Vacation pics/ 15 states, 5173 miles in 8 days

I thought I would bore some of you with my vacation pics. first stop was in Graceland TN. I'm not a huge Elvis fan but anyone that had such an impact on the world can't be all bad.
The gates


It's not a great pic but they had the house done up for X~mas. too bad it was in the middle of the night when we made it there.

Next we headed for I-40 and took it through Arkansas. it goes east to west and is the southern most route to take if you head west. Why so south? Because of the cold weather. Further south the warmer it is. Well not on our trip. as you can see we have our coats off at the Oklahoma state line.

As we drove through the state the clouds started to drop. it was looking rough. I told Amy it looked like we was headed into a twister. The clouds even had spikes where it looked like it was going to touch down. Within no time the temp went from 45 to 50 down to 27 degrees. rain then snow and here come the ice. I'm not sure what the temp fell to but let me say that the wipers didn't work because of the build up of ice. One car rolled over and slid down the hill on it's roof. We made it to our hotel but the ice had dropped the power lines and there was no electric. I talked the hotel into letting me get the room without electric or heat.here is Aryan in front of the iced over Yaris.

We had to stay warm so a little wrestling was in order

Within an hour they had the electric on. Here's a few shots down the street from our hotel. Everything you see here was a thin sheet of ice.
Here is an old hotel on old Rt 66.

what's left of an old car hop on 66

When we woke up it was like the ice storm had never happened. The temp was back up and the ice was melting. 5 people died because of the ice storm the news had said that morning.
I tried to stay on old RT 66 as much as I could. This was about 15 miles on down the road. This is one of many old burger joints made to look like old gas stations. This one had the old pumps and even a Chevelle sitting outside.


I thought these were cool because I've never seen thm anywhere but in the movies. These windmills are scattered all over the OK & TX.

Here's the kids in front of an old wagon at an indian trading post.

Here is one of the museums on Rt 66




It's sad to say that the kids had to tell me what this was. This was what they used to pave Rt 66. they knew because that is what Doc and Towmater had hooked up to Lightning McQueen on the Cars cartoon movie. lol

With all the stopping a long the way we had to make some time up when we could. I had the little Yaris over this a few time and it had plenty more. It's no power house but with almost 40 mpg and a average cruising speed of 85 to 90, unless we was in snow it wasn't that bad.

We made it to TX

Off I-40 and back onto old Rt 66. I thought to myself that everything that was on 66 is now been picked over or taken away. I'm here to tell you that I seen more old iron on 66 than I ever thought I would. You have to dig a little but it is there.
Here is an old gas station.

This place had some old cars in it but they were so far back I couldn't get any good pics.

If I would have had a truck this is one of them I would have brought back. I scared the crap out of Amy screaming when I saw it. I thought it was a Dodge..lol ..I thought I had all the parts found for my 34. I was wrong. I think this is an early 30 Chevy?


This was sitting in back of an old gift shop. it looked like no one had been around there in the last 10 years. I wish I would have grabbed the grille out of it. It was nice. I just didn't have any room in the little car.

A little further into TX on Rt 66 we ended up at the Cadillac Ranch. If anyone on here doesn't know what the Cadi Ranch is you should do a search. I've always wanted to hit this spot since I could drive. I made it. . The kids were confused when I pulled out 2 can of paint and told them we get to paint on some Cadi's



I was tickled to be here but it did bug me at how much garbage was left behind by people. This is a free site and open to anyone. The owner wants you to paint on his art. it is like a piece of art that is always changing because of the spray paint. People could at least take their old paint cans and walk back to the road with them. There is even a dumpster sitting at the gate. We took in 2 can in and carried out all we could carry. 25 empty cans. Still hundred laying there though.
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I tagged one for the club.

Man that look like it was a blast. I've always wanted to take a real long rode trip like that.

Looks like for the time of year, you didn't do too bad for weather. Way back the first time I saw the Cadillacs, they hadn't been tagged or bent up. I think it would be cool to get a bunch together and do old 66 in some old cars, sort of a mini Power Cruise. Looks like you guys had fun. There were plenty of smiles in the pictures.

Yeah.. the weather was either really good or really bad depending on where you was.
I forgot about these bugs... this is a knock off of the Cadi Ranch. It's called the bug Ranch. It was lame that they tried to steal the thunder from the Cadi Ranch but we stopped anyway to let the kids spray paint some.

It's funny we kept running out of roof and couldn't get the (s) in Scroungers

We made it out of TX and into New Mexico. We was going to stop at Billy the Kid's grave but we stayed in TX too long and it got dark on us. We passed on the grave and stopped at a Texes Road House for a big dinner. We all over ate and driving wasn't fun for the next 100 or so miles. lol . We made it through to Arizona and went north when we hit Flagstaff AZ. We ended up at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We followed the south rim from the west side all the way to the eastern side. It took a little time but we had plenty of that.






I have seen plenty of pictures of the canyon but there is just no way of understanding it unless you see it in person. To say it's grand is an understatement!

We also seen the ruins of an old indian village. They say it's over 800 years old. Not much of it left but it was cool.

We was off our route but that didn't matter to me. Getting there is more fun to me. I wanted to see some old cars and I figured with all the indian land around us there had to be something. Anyone that has never been to a indian res should go one time in thier life. It is nothing like you would think and it's not for the weak. Years ago I was on one in Nebraska where there was talk of taking me out in the bad land and knocking me off but that's another story for another time. What you see on tv is not what it is like. They have their own laws, own police and everything that has to do with the Res stays with the indians. It is overseen by the FED's but you won't see any FED's hanging out on the Res if you get into trouble. I turned off the road and headed for the Res.. There is no paved roads here. Only sand with tracks to follow.

I made tracks through the desert sand and went to the second house I seen. Don't ask me why I picked this place. It was just a feeling. Amy said that I was nuts and was going to get us shot. I just told her if she seen a gun to yell and duck and I would shoot through the desert out of shooting rage. As I pulled up he was already walking out the door. I said hello to him and ask if he had any model A's hiding some place? Now think of how that would look if someone you didn't know drove up to your house and ask for a car that they couldn't see.. He looked at me for a second and said ... yea I have one. lol with a big smile on my face I started talking. It wasn't long and he invited to take a look at what he had.

Walking over rock cliff to get to his stash was a little strange. The thought of being in the middle of no where and following this indian into the desert had me feeling for my sidearm which I didn't take with me on this trip. Everything was on the up and up and before I knew it here this thing was.

Looking at the A was cool and I guess he seen I was a car freak. He started telling me stories about guys stealing cars in Cali and driving them till they ran out of gas and leaving them on the side of the road. The indians would just hook a chain to them and drag them home. lol. He took me over to this one and said he thought this was an Essex

I was trying to get the detail of this window crank.

I thought I found Ryans A-arm but this was all that was left.

It didn't take long and the indian(Tex) and I started talking like we knew each other for years. Very nice guy that I plan on going back to see this spring.

Anyone that knows me knows that I think 351 Cleavland is the best motor Ford ever made. I was tickled to see that someone built this car the way I would have. This had a 4V 351 Cleavland with a 4 speed in the floor.


He said this was a Model A but it may be something else. He said the wind done a number on this car and twisted it all up after he got it here.

He said this was a real SS. It did have all the emblems as well as being a floor shift car. I ask him what was wrong with it. He said to put a battery in it and it runs and drives.

This is one of the things I want to bring back here. I think it around 1917 a Ford??

Talking with Tex and getting to know him was one of my favorite things I did on the trip. I wish I would have had more time but I had to go.

Now for the fun part. HOW DO I GET OUT OF HERE?? Yes you guessed it I got lost trying to get out. Like I said there are no paved roads. Only truck tire tracks through the desert sand. A few times the tracks crossed each other and I took the wrong set of tracks. I ended up taking Amy's low riding Yaris through some rough spots. I felt like I was in The Twilight Zone. Tuble weed blowing across the desert as this little new car drove over sage brush rough enough to take rust off a part. Knowing the sun stayed to my left as I head west I steered straight for the sun and ended up seeing power lines. I made it to the edge on the road where I needed to be but there was a fence blocking the way. I followed the fence down a ways till I got to an opening. I'm sure that is a story Aryan will tell his kids about when he gets older. lol.

What a cool trip! Thanks for sharing!!

The sad thing is that my camera died and I didn't get pics of the good cars. 63 Galaxie that needed a lower radiator hose, a Starliner and the retractable top Ford that was sitting there. We made it back to Flagstaff and got our hotel room for the night.
The next day we made it to CA and I was glad to just look in my rearview mirror and see a 32 Ford coming up behind me. Must nice to be able to drive your hot rod year round.
We made it to Hollywood and got our hotel room on the corner of Hollywood Blvd.
I also put new batteries in the camera.

We walked down the sidewalk to check out the stars. Hollywood is not what I thought it would be. Very dirty and homeless people sleeping were they could. It's not what you see on tv. Most of the shops are closed up, dirt all over, buildings rough looking. I figured it would be super clean with all kinds of mom and pops store on the corners. That not it at all. It was nice to see the walk and to be able to drive down sunset strip but that about all I can say about Hollywood.

We made it down in the subway also.

Picture speaks for it self

more 2 come

Great pics Steve, looks like you had a good time. FYI That cowling that you want to bring back here is a '26-'27 Ford closed car. Someone has cut the upper A pillars off and scabbed on those roadster windshield stanchions. Definitely some neat stuff out there...

Benny I knew something didn't look right on the cowl but untill you said that and I went back and looked at the pic I didn't catch it. I'm going to try to scoop up all the 20's and 30's stuff I can fit in my truck. He has some frames laying out there too. After I get past tax time I will try to get back there..

Sorry guys that was 15 stated in 8 days. Not 12 states.

Lady rebel wrote:Sorry guys that was 15 stated in 8 days. Not 12 states.

Yeap you are right. One day I will finish posting the pics.

I never did finish posting all the pics but thought I'd share my last lunch pic with Doug. This one is for you Doug. lol....

I love those burgers. They usually have cool in-n-out t-shirts for sale inside the restaurant and online. I wish they would expand to the east coast.

Thanks for posting these pics. I really enjoyed the cars in the desert. I have been talking to the wife the past few years about wanting to take a road trip out west. Dave

Here is pics I was talking about Butch..