The adventure begins

[Jerry]

We're off this morning, heading east to Minnesota, via many twisting trails. See you in three weeks!

[Mark]

Travel safely, travel wise, and have a great time!
Best regards,
MSH

[pigpen]

...indeed!!

[BIGSHOT]

Day one was disrupted a bit when we found a washed-out bridge blocking our path south to the Columbia River. We backtracked, regrouped, and headed over White Pass to Yakima. Trying to avoid the freeways, we turned south across the Horse Heaven Hills, crossed the river and rode 84 to Pendleton, tonight's stop.

Cars are running well, but Chuck's solenoid conked out at a rest stop about 25 miles from Pendleton. It was a quick fix in the motel parking lot while the rest of us scraped the bugs from our windscreens.





Hitting the road tomorrow morning at 6:30, bound for the Wallowas (is that spelled right?), Hell's Canyon, and a motel somewhere around Boise.

Dan

[DaveB]

A) good luck!
B) congrats that is was only a solenoid
C) where are the samoa mugs?

[Cheleker]

Solenoid. New. Lasted 588 miles.

[James T]

at least a mini is small enough to push start! Cars are looking great. looking forward to starting our adventure to MM on Thurs. morning. Keep the pics coming.

[James T]

Dan, did you steel one of Chucks wheels...or did you leave the wellers at home?

[BIGSHOT]

Sorry about the size of the images. I can't seem to convince Photobucket to resize my photographs. Anyway, six days on the road and they start to run together. I'm not sure I remember what happened on which day, so here are a few places we've been recently:



We stopped for lunch in Stanley, Idaho. That's the Sawtooth Range in the background.



We toured the Craters of the Moon in southeastern Idaho.



This was shot near Flaming Gorge on the Wyoming/Utah border.



Chuck pulled over outside Dinosaur, Colo., to assess a recurring miss. A few miles later, as we started climbing into the mountains, the car refused to run. A replacement fuel filter soon had the estate under way.

This was the second time we had to "get out and get under." A couple of days earlier, we spent the morning patching my leaking fuel tank sending unit in a convenience store parking lot in Swan Valley, Idaho. Otherwise, the cars have been running great.

Dan

[BIGSHOT]

Here are today's photos.



Stuck in the middle of a cattle drive near Crawford, Colo.



Until I was rescued by a cowgirl who carved me a path through the cows and calves, I was cut off from my SAMOA herd.



Soon after, we climbed 11,300-foot Monarch Pass on our way to Colorado Springs. This is our tallest so far. We don't even blink at the thought of climbing the six and eight thousand-footers any more.



The guys in this rig were real interested in our cars (like about a million other people so far). After talking to them for quite a while, Chuck suggested this comparison shot. The Dodge 3/4-ton pickup, along with the 5th wheel trailer and a boat trailer behind that, was longer than our four classics.

We're staying in Manitou Springs tonight. Pike's Peak's on tomorrow's agenda, if the Pike's Peak park ranger will let us give it a shot. Weather here has been pretty blustery, so there's some question as to whether or not they'll open the road. If not, we'll press on to Kansas, Nebraska, etc.

Dan

[minied]

Hey, no "tail" gating.

[pigpen]

Fantastic!!

[skip]

Tailgating? Clearly a demonstration of drafting style. The yellow German Variant should lead the pack for better drafting as it is bigger and displaces more air!!
Dan, don't be messing with cows, just one is almost bigger than a Mini.
Sounds like a good time is being had by all, be safe.