We topped 19.4 mpg today. Don't know if the wind was behind us, or we dumped enough to make it light enough to actually do well. When we got to texas we stopped at dairy queen and had country baskets (steak fingers) and it made me appreciate some of the things that i missed that most texans take for granted. I didn't get a dude, but it was tempting. On a side note, for those of you that don't know what I am talking about, Dairy Queen in texas has a completely different menu then dairy queen around the US. the dairy queen company allows texas dq's to keep their historic menu. If you've ever been to a texas country dq, you know what the dude is and what the country baskets are. If you haven't, you are missing out. Brazier DQ's do nothing for the real dq food that can be found in their texas stores. When i was in the dq i was looking at the little girls at the counter and wandered if they knew what they had. Another place of interest, on the drive in to dallas there is a place called kellers, it's one of the few real drive in restraunts, sonic doesn't count. They have the best nasty greasy fries and corn dogs, even though their location is lacking. We didn't stop, but it brought back memories. Tommorow we aren't travelling, we are visiting my moms, and I have a chance to look at the one thing that has caused us a problem with the car. Today, the drivers side window actuator froze, and will not bulge. Luckily, the window is at a 3/4 up position, so it wasn't too bad, but i need to look and see if i can fix it tommorow so i can have a working window again. i'd rather have little problems like that then big problems anyhow.
We topped 19.4 mpg today. Don't know if the wind was behind us, or we dumped enough to make it light enough to actually do well. When we got to texas we stopped at dairy queen and had country baskets (steak fingers) and it made me appreciate some of the things that i missed that most texans take for granted. I didn't get a dude, but it was tempting. On a side note, for those of you that don't know what I am talking about, Dairy Queen in texas has a completely different menu then dairy queen around the US. the dairy queen company allows texas dq's to keep their historic menu. If you've ever been to a texas country dq, you know what the dude is and what the country baskets are. If you haven't, you are missing out. Brazier DQ's do nothing for the real dq food that can be found in their texas stores. When i was in the dq i was looking at the little girls at the counter and wandered if they knew what they had. Another place of interest, on the drive in to dallas there is a place called kellers, it's one of the few real drive in restraunts, sonic doesn't count. They have the best nasty greasy fries and corn dogs, even though their location is lacking. We didn't stop, but it brought back memories. Tommorow we aren't travelling, we are visiting my moms, and I have a chance to look at the one thing that has caused us a problem with the car. Today, the drivers side window actuator froze, and will not bulge. Luckily, the window is at a 3/4 up position, so it wasn't too bad, but i need to look and see if i can fix it tommorow so i can have a working window again. i'd rather have little problems like that then big problems anyhow.
I worked at Dairy Queen out here in California while I was in College. We occasionally made stuff that wasn't on the menu. I know one guy used to order a Boston I believe he called it. The owner new what it was and so did I after she showed me. All I can remember now is it was some sort of soda, syrup and soft serve mixture. What is a real drive-in restaurant? Would a regional place with car hop service like the Varsity in Georgia count? We've got a local place in my home town that still provides car hop service, and at least some of the waitresses use roller skates. It's cool that your getting to try some of the places you remember. If you're like me, sometimes you'll be sitting there thinking boy I wish I could have a ------ from -----'s, but its on the other side of the country,and you can almost taste it.
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68 Mustang Coupe, 289 58 Chevy Apache, 235 Living together in harmony, mostly.
Now this is where the drive gets fun. There isn't sqwat between Tx and Ca. I've made that run back and forth a couple of times, each time with a dead line. Youre doing it right by taking your time and enjoying yourself, I envy you.
get to know your wife better, crank up with old tunes, enjoy the ride. Keep the pictures coming.
We left ft worth this morning with some concern. All these storms and bad weather were all we heard on tv. Besides a brief snow fluury on the OK border the trip was very uneventful weather wise. We stopped in Norman so my wife could see OU and then headed out of OK City east so we could hook up with 66 in chandler. Since it was getting late, we decided to stay at the Lincoln Motel in Chandler on 66. I think we are the only people at the hotel, we got the first room closest to the office. Once he neon sign came on, I got a pic of the car in the lot in front of our room. Our excitement for the day was seeing a 65 coupe on hwy 40 heading east. It was a very clean 65, red with white stripes under the doors. It looked to be an i6, but was very clean, straight and stood nice and healthy. We cruised along for a while with them before they turned off the highway. If you are reading this and it was you, nice mustang. Tommorow we head off on the old alignment of 66 and will start our journey down the mother road. We'll hit Clinton and Elk City so we get to see the two museums that OK has to offer for historic 66. Now that the driving to get here is done, we can focus on the fun driving. We don't have to be in California until the 10th, so we should be able to have a great time on the road.
we finally made it to the jct of 66.
unpacking at the motel
sorry, no tripod, so a little fuzzy, but a sight none the less.
Looking good. That little coupe looks like it would make it on any trip you want to through at it. It is like pulling teeth to get my wife to ride in the mustang up to the car show (less than 2 miles) much less go on a cross country jaunt with stock seats. Sounds like you have your self a keeper. God speed and have fun and don't be afraid to get lost....
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Day 6 - chandler to elk city,ok we had hoped to make it to amarillo today, but had to many things to see and just couldn't make it. Everything went well until we stopped at walmart. After i started the car, the gas gauge dropped, the temp gauge dropped and the car started running rough. Gulp. I turned off the heater and it started running fine. I stopped at the hotel, where it is now dark and cold (about 20 or so) and looked into it some more. It appears my blinkers are not working either, and if i am driving and turn on the wipers, the engine starts stuttering. So the only thing i could do was drive with the lights on. Since it just happened without warning, i don't know if i need to chalk it up to cold weather doing something to it, or if i have a short or other problem all of a sudden. Certainly something that will slow us down a bit if it is an issue tommorow when it warms up. the radio also comes on, but the light is really dim. It's like it doesn't have enough power to share with everything. Hmmm....any suggestions would be helpful. With the window, i just jad to adjust the regulator and it is fine, but it could probably use a new regulator.
Stop by a parts store and have them check the charging system. From your description it sounds like you have little or no output and are running on the battery. If need be, it's best to change the alt and regulator as a pair, but hopefully it will just be a loose wire or something simple and cheap. Beautiful pictures, and great descriptive writing. This is a real fun read! Thanks for posting,
Have a parts store load test the alternator. It sounds like a bad alternator or regulator. I had the same problem on my old truck; I couldn't run the heater, headlights, wipers, and an aftermarket radio all at the same time. This also is very similar to what happened to me a few years ago when the alternator on my daily driver at that time started to go. That was on a modern car (93, 240sx), but the same idea applies.
I remember driving up to Lassen Park a few winters back in that 240sx. It was probably in the teens at that time and I could hear a ticking sound as I drove along. When I got out at the Park, I could see icicles hanging down all around my car and from the underbody. I thought it was pretty cool at the time.
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68 Mustang Coupe, 289 58 Chevy Apache, 235 Living together in harmony, mostly.
I found the culprit of the electric problem early in the morning, during a dense snow storm. It seems one of the nuts was a bit loose on one of the wires running from the alt to the voltage regulator, tightened it up and everything ran fine. Had the alternator tested, it was okie dokie. Just in case we ran into more problems, bought a second battery and a charger. So i put that back with my extra hoses, belts, fluids and tools. With a big smile on my face we left elk city, but not before visiting the Route 66 National Musuem. If you go through Elk City, this is worth the price of admission ($4.00 with AAA). You get admission to FOUR musuems: the transportation, route 66, old town, and farm and ranch. The old town musuem has to be the best part, it has a lot of old things people have donated, well worth your time. The weather cleared up and we got a nice sunny drive through the panhandle. We hit a really decent amount of old 66, and most the times, we were the only car on the road. The only downfall to travelling 66 in the winter is almost everyplace is closed. All the good diners, stores, and such are not open til march, since they don't get the business. We made several stops and headed on toward new mexico. I had checked online and the blue swallow motel, the ONLY reason to stop in tucumcari, said it does not open til March, the owners are in the warmer climates until spring kicks in. We were going to stay at the Palomino Inn, but as we drove into Tucumcari, we see the blinking blue swallow and knew we were beyond lucky. The snow in Vegas had driven the owners back early, and they were OPEN!!!!!! We got a room (with a garage!) and parked for the night. From bad luck to great luck, this trip is going great. (besides the few hiccups)
I know the car is getting filthy, we plan on washing it sometime, but it'll just get dirty again.
A little humor in the ghost town of texola.
I just love the old motel signs.
Ahhhhh. Curves and Towers. There is a reason they call it a classic. The U Drop Inn in downtown Shamrock.
Pavement Ends outside of Glen Rio (exit 0 on texas border)
First motel in texas, other side said last motel in texas. Glen Rio
Thats amazing that you can trust an older car that much! I wouldnt do that with mine, as i cant even trust to take it 100 miles for a show. But i would love to try what your doing some day when i get the time! Keep the story rolling! I love it -Jon
Thats amazing that you can trust an older car that much! I wouldnt do that with mine, as i cant even trust to take it 100 miles for a show. But i would love to try what your doing some day when i get the time! Keep the story rolling! I love it -Jon
i couldn't imagine it any other way. Older cars have aspects that are more dependable. No computer, no electronics besides the ignition, charging, and lights. Nothing fancy to break. Besides electrics, were able to fix anything that may happen, or find someone that can. i don't as much trust the car as in believe in it.
But doing it makes memories that my wife and i will never forget.
Great to hear your road trip is back on schedule. I love road trips. I did an epic road trip 3 years ago (8000 miles) for a month. Your trip motivated me. I am planning on separating from the Air Force in September, so I asked my Dad today if he wanted to take a road trip in the mustang with while I am unemployed. He's in.
Day 8. Tucumcari, NM to Grants, NM the hard way (through santa fe)
Well well well. Had a great start to the day. We spent some time and spoke to and got to know the owner of the Blue Swallow. Great guy. Very entertaining. I highly recommend if you pass through tucumcari, nm... Stay at the blue swallow and talk to the owner. You'll be pleasently surprised. Afterwards, we went down to the no name restraunt he recommended for the breakfast special which is 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 pieces of bacon and hash browns for 2.99. I don't think the restraunt actually has a name, the sign just says restraunt, as if the name broke off at some other time. We drove quite a bit and only made a little distance as far as crossing New Mexico. Instead of driving straight across we followed pre '37 66 up to Santa Fe. Really nice drive, although today we were plagued with all kinds of trouble. First, we couldn't find anything with our map set, book, and other maps. Either we just weren't all there or we didn't get the instructions, but we couldn't find a bridge, a building, and a few other sidetrip landmarks. It was okay, though, we still got to see a lot of things. We didn't have any car trouble, we are still running strong, although all this starting stopping and reversing is costing us gas mileage. we are down in the 15's. We miscalculated and got to alb. late, missed a turn, backtracked and ended up downtown in the dark. We then drove an extra 60 miles to get to Grants, so we could spend the night in a small town. Suprisingly, the 66 pavement is improving, not as bumpy as some we have been down. I've been videotaping some of the driving, so i will post that and provide a link when i get a chance. We are making a travel DVD when we get done, so i am mixing the driving footage in with other stuff. We broke down(not the car) and stayed at a travelodge, instead of hunting down a neon lit motor hotel. in exchange, we got a 24 hour hot tub, a king size bed, and some other amenities. The only downfall is we had to park the car in the lot, instead of in a garage or in front of the room.
Peeking out of the garage at the Blue Swallow Motel
This post has to be one of the most interesting ones that I have read in a long time. The pics make me (all of us) feel like we are on the trip as well. Thanks a million for letting us come along and enjoy the sites with you both !!!
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I love the old signs and motel! About how many miles per tank of gas are you getting? Do you have to plan a lot of the trip around gas stops? Oh and how are you getting access to internet out in the middle of nowhere?
< Message edited by 19stang66 -- 2/5/2007 12:38:12 AM >
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RE: california bound - coast to coast- update - 
It's cool that your getting to try some of the places you remember. If you're like me, sometimes you'll be sitting there thinking boy I wish I could have a ------ from -----'s, but its on the other side of the country
,and you can almost taste it.
