Morro Bay Caravan Accross The Country

Well it looks like the caravan will be rather short with few joining this run so far. I want to join the list of drivers who have made a cross country trip driving to the West Coast and have mapped it out as either a 3 day or a 4 day trip. (4 if Alice decides to ride with me rather than fly and 3 if I do it alone)

My plan now is to take I-40 accross with the jog onto historic Route 66 that Hoss highly reccomended. If others want to join up I could alter my plan to make it easier to meet up and drive together.

Dusty is trailering and maybe we can join up for the last day or two.

Lemmee know?

Jack,
I just sent you a PM. Watch for it.

To everyone coming to Morro Bay .......... Get your room reservations in; send in your Banquet payment; post your intentions on the POLL to help us with the overall planning. PLEASE DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE !!!! :-(

Thanks to everyone that is helping me plan this.

Happy Trails,
Dusty and the LMS

Jack, about that Rt. 66 stretch that I recommended a while back, don't make two mistakes that I made. I failed to make a stop in Oatman to get an up close and personal in this amazing little town. Just a stroll up and down the main street, have a cooling drink and a good stretch would be time well spent!

Also, make certain your camera batteries are at the ready because the last 20 or so miles of 66 heading towards Needles is a truly breathtaking stretch of road; it's slow, twisty and I found it scenic beyond my wildest expectations. I set the car up with a georgeous backdrop for what I hoped would be the SOC calendar picture of the year, or so I thought. I then discovered that my camera batteries were dead as a doornail and I didn't have any spares. Sheeeeeeesh! Lesson learned.

John--I definitely plan to take that same loop of Rt 66 that you did and look forward to seeing Oatman.

Looks like Alice and I will be "the caravan" unless someone else pipes up. Rusty had an idea about meeting near Denver and driving together from there but that detour adds 5-600 miles to an already long trip so I think we'll just take I-40 accross. Thinking about using I-20 for the return because we'll be leaving the West Coast from L. A. Hoping to see friends there plus get Kirk and Mary Duncan out for dinner.

Jack, don't forget to post your schedule when it is firmed up. Carol and I would welcome you and Alice for a stopover in OKC or, worst case, I'll tag along in the RED TUB for a couple of hours along I40. Best regards, Cal

Hey Jack, have you firmed up the schedule and route yet? I may run into a potential conflict because of work. The last thing I want to do at this point in my life (after spending literally "years" away from home and family) is get on a plane - and it looks like I have to go to China for a few weeks. Right now, I could be leaving as early as the 16th. Hopefully, Justin and/or my future son-in-law will be able to escort you through OKC if I can't. Best regards, Cal

Thanks, Cal, for your post. I had hoped to say hello on the way through OC ---maybe on the way back through there? What is a cell # I can call?

Our first leg is Hot Springs, AR to Amarillo, TX which is about 670 miles. That's the longest leg going out and should take 11 hours counting 4 stops for gas with my 8 gallon tank. We shoulg be driving through OC on I 40 at 11:30 am Monday 4/19.

I got the new interior installed---what a major magilla that was! I took the old carpets out to install Dynamat and got a new carpet set from Kirk---nice oatmeal color rather than the sorts brownish-rust that the car came with.

Have a good trip to China and I hope we can see you on the way home
4/28 or 4/29.

Hey Jack, did you make it through OKC?

Cal,
Jack should be in Amarillo, TX, tonight. The last message I got on my voice mail said they were just cruising along. We meet up tomorrow evening in Gallup, NM. I bet I have to talk LOUD to get through his hearing!! (Maybe he has picked up ear plugs, eh?) I am sure it will be a trip worth lots of discussion on this Forum.

Morro Bay here we come.

Happy Trails,
Dusty

Jack rang me up earlier with a report for me....
He had a great 50 mile day, flawless performance and 24 MPG with below average engine temps ;-)

They'll be in Gallup tomorrow.

The LMS and I pulled into the hotel in Gallup, NM, at 3:35; checked in and walked back out to the car to see Jack and Alice pull in behind us! Pretty good timing, eh?

The weather is beautiful and the cars are not TOO covered in bugs. Jack's new engine seems to be purring along ... even with all the luggage he has packed into it. (I believe he vacuum packs everything and then lets it expand again when he gets into the hotel!!!)

I will get some pictures tomorrow and post them so you can see our "mini-caravan".

Barstow here we come !!!!!!!

See you all in Morro Bay

Happy Trails,
Dusty and LMS

Dusty and Jack
It's been raining here and rain forecasted again for tomorrow, but we've ordered up sunshine for the weekend. I took a run on the back roads to the wineries today, and everything looks good. We will have fun.

Jack called with his nightly vital sign report for the engine after todays 450 mile leg of the trip.. so far his highest CHT he saw is 320F, highest oil temp is 190 and average MPG is 24 at just over 70 average MPH.

Engine is running strong, even with the higher elevation and lack of perfect tune due to the thinner air. He was in great spirits and was just so damn happy to be on this trip in his Speedster!!!

That really makes my day...

Good news all around! Had no doubts about the new motor, but its good to know that Jack is enjoying the car's new power plant!

Jack is quite the trooper. He's now done two trips to Carlisle, two to the Smokies, and now Morro Bay in a Speedster along with four tons of luggage (it's truly amazing to watch him load and unload). All of this from Hot Springs, AR.

Wish we were tagging along (albeit trailering). Have a wonderful, safe, and mechanically uneventful trip. There is no doubt you will enjoy the west coast SOC hospitality!

(Did you bring a tie? I did to prove that the folks in Oklahoma just don't wear spurs and chaps - at least not when going out for dinner. Still wondering how Vince knew about the pants....)

Best regards,
Cal

Did somebody say "Chaps"

Morro won't be the same without you Cal (and Carol of course), maybe next year?

WE made it to Barstow after driving through 50mph winds, dust storms, sand storms that closed the highway, rain, hail and snow (no fooling!) Sorry, no pictures as we really had to fight some incredible weather today ... all day. No in Barstow and it is raining hard.

We will be in Morro Bay just after noon tomorrow. See you all soon.

Pray for SUNSHINE !!!

Happier Trails,
Dusty and the LMS

I hear your prayers -- sunshine is on the way!!

Dusty,

Just a touch of rain, maybe doesn't even qualify for that status as I never turned on the wipers, here in southern OR. WX reports look great for the drive down to the bay area tomorrow, you should be fine. See you and LMS (for the first time) on Friday afternoon. Thanks for all your hard work organizing this shindig.

Tomm

Tomm, glad that you are hitting Morro Bay this year! Dusty and Jack, nobody said it was going to be easy! Consider it a test of character. Your most challenging trial is yet to come.... 48 hours of Vince and GERD!

Wow! and my concern coming from the Bay Area is do I put the top up or leave it down for the cool AM temps.

Dusty,
Give me a call, pretty please.
-=theron

Hi Dusty, Sarah and I hope to meet you folks for lunch at robins on Friday. In a prior post you mentioned that hard copies outlining the trek for that afternoon would be distributed upon checking in at
the motel. Can you bring a copy for friday to robins as we are staying in Cambria and won't be going back to morro bay until the evening. If not, it's no big. Just thought I'd check. Glad to know you folks got through the bad weather. Thanks and see you soon. Bob

WHAT? Theron made an appearance? No way! :-)

Jack rang again... He was stoked after arriving at the final destination with just over 1700 miles under his belt. It appears the Speedster provided flawless performance, cool running and an average of 24.2 MPG at 70-75 MPH.

HEY JAKE,
CONGRATS ON THAT ENGINE BUILD!!!!

Hey Dusty & Co:
Be glad you got out when you did. Everything above 6,000ft out here looks like this today. Yesterday we had a tornado watch. Geezuz, I guess tsunami warnings are next...

Nice work, Jake!
Jack, that's awesome! Your ulterior motive is obvious; we know you're trying to show everybody in the Lower 48 what an Arkansas license plate looks like. We know. You can't fool us.
You're living the dream, Dude! Can't wait to see you and the other Morro Bay folks who are coming to Carlisle! Be safe!

What's the latest on Jack, is he on his way home?
Anyone getting status updates?

ECB

Hey Jack, where are you?

I rang him a couple of times today.. went straight to voicemail.. I think he may have a dead battery...

don't know where he is but had the pleasure of having lunch with him and alice sat and sun. they were delightful and it was wonderful to meet them. i hope they are having a great trip home. Bob's wife jessica #1 in a series

Jack just rang me...
His words were "Everything is perfect"

He'll be home tomorrow night, he has a total of 2800 miles under his belt so far with flawless performance.

MPG is up to 24.7 at 75 MPH constant. He is very happy.

Glad to hear it, Jake. Thanks for the update.

Hi folks:

Alice and I just got back home after about 3,900 miles. Did 550 miles today, from Amarillo, TX to Hot Springs, AR. Ran 80 MPH for about 1/2 the day's trip with 23+ MPG. I didn't look at a computer since we left home on 4/19---cell phone either so there's a lot of catching up to do.

Was it worth the drive---absolutely!! Such fantastic folks who made us feel super-welcome and a part of the group. Such gorgeous cars too4 days caravaning with Dusty and Sharon was fun and I believe I figured out most of his magic tricks----it's all done with magnets. (Sorry to reveal this, Dusty.)

Jenniffer's revealing her nice rack to the assemblage was a high point of the banquet---sorry for those who missed that! OK, so it was only a door prize luggage rack but it was a funny bit, the way she presented it. I can't say enough about everyone I met--great folks one and all.

As Jake reported, the engine was flawless and exceeded my expectations in every way. The throaty snarl of the engine was music all the way accross the country and back. More later---just wanted to check in for now.

You West Coast folks (includes Idaho) are ok in my book!!

Welcome back Jack! If your not still napping, give me a call over the weekend I would like to hear the details. ~Alan

So glad you made it home safe and sound. I guess I will never live down the "rack" that I won....hehe

Jack, You are one hardcore driver!!

Thanks so much for pushing hard and driving that engine the way I designed it to be driven. I looked forward to each evening you were on the road and the phone call that I'd be receiving... each day you'd say "Everything is just perfect" and that just made my day.

I put my engines to the test, but having someone like you put them to the test over almost 4,000 miles is much different and much more satisfying for me.