Colorado!

Had nice weather for the morning drive through the rest of Kansas and crossed into Colorado.  Out of the Midwest and into the West!  But wait, this looks just like Kansas!

Kansas or Eastern Colorado - looks the same to me

It started drizzling as we approached Colorado Springs, so we couldn't see the Rockies as we drew nearer.  The rain cleared some after we got up the pass but the clouds were still too low to see Pike's Peak.

Between CO Springs & Woodland Park

No issues with Jane except for a lower than expected oil level.  Did an oil change so she'll be good for the rest of the trip and we'll keep a close eye on the level.

We're now where Kelly spent the last two summers working.  Went to her favorite restaurant (actually there's only 2 in town) and ran into her coworkers there, which was a nice surprise.  Kelly will end her road trip back here sometime in September before starting work again at the Florrisant Fossil Beds.

One final observation about our travel through Kansas over the last few days.  There seemed to be a lot of billboards advertising quilt shops or museums and yarn shops.  One place even boasted that it was "The 2nd friendliest yarn shop in the universe" - now how can you dispute that?  Our thought was that there wasn't much else to do when you're snowed in during the winter - maybe someone else has an explanation?

Anyway, we're happy to have reached this part of the country.  Counting our false start, we've driven over 2000 miles already with many more to come.

Quick Update and a link to Kelly's Blog

Had a nice recovery day in St. Louis yesterday.  Kelly got to show Jane off some and we had a great dinner with Mom and Dad.  Later my sister Robin and her husband Mike came over and we went to a St. Louis landmark, Ted Drewes, for some frozen custard.  Turns out it's on old route 66, so that was cool as Kelly plans to pick up 66 in AZ later in the trip.

Continued to head west this morning, across Missouri and into Kansas.  We stopped for lunch at Biemer's BBQ in Lawrence.  Awesome bbq!  The owner offered Kelly 2 slabs of ribs a week for the next 10 years for her car.  Needless to say, Kelly declined the offer!

A Great BBQ Spot

We stopped for the night at Hayes, KS to break up the drive to CO.  Had time to visit a nice museum that had a lot of fossils and then off to dinner at Gella's Diner downtown.

Check out the brick street

Best news was that we had no fuel pump issues and Jane ran great all day.  On to Colorado tomorrow.

Here's the link to Kelly's blog that she'll be keeping throughout the whole trip:calamityjaneroadtrip.blogspot.com

St. Louis - Gateway to the West

Jane ran great with the new pump and we made it to St. Louis with no further problems.  Coming in near sunset, we had a great view of the riverfront and the Gateway Arch, the monument to westward expansion - a fitting starting point for the next leg of the trip.

Crossing the Mississippi and the Arch

With the Grandparents

Let's Try That Again

No farewell photos this time, as we left at 4AM for the drive straight to St. Louis.  I drove the first leg as Kelly isn't such an early morning person. We decided to take I-40 through TN this time to avoid construction that we ran into on Saturday on our first attempt.

Cruised through NC and over the mountains with no problems and into TN.  Kelly took over the driving and I got a nap in as she drove through Knoxville and toward Nashville.  About 8 hours into the drive the engine stopped and she pulled to the side of the road again!

Given the new circumstances we concluded that not only did we have electrical issues, which we had taken care of, but we also had a failing fuel pump.  Fortunately the car started back up and we pulled off at the next exit to consider our options.  After determining that we were close to Lebanon, TN, we made some calls and found a Carquest that had a fuel pump that might work 7 miles away.

We made it to the Carquest where Kelly proceeded to stun them with her knowledge.  At one point when she rattled off the model and part number of the fuel pump she was running the guy helping her said that she had caught him totally off guard and he hadn't entered any of into the computer!

They warmed up to the challenge and were really trying to figure out a way to get us back on the road.  Finally, the guy helping us said he "had a guy" that was a racer that might be able to help us out.  After talking to him a few to times they figured out that the guy had a pump that he had pulled when he switched back to carburetion that  should work.  $50 and he'd even bring it over!

The Carquest guys even let us pull Jane into the rear of their shop (even though they hadn't sold us a thing) and we changed out the pump in 30 mins and we were back on the road after a 3 hour delay.  Just a note - Kelly had a new pump shipped overnight to St. Louis to carry with her the rest of the trip!

Changing Out the Pump

Many Thanks to Car quest in Lebanon!!!

On the Road - Sort Of...

Catching up on some posts, as it's been a hectic few days.  We decided to delay leaving an additional day to give more time to get ready and for Kelly to finish up some last minute prep.  Left Apex on Saturday morning, destination Lexington, KY.

Ready to hit the road!

About 2 hours into the drive the engine died and Kelly maneuvered to the shoulder north of Winston Salem.  Seemed like the fuel pump had stopped but we were able to start the car again and continue on.  Just a fluke?

Headed up the mountains toward VA

Apparently not, as the engine died several more times, getting shorter between incidents.  We finally pulled off the highway in Wytheville, VA.  After spending a few hours calling around and determining that no help was to found here on a Saturday and we'd have to stay until Tuesday to get a part delivered we decided to head back home.

Going home we started having new symptoms with the fuel pump and the warning flashers.  At that point Kelly connected some recent work on the alarm system with the start of these issues.  After pulling the instrument panel and messing with the wiring, the issue seemed to go away and we drove the last 2 hours home straight with no further problems.  11 hours later we ended back where we started!

We spent the day Sunday going through the alarm system wiring and running a new circuit for the fuel pump, certain that the electrical issues were the cause of the problem.  With the delay, we now planned to drive straight through to my parent's house in St. Louis on Monday.  More to come...

What to do with Old Tires

Still catching up on some things from Myrtle Beach and learning to use Blogger.  The video is from this car's second pass by the crowd.  He did at least one more (the photo in the previous post with all of smoke from the road).  You can't see it from this shot, but right about at the end, one of the guy's friends actually walked over and got in the car.

Not something you see on the streets very often - see any police around?

Getting ready for the start of the second stage of the trip.  Next post will be from the road!

Myrtle Beach Mustang Week Photos

Here's some of the photos from Mustang Week in Myrtle Beach that Kelly & I attended.  Mostly modern Mustangs, but there were some nice vintage ponies also

Mustang Week Photo Link

Myrtle Beach!

First trip update!  A beautiful, sunny day to start off the trip and head to Myrtle Beach.  No issues at all with Jane on the ride down.  The modifications that we finished up last night all worked well and we arrived a little after noon.

After getting everything unloaded at the condo, we headed over to the show, which was conveniently located just down the road.  Took us a while to find a parking spot (feel sorry for anyone that was actually going to the mall to shop not knowing there was a Mustang show).  There were tons of Ponies there - mostly late model, but with a few vintage sprinkled in.  We talked to some great people about their cars and adventures.

The fun really began after the cars were released from judging.  The NMB police must have decided it was a good time to leave as people started lining up on the side of highway 17 to watch the cars exit the mall parking lot.  There was a constant roar as high-powered Mustang after Mustang made the right turn onto the highway.  The crowd cheered especially impressive ones, until one guy put everyone to shame with an unbelievably long burnout that put so much smoke on the road the other cars had to stop.  I'm sure the lady in the minivan couldn't believe what she had gotten herself into!

Tomorrow's the big cruise in, so we'll be hanging out with a few thousand other Mustangs all day.  Looking forward to it!

Getting Ready to Start

Hi Everyone!

Getting the blog set up to start chronicling the first part of Kelly's cross-country road-trip in her '66 Mustang fastback.  I'll be along for the ride from the East coast through Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

The beginning of the trip will be getting a start at the Atlantic coast by attending Mustang Week at Myrtle Beach.  This will be the first time we've had a chance to attend this annual event.  We're looking forward to seeing a lot of other Mustangs and sharing Pony stories.  After thoroughly enjoying a very wet and cold Mustang 50th anniversary celebration in Charlotte in April, I'm looking forward to a warmer, sunnier experience in Myrtle Beach.  Let's hope the weather cooperates.

This is also a good chance to have a bit of a shakedown with Calamity Jane (Kelly's name for the Mustang) prior to heading west.  We're just finishing up some preparations on the car prior to the trip.

I'll be posting along the way as time and internet access permits.  Hope you enjoy!

Dave