Another unbridled venture

[Frank Miller]

Sorry to start this late. I've been on the road 4 days and posting on Facebook because it is easier.
I'll put day 1 here and then subsequent days in comments. Also a pic of what my FB page looks like if anyone wants to look it up.

Figured I'd just start posting here instead of adding another page.
I decided to embark on another cross country trip, this time to Wenatchee WA. Other than going west I have no set plan and the one I have at one moment could change.
I'm hoping to stay off highways but inevitably there will be some.
First day out I got as far as Statesboro Ohio. I got an early start and stopped at the Cobbleskill Diner for breakfast hoping to meet Bombshell Michelle in person but she forgot to get up for work.
She was disappointed to have missed me and I think it's pretty cool when some who goes by bombshell Michelle wanted to meet me.
Anyway I took i-90 to 88 to 86 and picked up 90 again for a bit before picking up 11 and heading towards the International Packard museum in Warren.
Driving the interstate through NY is really a nice ride and no tolls. It is a more rural drive than the thruway.
Anyway I logged 650 miles today. Made the museum an hour before closing.
Enjoy the pics.

[Frank Miller]

Made it to Valparaiso Indiana as well as central time. Once again Bob Evans is feeding me because not a lot of restaurants open on the 4th.
I generously thank the help for coming in. Without them I'd have to grocery shop.
Today started out on 303 and 15 minutes in I see a few old cars so I stopped. They were lining up for a parade and said I could be in it so I was. There were probably 75 cars and I was done by 1130.
The parade had fire trucks, tractors a few politicians and mostly cars. There was actually a wooden axle Brush there.
I met a guy there who was good friends with Arel Brown who I traveled cross country with in 2013.
While it is tough to write it all, the best part is meeting people who want to talk to me about the car. It's what I do in between driving.
What I got for now. Enjoy the pics and my little video narrative on vacuum wipers.

[Frank Miller]

Tonight finds me in Harmony Minnesota. I hoped to get a bit further but I'm ok with today's progress.

There was a lot of thunder and rain last night. This morning it cleared but the heat was with me all day.

I followed 30 to Joliet Illinois where the traffic started to lighten up and and the driving became easier. There is not much other than farms and cornfield occasionally broken up by a mile of quaint town.

I was able to maintain a pretty good pace on these one lane roads. I did hit historic 66 for a bit in Joliet, just enough to see a few signs.

I took 30 until I hit 52 west which took me over the Mississippi into Iowa and then 52 north up into Minnesota.

Somewhere in Iowa just south of the Minnesota line I got severely poured on. I pulled over and it looked like sitting in a car wash. I have to say it was a bit scary driving but I remained calm and pulled over a couple of times until it cleared a bit and I got out of it.

Stopped at first hotel I saw and called it a day around 6 central time.

In my travels I passed an airplane museum that was closed but got some pics.

At one point I thought I saw a funnel cloud forming but it was just smoke from a fire.

Ate in this bar downtown that had hubcaps and a Model A shell on the wall.

Well all for now hope the pics give you a feel for driving my route.

At some point tomorrow I hope to get on 12 in Minnesota and drive that route west to Montana.

[Frank Miller]

Decided to quit early today. It was getting hot, there was a motel and I was content with my progress.
I am in Ortonville MN where I will begin a westward trek on 12.
This morning started out foggy. Best I could do was 45 and I had to be wary of letting traffic pass cause the speed limit was 60.
I found a little place to get breakfast. After eating my sandwich I sat on the bench out side and talked to my brother for a bit.
While relaxing and sipping coffee a couple of gentleman came up to me and asked about the car. We got talking about last night's rain and one said they got 5 inches where he lived.
Anyway my route took me 52 to 14 but 14 had a few detours causing me to miss my north route but that worked out.
The first detour brought me by a restored old gas station where I got a few pictures.
The second one made me go further west than planned but no problem as I decided to find a place to eat in Tracy. Tracy MN that is. Don't want any confusion.
Paige was my server and a real delight. The restaurant was an old bank called Bonnie and Clyde's bar and grill. I ended up meeting her grandmother and sister when they came in and I had a nice chat with her grandmother.
Was there over an hour but part of my trip is meeting rural America so this worked great.
Pat, the grandmother, told me she enjoyed the lack of crowds and traffic about where she lived.
I left and headed up 14 a bit before going north on 59 and then 75 up to 12. There is a museum across from my hotel. It was closed but there were a lot of neat outside exhibits that I walked around and took pictures of. The person in charge came out to leave and we chatted for a bit about the exhibits.
Oh almost forgot. I got gas about 50 miles back and a gentleman came out to pump it for me. A full serve station. We talked for a while about traveling different parts of the country. Gas price there was about 4.50.
All in all a good day. Hope the pics post. Enjoy them.

[Newc]

WOW!! We get Frank again at our Western Nationals, It just doesn't get any better. I did a practice load on the trailer for the trip on Sunday, the tires are Chinese so I hope that the load rating holds , 3500 lbs per tire. Newc

[Newc]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

On the trailer . Found that some other Oregonians are on the way from RG #10 Salem, Or. Gotta get in the right 'Reply' for photos. The trailer was designed for Model A's. The 'Spectators' are waiting for their corn. Newc

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Newc

On the trailer . Found that some other Oregonians are on the way from RG #10 Salem, Or. Gotta get in the right 'Reply' for photos. The trailer was designed for Model A's. The 'Spectators' are waiting for their corn. Newc

[Tinker]

Neat stuff!

[1952henry]

VanHorn’s Western & Antique Auto Museum - "ICE CREAM PARLOR"

305 1st St, Marmarth, ND 58643
(701) 279-5904 https://g.co/kgs/tpWvTN

Highway 12 takes you through the town of Marmarth, ND, right before entering MT. This museum is right off the highway on the western edge. There is a good steakhouse in Marmarth as well. Happy trails!

Oh, watch out for pheasants in Adams and Bowman counties. Those are $2,500 birds. That is approximate cost to fix damage to newer vehicles if you hit one.

[ssffnomad]

Lemmon , S.D. Petrified Wood Park & Museum.

[1952henry]

Good call, forgot to mention Lemmon.

[Bored&Stroked]

RE: The Black Hills of SD

And if you haven't been to Mt. Rushmore . . . do stop . . . every American should see it. Especially if they still do the "Night Lighting" ceremony. Another great ride is through 'Spearfish Canyon' . . . stopping at Cheyenne crossing for breakfast.

The Black Hills has some wonderful country . . . go check it out!

[TJ]

Originally Posted by Bored&Stroked

RE: The Black Hills of SD

And if you haven't been to Mt. Rushmore . . . do stop . . . every American should see it. Especially if they still do the "Night Lighting" ceremony. Another great ride is through 'Spearfish Canyon' . . . stopping at Cheyenne crossing for breakfast.

The Black Hills has some wonderful country . . . go check it out!

X-2 on the Black Hills. The town of Spearfish has the first trout hatchery in the United States. Some great history for those that like to fish.

[tomcarman]

Great stuff! I'd be curious to know how you make out going over the continental divide in Montana. I drove that once heading west and as I recall it's a bit of a challenge. High altitude and it gets steep. The truckers slow way down climbing it, maybe to about 10 to 20 mph.

[50fordcoupeman]

Originally Posted by TJ

X-2 on the Black Hills. The town of Spearfish has the first trout hatchery in the United States. Some great history for those that like to fish.

My father-in-law was inducted into the Fisheries Hall of Fame in Spearfish. He ended up as a hatchery manager near Longview Washington. He traveled the world to help other hatcheries.

[Frank Miller]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I made this a bit of a destination and stop where I please trip fully knowing I won't see everything. Here are today's musings.

Got a nice early start today only to lose an hour due to a missed turn. I got some tools to avoid that in the future.
Anyway I made it to Aberdeen SD where I got to tour a private home called Eastman Castle.
It is well lived in and I appreciated the owner giving me a tour. She is a friend of a friend.
Her dad bought it and she has lived there 50 years. She had a lot of interesting stories for me but I guess most significant is L Frank Baum author of the Wizard of Oz, visited there often. I'll post a link and some pics.
Any way the rest of the ride was straight forward with one torrential out of Aberdeen. I was able to pull over under a gas station canopy until it let up and drive out of it.
I'm in Miles City Montana for the night where the sun is shining.
12 proved to be a good choice because I was practically the only one on it. 65mph for 30 miles. Slow down for a mile to go through a town, and back to 65.
Oh yes and front yard junkyards seem to be a thing here. I'd still be on the road if I stopped at them all.
Hope the pictures give you a feel for the ride.
One more thing. Last night at the hotel I pulled a John Mason. Around 7pm there was a loud knock on my door. Guy says I'm in his room. The woman told me room 19, justwalk in and the key is on the table. Guess she said 18. At least no one was sleeping. Guy just took 18 and we had a good chat outside.

[nelsb01]

Frank;
Glad you enjoyed southern Minnesota.
That rain storm you mentioned left 6 inches of rain in Albert Lea -- your convertible would have been an aqua-car.
Enjoy the ride my friend. Save me a story or two for when you are volunteering at the Early Ford V-8 Club's booth at 2022 Hershey.
Look forward to it.

[Ziggster]

Originally Posted by Frank Miller

Sorry to start this late. I've been on the road 4 days and posting on Facebook because it is easier.
I'll put day 1 here and then subsequent days in comments. Also a pic of what my FB page looks like if anyone wants to look it up.

Figured I'd just start posting here instead of adding another page.
I decided to embark on another cross country trip, this time to Wenatchee WA. Other than going west I have no set plan and the one I have at one moment could change.
I'm hoping to stay off highways but inevitably there will be some.
First day out I got as far as Statesboro Ohio. I got an early start and stopped at the Cobbleskill Diner for breakfast hoping to meet Bombshell Michelle in person but she forgot to get up for work.
She was disappointed to have missed me and I think it's pretty cool when some who goes by bombshell Michelle wanted to meet me.
Anyway I took i-90 to 88 to 86 and picked up 90 again for a bit before picking up 11 and heading towards the International Packard museum in Warren.
Driving the interstate through NY is really a nice ride and no tolls. It is a more rural drive than the thruway.
Anyway I logged 650 miles today. Made the museum an hour before closing.
Enjoy the pics.

Visited upstate NY many times for work after we set up a manufacturing plant in Utica. Absolutely beautiful back country and I always said if I ever got a motorbike, it would be the first place I would go cruising. Safe travels!

[VeryTangled]

Originally Posted by nelsb01

Frank;
...That rain storm you mentioned left 6 inches of rain in Albert Lea -- your convertible would have been an aqua-car.

Second good dodge for the '49 in Minnesota.

Here's a snap of the convertible in Gettysburg PA.



Thanks again Bruce for putting Brainerd together for everyone. We were certainly fixin' for a good time before mother nature had a fit on Cragun's.

Frank's gang in Saratoga put on a good time. I've got my Covered Bridge T-Shirt on today. That guy Brendan had a tough day.

[Kens 36]

Frank, we are in Missoula. You are not gar behind. We hit Wenatchee tomorrow.

Ken