Event Coverage Three Hot Rods, Three Teardrops, and Three Stooges

We had two stops planned for Portland, One was the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville (http://www.evergreenmuseum.org), and the other was the new World of Speed Museum in Wilsonville. John had been having lots of issues with his starter on the way down, so while looking for a school parking lot to camp in for the night we passed SoCal NW. Everyone we talked to told us that if we were going to Evergreen, we should plan on a full day. We all thought "yeah whatever" But really, you can spend the entire day there and not see it all. And we did not even make it to the water slide. After a quick breakfast at McRotGut, we dropped off John's 34 and headed to Evergreen. If you have never been there and you like planes and history, this is a must see. Pete's bucket list was to see the Spruce Goose, so we checked that off the list.

Half a wing of the Spruce Goose...Damm this thing is huge

Head on


X-15-First Airplane model I built as a kid. It suffered the same fate as all my airplane models. A little bit of dads lighter fluid and a couple firecrackers and she was history.

SR-71 Blackbird-Way too cool for words.


The Goose-Ya just cannot get the whole thing into one pic.

Some kids never grow up.

 

Looks like you had a blast.

 

Day two in the Portland area takes us to the World of Speed Museum. http://www.worldofspeed.org/ Another almost all day adventure. We got there just before it opened and saw some very cool stuff. The staff there are very knowledgeable about all the exhibits. Some of the programs they run there are also pretty cool. The pics following are just a small sample of what was there.

 

I forgot to post this image in the Evergreeen museum post. I came across these two ladies in a quiet corner of the museum. They were in full on slumber mode and enjoying every minute of it. They were in quite a few pictures that day. I take on the same stance when my wife drags my sorry ass to the mall.

 

Great pics, great story so far . Looks like you have pretty good recall skills .

 

Thanks for sharing your fun journey b-bop!

 

Fastrnu and I are planning a trip this year that involves Bonneville, El Mirage and Route 66 among other things. I will be taking the teardrop and am working on my hot rod to pull it with. These posts are inspirational thanks.

The teardrop: it needs a coat of varnish and some fixing here and there.


This was the International as it was when I got it mocked up at Bobs (fastrnu) house. What a cool friend as he gave it to me and said you have a vision for go build it.


Bobs TT pulling the teardrop at a show put on by the local Elks club. He won as we are the only ones to show up.


The International farther along with the chop done and in mock up stage.

 

The International farther along with the chop done and in mock up stage.
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Hey Jim, that International looks like a cool project. I was going to look you up when we came through but never got around to it. Does your dad still have his trailer?

 

Yes he does. That would be cool to meet you some time. The International is my first hot rod and the first chop I have ever done, not including the ones I have had to finish that others have done part way. A link to my build thread.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/international-kb-7-chop.989019/

 

Directionally challenged? Dumb (or Dumber, not sure which)?? I'll answer honestly to either one. Seeing these posts has brought back a flood of great memories. Road-tripping with a couple of buddies is a real treat. Doesn't matter if one of them has to always lead or one has to stop for what-ever reason: it' all good. Our adventures last August were gold-plated good. On word of advise: if any of you readers plan on a major driving holiday, remember that the 'getting there' is usually better than the 'being there'. Stop to visit the dinky little towns that most secondary hiways lead you thru and don't just blow by.

 

Welcome to Portland and have a safe journey.

 

Hey Sinister, and everyone else that is watching this thread. Up until now I have not posted dates on my posts but will going forward. This trip is over and done. I am slow to get to posting the pics and commentary. Yeah I am slow.

 

After leaving the World of Speed museum we stopped for a bite before hitting the road. I noticed Hewey and Dewey giggling like a couple of little school girls at the front counter at the Burger King. When they came to the table they presented me with a new crown.......Something to do with my German square head heritage.

 

August 12-2015
On a tip from Marty Strode, we decided to hang around for the rest of the day and go to the "Beaches Cruise In" at P.I.R. It was stinkin' hot so turnout was a little low. But the beer was cold and we had a good time anyways. Lucky for us we found some shade to park in.

Nice vintage digger with great flake paint


Yeah, I know, its not a hot rod, but fully accessorized. We considered hijacking the Z50

Nice coupe

Cool 5-window

Love this truck.


Camp spot for the night. Stopped at the Sherwood Regional YMCA for a shower and a shave. Looked like an ok place to call it a night. Next morning while Pete and I are enjoying breakfast on "the patio" one of the YMCA staff came over for a visit. She is heading for Starbucks, so Pete then gives her some cash and she brings back coffee for the boys.

 

August 13-2015
Headed for the coast down HWY 18. So many cool places to stop and look at stuff, but we were on a mission to get to the Florence area and get some dune riding in. At a fuel stop in Florence we had a little bit of confusion. I left early, told John I would meet them at the south end of town. I was looking for a liquor store to pick up a bottle of rum. Johnny Whichaway has his right turn signal on, so Pete is lined up to turn right, at the last minute he sees an opening an turns left. Pete, then needing to turn left, backs up and jackknifes his trailer, crushing his roll pan on his Delivery. Pissed off he slams the door and cracks the side glass. Now, he is really pissed. We know nothing of this until we pull into the parking lot at the dunes. Pete is still vibrating from the incident and tells us he is not interested in riding, and will meet us down the road. John and I wait for a bit, and then figure we may as well go find Pete before he jumps out a basement window. We have no idea where he is and after searching through a couple towns, he finally answers a txt from Coos Bay. Another day lost. When we finally meet up with him at McDonalds. He had had a couple cups of coffee and the blood pressure is starting to fall. We go for dinner to Sizzlers and after Pete decides he needs a GPS so that he does not feel lost when he loses the group. He has always been a follower, but has no idea where we are or where we are going, other than to Pleasanton.


Newport Bridge

Port Orford, OR

 

August 14-2015
We camped at the docks at Port Orford. Morning finds a drizzle in the air. We grab some pics next to some old rusty boats, grab coffee at the local diner, and we are off. Driving down the coast it is hard not to pull into every view point to take a look. One of the best stops we had, we pulled into a view point and were taking in the scenery. John looks down at the guardrail and immediately starts splitting a gut laughing. See pics below. All we wondered was "How did they know we were coming?"



And there they were, Three Idiots and their Shit Machines

 

August 14-2015
Continuing down the 101, we finally make it to California. We had to stop to take a pic. Where ever we stopped it was a spectacle. Everybody wanted a picture, and wanted to know about our trip. Some stops were for 45 minutes before we could get out. You meet some really cool people when you are driving a Hot Rod, but when there are 3 of you and all towing "funny little trailers" everyone wants to know "if you really sleep in there?"




Again, lots of stops in the Redwood Forest. Dammmmm those trees are big, even the sign says so. One of the amazing things that all three of us noticed was how quiet it was. There was no wind noise, and the forest muffled every sound of human and mechanical noise.



We stopped for dinner in Eureka and were trying to formulate a plan for our overnight stop and a guy pulls up and we start chatting, he tells up we don't want to park anywhere on the streets in Eureka as they have had a big problem with Meth users in the last little bit. He directs us to the Bear River Casino down the road a ways. Good to have locals give you directions.

 

Good to hear you took his advice by parking at the Casino. A friend who lives in Eureka says it is out of control there. The meth heads and tweakers will steal anything. Welcome to California.

 

Looks like a fun trip. I love road trip stories.

 

My bad for not seeing the date- I can be sharp as a marble at times

Looks like you guys had a great trip. I was getting a kick out of your story because it reminds me of some life-long friends that are always up to some kind of shenanigans when we're together.

 

More Please !

 

Don't leave us hanging!

 

Great story and pics! Keep em coming

 

And what happened next ?????????????

 

Yeah what ^^^ he said, come Big Bear what happened ???

 

Sorry to keep you hanging boys, I live out in the sticks and my internet connection has sucked for the last little while. Had a tough time uploading pics, and who likes a story without pics? My internet provider says they have done some major upgrades to the network, So back to the story.....

 

August 15. 2015
At Leggett CA we were going to find the road that drives through a Redwood tree, but we were again following Johnny Wichaway and he was on a tear. We wanted to follow CA Hwy 1 along the coast, and John missed the turn for the tree. No sense stopping on this road as there was nowhere to do a u-turn anyways. If you love a twisty road, you gotta try this one. I caught a glimpse of my GPS and knew we were in for some fun.

 

August 15, 2015
The GPS pic is the only one I managed to take while in the twistys. We were driving like mad men and there was no time for photos because there was never a chance to take your hands off the wheel. When we got out to the coast the views were incredible. We pulled into a huge rest stop overlooking the ocean. I figured this was as good a spot as any to call her a night. We were watching the sunset and a couple beautiful girls pulled in and John managed to get a pic, that I don't have. All I can say is NICE A...........

Sorry for the crappy pic, I followed this skunk through a little town, can't remember the name, had to follow him for about 100 yards before he finally pulled over to let me pass


Rugged California Coastline


Our boondocking campsite for the night


The view from our campsite


Model A sunset


Picture perfect sunset


Little bit of morning fog.
These are the Google Map coordinates for my reference so I can go back one day 39.033602, -123.688162


Pete suffering from his own morning fog.

 

August 16, 2015
Not a lot of pics this day as we were making a run for Pleasanton so that we could catch Hot Rod Week. We left the coast at Bodega Bay and went cross country through Petaluma , Vallejo, and then begrudgingly down the 660 to Pleasanton. Somewhere along the coast, and right now I cannot remember where, we stopped at a roadside fish stand. John picked up some smoked salmon and the guy that owned the shack was one of the coolest dudes we met on the trip. When we told him we were all driving our own cars without our wives, he tried to hook us up with some Thai hookers that would really show us a good time. If I can figure out where he was I will edit this post and put in the coordinates. He is worth the drive to listen to some of his stories. Wish we would have taken a pic and got his name. He pulled out an old photo album and showed us pictures of his rods and customs that he had before and after tours of Vietnam. He had us almost pissing our pants with his stories.

No guardrails in lots of places where there would be lots of air time before the big splash

 

August 17. 2015
Day one of Hot Rod Week. I was tired of driving and John had a faulty brake light switch on his 34 so we all piled in Pete's Delivery and headed for the first stop. We were not far down the 560 on the way to Bakersfield when we ran into some road construction. They were laying new asphalt and they left a 6 inch lip at the start of a bridge deck and then started again with another 6 inch lip when the bridge deck was done. Needless to say when the car settled from dropping off the first lip, we hit the rise of the next one. The was a gruesome thump as the car hit bottom. Pete managed to get across a couple lanes and shut the car down because it was making an awe full screaming sound. A couple guys pulled over to help, Doug Cole in his COE, who I had done a poker run up in Puyallup with and another guy that we never did write down or remember his name. We scrounged some wood and other debris so Pete could get under the car. We know something was FUBAR, because the car would not turn over. You could hear the starter click and nothing else.

So after a CHP officer stops to help us with a small hydraulic jack and a crowbar here is what Pete pulls out from the bottom of the car. Any guesses?


How this managed to get this mangled and not mess up the flexplate was beyond anybody.


Doug Cole and his COE. Probably not the first time a cop was parked behind him


Pete with the slightly modified dust cover