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slowdriving.us 2004 Trip A much longer version with more pictures is also available here. Durand N42 25.1868 W89 17.3533 to Sioux City N42 26.827 W96 24.8468 Day Thirty three Sunday June 6, I drove 549 miles.
Wendell's club, the Rock-Ford A's have their yearly event in Sharon, Wisconsin. Sharon is a nice old town. Not much traffic in the downtown area. A perfect place for a bunch of old cars and people.
Downtown Sharon, Wisconsin, on Sunday Morning.
These ladies are catching a ride on the running board. This is Sharon's version of, Girls gone Wild. By three in the afternoon I was ready to hit the road again. I left Sharon heading west through Wisconsin.
I crossed the Mississippi for the forth time and entered Iowa on US Highway 20 at Dubuque. This is the same road I was on a few weeks ago when I broke down.
As could be expected when chasing the sun, the sun won, and went down before I got to my destination. I continued on in the dark. I kept going looking for the right place to stop for the night, when I thought I had found a place, I decided to drive on a little farther. By the time I got to Sioux City I was tired. I drove half way across Wisconsin and all the way across Iowa arriving in Sioux City about midnight. I found a truck stop motel, and got a room.
Sioux City N42 26.827 W96 24.8468 to Manitou Springs N38 54.4916 W104 58.4916 Day thirty four Monday June 7, I drove 618 miles.
Nebraska. Often when I am all wound up from driving and go to sleep late I wake up early ready to go again. This morning was not one of those days. I got my eight hours sleep. By eight thirty in the morning I was ready to leave. There was a strong wind blowing from the south. Wind greatly affects a car with a small engine. Some of the gusts seemed they would tip the car over. Occasionally one would blow me a little sideways and I had to steer the car back into my lane. I had been traveling almost due south on Nebraska 77, but now I was on 30 headed toward Columbus. At Columbus I turned southerly again and headed for Grand Island. I tried Interstate 80 for a while, but I found driving straight into the wind was easier than driving perpendicular to the wind. At Lexington I turned south again on 283 and headed straight into the wind all the way to Norton Kansas. I had used 9.1 gallons to travel 128 miles, or 14 mpg, without the wind I had been getting about 18 mpg.
From Norton I took 383 to Colby where I stopped for gas and a soft freeze ice cream, the temperature was in the 90's and their machine was broken. I left town at about seven thirty with only gas. I joined up with Interstate 70 just past Colby. The wind was a little better now, not as strong, and getting cooler in the early evening. I continued west on I-70 into Colorado.
As I entered Colorado the sky darkened and I
thought I was in for a real
I turned southwest on Colorado 24 heading for
Colorado Springs,
After filling the pan with oil I continued on to Colorado Springs. When I got there all I saw was No Vacancy signs, now I really felt stupid for not taking the room back in Limon. After giving up on finding a room I continued west on route 24. It was almost one in the morning when I pulled into a closed Real Estate building, and tried to sleep. There were too many cars driving by to sleep, so I drove a little farther up the road to the entrance to Pikes Peak Park. I parked in the parking lot and slept in the car.
Manitou Springs N38 54.4916 W104 58.4916 to Grand Junction N39 06.9916 W108 31.7613 Day thirty five Tuesday June 8, I drove 290 miles.
By eight in the morning the cars were lining up
for the drive to the top of Pikes Peak. Here I am
sleeping in the parking lot, I might as well drive up too.
Driving up Pikes Peak.
I took a picture of the car sitting next to the sign, someone came over and offered to take my picture too. There usually is someone who sees the opportunity to help out with a picture.
On top of Pikes peak, 14,110 feet high.
After driving down the mountain which is as tricky as going up. I stopped in the beautiful Community of Woodland Park. I found a car wash and washed off the car. It took a couple of tries to get all of the oil and mud removed.
Moving on down the mountain to Buena Vista where I stopped for lunch, I saw a cattle drive along the road. It could have been a city slicker type because some of the cow punchers were girls with white blouses. This drive is very scenic. The wind was blowing hard from the south, up the canyon when I was leaving Buena Vista.
I traveled only a short way on 24 then turned west again on 82 and headed toward Aspen and Independence Pass. This is one of the most scenic drives of them all. With a roaring river on one side, and a lush meadow on the other I drove on.
The car performed superbly climbing the grade to the top at Independence.
Driving down the mountain into Aspen was hard on the engine and brakes, there was no gear that seemed to be right. So again I had to go slower than I would have liked. I pulled into every pull off to let the unhappy tailgaters go by. Aspen came and went, I did not stop there as I have been there many times before. I like the area, I like the town, but there is usually no place to stay, and I want to travel on. A few miles past Aspen the air temperature shot up into the nineties. I was miserable, I had just come from a mountain with snow on it, to ninety degree weather. I rolled down the passenger window, that did not help much. Then I opened the windshield a little, all that did was make so much noise I could not hear the engine. I continued on uncomfortable and grumpy.
When I saw the sign at Grand Junction indicating gas, food and lodging I turned off. By now it was about five o'clock. This was the earliest I had stopped since Patty left. I stopped at the Motel 6 in Grand Junction and showered, then went out for a good dinner. When I came back I saw some oil under the car again. I went to the room, changed into my dirty clothes and went to investigate. I was not about to make the same mistake I did back in Limon. What I discovered was little or no oil in the transmission. I carried oil for every purpose, and added almost a full quart. I was a little concerned about the loss of oil from the transmission, it had to be coming from the front seal. For the front seal to leak the main shaft would have to moving around. That means it got bent, or the bearings are going out in the engine again. At this point I figured the closer to home I get, the less it costs to tow the car the rest of the way. I returned to my room took another shower, and went to sleep.
Grand Junction N39 06.9916 W108 31.7613 to Jamul N32 43.0276 W116 52.6291 Day thirty six Wednesday June 9, I drove 840 miles.
I had set my travel alarm clock for three thirty
in the morning, by four I was on the road, driving through Utah which I knew
would be hot, and Nevada hotter. I wanted to get as far as I could before I or the car
died from heat stroke. I pulled into Green River for gas about the time it was
good and light. I gassed up and continued on to Salina where I stopped for
breakfast. Everything seemed to be working ok, I ate my breakfast and hit the
road again. Every mile I make this morning is a mile I won't have to drive this
afternoon when it is hotter. From Salina I traveled on to Cedar City where I ate lunch and got gas. I kept going on down the road to Mesquite, Nevada. It felt cool, there was a rain storm moving across the desert and I was on the tail end of it, enjoying the natural cool air. At about five I drove through Las Vegas. Hey, why stop now, the car is still running I thought. This way I can drive through the California Desert while it is cool there too. With Las Vegas behind me I stopped in Primm for their $2.99 steak. I would have paid more for a better one. Oh, well live and learn. Soon after leaving Primm I noticed that the water temperature was going up. I pulled over at the first rest stop. After the engine cooled down a little I added almost a gallon of water. I did not see any leaks, so I continued on. The temperature ran hot, but did not seem to be boiling over, there must be a leak somewhere. I stopped in Barstow for gas and to rest. When I opened the hood I discovered the radiator fan about to come off. When I turned the fan there was no resistance. That meant either all the sparkplugs were out or the pulley was not on the key in the crankshaft. The latter was what I found the case to be. I don't know what came first, the loose pulley or the loose fan blade. I managed to get the pulley back on the shaft and aligned with the key. I tightened the bolt and now I needed to tighten the fan, it to was loose from its key. All I could do was tighten the nut more. This work took about forty five minutes, but it seemed like all night. Several people stopped by to help but did not know how to work on the car.
I left Ontario at almost midnight. Heading south on I-15 was a breeze this time of night. Everything went well until I was driving through Escondido. A couple of idiots decided it would be fun to try and get me in an accident. First they dived to the right almost hitting my front fender, and almost running me off the road. They went up on the embankment in a cloud of dust. I kept on going. Why stop for idiots. Soon they were back, this time right on my rear bumper with no head lights on. I changed lanes to the left. This was a mistake, they pulled up on me on the right, into a blind spot in the mirror. They still had their lights off. I could not get back in the right lane. I slowed down to about twenty miles per hour and so did they. I knew I could not out run them, but I put the peddle all the way down, as they pulled up on me I turned on my back up light. I had installed one fog light on the back for a backup light. It has the same candlepower as a head light. This stopped them, they turned on their headlights and passed me by and I never saw them again. By now I was almost to the eight freeway, where I turned east and headed for home. I arrived home in Jamul at one forty five in the morning. That was a long day driving from three thirty in the morning to one forty five the next morning. I pulled the car into the garage, turned it off. And went to bed, I slept until noon.
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I figured they would have plenty of cheap rooms, one just
waiting for me, at my price. By the time I was about half way to Colorado
Springs, I noticed the oil pressure gauge bouncing below zero. I stopped and
pulled over to see what was wrong. What I discovered was a loose bolt on the
front of the oil return tube. That was the source of my oil leak. I felt rather stupid
for not having fixed it back at the motel parking lot when I first discovered
the leak. I tightened the bolt down snug. Now I had another problem, I had used my last full quart of oil. I
looked through my things and found a quart bottle half full, I poured it into
the engine. After looking at the map I decided to chance it and keep on going.
There was a small town on the map, just a few miles farther up the hill. I drove
slowly watching the oil pressure needle jump from nothing to just above nothing.
I was relieved when I saw
the little town of Calhan, and there was a store open. I went in and bought six
quarts of oil. As I opened the hood to add the oil I noticed how the whole side
of the car was covered in oil. 
