Pic of the Week for June 30, 2015, or Model A Overload!

Hello from Bend, Oregon. 

Compared to all the excitement of our last Pic-of-the-week with the trailer axle breaking, this has been a relatively calm couple of weeks.

We did go to Walla Walla, Washington to the NW Regional Model A Ford Club of America Meet.  There were 180 registrations for the meet, and maybe 120 cars.  I doubt that Walla Walla has ever seen so many Model A’s since the 1930's!  We arrived on Tuesday and left on Sunday, so we were there almost a full week.  Everywhere we went in town there were Model A Fords.  We enjoyed touring the parking lot in front of our hotel, which was full of all kinds of Model A's.  (This is just a few of them). 

On Wednesday and Thursday we took a couple shorter tours (20 – 40 miles).  The first one was to Chuck Nelson’s Barn.  Chuck has a nice collection of rare cars and motorcycles.  

The second tour was to Gilbert Merry’s collection of old stationary engines.  These engines are the kind that pumped water, or powered machinery in a factory, or business or used around a farm.  There is an article on the internet about one of these engines.  http://www.farmcollector.com/gas-engines/golden-gate-gas-engine-zmmz13octzbea.aspx  I might be able to buy this engine, or one like it if anyone wants to made a rather large donation to the Purkey Stationary Engine display…………..

Friday was the “Grand Tour” in which maybe 100 Model A’s participated.  It was a tour through the back country from Walla Walla to Pendleton, and back.  The tour was about 120 miles in length.  I can describe the tour, and the time spent in Walla Walla in one word ………………… HOT!  Most days were 95 – 105 degrees (35 Celsius – 41 c).  The 10 day temperature forecast for Walla Walla is for 100+ degrees (38 c +) each day.  We drove by a lot of wheat fields that are just about ready to harvest....

We watched the odometer turn over to 700 while on the tour.... (and that speed is pretty normal).  Anyone notice anything strange about our dashboard while we're traveling at 42 mph?

We  enjoyed a picnic lunch at Ray Raley Park in Pendleton, next to the Round Up Stadium (where we'll be in September!)  

We escaped back to Bend, Oregon on Sunday where it was only 95 degrees.  The 10 day forecast for here is about 95 degrees (35 c) each day.  The nice part is that it cools down to about 60 degrees (16 c) each night.

Oh, I was awarded a silver medal for my car that I entered in the “Restorer’s Class”.  That class is for cars that are driven, and not used just for show.  I also won the “Hard Luck” award for the problems we encountered with our trailer on the way from Mexico.

And the last item is that I was contacted by the photographer for Hemmings Motor News, who wanted to photograph my car for the 2017 Hemmings Motor News Model A Calendar.  (We will need to wait another 1 ½ years to see if it makes the calendar.)

Remember the definitive word of the week …………………….. HOT!!!!!!

Pictures are in our June 2015 Picasa album, and one of these days Harriet promises to put some captions on them.  If you like old cars and old motors and old buildings, this is the album for you! 

Until I get inspired again....

Ben, Harriet, Sam & Zoey

PS.  Sam and Zoey stayed in Bend while we were gone, and enjoyed it very much.  They love hunting and digging for chipmunks and voles (they have caught one, poor guy!) and get along with our niece's dog, Rowdy, who stays here most days at the Purkey ranch.  They haven't dug TOO many holes in this pretty yard.  Zoey is into relaxation with her toys.

Pic-of-the-Week for June 9, 2015

Hi Friends,

Surprised to hear from us this soon?  We had an experience in our travels in Mexico this year that we want to share while it is fresh in our minds.  Some of you who are friends on Facebook have already seen this, so I hope we don't bore you!  

You may know that we left our Baja home Saturday to avoid road and weather concerns with Hurricane Blanca, which was weakening some, but due at our place sometime Saturday night.  The drive that day was fine... a few nasty detours where they're doing road construction, but pretty normal for Baja!

We spent the night at the Serinidad Hotel in Mulege, but alas, didn't get into the pool or use the swim up bar, because I went straight to bed!  I wasn't feeling well; skipped the swim, skipped the cool drinks, skipped dinner.  Ugh.  I slept really well, and was feeling much better the next morning.   We got up pretty early and left about 6:30, just as the cooks and maids showed up to start their day.  I told Ben I was kind of hungry, after no dinner the day before, so we stopped at El Moro Hotel in Santa Rosalia for breakfast at about 7:15.  We were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant had been remodeled, and it had just been re-opened 3 weeks prior.  I ordered toast and a fruit plate, and this is the fruit plate!!! 

Beautiful and delicious (notice the watermelon platform?)  This was way more than I could eat with my tender tummy, but I did my best!  

We hit the road again, and were planning to stop that night in El Rosario.  All went well, although the potholes were getting pretty serious in Baja California (the north state).  Then, about 30 miles from our destination, we crossed a bridge with a settlement at the approach; the trailer banged, a tire exploded, and Ben found a place to pull half way off the road about 150 feet from the bridge.  We were still hanging half-way in the lane of traffic. 

We looked at the damage; one tire completely shredded, and the tire on the other side out of line and "shaved" on the inside edge.  It was apparent that the U-bolts holding the axle had broken, and we were in trouble!  Ben decided to walk up the road 50 feet, and found a spot that was wider, but how to get the trailer there? I was flagging traffic with one of our red dog blankets, and soon, a south bound Mexican car stopped, saw the problem, and said he'd tell his friend, who was just 5 minutes away. Thank goodness!

 In the mean time, we off-loaded the Model A to lighten the trailer, and by the time we'd moved the A up to the wider parking spot, our Mexican super-hero angel showed up! He has a tire shop about 5 minutes away.  They are so clever and "make-do" with what you have. He agreed it would be good to move the trailer, and pointed to the come-along that we use to tie down the Model A when on the trailer. We had a brand new spare one, so used that one to straighten out the axle (pulling it forward to align it), and than driving very slowly to the wider parking spot. He then asked about the u-bolts and plates, and if we had recovered them. Nope. We didn't have them. He told us he would go back to his shop and get the necessary tools, and we noticed him driving very slow near the bridge. 

When he returned, it was in a different truck with a compressor in back so he could use his air tools. Ben had jacked up the trailer with our handy (big) Jack, and our llantera (tire shop) guy had a new very large U-bolt to replace the two broken ones (you can see it on the fender). He'd found the metal plate from the trailer by the bridge, so he knew how big to make the replacement. He took off the shredded tire, put on the make-do U bolt, and put on our spare. Then when he was ready to move his little truck so we could reload the Model A, it wouldn't start....so, we helped him push it down the road! It still didn't start, so he told Ben no problem, he could do it, and got under the hood to tweak it just to right (all in the wrong lane of traffic!) Anyhow, he got it started, reversed back to where we were, and watched us load the A back on on the trailer. He was very impressed with our old car, and was a pleasure to work with! By the way, he spoke no English, so I (Harriet) again got a chance to practice my Spanish.  I chatted a bit with his 12 year old son, too.  He told us to go to San Borja Llantera (tire shop) in El Rosario, and it being Sunday, we would have to wait until Monday morning to do that.  Ben was hoping to find at least one used 14.5 sized trailer tire, a very rare size to find in Baja.  He also told us to go slow the rest of the way, which we did, (30 to 40 mph) and that we'd probably have to have the trailer repairs done in San Quintin, a bigger town than El Rosario.  

We made it to El Rosario, stayed in our favorite hotel there (Baja Cactus), and got up early to go to the tire store San Borja.  We pulled up, and the owner spoke perfect English.  Ben asked for a 14.5 tire, and he said "yes, I have 4 or 5.  Just got them yesterday from the states"  Whoa!!!  Amazing.  Ben decided to have all 4 replaced (he was going to replace at least 2 in the US this summer anyhow, but now the 2 newer ones had been ruined in our little "accident".  He also offered a decent price.  Ben agreed, and he changed out our four tires, (one was the spare).  Here he's posing for a customer who wanted a picture of the car! 

Then Ben asked him where in San Quintin he should have the trailer work done, and he said "Use Oscar here in El Rosario.  He can do it".  He sent his helper next door to Oscar's, and Oscar came back to look at it.  He was an older American man, dressed in tan, greasy coveralls, bearded and rotund (might be Santa in disguise).  He said, yes, he could do it, and sent over his worker to take some measurements.  Luis (also speaking great English) came over, took measurements, and then asked about 50 questions about the Woody!  Finally, he said to haul the car trailer over to our place and park it so we can work on it there.  Well... this is your typical shade tree mechanic spot!  We unhooked the trailer, went back to check out of the hotel and have breakfast while they worked their magic.  Their yard had the dog on a rope, the chickens roaming free, and all the tools you'd need, hanging from the tree trunk!

They finished up in a timely manner, and we were out of El Rosario by 11:30am, and we didn't have to stop in San Quintin.  Hallelujah!  God provided wonderful answers to our prayers, and we met some very special people in the process!  Ben really enjoyed talking with Oscar and hearing his stories about his life in Baja.  (While we were there, our "angel" showed up to pick up a part this shop had machined for him!!  Not sure why he didn't recommend them to us.  Maybe he thought they'd be too "rustic" for us Americans.)

We even managed to cross the border that same day at Tecate at about 5:30PM, and it was the quickest border crossing we've ever done!  Almost no cars in line at all!  Gotta love it!

Tuesday night we're in Bishop California (Hwy 395 on the east side of CA) feeling the tail end of Blanca.  We're having some stiff winds, and they're promising a thunder shower tonight, so we just covered the Woody (hope it doesn't blow off!)  

To be normal, I need to post a flower photo for you, so here is a bloom from a Cholla cactus out there where we were stopped for a couple hours.  The vegetation was gorgeous, and I spotted this and hiked up to get a picture, and came back with a bunch of cactus spines in my shoes!  

This is a reminder to us, that when some thorny situations come into our lives, God will often bless us beyond our expectations, more abundantly than we can ask or think!

I will post some more photos in our June 2015 Picasa Album, but probably not until we're in Bend, probably this Thursday.

Your friends On the Road,
Harriet, Ben, Sam & Zoey (who are kind of getting used to their leashes again, but are not happy about it!)

PS.  Next one WILL be written by Ben, I promise!

Pic-of-the-Week for June 2, 2015

Hola Amigos!  

Just a short time now before we head north for the summer, and it may be sooner rather than later, as there is a large storm (hurricane) heading our way. We'd prefer to drive the roads BEFORE they wash out, since we're towing our '28 Woody again.  We were planning on leaving here on Friday the 12th, but it might be wiser to leave on Friday the 5th!  We'll be watching this one closely.

This is the 2nd storm already this season; Andres is a bit northwest of Blanca, and is no threat to us, other than some clouds.  (So far!)  

Anyhow, if we leave this Friday, we'll be on our summer schedule; Ben writes this missive on a less than regular time frame throughout the summer.  You'll get 'em when you see 'em!  

We got a nice order of some local mangoes this week, and Ben made wonderful use of them yesterday.  Several weeks ago, with our first batch, I made some Lime Mango sorbet that turned out wonderful!  Ben decided to make more.  He got the recipe from me, and then proceeded to quadruple it!  (I told him a quadruple batch wouldn't fit in our ice cream freezer).  He said, "OK, I'll triple it!"  And he did.  Twice!  Yes, he made two triple batches of the sorbet, and we're well stocked.  2 1/2 pounds mangoes (weighed before the pit is removed), 1/2 cup lime juice (must use Mexican limes like the ones on the counter), 1 cup sugar water with lime zest, and a splash of tequila makes a wonderful dessert! Lots of slicing and dicing involved, getting the flesh of the mango out, but well worth it! (Let me know if you want a copy of the actual recipe).   I'll be doing more of this today as I've been drying batches of them for snacks when we get on the road.  

 

This is the some of the first batch.... frozen and ready for the deep freeze. There will be some good eating here!

The Dove eggs have hatched in our banana tree!  I think this photo was the first day, and they are rather feather-less!  

In other wildlife sightings around the house, I was sitting on the veranda having lunch and caught sight of this visitor to the bird bath!  Whoa!!!  He checked to see if there was water in there (or maybe a little bird), and since the water level was a bit low, took off back down the hill.  I managed to keep my dogs unaware of this guy until he left.  We're pretty sure this is a Gopher Snake.  Harmless to people, but pretty impressive looking, probably close to 5' long.  He sure moved fast!  (Sure glad I have a good telephoto lens!!!!!) 

The dogs are letting us know that the weather IS getting hotter.  We turned on the air conditioning in our bedroom several nights ago, and it feels really good! During the day, the dogs just try to find the coolest spot on the floor under a fan!  Looks like a dead dog here, with his tongue out and everything, but he's just taking advantage of the cool tiles and air movement!  Highs are now in the 90's, and lows in the mid-70's.  And the humidity is up there...75% when I checked the other day.  

Ben isn't the only one in the kitchen... I've been keeping up my pie-making skills.  Umberto, the strawberry vendor who walks our hot streets carrying his palettes of berries, showed up at our house again this last Friday.  When he was here last about 3 weeks ago, he told us "no more until November".  I was very surprised to see him again, but the berries looked beautiful, and they were delicious.  So of course, I had to make one more pie!  Good thing I had bought a bit more flour the other day!  

We have one more type of cactus blooming in our yard right now.  It has the same brilliant red as those strawberries!  

I have started a June 2015 Picasa album, and will continue to add photos to it through the month, wherever we are located!  

OK....one more treat for you.  Ben sliced and diced a few more Mangoes, and now we have..... 

MANGO MARGARITAS!  

Ahhhhh....life is good!

Your hurricane watching friends in Baja,

Harriet, Ben, Ryan, Sam & Zoey