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Page 02
Nebraska to Michigan...and back...in 5 days |
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This update
page is mainly to record the trip to south-central Michigan from
eastern Nebraska, and to include pictures of the affair. A
majority of this is not specifically truck-related, but still
part of the story.
We hit the road
at 8:30 PM on Thursday, October 5th. The reason for the
late-night departure was to try to get as much of the long trip
done at night while our three children (4, 2 and 1) slept, to
make things go a little more smoothly for us....and to avoid the
inevitable detours that happen when traveling with youngsters.
However, we didn't make it quite as far as we'd have liked,
mainly due to fatigue. My wife was planning on sleeping all day
prior to leaving, so that she'd be alert enough to drive all
night, but due to circumstances (life), that didn't happen.
Anyway, we didn't get far before our first mishap. We'd driven
maybe 30 miles before our son told us he had to stop, and as we
were pulling over at a convenience store, a local cop pulled in
behind us and told us our trailer had no taillights or
brakelights! Turns out the wiring connection for the trailer had
vibrated apart and then dropped down onto the highway, grinding
away the harness' ground wire connection. Fortunately the ground
wire wasn't really needed, as the lights worked again upon
reconnecting the harness. However, I wired the two halves
together to prevent a further mishap and made a mental note to
go ahead and replace the connector at my earliest convenience.
We had one
quick stop in eastern Iowa to deliver a suspension and front
disc-brake setup and a hood to 'snake', a FORDification forum
member. He lived a little north of I-80 and met us at a
truckstop so we could make the transfer from our trailer to his.
We made the drop at a little after midnight and then continued
on, making it as far as the Iowa/Illinois border before deciding
to get a motel room in Davenport, Iowa at about 3AM, which was
just about the halfway point of the trip.
We got up
Friday morning October 6th intending to hit the road early, but
by the time everybody got bathed and fed, it was after 1PM
before we finally got back on our way. Things were going pretty
well...until we hit a short stretch of toll road just south of
Chicago at about 4PM. We ended up waiting for about 1-1/2 hours
in line...sometimes inching forward, but mostly sitting still.
It took us about 90 minutes to move about 5 miles on this
stretch of road (Figs. 02 and 03). The toll on this very short
stretch of highway was less than $2.00, but I'll bet we used at
least $10.00 worth of gas trying to get to the darned gate!
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Fig. 01 - Just prior to hitting the road again Friday
morning from Davenport, IA, we let the boys blow off some energy
in the Village Inn parking lot after breakfast...or rather, an
early lunch.
Fig. 02 - Here's a shot of the Chicago suburbs' traffic jam
in front of us...cars and trucks just sitting without moving, as
far as you can see...
Fig. 03 - ...and here's the view behind us. It took us
nearly 90 minutes to progress about 5 miles! |
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Since
Vermontville was too small to have a motel, we got a room in
nearby Charlotte, MI, arriving there just before midnight. After
a good night's sleep and a quick shower and breakfast the next
morning, we drove the short distance to the seller's house, a
very likeable guy named Dave. After a quick round of
introductions, Dave took me out back to his shop and showed me
the truck. |
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Dave fixes up,
restores and modifies vintage cars and trucks as a hobby. This F-100
was supposed to be a project for his teenage son, but after Dave had
sandblasted/painted the frame, chopped the cab and doors, and
roughed in the bodywork, his son decided he'd rather have something
else, so this truck got pushed to the back of Dave's shop. After
sitting there a few years with nothing being done to it, he finally
decided it was time to let it go and he listed it on E-bay. He said
he was very relieved that it was going to someone who would finish
up what he started. |
Fig.
04 - Here's a view of the truck upon entering Dave's shop. |
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Fig. 05 - Two-year-old Jake checks out his
father's new truck project. |
Fig. 06 - Parts from this truck and a '67 donor. |
Fig. 07 - The obligatory shot of myself and Dave
with the truck after pushing it out of the shop. |
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Fig. 08 - Dave and I worked for about an hour
reassembling much of the sheetmetal to make
transportation easier. He didn't have a core support so
I brought one with me. |
Fig. 09 - Here's a shot of the truck after
getting it put back together and loaded up on the
trailer, just prior to hitting the road. The blue tarp
in front covers the Ford 460/C6 combo. |
Fig. 10 - Here's one final shot before hitting
the Interstate highway, taken at Vermontville's city
park. I thought the fall colors made a good backdrop. |
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Mini
Michigan Meet-&-Greet |
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When
I mentioned on the FORDification forums that I'd be heading to
Michigan to get this truck, I asked if anyone from the area
would be interested in setting up a Meet-&-Greet for Sunday
October 7th. Several members responded that they'd like to
attend, but due to various circumstances most weren't able to
make it. The exception was 'Tim P' and his wife Theresa, who
drove down from Grand Rapids in their bumpside. We met up at the
city park on a beautiful 75-degree autumn day, where he showed
off his truck for the following pictures. |
Fig. 11 |
Fig. 12 |
Tim's truck is a '72 F-250 Camper Special (with a 9/72 build
date). The 390 is .030-over and has been decked, squared and
balanced. It's equipped with forged pistons with plasma
moly rings, 428 rods, stainless steel valves, a Comp Cams 260H
bumpstick, tru-roller timing chain, and a factory 390 GT intake
with a 625 Demon carb. His truck also features power steering,
power brakes and HD cooling. A shift kit has been installed in
the C6 and the Dana 60 limited-slip rearend has 4:10 gears.
Future plans: "new cab and a monster 428 with the juice, 3.55
gears and some tranny mods." |
Fig. 13 |
Fig. 14 |
Fig. 15 |
Fig. 16 |
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After talking trucks for a while, we decided to get something to
eat. This establishment had a very definite 'road house' decor,
including a large chainsaw and block-and-tackle collection
hanging from the rafters. Considering that the town is too small
to have it's own police force, I can only imagine what the night
life here is like: |
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I'm
glad Mary and I got the chance to kill a little time with Tim
and Theresa...they're both the nicest people you could ever
expect to meet...and I'm not saying that just because Tim picked
up the lunch tab or gave me some spare truck parts. Thanks Tim,
I hope we can do this again some time! |
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Fig. 20 - Had to get a pose next to this gorgeous sunset!
Fig. 21 - ...and we also had to get our feet wet in Lake
Michigan, though 1-year-old Brianna wasn't sure she liked that
cold water!
Fig. 22 - Our Ottawa, IL motel room had a breath-taking
view! LOL
Fig. 23 - In following my tradition (or so it seems)
whenever I bring home a truck, here's a shot out on the
interstate. |
After saying goodbye to Tim and Theresa, we hopped back on I-69
and headed south. Since we'd allotted ourselves more time for
the return trip, and since we'd be driving right by the southern
part of Lake Michigan, we decided to go check it out, since we
both figured we'd probably not be in the neighborhood again. We
pulled up to the shoreline right at sunset and got several great
shots of the sunset over the lake, and then had to kick off our
shoes and go get our feet wet....just so we could say we did. We
let the boys burn off some energy by running around and playing
in the sand for a while, since we knew that once we got back
into the truck, we were in for a while. We stayed until it was
almost too dark to see before finally heading out again.
We
drove for several more hours on Sunday night, making it as far
as Ottawa, IL before deciding to call it a night. The next
morning, by the time we got everyone cleaned up and fed, it was
about noon. The rest of the trip home to eastern Nebraska was
pretty uneventful, and we arrived home just before midnite on
Monday (Oct. 9). We unloaded all our personal gear but decided
to leave the truck on the trailer until the next day (detailed
on the next page).
One
thing I want to mention was the incredible amount of
attention the sight of this truck got! Whenever we stopped, we
had folks coming over to ask questions, most wondering what it
was. At our first gas stop (still inside Michigan), a group of
Harley riders pulled in right behind us and one of them came
over to check it out, and then pulled out some pictures of his
'40 Ford pickup that he'd just finished restoring. We got to
talking trucks and the others in his party had to holler at him
that they were ready to leave. As he walked back up to his
party, I overhead him say "Wow...those guys are from Nebraska!"
We stopped at a small-town Dairy Queen for a quick bite, and one
of the employees came over and said one of the customers wanted
to know what it was. At one interstate rest area where we pulled
over to let the kids run around and stretch their legs, a
truck-driver pulled his rig in and then stopped right beside it
for several minutes looking it over. After he parked and headed
inside, he kept turning around to look at the truck as he walked
away. And all along the highways, folks were craning their necks
as they drove by, trying to get a better look, many giving us
the thumbs-up or an approving nod. I even caught one passer-by
taking a picture of it on his camera-phone. |
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