Angry Bird travels Route 66

  Shortly after getting to Denmark, I bought this totally reliable 1960 Volvo PV544.  After buying it, my co-workers at the boat building facility told me that car model was generally known as the "Hurtigst Traktor i verden".  Translation please..."the fastest tractor in the world".  Well, I guess that was good and bad.  In their eyes, it was mostly bad... I used it as a dependable work car every day for 6 or 7 months, including a winter break to go downhill skiing in Norway.  I had met up with Jacquee before starting work, and she actually had a job offer in Denmark, but alas, she had no visa.  So she went home to wait out a long winter before rejoining me for some road tripping in Denmark in the above set-up!   We travelled down to Austria, across the border of Italy and through the Alps, then up through Luxemburg and on home via several other countries.  We only broke down twice that I recall .  Once a weld broke loose on the clu...

My attraction to road trips was probably spawned in 1958 when my parents and siblings loaded up in a 1955 Buckskin (why do I remember that???) and white Ford Fairlane and headed east to Philadelphia (Mom's family) and New York Idlewild Airport to travel by DC-9 (yep, propeller driven) to Denmark, our Dad's homeland.  I remember vividly the adventuresome spirit involved and never felt any fear or apprehension from my parents who had managed this trip on their lonesome several times before! We did it again in 1967 when I was 16.  We went east to pick up our Uncle Lars Peter who wanted to travel with us across country from New York/Pennsylvania.  The men folk headed out west, while Mom and Greta would fly home separately.  Only two days out, and Uncle Lars Peter asked "are we almost there"?  Heh, heh.  Well we have at least 4 more days on the road...Wow, the USA is big. I don't know how or why my Dad would allow two 16 year old's to share in the driving, but J...

Rolled in at 4:30 pm -  300 final miles in 6 hours.  Makes the total 5,799 miles, unless you count doing Eastern Oklahoma two times in a rental car!!  That would put total mileage logged by me at 6,240, but not on my truck! More later.

 As I left California and headed toward the numerous mountain passes, I was able to finally shut off the air conditioner which had been on since Oklahoma.  It was 99 yesterday in Williams, and perhaps low 80's this morning, but it hit 58 in the mountain passes.  I turned on my heater as I hit the middle of Oregon. It was still sunny and dry as I went through the Shasta National Forest, but as I neared Oregon clouds were gathering and it rained on me for the first time in 2 weeks.  Almost felt refreshing!  The vegetation was turning green!  What a welcome sight. As I got further north, there was another storm cloud forming so that I had blue sky, black clouds and a rainbow all at the same time.  Five minutes after the pic below, it started to rain again.  Only in the PNW.  (I know, another over the hood road pic...) I only have about 300 miles of driving tomorrow.  But three or four large cities to traverse.  Hopefully my timing avoi...

 Over 500 miles today in about 10 1/2 hours of drive time.  I was tempted to get past Portland tonight in order to miss the morning rush hour, which is brutal.  Oh well, I guess I will just have to sleep in and wait for traffic to clear! A few things made today more interesting.  Somewhere around Medford, OR a patrol car came onto the freeway in no special hurry, but then turned on their lights and started weaving down all three northbound lanes.  They did this for maybe half a mile while slowing down the whole way.  It was effectively herding the traffic into to a group of slow moving vehicles.  When the patrol man/woman had us all down to a walking pace, she parked her patrol car across the three lanes, jumped out and grabbed a truck tire from the middle of the freeway.  She drug it to the side, ran back to her car and took off!  Never been part of a car herding event before. Next up was meeting Ken Tidwell in Salem.  He is a member o...

 I was unable to post last night, but it was pretty much a boring drive on the interstate.  No getting lost, just stay on the concrete that heads north! Mike took a pic of me leaving the neat little house that I was welcomed into with or without slave labor.  I enjoyed the stay like it was family.  I won't miss the block laying, but I will miss the laughter! I logged in about 450 miles in approx. 9 hours, so my stamina was back to where it was at the start of the trip!  Every mile in this case, getting me closer to home!   The truck ran great and the miles rolled by.

 Wow, almost 3 weeks out!  I am waiting for rush hour to subside, then will shoot over to I-5 and head north! Before I get too far away from yesterday, I wanted to post Sarkis' special driver.  It is a Detomasa Pantera.  Not the racing version, he said "only" 400+ HP.  Very pretty car.  Dick can you provide details in the comment section, since you seemed to recognize it on a text I sent you?   

About 4:00 I got the call to come get my truck!  There had been a short in the power supply to the fuel pump.  So they replaced sections of wire and replaced the relay and it was good to go!   We met so many cool people.  I feel privileged  to have been given a glimpse of the Southern California car culture that defined the early hot rod era.  The entire square block where these two businesses were located were full of custom shops of all sorts.  Both American and foreign steel.  If you are going to break down on a road trip, this is the place to do it! And what amazing shops we found our way to!  Every customer that we chatted with had nothing but good things to say about the honesty, skill level and expertise of the shop John looking in wonder at the work being done by Sarkis Lester, office manager, Sarkis, Owner, John retired! Walt Conn, owner of Car Cave that referred us to A & A Tire and Auto Repair.

 After viewing the bridge, we got notified that the truck was close at hand so we got over to the Car Cave to receive it.  As we were about to off load it, we got a call from A & A that they had a hoist open and could we drop it at their place only 6 blocks away.  What good fortune!  It was going into the shop today, without further delay. It got attention immediately, with Sarkis (Owner/head mechanic extraordinaire) jumping right into diagnostic mode.  He confirmed it as a fuel problem immediately.   Sarkis had to leave for awhile, so we headed back to our block laying fun.

 The truck hauler was delayed an hour in Santa Monica this morning, so we grabbed a donut and coffee and did another tour.  The Colorado Street Bridge was finished in 1913, but was not an original part of Route 66.  It was included in the second alignment in 1937, and eventually became part of America's first freeway system   Originally named the Arroyo Seca Parkway it is now 110 or the Pasadena Freeway and no longer used in the freeway system.  

Today, I first called the shop where Angry Bird landed on Saturday to see if they were fitting it in.  They didn't know it was waiting for them, so it was no surprise that the receptionist didn't know anything about it.  The mechanic would call me back. It took several missed calls and false starts to even find out that they were scared of AB (Angry Bird).  The word "modified" seemed to trigger fear and trembling within the shop.  But, lead mechanic had been in contact with three other shops and while two had refused service, he was hopeful that the third shop would help me out. After no call back, I finally started looking locally.  The truck was currently a 1 hour drive away, and thus it was not an ideal location, even if they were able to look at it.  I located one shop only a few blocks away that was hopeful, but again, their mechanic had the last say. Simultaneously, I determined that I needed to find a shop that was not intimidated by modified vehicle...

  We had returned to the truck and headed north on the Pacific Coast Highway (known as Highway 1 or PCH to the locals).  We first looked for a gas station which we found right away.  We filled up, then went to start it and only spitting and sputtering.  We waited 15 minutes while checking various connections and it restarted!  We couldn't get back on PCH at that point, luckily, so we headed up a side street for 1/2 block and it died for good.  Appears to be the fuel pump.   AAA sent a car hauler and we first took it to the recommended Ford dealer, 4 miles away.  They would not receive it.  The driver, Angel, suggested a shop another 2 miles away, and that is where it sits at this time.  The shop does not know it is there, so I will learn whether they can get to it sooner than later. If I had a lift to get it off the ground, I am pretty sure I could make the repair myself.  So I am hopeful they will be willing to jump on it like...

The shortest day of the trip!  1 hour to the "End of the Trail"!! It was a joy filled moment to celebrate the end of the official trip. And then it happened...

 We made it!  Enjoyed a fine dinner at the Sycamore Inn with long time friends Mike, Gina and Elizabeth.  The inn is a long time establishment on Rte 66 in Cucumonga, starting out as a stage coach stop and re-established to accommodate motorists in 1937.  Rte. 66 was still a dirt road at that time. Today it serves delicious steaks to locals and weary travelers like us!  Thanks for the special treat at the almost end of the trip, Elizabeth! Today Rte 66 is a main thoroughfare on what is now called Foothill Blvd., turning into Huntington, then into Colorado Blvd.  I drove it all at dusk this evening and there are still numerous neon signs along the way.  Through downtown old town Pasadena to Elizabeth's new remodeled house in Altadena. It is late here, but I will have more time tomorrow to do a wrap on 66.  Then it is slow trek home up north for the last 1000 miles to Lynden, WA. Sunshine and blue skies and palm trees in Cucumonga, turning pink as t...

  WHOO HOO!!  We stayed the night on Route 66 at a hotel that included the noises of the road.  Rte 66, I-40 and the Sante Fe Railroad all run paralell within sight of our room.  Slept like a baby! The Bird has become and Eagle.  Not official until tomorrow when we actually complete the Mother Road tour, but it has touched Route 66 in every state! On to Altadena where friend Mike C. and family will put us up in their construction zone.   To the Mojave Desert - California or Bust!

 We traversed yet another mountain pass, this one into Oatman on a winding and steep traverse.  Narrow roads and blind corners made it slower than usual.  Along the way, burros as mentioned, but also small shops and spectacular views of the valley below. Because it was too late to get dinner in Oatman, we went down to the valley toward Nevada and celebrated Greta's birthday.  It was fun to see and visit with her and her friend Rhonda.  Lots of laughter and joking. We were only several miles from California at that point, and we made our goal to Needles, CA in the dark.  Tomorrow we will award Angry Bird the order of the eagle for traveling Route 66 in all eight states that it goes through!  

 We were set to meet my little sister Greta with friend Rhonda in Oatman.  They were driving from Bullhead City, Nevada and the distance was about equal for both of us.  Except our half of the road had been recently gravelled and the speed limit was reduced to 30 mph.  And we ran into a couple of banditos along the way. The Oatman area is known for their burro population which roams far and wide.  They were let loose by mining prospectors years ago and continue to populate the area. We came into town late, so that it was after the peak of customers and most burros headed back home too relax.  One remained to great us and was hopping for a last minute hand out.  Greta managed to find some treats for him, and he allowed a photo shoot. One of my few selfies

Picking up a lunch to go in Williams (Dick with a tuna salad croissant, Me with a bag of peanuts from yesterday and fruit (Mike n Ikes)) we headed for the old route from Ash Fork to Kingman, still in Arizona.  It was a two lane road, but quite good, so we didn't lose too much time.   Along the road were the frequent old fashioned Burma Shave signs, espousing clever home spun advisories.

We did a drive through of the Wig Wam Motel in Holbrook, but settled on a more conventional accommodation for the night. Our first stop after leaving Holbrook this morning was the famous Jack Rabbit Trading Post.  It has been in the same family for 61 years.  The owner was fun to talk to.  She posted us on their Facebook page! I couldn't convince Dick to hop on board for a pic. Next stop was Winslow, Arizona where we were such a fine sight to see.  When we pulled up, people were taking pics of Angry Bird Takin' it Easy! We did a drive through of Flagstaff, down main street which was similar to other larger towns along the Route.  We went on to Williams which has done a great job of preserving the Route 66 scene.