Keep the Show on the Road!
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Posts posted by Keep the Show on the Road!
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Cort,
I think maybe I have a photo of “yours truly” in a stroller much like that one, which places it during WWII. Maybe I could call yours “like my first vehicle!'
If you gathered 65 people to anything other than a riot, without a promotional budget, or an organizational sponsor, congratulations! Job well done.
You don't say what the MidSummer Chitown Gathering was about....but I assume cars. If you can get 10 car buffs together mid summer in 2016 without strong media support, good going. The competition is rough.....but I am as inexperienced in “gatherings” as I can be.
To just play with ideas for a minute.....with the ability to crowd share live video, could you turn the idea on its head and bring the “show” to the audience? A virtual gathering. It might even be interactive.....with call or text ins.
I haven't given much personal attention to the how to's because I figured no one would tune into my “Travels with Dave” channel, because I don't have any tornadoes to share. But maybe a guy who loves cars and visits car shows might get a following if he shared one every Saturday at a set time. I look at tornado chasers, maybe some folks would look at a live car show.......just musing.
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Cort,
Nothing ever seems to go easy for you,bro. But you are still here. Which in the end is what really counts. Keep on truckin.
It looks like your interest in things automotive is long held!!
Good memories are worth their weight in gold.And here, I recently enjoyed doing a project for a consulting firm (pro bono, though they offered to pay) to identify a section of the Red Trail for an historical register application. So love of our heritage highways has a use!!
Dave
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Dave,
It looks as though you, your wife, and friends are getting better acquainted with the world first hand!! Great idea!
The photographs are really excellent. They held my attention and I was impressed with your sense of the interesting and evocative.
It appears you have entered a new phase of your life. Best wishes on a continued good trip!
Dave
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Thanks fellows for the come backs! Butte retains a great deal of it's historical character and "feel." I would imaging my grandfather Paul would have recognized much of what I saw.
Cort, I'm sorry that you missed Butte. You would have enjoyed it.
It is good to see my "old" American Road colleagues still dropping by! I think I may put together some more on my Yellowstone Highway (National Park to Park) trip.
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road.
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I ventured east from the Puget Sound this summer to explore some of the Yellowstone Trail. One of my stops was at Butte, Montana, along the Yellowstone Trail, where my grandfather was a miner at the turn of the last century. Butte is a splendid place to visit with scores of ghost signs, fine period buildings, and of course tons of mining history. A heritage travelers delight!
I took a photo of the Broadway Garage, opened in 1917 and still going strong. The Finlen Hotel in the background was opened in 1924, and still offers delightful and historical accommodations. The New Tait, also on the Yellowstone Trail hasn't fared as well!
I posted additional story and photos of Butte, including some of the Butte, Anaconda, and Pacific railway vintage rolling stock, the first direct current freight line in America, HERE. The famed Calf and Cow booster and cab are shown.
Dave
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Rod,
I agree! As you well know, one of the virtues of two lane roads is that they do take you through small towns. In fact the old road is likely to be Main Street, for the obvious reason that the road connected the towns along its route. Again obviously, for the most part, the interstates bypassed towns whenever possible.
Since you have been driving for at least 50 years, this isn't news to you!! I use the interstates when I don't care what i see and want to get somewhere fast. But if I want to appreciate life, I take the old road.
One other comment......often times the interstate cleared the traffic off the old two lane route, A long stretch of US99 (old Pacific Highway) runs near my home. It used to be one long traffic jam. But after interstate 5 was built, it became a nice drive through the countryside.
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Denny,
I bought the last one!!! But they said more would be arriving soon. Must be selling like hotcakes!!
I look forward to reading it!
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road!!
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I hope you spend Thanksgiving in good company and spirits. Drive safely if you are on the road!
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road
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No, I had not seen the US20 site. Thanks for the tip!
The route west of Craters of the Moon in Idaho follows pretty close to, and on, the route of the first transcontinental auto race. That may also apply further east, but I have not bothered to check.
I know the route well west of Arco and Craters of the Moon. You will not be troubled by traffic lights!!! It is interesting country if you know the history (isn't that always true!!
). But for the less informed, some of it will look pretty barren once you leave Vale in eastern Oregon until you reach Bend.You will have to get off the road onto the original route to see the stage stations and ghost towns of the last century, but many are still there, including the tale of the lost blue bucket gold.
When you make your plans, let me know and I will share my “knowledge.” We can split the gold!!
Dave
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In the course of preparing for a road trip of my own, I “discovered” the National Park to Park Vintage Motel T Tour, which is launching next Tuesday (August 25th) from Moraine Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park. I have decided to connect with them on Tuesday, God willing and the river don't rise!
My route is likely to be from my home in Olympia along the Yellowstone Trail to Billings, Montana, then south along the Custer Battlefield Hiway to Casper, and down the Yellowstone Highway and Park to Park route to Rocky Mountain NP.
But what I wanted to do here is make sure interested folks had the web site for the Model T event.
http://vintagetimetravelers.com/Home.html
There is a day by day itinerary. Given the scope of their plans, there will be changes, but odds are they will be passing your way if you live in the west.
Dave
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Cort,
Good idea! And in the process I came across this web site:
http://vintagetimetravelers.com/Home.html
I get the impression from other sources that the plans may have been modified since this web site was posted, so I have sent emails to anyone who might know.
I leave on my drive tomorrow, and will have to consider what I learn between now and then as to whether I try to connect with them at Estes Park on the south end of what I believe to be their initial leg of their trip, or intersect them as I go south along the Yellowstone Highway. Or forget it.
I want to follow the Yellowstone Trail between Yellowstone and the Puget Sound, and the Yellowstone Highway between Yellowstone NP and at least Casper. I might do some of the Custer Battlefield route, or the Lincoln Highway, depending on how, and if, I connect with the Model T guys.
MY “plans” will be reveled (to me at least) in the fullness of time. I leave tomorrow.
Dave
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I got a tip that a couple of fellows planned to leave the Denver area on Tuesday (August 25, 2015) and follow the vintage Yellowstone Highway to the Park, in their Model T's. But my source didn't know names, contacts, or details I was planning to drive the Yellowstone Highway in that time frame in a 2015 Ford Mustang convertible, and it occurred to me that there might be some fun photo ops if I could connect with them.
So does anyone here have a clue as to who they are, etc.
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Damn, another one down. But thanks Jim for the update!
Dave
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Cort,
I'm with you! Abandoned buildings tell many stories, and most of the time, they are ours to hear. I mean by that, we get to imagine some of the events and people who grew up in them, played in the yard, went off to school, maybe worked the fields or mowed the lawn, married, moved away, and came back to visit grandma and grandpa with the grand kids. They tell the stories of lives spent and past.
But to enjoy those stories you must learn and understand local history, and the tales of ordinary people. You need to know about life's triumphs and sorrows. We are at once actors on the stage of life and members of the audience watching it unfold. It doesn't always unfold as we expected, planned, or wished, but the play's the thing.
Thanks for the Route 66 memory! Cheers!
Dave
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Jim,
I didn't know you were enjoying a brief unpaid vacation! But good, I suppose, to be back in the harness!
I guess I am obsessing on the road cut, but understanding road construction methods is often useful in dating an old road.....as you well know. The bricks look like they might be interlocking, and are apparently thin, and as you note not on sand or concrete. It suggests a proprietary paving product.
But the “gunk” beneath the brick, and the even spacing of the wooden members is puzzling. A streetcar or rail line might produce that wooden (ties?) pattern, and I might speculate that light rails, as might be used for horse drawn trams, might use small closely spaced ties.
I suppose clay impregnated with stone might make a suitable base for brick, at least it might be tried. If I get the energy to get out of my easy chair, I'll look at some Good Roads Annuals to see if any such paving method is described.
Good luck on the new job!
Dave
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Jim,
Great to see you post! And I always love a good road “mystery.”
I need more photos! I can't tell if I am looking at a 3 inch deep or 3 feet deep section. Is the sequence from top to bottom concrete, brick, gunk, and wood? If so, why is the concrete grooved at what seems a few inches apart? (More photos!). Is the brick as thin as it looks. What is the “gunk” layer, the base for the brick (why not sand or concrete, or?) or another road bed? The wood looks evenly spaced, like ties. (But again, hard to get scale).
In any event, a fascinating photo that probably tells an interesting historical tale! And great that you are keeping busy on the Michigan Road. That was (and is) quite an accomplishment! I have been operating the Yellowstone Trail Forum for some time now, and have made a few “discoveries,” and fine friends, but I sure haven't gotten any road recognized as you have!!
Again, good to see your post.
Dave
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Ara,
I haven't “looked in” for some time. The world turns....the pain, beauty, joy, and hope continue. It was, is, and will be quite a ride.
The video was good to watch. Spirit looks well. My best to both of you.
Dave
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Cort,
I think their operation is very limited. As far as I understood, most of what they do is for local events. While I was there Loren was making a batch for their Oregon Trail Days celebration. The press is slow, and a bit dangerous to operate, especially if you get a finger in the press. I saw a few wood souvenirs for sale, but not a whole lot. I will ask the next time I am there.
Dave
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Cort,
Thanks for the come back! It was really by happenstance that I saw the press in action. I wanted to talk with one of the volunteers who is in her late 80's about an old route she had followed with her parents in the 1930's, but she wasn't there. As I was looking over some books, with my back to the press, Loren started it up. It sounded a bit like an old stationary steam engine! Loud with lots of clanking.
The story of the Tenino wooden money is pretty widely known, at least in the west, but I never figured I would see the original press in action. It is used today to print wooden souvenirs. Some parts are worn from use over 80 plus years, but it still runs like a charm.
I should add that the print shop is still there as an operating business on old US 99 (Pacific Highway), and the bank building that has been closed for years has just recently been reopened, complete with the old tellers' cage. It is now an investment firm, stock brokerage. I haven't been inside yet, but that should happen soon.....to look....but no money to invest!
.But then I have my charm and good looks to see me through! :)Dave
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In the teens and early 1920's of the last century Tenino, Washington was on the Pacific Highway (now “old” US99, and the National Parks Highway). When the great depression hit, the town was hard hit, and the local bank failed. The town came up with the idea to print their our own money (script). The first printing was on paper, and a total of $1,279 (about $22,200 in today's dollars) was circulated, and most ($1,079.75) was redeemed. The printer was the Independent, the local newspaper, located then and today on the Pacific Highway & NPH.
About that time a mill in nearby Aberdeen, Washington began producing thin wooded sheets of Sitka spruce and red cedar, for Christmas cards and the like. The first output of 25 sheets became the first Tenino wooden money. Overall, $10,308 ($179,000 today) was produced, and only $40 was ever redeemed!! What happened is that the wooden money because a collectible, with one selling several years ago for $4,500 on Ebay.
That is the back story....the story today is that I walked in on the original wooden money press in operation, printing on wood, but alas, not money. I stopped in the local Tenino Museum this afternoon, and while I was looking around, an awful racket started up in the corner over my shoulder. I turned and there was a fellow putting wooden sheets into the jaws of an ancient press.
Loren Ackerman is the printmaster, and one of the town's historians. He has been doing this for twenty years. We enjoyed a lively and informative discussion. He told me that the old bank building had just been renovated and that he had printed 1000 wooden pieces for them. His record speed was 4 seconds per piece, but that is far above the average pace.
The movie here shows Loren and the original press in action.
Tenino is a great stop on our heritage highways. The museum is a must see, but check te hours on line to be sure you can visit.
Oh, and I added a video below I did a few years ago of Tenino and the National Parks Highway / Pacific Highway some may enjoy.
Dave
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I noted the banner link to Levy County, Florida on the Forum today, and I just wanted to comment that it is one of the most fascinating areas I have ever visited. It has been a couple of years, but our time there was an enduring vacation highlight. I'd return in a flash, and I hope we will, even though for us in Washington State it is a long drive!!
I hope many here will visit their web site for at least a peek at the real charms you can still discover in Florida. Since the Forum banner announcements change, I have added the web site link below.
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road
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Dave,
Good to see you are still kicking up a little dust!
America on Wheels is definitely a must see stop!
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road!
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Cort,
Sorry about the constant medical attention.
I think your 2006 trip was before I joined the forum.
I enjoy looking at some of my old road trip photos and sometimes I note something I missed, usually in the background. Have you had that experience?
In the photo you are standing between a Dodge and Buick. I had the impression you were a Chevy man.
Dave
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USRoadman,
That was a great slideshow!
One might suppose that restricting the "views" to include the shield sign would "spoil" the vistas, but it was a different take on the countryside, and it turned out to be quite interesting for me! I felt like I was really on a trip across America. Very "honest" or what i would call authentic.And it was fun and fascinating to see it as the countryside changed.
Kudos for a set of slides I wasn't expecting to enjoy all that much, but I definitely did. Highly recommend viewing!!
Dave
Keep the Show on the Road!
Videos: Out Of Comfort Zone + Cruise Nites
in General Discussion
Posted
In reply to your video on how low should you let your gas tank go, I have four perspectives.
One is when it starts to falter from a a lack of fuel, pull into a station!! Obviously that only works when you are in an area with lots of stations, but I used it as a kid. (That was in the days of carburetors. Does fuel injection give you a block or two of distance if you swing back and forth to pick up the last drop in the tank?)
I drove my car down to 13 miles DTE last week, not intentionally, so my second answer is get gas at anytime before it stalls.
My third view resulted from experience with one and two above. I once put a small plastic gas can in the trunk with about a gallon of gas. This has the advantage that you never run out, but you may explode. A hot day will expand the plastic container until it leaks! The old VW's had a variation on this plan with a spare reserve you activated by turning a lever. I think a famous singer died when he couldn't reach his, but he was in an airplane.
Just so you know I'm not a full scale idiot, I think the best advice is to keep it above an 8th to quarter tank, not just because you will run out, but because you may draw sludge into your gas line if you run it down to the last drop....or so I/m told.
Dave