Home for a couple of days

Home from the "TopLess Tour" 4893 miles on this trip. I have not added up the gallons of gas yet....later. Thursday its off to Goodguys in Des Moines and then on to Columbus. The last two days I have been getting the two cars ready, I am driving the Deuce Delivery and Rodney will be in the "Live Wire Transfer S

pecial" RPU. This will be a fun weekend

Saturday/Sunday

We spent the weekend at the Back to the fifties show, a good time. Erica liked my roadster, had to have her photo taken!! Dave Shaub from the 49in7 drive fame, spent Sunday night at our house. That was a great time. Dave and his wife Carol drove with us from California to the 50's show. That was a great trip. For those of you that may not know, Dave drove his roadster in all 49 states in 7 days...for the Ronald McDonald House charity....what a trip! Check out his adventures at www.49in7.com We had a great dinner and wonderful conversation, hated to see him leave Monday morning. For a $100.00 donation you can add your name to a louver and go for the ride....I did and it was fun. I actually drove with him in my roadster a few miles when he drove thru St Cloud on the venture last fall.

more pictures

Some more photos.............................

finally a new post

After a few days without internet service in the hotels, and having to download a new browser to work with the blog...I think I'm back in business. We left Kingman and headed for Albuquerque. A good drive. We stopped first in a little town of Williams, a cute tourist town. We took some pictures and looked at some stores. Since Elvis was not with me, I had my picture made with the other Elvis!! Next was Kingman AZ, we "stood on the corner" there and sang the song. A real cool place. We had lunch at a hotel, a great eating place, good thing Dave and Carol knew of the place, we could not have ever found it. Then it was back on the road to Albuquerque. We had dinner in the famous Owl Cafe, had a great mexican chille relleno...um good. The next morning it was off on I40 towards Wichita. There was a terrific cross wind for a hundred or so miles. We drove thu Greenberg KS, stopped for gas, coulod hardly stand up in the wind. In 2007, I drove thru the same town just a few weeks after the tornado blew it away. You can still see the damage five years later. We made it to Wichita and the wind was still blowing. We had a great dinner at the Hanger steak house. Its all done up in aircraft decor....neat. The next day was onto to Des Moines. A no eventful day. Dave drives with a radar detector, that was a big help, it save us a couple of times. We had dinner at Texas Road House with friends Dave and Sandy, that was fun. We left Des Moines at 6AM to get to downtown St Paul by 11 AM. There was a 50's kickoff party that Dave was invited to, next was registration for the 50's, we hung out there for a while seeing friends and having a beer. Then it was off to the Scavangers car club picnic. That was real nice. Finally it was to the La Quinta hotel for the weekend.

Sunday

Back to the show Sunday morning for more fun. We got to park under the palm trees again in the shade. I saw more friends and made some new ones too. We walked the indoor vendors again and checked out the parked roadsters. So many nice cars. Found my friend Cowboy Dave. We had a nice visit. Rodney noticed a for sale sign in the front seat of his roadster..Hmmmmm. That is one of my all time favorite roadsters. It was built by Jim Ingelese of Connecicut. I remember seeing it in York PA Nats East several years back. I always drooled over it. I think Dave put the sign in there just to tease me!! LOL In the vendor bldg I found the perfect shift knob for the 400. I will order it next week. Comes from Jacks Garage, he happens to be one of my key fob sellers. At the Brookville booth I checked out a new steel phaeton body, looks like they are testing the water with a sign up clipboard to sign if you interested, Darn, a new phaeton body, Inglesse roadster, saw the new steel 5w body...so many temptations!! We meet Dave Schaub and his wife at noon for lunch and took off at 1 PM. Jack decided to stay till the end and drive on later. We went I15 to Barstow then I40 to Kingman AZ for the night. We arrived at the hotel at 5:30, 300 miles not bad. We gassed up in Needles, just 50 miles from Kingman. It was HOT. The thermometer in Daves car said 120. (It's a dry heat tho.) We drank lots of water, my tshirt was wet, it was hot, but it was fun. At the hotel the pool really felt nice, then it was off to dinner. Check out the pics........Happy Fathers day to me!!!!

Saturday

We left the hotel by 6:30 and headed to the Fairplex. Many roadsters had arrived on Friday and still had their covers on. We were directed to a nice shaddy spot between building 4 and 6. The swap meet was first on the list, we walked for several hours. Lots of cool things, many very expensive. John found a set of hood sides with hot rod louvers for a steal!! I thought about them but knew I did not need them at this time anyway. We walked the specialty parking next, probably 2000 cars thers. This is where the non-roadsters park. Many neat cars. We toured the new vendor building to cool off, the AC felt good. I bought a couple of little things I needed or maybe its wanted. I saw more friends. Meet Cliff and his son from Dassel, had to drive 2500 miles to meet someone 45 minutes from my house. They brought their just finished new deuce, had 12 miles on it.....very nice. Had a sign on it for sale 34K, a great price and a very nice car. A picture of one of my favorite RPUs. Saw my friend Dave from LA cars but could not find him. He has a real cool and famous roadter and a real nice 34 phae ton. I also saw and talked to Bud Root. He is the one that had my red vicky built. It was real neat to talk with him again. I saw him one other time in 2003. At five we attended the free BBQ. What a sprfead! BBQ beef tips, brisket, sausage, reibs, corm, beans , bread cake and a drink, free to roadster drives. Quite a deal. After dinner it was back to the hotel for party in the lot and to repack the pickup bed to amke all the stuff fit. I think it will. Tomorrow we will leave about 1 PM for a short 300 mile drive to Kingman AZ.

Friday

Today's first stop was the Early Ford Store in San Dimas. This guy has parts!! Everything you would want, very few repops, all NOS or good used. Fenderss hanging from the ceiling, shelves and shelves of brake drums, generators and what ever. I saw a deuce fire wall, very nice shape for $1100. A deuce dash panel and tunnel for $750, a SCOT blower for a flathead for $15,000. Cool stuff, bring money! My buddy from CT, John, called at 11AM, he had arrived on the plane. Jack, Rodney and I headed to Thumper and Flo's BBQ. I dropped them off and headed to the hotel to pick up John, found him and ran right back to the BBQ. Hot rods were parked up and down all the streets for several blocks, people everywhere, what a BBQ. Beer, pop, margaritas, burgers, and fixins and a great time. About 1 PM it was off to SoCal open house. We had VIP parking, so drove right into our numbered spots...pretty cool. Lots of rods, people, a good time . I can't believe how many friends I saw from all the world...y es world. Greg was there from Australia, sold him some key fobs, Glenn from TX, Gary from NE, Ryan Mapes from AZ. He brought me a magazine from 2003 with an article on my B400 build of the chassis, several pages and pictures. Thanks so much Ryan and Joe!! It is so great to have the wonderful friends that I have. There were so many others, I can't even begin to list all of them, so good to see everyone. About 6 PM we went to Bobby Waldens Open House. His projects are just outstanding. I saw even more friends there. Sold some more key fobs. Saw more neat cars. Today was just a perfect day, friends, hot rods, BBQ, more friends and hot rods....good time.

Thursday

More shop tours today. First stop was Freds Custom Wiring just 5 miles from the hotel. They build really nice hot rods. One customer car was a 36 Ford, total handbuilt body by Marcels. There was a really cool roadster with a Lincoln Flathead v12. Its going to be a really neat car. Fred had coffee and donuts and about 11AM the hot dog vendor "Pinks" started serving. We meet two other minnesota cars there. From Freds we drove to Limeworks in Whitter. Always a huge open House, saw many friends. Lots of neat cars and people. At noon they served their famous tacos for lunch. I bought my new tail light lens and a brake adjusting wrench, saved some shipping charges. The next stop was Marcels Metal Works. Marcel retired about 6 months ago, son Luc bought his brother out and moved the shop to his new house in Norco. He just bought a beautiful 4 acre place, a nice big house, a large tin barn for the shop. just an awesome place. Marcel got bored at 83 years old so he came back to work for his son Luc. He now works 9 to 3. They both love it. They are very busy. They had three cars that they were making complete bodies for. It was a very fun day.

Missed one photo

Missed a cool shot of Foose.

Some cool photos

Rodney has a filter to make phots look real neat. Check these out.

Wednesday

We ran a couple of errands this morning, like more beer, the computer photo thing and some snacks. About 11AM my friend Jim from AZ picked us up in the rent car. The first stop was Fooses. About a 45 minute drive to Huntington Beach. His shop is only open from noon to 1PM for visitors. Since Jim is a special friend of Chip's, he could get us in anytime. We arrived after 1PM. Chip was busy sanding on a cool 3W. The customer wanted the chop seams to show, Chip had cleared over them for rust protection, now the customer wanted the clear sanded off. Inside the shop was the now coupe that was in Marcel's shop last June as a roadster. Last year I watched Foose and Marcel and Luc discuss building the coupe top. Cool to see it a year later, probably at least a year more to finish. From Fooses's it was Scandavian Street Rods. He had several deuce projects. He also had a big pile of parts getting ready for the swap meet on Saturday. In the pile I found a pair of European deuce hood sides...........not for sale any more! They just fit in the bottom of the pickup bed. They are going to look neat on the B400 ! Just a block away was Wheelers. Another really nice shop, great guys. One of the guys asked if I drove the RPU here again. Cool that he remembered me from last year. They do awesome work. We were invited to Lil Louie the pinstriper's house for dinner. Home made, special cooked ribs. What a geat meal. We brought the beer and a cheesecake for our part. A fun evening. We got back to the hotel about 9 PM.

More Tuesday pics

Somewhere I lost the little deal that transfer my pictures from the card to the laptop. I bought a new one this morning. Here are a couple more pictures. Gps with miles and top speed from my door to hotel in Ontario, CA.Please note the top speed....I was a good boy. Jack from Mpls in his black 29 going down the highway. Tom from Denver area in his yellow 27, hard to get photos at 70 mph and so sunny you can't see the viewfinder. Talk about point and shoot!!

Tuesday

It was breakfast at 6AM, on the road by 7AM. Another cool morning, 51 degrees plus the wind chill. It was sweatshirt and jacket weather for the first few hours. We soon were down to sunscreen and a tshirt. Down the hill to St George, Vegas, and on. We decided lunch would be at Peggy Sue's close to Barstow, CA. About 70 miles from Barstow, construction stopped us for close to an hour, stop and go, 5 mph, hot...it was 107, yea I know its a dry heat. 107 is still hot! Finally we got to Peggy Sue's diner. Several glasses of water and a milk shake. We drove thru UT, AZ, NV, and CA in just a short time. After lunch it was a short 80 miles to the hotel. Man was it hot!! Next was wash the rosadsters time, then some cold beers and some food at Fridays just a short block away. The beers were extra good tonight.It was 450 miles, an easy day but with the heat and the extra stopped time it was a hard hot day but so much fun!!So far on this trip I have driven 2439 miles.Tonights photos are by Rodney.

Monday

Tom was at the hotel at 6:45, we were on the road by 7AM. Jack, Tom in their roadsters and Rodney and me. It as quite cold. I think the temp was 45 as we left Denver and as we got over Vail pass it was in the high 30's. A tshirt, hooddy sweat shirt, the Vintique jacket, heater on and the seat heaters on...we were cozy. The Eisenhower tunnel is always exciting to drive thru, Vail pass is very pretty, somewhere around 9,000 ft. The air was thin. We had a lunch at a great rib place in Grand Junstion, I have been there severasl times with the roadsters. Our stop for the night was Beaver UT, 540 miles. We had dinner and went to bed. A fun day, but we all were tired.

Sunday

The wind blew like gangbusters last night. At 3 AM I was up and out 3 different times trying to keep the cover on the RPU, the wind finally broke four of the clamps that holds the cover on. I finally removed the cover and just let her sit. I figured less damage than the cover whipping all night on the paint. It was all fine this morning, the wind was less but still there. There were ashes from the forrest fire on and in the car. I cleaned it up, had breakfast and went to the show grounds. It was much cooler today, breezy all day. The grass we parked on in the winners circle was dusty and so very dry. It was like straw. The awards presention went well, I drove thru the awards stage with my bomber hat and googles on.That got some applause and laughs. As soon as I received the award I kept on going, hit the highway and headed to the hotel in Westminister, about 60 miles away. I arrived here about 4 PM, Jack was alrea dy here and Rodney arrived a bit later. The three of us had dinner,I went to Lowes and bought more spring clamps so I could use the cover tonight. Right now it is time for bed. Tom will be here at 6:45 and we hit the road at 7. The plan is 540 miles to Beaver, UT for the night. Looks like about 8 to 9 hours with gas stops and all.

Saturday

Another fun day. I got up, had breakfast at the waffle house and headed to the show. I parked in the "Deuce Doins" parking, thirty deuces there. Many more thru out the grounds, I can never figure whey they won't park in the special parking. It was HOT today, 95 degrees. I found shade under the Deuce Hdqs tent. I walked and walked, my legs burned more, so now they are really red. Lots of aloe vera. I was a little slow on the sun screen. I saw more friends today, ran into Jim McNaul from Colorado, drove his beautiful 53 F100, 500 Caddy, T400,Cordoba front suspension and for sale $28k, if I did not have a F100 I would be all over it. Any one interested, email me and I will hook you up with him. He says just too many cars, and doesn't drive it enough. He also races a 6speed gokart that goes 0 to 60 in 3 or 4 seconds....that would be real fun. I talked with the DeLuxe Speed Shop guys, will see them next week too. There is a forest fire just 15 miles away, lots of smoke, burned 5,000 acres, 10 buildings, 50 homes evacuated, not a good deal. Check the photos. I won the "GoodGuys Pick" today..made my day.I get to park in the circle of winners tomorrow and drive thru the stage to get the award, that will be fun. On the window card it said "special features"......I wrote It's Driven Tomorrow is to be 20 degrees less than today, that means 75.......GREAT. Jack from Mpls called tonight, he made it to North Platte in his roadster, will be here tomorrow night as planned. John Kapsner built it several years ago, so that makes 2 St Cloud cars going. We will all leave Monday morning, I'm ready to hit the road. Three old guys all driving roadsters with no tops, see, I'm not the only nutty one.

Friday at GoodGuys Colorado

I headed to the show about 9AM. Found a nice place to park on the grass, dry grass but grass. I talked to many friends today, always fun. It was hot, like 90, but a breeze all day kept it under control. I got back to the hotel tonight, did laundry, and am going to a mexican place for tacos and margraritas. Last night it was stormy, black clouds, lightening. I had the nylon cover tied down as tight as I could, the wind was still blowing it up in the middle, then it started to pour for at least 15 minutes, then stopped and the wind kept blowing, but no hail. By this morning the cover was totally dry from the wind. Yesterday from the tire shop to the hotel, I used the GPS, it took me west then north, then to a new toll way, I thought what the heck I'll pay a couple of bucks to skip the rush hour traffic. There were hardly any cars on the tollway. I saw a sign saying cars $3.30......ok, I'll pay that to skip the traffic. I drove for maybe 10 miles to the I25 exit, took that, made it in great time. Never did see a toll booth. Today I find out you are to have a "subcription", a camera reads your plate number, then charges your credit card.......oh well I'll see if I get a bill in the mail. Many nice cars at the show, my camera only takes deuces!!

Baby gets new shoes

Well, finally got a FedEx tracking number, said to be delivered by 3 PM. I went to the headquarters hotel and got my papers for the show tomorrow. I decided to sit in the lot until I get the call the tires are here. About 2 PM, Bill from Rocky Mtn Rods called to tell me the tires arrived. Good news, bad news his mobile tire guy could not get there until tomorrow morning. That means the rest of the day I had nothing to do, and in the morning rush hour traffic I would be driving 60 miles into Denver area. I decided to go right then, pick up the tires and find my own installer. I got the tires, put them in the front seat and took off to find a tire shop. I found one within 10 miles, they had the new tires on in about 15 minutes. I then drove back to Loveland and over to the kickoff party at Pinkees shop. Tons of people, cars, a fun time, beer, food, music, vendors...a good time. Right now I am watching a storm move thru, wind, lightening, tornado watch...a fun night!! Tomorrow is the first day of the show, can't wait.