Memorial Day 2017 - 40 goes to PDX

So this happened back in May...

After the 6 month work probation ended,

it was time to figure out the big move.

I thought it best to start by driving

our 2nd iron baby up.

Now that I'm a union guy,

Memorial Day weekend was perfect,

as I could finagle an free paid vacation day in.

Who da thought I'd have vacation days

a year ago!

My plan was to fly down,

weld up a trailer hitch,

and haul up a small load of chit.

The 40 has a 5.0/t-5 and disc brakes,

just like many ford trucks.

The prep didn't go as planned.

We ended up changing the leaking corroded timing cover,

and some other mechanical wrap ups.

Best to get there then to get stranded.

It's always tough to leave the wife and kids.

Jaxon took the morning off school,

my mom was the photographer.

What a send off!

There also is an underlying tension

driving a 77 year old car 1000 miles.

Will the countless modifications maintain?

If it makes it the first 60 miles,

most likely it'll be good to go.

I left at 2pm just in time to get stuck in LA traffic.

At a stopped spot on the freeway,

a guy ran out and gave me a real Cuban cigar!

He said anyone driving that car...

LA ain't so bad!

The straight shot up the 5 went without a hitch.

I pushed it past Sacramento around midnight.

On the last few miles looking for a rest stop,

everything turned black.

No headlights and no street lights!

I babied it a couple miles to the next gas station.

Fortunately just a fuse.

A few hours of cramped sleep,

and the mountain pass was calling.

The perfect day,

jus enough clouds to keep it cool.

A 4000' summit pee stop,

allowing a few obligatory shots texted to the family.

The 40 ran great up and down the hills,

any worries were forgotten.

That's usually when something happens!

The main concern was running out of gas.

The gauge isn't calibrated,

so a few backup jugs were always full.

At a rest stop near Eugene,

a jug was needed.

I'd passed too many tourist gouging gas stops,

waiting for the neighborhood deal.

This was the spot to eat the day old carne asada burrito,

nothin like San Diego Mexican food.

Hopefully we'll find a PDX replacement.

We better for the amount that we eat!

The trip lasted about 27 hours,

not bad with a nap, 

sightseeing and choosing to drive

in LA and Porland traffic jams.

Power parked at the different track events,

lotsa people dig the car,

well both hot rods.

There's something about a driven ride.

Months later,

they finally found a home.

A 2 car garage is a rarity in these parts.

More later!

TP

PDX to SD shuffle

Wow it's already been 2+ weeks 

since the boys came up.

Boo!!

Like any prepared father,

I was tracking them off the plane,

as they took the long way around on the Max/trolley.

Our day and a half was filled with sightseeing,

if that means mainly hanging out at the track.

Here's a big ole coyote we spooked.

They also got to chase around thousands of geese

that flock around here.

They took some funny videos I need.

City kids...

The kids also got to watch police driver training.

These guys are taught how to spin cars around.

We wanted to do that!

Yeah that's the fun side of being a cop!

After awhile it's like yea another skid...

Woo hoo...

They experienced a rainy first day,

and a pleasantly sunny second day.

Perfect for changing oil...

Cleaning van...

and getting the trailer ready for the southbound adventure.

These guys kick a$$ - no complaints!

The day was full,

and we didn't get much rest before taking off.

There's always something on the std list.

Waking up at 5am for work,

and then leaving for a road trip at 10pm,

doesn't get ya very far,

however it gets ya out of the house.

We only made it 3-4 hours before calling it nap time,

which ended up as the perfect morning drive

through fog rain and snow covered mountains and forest,

where water and fresh air are made!

I think Jake was awake for about 10 minutes of it,

but ya seen one tree ya seen 'em all right?

After Oregon's and Shasta's ups and downs,

Jaxon took over driving duty.

He totaled at least 250 of the 1080 miles!

Not too bad with a trailer.

1080 from Portland to San Diego?

That seems excessive right?

Well 150 miles north of Sacramento,

we got stuck in a huge traffic jam,

caused by the flooding from the 100 year storm.

Great.

It took us 2 hours go 2 miles,

into a string of cars and trucks that was 17-20 miles long!

Supposedly the jam was 6-8 hours.

We ended up taking a detour,

and measured 4 miles packed behind us!

There were half a dozen cars stuck in the muddy median,

and I had been tempted to do the same until coming to the asphalted part.

Whew...

On our okey doke we found this forlorn big rig,

45 degrees tilted into the farm muck.

I thought it was a boat from the distance.

We had to remove our trailer,

turn it around,

and reattach to not get stuck.

Holey Chit!

We also saw a u-haul over half submerged.

Bummed we didn't stop to get that pic.

We ended up detouring 30 miles north,

then 30 miles east to Chico,

then south on the 99.

A good excuse to check out the area!

The river was so huge,

we'd never have made it across further south.

We got home way before the dawn light,

just in time for some family rest,

and a huge Sunday shop thrash. 

These kids are awesome.

How many times have we moved this same old chit.

Ya know once the speakers are moved,

it's the end of an era...

Why do I like the dirtiest heaviest crap.

Jeez...

The idea was to sort the keepers and the flippers,

as the Big 3 swap meet was the next weekend.

Hey Greg!

Your roadster parts are finally at the sandblasters!!

We'll see how nice or rough it'll be...

This stalled project was due for a good rust cleaning,

followed by an epoxy primer.

Our load left some goodies,

we'll have to retrieve at another time.

Thanks Jason!!

The 40 was given the boot,

we needed to stash all these goodies!

In its own bratty way,

it decided to run out of gas down the street.

Guess the ole hussie wanted some attention!

Man these pups got big!!

I had to fly back to Portland on the red eye,

as the vacation pay requires a sandwiched work week.

Since when has I become a stickler for rules and schedules!

It was surreal being back for the couple days,

and just like that I was on my way back.

More later!!

TP

PDX - prequel - Hayward

Here's another PDX prequel...

About a month and a half after the Martinez jaunt,

I had passed another testing sequence,

this one in Hayward.

Time for a Perich Brothers road trip.

Jake and I rallied up from SD,

picking up Jaxon 

who was visiting his grandparents in Ventura.

I felt exactly like the kids did here.

The timing was way too tight,

and by the time we got there,

I was all spun out.

The testing was surreal.

I did good but definitely not good enough.

In reality I would not have been a fit,

kinda a churn and burn type shop.

And Hayward was like the meh of NorCal.

While we were there,

we would BART in to "the city".

Rolling through Oakland,

the kids hadn't seen the extent of a harder hit area before.

We made it to the Chinatown stop,

and decided to check it out.

For a weekday it was packed,

people everywhere.

We were all a bit overwhelmed,

still running on a few hours sleep.

Leave it to good ole dad for mission impossible.

Looking on the map,

it looked like the haight-ashbury area

was right over the hill.

Let's walk!

Well walk we did!

I didn't realize it's over 4 miles away!

We went through the tenderloin district,

walking passed people that didn't make it out of the grateful dead lot.

Great vacation pops!

Funny thing is we passed all these subway stops,

but the little map wasn't to scale.

Just a few more blocks kids!

The hike up the hill got us out of the dregs,

some cool SF architecture,

and adjoining parks.

Finally made it to hippy central.

Wow had it changed since I'd been there last.

Seemed a bit more commercialized.

Still cool to check it out.

The standard H-A street sign shot...

Our girls traded back,

they were kickin it at home.

We went through the panhandle park on the way back,

which led us to monster up and down blocks,

zigzagging the streets of San Francisco.

I was the old fart digging the buildings.

That means soon I'll be visiting museums.

My goal was to show the kids 

how nice it is to live with space.

These city folk must not like hoarding junk!

We passed by so many trolleys,

they may have made our trek easier.

The kids never complained once.

We did raid the bathroom of a coffee shop,

I'd call it a splash and dash.

We finally mosied our way back,

passing some serious looking government buildings.

I bet we clocked about 9 miles easy,

and saw such a high and low of society.

A bit more lows than I expected...

I hoped the kids would come back with some good memories.

It made me realize how few vacations we had taken,

even if just for one day.

We made it back to Luke and Megan's place 

in Castro Valley,

and Jaxon chose to sleep in the little RV.

This made him believe 

he could live in a trailer in the backyard.

Holey Chit!

We didn't get to hang out with the Brown's much,

but Jake caught up with the dog Cole.

Their place was so awesome.

Huge yard,

chickens and space.

Exact opposite of 20 miles west.

We explored for a bit before heading home.

Go check out the sewer Jake!

Watch out for taggers.

Isn't that crazy how the yard is over the tunnel?

We got back to one of the best surprises ever,

the meathead neighbors had listed their house!

After that I didn't focus on escaping as much...

TP