-top load to reduce wind resistance and load on the engine. One fillup for 16.3 mpg. Average speed 43.9 mph, maximum 59.8. Tomorrow we hug the coast along Hwy 98 to Pensacola and then #282 and #192 into Alabama, across the Pelican Bay Ferry, and up into Mobile. Today's pictures (first batch, another to follow)... Don Coatney at the wheel, 48 Plymouth; Waking up our D25; Billy Austin's engine ('40 Plymouth) was missing, Tim and Merle are helping him look for it; Tim takes Billy for a ride in his hot-V8 Sunbeam Tiger (Merle & I both got turns at the wheel!); Tall tales were in good supply... from left: Billy, Jim, Wayne, Don, Luman, Merle, Tim. Edited April 10, 2011 by bamfordsgarage Correct the captions Quote
bamfordsgarage Posted April 10, 2011 Author Report Posted April 10, 2011 Today's pictures, Batch 2... Hard to imagine there was any food left over with this crowd (your reporter included); Our hosts: son Travis left, Tim, and Lady Sally on the right (neighbour in the middle); All the old cars and one big scooter, left to right: Richie & '50 Hudson Pacemaker, Billy & '40 Plymouth, Tim & '50-something Plymouth, Travis & '60-something Sunbeam Tiger, Don & '48 Plymouth, Jerry and '47 Dodge, Merle & '03 Honda 1800; Richie & Billy were the first to leave, convoyed up to Atlanta; The Great Can-Am Horseshoe challenge, Chris & Jerry vs Merle & Dave. Oh well, at least we can whip you guys at hockey. Quote
1940plymouth Posted April 10, 2011 Report Posted April 10, 2011 Thanks for sharing the photos of yesterday's get together, looks like all had a good time. Have a safe trip and I will be looking forward to the next posting and batch of photos Quote
oldodge41 Posted April 10, 2011 Report Posted April 10, 2011 Safe journey to you guys and the others as they make their way home too. That looked like a great get together and a perfect send off. Old Mopar folks are the best! Look forward to updates..................Tim Quote
randroid Posted April 10, 2011 Report Posted April 10, 2011 bamfordsgarage, If you stick to the itinerary and go from Pike's Peak to Laramie in one day you'll be coming through here in time for a late lunch. Although there are lots of good restaurants in the area there's a truck stop along the freeway named Johnson's Corners that was built in the early 1950's and is known far and wide for its excellent and inexpensive chow. It'd be a real pleasure to meet you there to chat about your voyage and lie about our cars. If it sounds feasible I'll send my phone number so we can connect, and even if we can't get together it's still your best bet for a down home meal. -Randy Quote
greg g Posted April 10, 2011 Report Posted April 10, 2011 There was a fellow T. Tom Meshingear, that was from the N' Awlins area, haven't seen much from him on the forum lately, but he might be worth a PM when you get to the Big Easy. Quote
bamfordsgarage Posted April 11, 2011 Author Report Posted April 11, 2011 Hello all, Day 2, Panama Beach FL - AL - MS - New Orleans LA, 345 miles today, 585 total. A bit ahead of schedule, which is just fine. We touched four states today and added another Coast to the old tub's resume in Alabama — Pacific in '08, Atlantic last October and the Gulf today... Coast to Coast to Coast. This evening we went for a trolley ride down to the French Quarter and wandered around there for a while trying to behave. It was my third time in N.O. and Jerry's first. The car ran just fine today, a little hot in New Orleans stop and go traffic late this afternoon, but running the heater full bore brought the gauge down soon enough. Tomorrow we head for Texarcana, TX. Google puts the distance at 417 miles, but we'll likely be closer to 450 so won't make it in one day but should do well over half. Greg G, thanks for the tip about Tom Meshingear, and Randroid, that sound like a great idea. Please PM me your 'phone number. Todays pictures: The Dodge along the Alabama Gulf Coast. The coastline is a lot more developed than it looks on the map, but there were still a few barren stretches like this. No where did it look reasonable to dip the wheels into salt water, so this is as close as we got. We like ferries! This one runs between Fort Morgan and Dauphin Island south of Mobile AL. We saw four or five offshore platforms during this short sailing — this is an ExxonMobil gas well standing in 11' of water and pulling natural gas from 20,000' below. Talking to locals it seems that there is, remarkably, very little shoreline evidence of last year's massive Deepwater Horizon disaster. New Orleans trolley car, Canal St. line. They are new but made to look old and popular with tourists and locals alike. Your reporter has a particular fondness for trolley cars as I volunteer with the historic streetcar line in Edmonton. New Orlean's finest and one very unhappy dude as seen from the trolley. I didn't recognize the make of car, but is looked far too expensive to be owned by anyone this young. Assuming, of course, he had a regular job... The Dodge boys briefly try out a career in music promotion. Quote
greg g Posted April 11, 2011 Report Posted April 11, 2011 Make sure ya'll getcha some po'boys in a poke for the road. Nice Pics. Quote
Captain Neon Posted April 11, 2011 Report Posted April 11, 2011 Hello all, Day 2, Panama Beach FL - AL - MS - New Orleans LA, 345 miles today, 585 total.Todays pictures: New Orlean's finest and one very unhappy dude as seen from the trolley. I didn't recognize the make of car, but is looked far too expensive to be owned by anyone this young. Assuming, of course, he had a regular job... Maybe he's a lawyer! Apologies to those easily offended. I can vouch for Johnson's Corner. My wife and I have eaten there a few times when we lived in Colorado. We preferred Fort Collins to Denver so almost never went south on I-24. You'll want to be photographed with one of their cinnamon rolls before diving in. Quote
bamfordsgarage Posted April 12, 2011 Author Report Posted April 12, 2011 Hello All, Day 3, New Orleans LA to Minden LA, 370 miles today, total this leg is 955, grand total 6,228 since we left home. We had a leisurely departure from New Orleans this morning after a visit to Jiffy Lube for the third oil change and lube of the trip. First up was a drive over the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway north out of New Orleans — at 23.87 miles, this is the seventh-longest bridge in the world and second-longest over water. We meandered west from there along various secondary highways, stumbled on an old Ford dealership, toured the Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site, and took a ferry across the Mississippi at St. Francisville. By this time it was after 5:00 and we were barely 1/3 of the way to our planned overnight, so we got serious about driving and went pretty much non-stop until we got to Minden. It sure was pleasant to travel in the cool evening for a change. Only 93 miles to Texarkana where we are due in at noon tomorrow. The Ford dealership (actually just the building, the business moved long ago) was an interesting find. Jerry was driving through Hammond LA when I noticed the Ford logo and dealer's name on the front of a very old brick building. I imagine it dates back a hundred years or so to the early Model T days. Two doors down was Johnny's Conoco service in a building not quite that old but plenty cool nonetheless. Our pump jockey didn't know the history of the Ford dealership but recalled buying a used 1964 Falcon there in 1967. He went on to say that the service station, the Ford building and the local police station were the setting of the 1988-95 TV series "In the Heat of the Night" starring Carroll O'Conner (Archie Bunker) as Sheriff William Gillespie. The Conoco sign was removed (or covered up?) during filming. Today's pictures: Lake Pontchartrain Causeway; Bres Ford dealership, Hammond LA; Johnny's Conoco; Co-pilot's mirror, a wise idea for slow-lane dwellers, 1835 Rosedown Plantation. Quote
1940plymouth Posted April 12, 2011 Report Posted April 12, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the photos of yesterdays travels, good to hear that all is going ok. Looking forward to photos once you get into Texas and Oklahoma. I have a son that lives in Fletcher, about half way between Lawton and Oklahoma City Maybe even some photos of the car with the oil wells in Texas and Oklahoma, food for thought:) Hope you guys have a safe journey today, Bob Edited April 12, 2011 by '40Plymouth Quote
Jim Yergin Posted April 12, 2011 Report Posted April 12, 2011 Chris, What does it mean when I look at the picture of the causeway and the first thing that comes to my mind is, "where could I pull over when my car breaks down?" I will be glad when that is the last thing I think of. Thanks for the updates and the pictures. Jim Yergin Quote
Plymouthy Adams Posted April 12, 2011 Report Posted April 12, 2011 Jim...the way I see that is that I would have about 1/2 mile of pushing only to get car out of main traffic.. Quote
Don Coatney Posted April 12, 2011 Report Posted April 12, 2011 I warned you guys to be careful in the Big Easy as it is easy to get into big trouble. Tell us what really happened:D Did you have burbon on lunch street? Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted April 12, 2011 Report Posted April 12, 2011 The drunker I sit here, the longer I get. Quote
T120 Posted April 12, 2011 Report Posted April 12, 2011 ..As long as you eat a muffuletta beforehand,you'll be okay.. Quote
Joe Flanagan Posted April 12, 2011 Report Posted April 12, 2011 The streets of the French Quarter are littered with muffalettas that someone ate beforehand. Quote
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