West Branch to Detroit

We stayed on the two lane roads, (Bob's favorite type of roads) we enjoyed the changing colors of the trees along all the county roads and state highways enroute to West Branch. This time of year is the very best to tour back roads with all the deciduous trees turning bright colors. They would have been even more brilliant if  it weren't for all the clouds and rain. OK, I'll stop whining! We are having a great "Big Adventure". The car is running perfectly and even gets better gas mileage on the two lane roads when you obey the posted speed limits. Pictures to follow include captions to explain people and places. Enjoy!

Once upon a time in a country far, far, away, there was a little disagreement that needed some intervention by some of America's finest. The best of the best, in my biased opinion, was a band of craftsmen known as Sea Bees. Sea because the paycheck came from the US Navy and Bees because we were as busy as the proverbial honey bee. Actually, the letters CB means Construction Battalion. Joe and I became fast friends while serving in the role of Construction Mechanic with MCB 62. That's Mobile Construction Battalion 62 home based in Gulfport, MS. We worked together to keep all kinds of heavy construction equipment, earth movers, fork lifts, trucks, rollers, scrapers, loaders, cranes, compressors, ditchers, bulldozers, you name it; functional and on the job. The Sea Bee motto is "Can Do" and we did. Anyway, the good looking couple in front of Old Gold posing in front of their home in West Branch is Joe and Glenna. We are proud to include them in our list of good friends. After spending a delightful evening visiting with them we hit the road again. Mostly two lane roads to enjoy a little slower pace. Next stop, Detroit. Yep, Motor City. The central office and nerve center of Old Gold's creator, General Motors.

Here's Old Gold parked in front of the GM Building at the new Renaissance Center in the heart of Detroit.

It's a pretty impressive structure that emboldens the work force as downtown Detroit tries to revitalize itself. A vital economy would certainly help but, they are building some really nice cars for competitive prices. Say what you want but, GM is still an important part of America. And of course, the parent company of the Chevrolet Corvette. One thing is certain, every year's evolution of the Corvette has been better than the previous model. 1961 was the last year for the 283 cubic inch engine in the Corvette and they continued to get stronger and more fun to drive as the years progressed. I talked to one of the GM security people who wanted me to move Old Gold from in front of the Ren Cen, as it's called. I pointed out that Old Gold is 50 years old and has nearly a half million miles under her belt. So, we got a break and snapped some pictures.

Grand Rapids to West Branch via Lowell, MI

This segment of the trip was a homecoming of sorts for Old Gold. Look through the pictures and read the captions. I can hear Bob chuckling every step of the way. We headed out of Grand Rapids after a delightful evening with Matt and Lois. Pulled into Lowell and started looking for photo opportunities. Follow carefully.

First stop in Lowell, MI was in front of the City Hall / Police Department. Note that we parked where the sign says Don't. You have to live life on the edge! Then we drove around the corner and were flagged down by one of Bob's old friends who said, "There can't be more than a couple cars like this that would be in Lowell, MI. Jim said that he and Bob drove from Michigan to California in Old Gold in 1965 on Route 66.

Here is Jim and Beverly Hall with Old Gold in front of the White House in Lowell, MI. Their daughter Christie, told some stories about all four kids riding in the car to get ice cream, or anything else they wanted. I guess the statute of limitations has run out by now? She remembered the car seemed to be so big back then. What happened? Maybe we grew up. I can tell you that if you put two people and their luggage in this car and head out cross country on a big adventure, the car is NOT big!

The next stop was to snap a photo of the old Elementary school in Lowell where Bob, Jim and Lois' mom was a third grade teacher.

After a nice, relaxing visit and stop in Lowell, we headed out to visit an old Sea Bee buddy. You know "Old" as in a long time ago. Rather than "Old" as in when Moby Dick was a minnow. Ride along!

Past the first Great Lake!

Matt and Lois with Old Gold

Time to give some of the other cars on board a little boost in class

We're across Lake Michigan via Lake Express Ferry and have arrived safe and sound in Grand Rapids, MI. It was a nice, rolling ride across the lake with 4 to 6 foot waves. Makes you look like you're drunk if you try to walk around. It's still way better than driving around through Chicago traffic, I think. Here's where we visit Bob's sister Lois and brother in law Matt. Had a very nice dinner and visit at Marco's and stopped by to enjoy some of Matt's artwork and their beautiful home. Lois had a ride in Old Gold for old time's sake. It's been a very rainy day driving and the floor is submerged on the left side. LaDonna's side is wet but not quite soggy yet. Hopefully, we'll find some dry weather so we can roll down the windows and dry things out a little. At least, the trunk is staying sort of dry so the luggage is dry and we have dry clothes. The old adage seems to be holding true in that, "If you drive a C1 Corvette in the rain, you'll get wet." We carry towels!
Tomorrow we head east and north to try to skirt the weather. Along the way, we plan to catch up with an old Sea Bee buddy I haven't seen in about 40 years. I say Old, not to describe the aging process. What I mean is Old, as in, "Gee I haven't seen you in 4/10 of a century!"

Saturday and Sunday in Minnesota

Saturday, we enjoyed a "Mini Car Show" in John and Meredith's driveway. Many neighbors tooted their horns while driving by. Several stopped by to look at Old Gold and another friend drove his newly acquired '57 Chevrolet 2 Dr Hardtop over to compare notes. On Sunday, we went to help cheer Noah as he played a double header. He thought it was a good idea to get a picture with Old Gold as well. 

Noah, a future Corvette driver?

Noah, What a pitch!!

The 95th birthday gathering

Grace, Meredith and Doug

Grace, Doug and LaDonna

Meredith and LaDonna setting the table for the 95th birthday dinner

Grace, Brianna, Meredith and Amy

Marian and Stew

John and Meredith with Summer and Rosie

Jill and Megan with Grandma Grace

We're safe and sound in the Minneapolis area. Now we're planning the "Middle" part of our adventure. The next big birthday party is in Whiting the weekend of October 22nd. So, the middle part of our trip is more flexible and impromptu. We have friends and family to visit along the way and some attractions to visit. Also, there are those remaining states that Old Gold has not been in. We'll drive through all of the New England states so that Old Gold can proudly announce that she's been in ALL 48 contiguous United States. And before the Half Million Mile mark! Last night was a family gathering to help my mom celebrate 95 years. Stew and Marian came up from Creston, IA and Scott and Jill came with Noah and Megan from Farmington to help celebrate. Amy came by for dinner and Brianna and her friend Bobby also helped sing Happy Birthday. Today I spent a little time washing Old Gold up after acquiring almost 2,000 miles of road grime so far. There are a couple "Car guys" coming to visit and we wanted to be presentable, eh? I'm starting to work on my Canadian since we plan to drive part of our trip east and north from Detroit on our way to Niagara Falls where we'll come back into the US. Later in the day, it's supposed to warm up a little and the grand kids would like to ride in the convertible with the top down. What fun!

Keeping on track!

Here we are in Watertown, SD after spending a delightful evening with old (Not elderly) friends from the Siouxland Ski Club. Well, that's where we met, after all. Only you trivia buffs know that little tidbit of information. Yes, LaDonna and I met at the infamous Ski Club Pig Roast in the summer of 1979 to be exact. The picture of the four of us continues the theme of photographing all of us after enjoying some culinary delight or another. Please don't get the idea that's all we have been doing on this trip! We have been doing lots of driving, too. Old Gold is performing perfectly and keeping the promise of "Never letting us walk". Although after sitting in the car for almost 400 miles today, walking sounded like a welcome change of transportation. Tomorrow, we'll head for Minneapolis area and start in earnest preparing for my mom's 95th birthday. I'm sure she'll make a comment about Old Gold and we're sorry she probably won't get to go for a ride. I can't imagine we would be able to get her into the car never mind get her back out. But, she is eager to walk out front to look at the car she has heard so much about. We'll give grandkids rides maybe with the top down if the weather cooperates. This morning, there was frost on the car and the local forecast is for low 30's. Brrrr! We'll spend several days in Minnesota with family before we continue toward Maine and then turn right. We'll probably post one more post of the birthday festivities so you can maybe taste the virtual birthday cake. Stay with us!

Day 3, Great Falls, MT to Hardin, MT

Today we traveled from Great Falls to Hardin Montana. Last evening, we stopped by to visit the Best Band Teacher on the planet and his wonderful wife, Judy. Mr Larson, as his name will always be to me, was my High School Band teacher and Scoutmaster as I was growing up in Minden, NE. He and Judy are newlyweds and it was a great pleasure to both renew an old acquaintance and make a new one. We hope they will be our friends for life. Please take note that when you see pictures of friends and family along our trip, we seem to always be sitting down to eat. One of the high points of the evening was looking through a scrap book from his "Minden" years. It was most enjoyable reading about all the accolades bestowed on him. This morning, we continued our visit with breakfast, a tour of the 6th Street Gallery downtown where she shows many of her amazing pottery creations and a visit to Big Springs on the Missouri River. Then we drove to Hardin, MT where we will spend the night before heading to the Black Hills in South Dakota to visit friends we know from the Siouxland Ski Club. For all you trivia buffs, this is where LaDonna and I met many years ago and REALLY started our big adventure.

On The Wet Road

First, thanks to all of you who helped us get under way. We had a party at our house to introduce our house sitters, Allan and Becky. There were 31 people who came to wish us well Friday evening. Our first day on the road was without incident. Old Gold is running smoothly like always. We actually drove away a little after 11:00AM and spent the first half of the 400 miles in the rain. Pass the Rain-X! We met up with cousins, Ken and Jan for dinner in Spokane and our then the first night in Post Falls, ID. We'll share pictures of our dinner visit with cousins when we download the camera. We drove right by several "Scenic viewpoints" because the scenery couldn't be seen. It was hidden in the fog. The sky is just starting to lighten up this morning and I looked out the window. Guess what! It's raining. Again. I guess we'll just drive in this little bubble of wet weather for a few days as we continue east. I'm only grumpy because Old Gold is a "C1" Corvette and as good friends who know these cars well have always said, "If you drive a C1 in the rain, you get wet." That's a fact and I guess it's why we bring towels along on the trip. Maybe in a couple days we can dry them out, too. We'll continue east over a couple of mountain passes and stay on track on our "Big Adventure". Stay with us!

The day before our launch!

It's an adventure in honor of "Old Gold's" 50th birthday. Those of you who know Old Gold are familiar with some of her history. She started life in St Louis at the Corvette assembly plant in the spring of 1961. Since then, she's been cared for by three different owners. The first was James Robinson from Utica, NY. The second, and Majority Owner Emeritus, was Robert White from Lowell, MI and now Douglas Slack from Kalama, WA. The Big Adventure begins on Saturday September 17th when we honor Old Gold's survival of over 400,000 miles of driving by going coast to coast. AND back! Along the way, we'll celebrate both our mothers' milestone birthdays in the midwest. Then we'll go to the few remaining places that Old Gold has never visited. We'll drop in to visit friends and family and try to stay on the two lane roads as much as we can. While Old Gold is comfortable at any speed that would easily catch the attention of any law enforcement officer, LaDonna would prefer the posted speed or less. As gasoline prices soar, the slower speeds will certainly help reduce the cost of the trip. We plan to travel 300 to 400 miles per day and expect that when we return, the odometer should be somewhere around 475,000 miles. So, the Half Million Mile mark is easily within reach. Not many cars ever go that far in their lives and only because of much loving care and repair, is this possible. In fact, few of the original mechanical parts are still with the car. However, I have been very careful to preserve the original appearance and character that Chevrolet Motor Division intended. Please follow us on our trip by viewing this blog. Also, please feel free to comment. This will be the trip of a lifetime, for sure. Cross your fingers for decent weather because Old Gold is not air conditioned and the 50 year old wipers were never very effective. I'm pretty sure that deep snow would not be a good thing. The only real confidence I have is Old Gold's ability to keep on going. Bob always used to say, "Old Gold never let me walk" and Bob's memory is always with us. As Dinah Shore used to sing to America, "See the USA in your Chevrolet!" An old friend from the midwest used to say, "Look out below, because here we go!" Stay with us.