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Hey guys,
I finally have a computer to use allowing me the opportunity for a quick up-date of the trip so far. It all began nearly 2-weeks ago when I left Winston for the open road and a planned cross country trip covering an estimated 7,500 miles in the McBearen, a hand built, custom vehicle I finished three years ago.
Day one: I drove to Lafayette, IN without incident except for what would soon become the usual state trooper's stop to confirm that the McB was correctly tagged and registered.
Day two: I drove to Wausau, WI after spending an hour or so visiting my daughter Erin’s mother-in-law Evon and her husband in Naperville, IL in addition to sitting in traditional Chicago traffic while traveling through that city and beyond.
The day started out on a sour note as I heard a strange scraping noise coming from the rear of the car shortly after leaving Lafayette. At first I thought the exhaust was dragging but knew that couldn’t happen simply because of the way the exhausts sits in the frame. Once I got off the roadway and out of my seat I could see the problem… the bacpac support had broken and the back of the pac had dropped to the ground dragging along the surface of the highway. In my haste to get things ready to go, I had failed to weld the receiver hitch completely and the repeated bumps of the road caused the weld to fail dropping the bacpac down, but fortunately not completely off, before I could pull-off to the shoulder of the interstate. After carefully loading the now detached bacpac into the passenger's side of the car I headed-off to find a person to re-weld the unit to the rear of the car’s frame. Following several phone calls I was able to locate a truck repair shop willing to do it for $30.00 an amount well worth the effort and importance of the bacpac as it provides the only storage space currently on the car that is weather proof.
Day three: I spent the morning meeting with the owner and business manager of C-tech in Wausau about business and after lunch headed for Minneapolis where I spent the night with my favorite aunt, Avis and her husband. Before leaving the twin-cities I purchased two rear tires and had them mounted. I had planned to do this before leaving home but the local dealer didn't have the size I needed in stock but after checking found them available in Minneapolis so I had them reserved for my arrival.
Day four: This was a long but enjoyable day skimming across southern Minnesota and half of S. Dakota reaching the point at which I-90 crosses the Missouri River near Hamilton at dusk. This was short of my projected distance for the day but getting the tires had delayed my departure time from Minneapolis cutting the drive time short for the day.
The only thing unusual during the day was the millions of grasshoppers that came out of the wheat fields to cover the highway. They made it impossible to follow another vehicle ‘cause the bodies of the hoppers would fly up from around and beneath the cars ahead showering me with painful projectiles. The front of the McB was covered with crusty grasshopper remains nearly an inch thick in places.
Day five: Although I was a bit behind schedule I decided to take the opportunity to visit some places I had never seen or that I hadn't seen for several years. First, taking a small loop detour from the interstate I swung through the Bad Lands and joined up with I-90 again at Wall, SD where I couldn't resist stopping to take a few pics of the McBearen in front of Wall Drug a place from the past and made famous during the Viet Nam era. Then, heading west to Rapid City I again detoured a bit to visit very briefly the Black Hills region and Mt. Rushmore before continuing west on I-90 passing Sturgis and entering Wyoming where I decided to spend the night in Cody, WY and a drive through Yellowstone the next day.
Day six: Getting up early I headed for Yellowstone a place I hadn't been to for over 50-years. It has changed a lot during that time and now with the droves of visitors, cars and RV's I'd have to say I liked what I remember from the 50's over what is today but it is still a magical place within what I consider the jewel state of the lower 48. In my opinion the only thing missing in Wyoming is an ocean. Even without that missing feature I believe Wyoming is the perfect and most beautiful state of all I've seen and I've traveled through all of them except for HI and Alaska. I didn't stop anywhere in Yellowstone except for what seemed like a hundred stop-n-goes due to traffic jams along the way. But even with those extended periods in stop-n-go traffic the park remains a remarkable place to visit.
I took the NW exit route from the park and rejoined I-90 at Livingston Montana. To make up some time on the schedule due to tires and the few off-course travels I'd taken during the last two days I knew I needed to make some time and cover some distance in order to get caught-up. So I set my sights on Missoula, MT for this day. The drive along I-90 was spectacular and although the sky was mostly cloudy and rain could be seen all around, it never bothered me until later when we climbed the final mountain ridge before ascending into Missoula. First came the rain. This was not a gentle rain but a cloudburst followed by hail that I thought would never end. It all seemed to come from nowhere and with no warning catching me totally unprepared. I was able to put my helmet on to protect my head and face but my forearms were bare and I was wearing only a t-shirt. The hail pounded my arms and shoulders leaving large red welts and black/blue browses on my hands and arms. It hurt so bad I wanted to cry but with the highway filled with water I was required to keep both hands on the steering wheel to negotiate the frequent hydroplaning of the tires on the rain soaked roadway. It lasted for miles before the sky turned suddenly completely and eerily clear. I was soaked from head to toe and my arms were killing me!
I thought about stopping but there was nowhere to hide. No trees. No overpasses. Nothing at all and I knew I couldn’t crawl under the car so I kept on going. I did see a motorcycle rider who had stopped but he was getting pelted nearly as bad as I was because the tree he held on to was so small the tree was probably thanking him for the protection he provided rather than the other way around.
Adding to the misery of that period of time at one point during the storm I found myself between a tractor-trailer and a concrete lane divider on a down hill, sweeping right hand curve. In the rain and blinding road spray sent from beneath the truck I realized that the driver of the truck was slowly drifting his rig into my lane. It was dark because of the storm and the picture was not a pretty one.
On my left was a 4-6' high concrete retaining wall. My face-mask had a combination of pouring down rain and road spray from the side of the truck covering it faster than I could possibly wipe it clear and on my right a multi-ton tractor trailer rig encroaching into my lane. The twinkie little horn I have would have done nothing above the over whelming sounds of pouring rain and associated road noises. Frankly, it looked like I was about to witness a bad accident!
The truck driver apparently looked again and this time he saw my headlights squinting through the wet spray as I occupied the very narrow swath of real estate that remained between the wall and the truck. He quickly corrected his path of travel but I was already preparing for the inevitable crunch believing that my best chance was to take-on the wall first and let whatever happens after that take it’s course. I knew that if the truck continued to come left, the time between my hitting the wall and the time the truck hit me would in reality make no difference which I chose to contact first. I remember thinking that if I tangled with either of them I would ultimately be tangling with both and it was going to be a real mess!
Missoula was my goal for the day and after that experience Missoula is where I spent the night!
Day seven: was a quick dash from Missoula across Idaho (the only state I had never been in before, making my lifetime travels within the USA complete as far as the lower 48) to eastern Washington State and a planned stop at my cousin Keith Bear’s home a short distance north of Spokane. Since it had been a relatively short travel day I was able to arrive by noon get some rest, visit and take a 4-mile horse ride with Keith and his family at their ranch in beautiful Deer Park. I needed the rest from driving and it was good to "exercise" a different part of my butt while riding the horse. The saddle was a welcome change from the seat I had been occupying during so many hours of driving the previous seven days.
Day eight: I received word from my wife that several checks had come from people wanting to contribute to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. If you'll remember that is part of the purpose of this double continental crossing in the McBearen. Knowing that contributions where being received made me feel even better about what I was (am) doing because along with writing their check I know that each of them are made more aware of the importance of having themselves (or the men in their life) checked for early detection of the disease. With early detection the possibility of complete recovery is nearly perfect. Without it.... well we all probably know someone who suffered the consequences.
The Cascade Mountains of the state of Washington quite literally cascade down into the Seattle area and are both unique and spectacular! I have had the opportunity to visit Seattle on several occasions in the past while attending different events including the NHRA drags and the Unlimited Hydros at SeaFair but because of responsibilities at these events I had never been able to do much exploring outside the thinly occupied areas of the city. This time it was different and I was able to re-establish contact with family members I hadn't seen in 51-years and was treated to a great dinner prepared by the master chef and host, Lee Libby at his home in Seattle. While there, Lee and Dianne’s son Duncan and daughter-in-law Rochelle came to visit as well and take a ride in the McB before calling it a night.
Lost in the world of computers for the first time since leaving Winston I failed to go to bed but fell asleep in Lee’s comfy chair in front of the computer. When I awoke it was 4:30 and I didn’t think it would be worth messing up the bed Dianne had kindly prepared so I just went back to sleep.
Day nine: I woke early from the computer chair and went outside to wash the McB because it hadn’t been cleaned since I had left home. All the grasshoppers had been removed by the rains in Montana but there were an assortment of bug splats and the usual road film that seems to cling to everything during long days of travel.
When I first arrived in Seattle I contacted Larry Robinson and we scheduled what was supposed to be a brief meeting for the morning. Larry, Doug98105 and myself met at Rick Young's shop (one of those shops that each of us would kill for and displaying work that would make anyone envious) for about an hour. Then Larry and I headed for his backyard metal shaping and antique car Mecca before we went to lunch with his daughter on my way out of town.
I drove a lot this day considering I got a late start and when it was over I had reached Grant's Pass, OR while anticipating the next day of driving down Hwy 199 to 101 and through the Redwoods to finally reach the Pacific Ocean and pass as close to it as a car can without driving on the beach.
Day ten: Not wishing to detract anything from the beauty and overpowering feeling one gets while driving through the mountains of the US from the east to the west but mountains are mountains and except for their height, age and vegetation differences after a while they vary little one from another.
On this, the tenth day out, I was to experience something I had previously only read about or seen photographs of since being a small kid in flatland Iowa. Giant trees! Giant Redwoods so large holes had been cut through some and highways paved wide enough for cars to pass straight through. I had never doubted their existence but on this day I was going to see examples of these giants first hand and that excited me. After seeing them I can only say, "they are magnificent!" and the density of the forests with the giant's foliage spreading high above the ground nearly blot-out the sun when the sunlight isn't already blocked by massive banks of thick (and in my case) cold layers of clouds providing moisture to the giant Redwoods through absorption and rain. Wet, humid and cold temperatures are the catchwords for these beautiful forests of towering trees that reminded me more of giant ferns rather than trees.
Day ten cont’d
My visit to this wonderland of Redwoods was made even more enjoyable because I met Dick Strever at his poster-book home beautifully nestled among the giants themselves near Crescent City, CA. Steve is one of the original members of MetalMeet.com the Internet forum most responsible for the McBearen being designed and built in the first place.
With all the excitement of the day so far you'd think that a full day had been accomplished but that was not the case and I continued on down the coast "racing" through the mountain terrain between hwy 101 and the Pacific Coast hwy 1 on two occasions as I passed back and forth from inland to the coast hwy and back to 101 during the day. That was, of course, pretty irresponsible on my part but totally unavoidable while driving the McBearen on those type of mountain pass roads with three other cars and drivers feeling the same need for speed as I did. Together we spared and switched leads trying to lose the others along the way.
I'm not sure how many miles I covered that day but I eventually crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and arrive in San Francisco after dark. I drove around downtown for a few minutes, took pictures and a video driving down Lombard Street before leaving to drive even further that night to Cupertino. There I spent the night with my cousin Beverly (Wilson) and her husband Gary Henry. Gary, and for that matter Bev, are both computer gurus of the Silicon Valley heritage and they have every conceivable piece of electronic gear known to man. Once again I was able to get in touch with the outside world but didn’t fall prey to the “sleep in the chair” monster that night.
Day eleven: was spent driving down the coast of California via 1 and 101 all the way to LA and my son's home in San Gabriel. It finally warmed up enough for me to return to my previously normal T-shirt without a jacket of any sort to keep me warm. The LA traffic was just as I had remembered it although previously I had driven automatic shift cars while here and the stiff clutch of the McB caused my left foot some pain after shifting what seemed to be a million and one times while coming into the traffic of the many cities grouped together they call LA.
Day twelve: Almost exactly halfway on the journey both in miles and in days spent I'm relaxing at my son's home today while writing this, much to long recap, of the trip so far. Unfortunately Rhet and his family are not here this weekend as I’d hoped they would be when I started the trip. Now I have another reason to come out to la la Land to visit while they are at home.
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Last edited by D Bear on August 10, 2010, 1:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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i definitely know an 8 year old, 4 year neuroblastoma survivor, in franklin nc that would love a ride. (hint 
hint)
