Chuggabug Tour 2013

Annette is blogging our smart car tour here on SCOOT.

Cold Snap

Ron Stockey sent me this picture taken on his way to work during the recent freeze up here in Toronto. Apparently the gauge was showing -28°C but changed in the time it took to get the camera out. Ron also sent a pointer to some great pictures of old gas stations. I recognise the one in Odell, Illinois.

Pops fizzes on Route 66

New gas stop on Route 66 in Arcadia, Oklahoma with 66-foot high pop bottle. Just to remind me of the 2005 tour here is the smart on the startline at Michigan and Adams in Chicago.

Dwight, Illinois

I took this photo in Dwight on the Route 66 tour in 2005. The railroad goes from Chicago to St. Louis. Opposite the station is the First National Bank building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1905. For more Dwight go here.

Happy New Year

Thank goodness Christmas is over - there is only so much "Frosty, the Snowman" sung by Willie Nelson that a body can stand. Anyway here is the picture to close out 2005, shot on Route 66, and here's to a great 2006!

Lauterbach Giant

I enjoyed taking this picture in Springfield, Illinois, near the start of the Route 66 leg of the smart car tour. The “muffler men” are a feature on Route 66 – originally they held a muffler, hence the name, but have been adapted over the years – here is the “Lauterbach Giant” who now holds an American flag in front of Lauterbach’s Tires in Springfield.

Kansas electric

In Galena, Kansas, while cruising Route 66, we pulled up to photograph this electric CitiCar out front of a car repair shop. Approximately 2,200 of these small, wedge-fronted 2-seaters were built in Sebring, Florida in the mid-1970's by the Sebring-Vanguard Co. This one was acquired on e-bay as a conversation piece. The owner said it was the first time he wanted to take a picture of the visiting (smart) car.

The Mother Road to the Mother Lode

Up early in Prescott, AZ to see Persephone at Denny's in Prescott Valley - she is a musician and songwriter, a children's entertainer, booked for Rocket FM.
Then north to Ash Fork where we rejoin old Route 66 heading west through Seligman, Peach Springs, Barstow and Kingman. We leave 66 as the pavement disappears, and divert via Bullhead City, on the Nevada border. We can see Laughlin, Nevada on the other side of the Colorado River and the usual array of casinos.
We lunch at "Earle's at the Castle", asking about the Mojave crossing. The waitress said it is OK to cross in daylight - "just get to somewhere cooler as soon as you can!"
We reach Needles, CA at four o'clock and launch out across the desert. The engine temp on the car reaches 100 degrees C on the inclines (four pips lit on the smart). We tune into Mojave Radio which lures travellers to Las Vegas. The Dave Mason Band (ex-Traffic) is playing Laughlin Casino. After 2½ hours we are clearing the desert and we reach El Cajon where the traffic charges down the mountain from 4,000 feet.
We are in SoCal "proper" at last. We bypass San Bernardino, destination of my Willmett relatives in 1921 who drove from Brantford, Ontario in a 1919 Chevrolet, before the mother road was built.
Overnight at the Lemon Tree motel in Pomona, CA. Breakfast at Johnny's Famous Hamburgers (overwhelming portions) then to the Wally Parks NHRA Museum of Drag Racing at the LA Fairgrounds. This is a fantastic collection of old race cars - many of them featured in Hot Rod Magazine in the 60's and 70's. I buy a remaindered 'T' shirt (30% off) and the lady at the till comes out to photograph the smart outside.
We pickup 66 again and ride through Pasadena, with the San Gabriel mountains on our right, onto Sunset Boulevard and the Strip, past the Hollywood sign and the Beverly Hills Hotel. We hit the ocean north of Santa Monica, which is a mistake, but we cruise into town and the end of the road.
Santa Monica is a letdown as there is little indication that the road is ended. We cannot see a plaque in a park on the seafront as we cannot park the car. Beachfront parking is $6 and up so we decide to lunch in Malibu where parking is free. They say it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.

Hitting the barrier

No, I haven't crashed the smart car but I have blown up somewhat myself. Whether it is heat exhaustion or eating something dodgy (or visiting Gallup, NM) I don't know - but we are holed up in Prescott, AZ, approx 465 miles from Los Angeles, California and the cooling Pacific breeze. Like countless travellers before us we are at the point of wondering whether we will ever get there.
So yesterday we decided that we would not be going to the Grand Canyon or to Scottsdale where the temperatures have been hitting 116 degrees. The front page of The Arizona Republic this morning says "Record Heat Kills 3 Men." Apparently the temperature is 9 degrees above "normal."
Instead we decided to cut south-west for three hours via the resort town of Sedona, Cottonwood and through the pass at Jerome, where the smart climbed to 7,023 feet, with spectacular views in all directions. Deprived of the Grand Canyon this was considerable consolation - depite feeling thoroughly second-hand I couldn't help but enjoy the trip.
We are now spending two nights at the Holiday Inn Express in Prescott, AZ before attempting the last leg of Stage One of the tour. We plan to cross the Mojave desert tomorrow night. Sorry no pics as yet but processor padlocked here.

Standing on the corner

Made it to Winslow, AZ for usual photoshoot at the "corner" - a parkette created for such purposes is fenced off due to some safety issue. They have thoughtfully parked a Flatbed Ford truck to add to the ambience. There is nothing else to do in Winslow so we move right along.
Rolled into Flagstaff, AZ mid afternoon and after setting up camp head into the trendy downtown core. A guy in a cream '57 Thunderbird, complete with porthole hardtop, waves to us. We shop at Fry's Food and Drug for supplies - a guy in the checkout line tells us not to bother going to California. Flagstaff is a Birkenstock sort of town with a touch of the Bohemian. A much needed snack at the Downtown Cafe and a stroll around the grid-pattern streets and we retire to the campsite for a well-earned can of Heineken from the mini-eskie.
After seeing endless freight trains with up to four diesel engines pulling double-stacked container cars full of asian goods we finally see an Amtrak passenger train. The Southwest Chief goes from Chicago to LA, via Albuquerque, Flagstaff and elsewhere. For how much longer is anybody's guess.
On most campsites we are surrounded by huge rigs, great mobile homes, pickups towing trailers, fifth-wheels and everything but the kitchen sink, except they have that too. Sites offer hook-up to cable TV and campers expect all the comforts of home. Mobile phones and Wi-Fi mean contact with the world 24/7. We make common cause with the bikers who prefer the simpler life like ourselves. Maybe I'll just buy a Chevy Suburban and a monster trailer and have done with it!

Goodbye Earl

On into Albuquerque, NM - I used to say I would be a cab driver here when asked as a kid what I wanted to be. Lunch at Nick's Crossroads Cafe at 400 Central SW. Veggie plate for Annette, Chicken Kebab for me. A pleasant atmosphere with the wind blowing through an open door - about the first city we have lingered in since Chicago.
Across the Rio Grande with the usual routine of dodging on and off the Interstate to visit points of interest. We head for Grants, NM and cross the Continental Divide on the frontage road. We are slammed by a dust devil but the smart survives the side-swipe. In Grants there is a massive biker conclave - shiny machines parked in a row for at least a mile. We are greeted by waves and whoops from the bikers.
On to the campsite at Gallup, NM which is over 6,000 feet up. The campsite is new and not geared for tents ($20), as we are steered toward a patch of hard standing in a corner of the car park in high wind. We quickly realise this is not a goer and splurge on a cabin ($35). To Denny's for dinner and an early night - the wind has got up and we help some folk retrieve their belongings as they blow about the campsite. We get our washing done in a humongous laundromat which is on site - never seen so many machines in one place.
Day 9 - Up next morning and after a total refit we head into town to Earl's Family Restaurant - recommended by the folks at the campsite. This is Navajo country and we are served a superb breakfast [scrambled egg, hash browns and sausage with chili salsa] while Annette buys a medicine pouch at the table. The smart is causing consternation in the car park - a big guy says "I'd need two of those." We spot another "Muffler Man" in town, stop for a photo op and the smart immediately draws a crowd. A Navajo woman is practically in tears she wants the car so bad.
We stop to photograph a Ford Anglia 105E perched on top of a tower at a wrecking yard outside of town. To the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest ($10) in a National Park. The Cashier at a coffee stop tells me all about his Saab two-stroke and V4 cars from years gone by and rushes out to photograph the smart for his son. It is just amazing how fair people can be.
Now in Winslow, AZ to "stand on the corner" - hi to Derek Watts, Eagles fan. Annette is tumbleweed spotting. Flagstaff tonight and Grand Canyon tomorrow with luck.

Bye, Bye Buddy

North west from Clovis, NM across the plains listening to Garth Brooks [from Yukon, OK] "I've got friends in low places" [an early hit, he never topped it].
Suddenly, quite unexpectedly, you are dropping down into Mesa country, and all the Hollywood westerns you ever saw are here. The temperature is crowding 100 degrees and are we ever glad that we ordered aircon on the smart. Can't be long before Tim McGraw is back on the radio singing "Do you want fries with that?"
The smart is standing up to everything we have thrown at her - touch wood - and confidence levels are building such that we are overtaking the trucks. You've just been outsmarted!
Rolled into the campsite at Tucumcari, NM early for first afternoon nap of the tour - later cruising the strip in town to see the neon signs, motels [in various states of delapidation] and gas stations [open and permanently closed]. We stop at an ice-cream parlor only to be told "We don't sell ice-cream any more." We retreat to Denny's for banana split and strawberry sundae - enjoying the cabaret of the waiters yelling for their orders. Mercifully we are losing touch with the outside world.
Now in Moriarty, NM at midday heading for Albuquerque and Gallup [for overnight stop, campground already booked].
For more http://smartcar.blogspot.com

I saw miles and miles of Texas

Up early and head into Amarillo TX. Breakfast at the Sonic Drive-In - everything smothered in cheese. To the Cadillac Ranch - a truly spiritual experience - works on all levels with no supervision, concession stand or anything else - just a bunch of old Cadillacs nose down in a field. On to the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian TX, half way along Route 66, and the lady owner rushes out to photograph the smart car in front of the midpoint sign. We backtrack a short way and head south on a straight deserted country road on the high plains of the Texas Panhandle. We receive a text message from Peter Flanagan. Past the massive feedlot at Bovina, TX with thousands of cattle penned up.
We head into Clovis, NM on the trail of Buddy Holly. You need an appointment to visit the Norman Petty Recording Studios at 1313 W. 7th Street but the 'just show up' philosophy works as we are greeted by Ken Broad, who will show us round after lunch. We go down the street to the Foxy Drive-In, "where Buddy used to hang out."
It hasn't changed a bit and we snack on a chicken burger waiting to get indoors at the studio. We photograph the Nor-Va-Jak sign at the studios as Ken returns. The studio is in a timewarp with all the original gear on display - I'm freaking out as I listen to Buddy through the original sound system while sitting in the chair in the control room - all the hits were recorded here. Roy Orbison was here and the hit "Sugar Shack" by Jimmy Gilmer and Fireballs, an NM band, was also recorded in this studio. What a blast!

Hard Amarillo Highway

Lunch at the Trolley Stop cafe in El Reno, OK. Back on the 'bump, thump' road to the Twenty-Eight Pony Bridge which featured in the film "The Grapes of Wrath" - Granpa Joad died here. To Elk City and the National Route 66 Museum. Then the ghost town of Texola, with the widest main street anywhere, and across the stateline into Texas. Saw the Leaning Tower of Texas, a tilting water tower built as a gimmick, and the large cross both in Groom, TX. Camping at KOA in Amarillo, TX. You can order supper at the office and a guy comes whizzing up in a golf cart from the Kowpoke Kafe and delivers your dinner to your pitch. We pitch our tent in a pea gravel "tray" which is supposed to drain if rains - I hope we don't have to test it. A stretch limo with bull horns is cruising the campground offering a free ride to the Texas Steakhouse - home of the free 72oz steak - you have to eat it all! Sitting in the evening sun watching freight trains, aircraft landing at the local airport, and huge RVs arriving towing a car far larger than the smart. Annette is talking to Persephone in Scottsdale, AZ on her mobile phone to arrange to meet up later in the trip. I'm chugging on a Bud Light - it'll never replace beer!

Get your kicks

Breakfast at the Ranch House in Stroud fielding enquiries from the good old boys - "is it a Ford?" Annette opts for biscuits and gravy with 1 egg - finds she likes it - $2.49 plus 80 cents unlimited coffee. Photograph the Phillips 66 gas station in Chandler and the Round Barn in Arcadia. Receive a text message from Andy Thomas in Yukon, OK, the home of Garth Brooks. To El Reno, OK to ride the streetcar, but the streetcar is "broke." Splendid museum in old railroad station, also the relocated El Reno hotel.
For more see:
http://smartcar.blogspot.com

Living on Tulsa Time

Up early on I44. Coffee Stop at Marshfield Missouri - free coffee at Wal-Mart since it's Tuesday. Bank Tellers fascinated by smart - most exciting thing in Marshfield in a while. Some bikers say "Enjoy America - diesel is the answer!" Delightful lunch at the Bradbury Bishop Deli in Webb City replete with 50's memorabilia and stainless steel soda fountain after stopping at Carthage Drive-In Theatre. Listening to Buddy Holly and to old NASCAR guy Richard Greek giving us the lowdown on the Missouri racing scene. Cool Chevy street rod parked outside.
On to Galena, Kansas - almost a ghost town - park the smart next to an electric car built in Sebring, Florida with friendly locals joining in a gabfest. On to Baxter Springs in the constant search for diesel with a nozzle that fits the car. We stop on the road to check out vintage tin for sale, mostly cheap rust-buckets. Through Tulsa and on to Stroud where we gas up before spending the night at the Best Western - more rain is forecast so we forget about camping. Staying off greasy food - tuna salad for supper. Digestion calmer. 375 miles covered.

Across the Big Muddy

Left Springfield mid-morning. Took a short section of Route 66 "The Brickroad" at Auburn. Lunch at the Sister's Cafe in Staunton, Illinois - another top notch family restaurant, we're avoiding the chains. Across the Big Muddy at St Louis with a quick view of the Gateway Arch - hair raising driving in the rain with no time to change lanes and rigs coming from all directions. To the famous Ted Drewe's Frozen Custard for a "concrete" and fudge sundae in the 'burbs - not so crowded in drizzle, more Q&A sessions with the locals. On to the Black Madonna Shrine in the Ozark Mountains in the pouring rain - when it rains in the Ozark Mountains it rains. Meramec Caverns Tour - pure kitsch Americana - geology, what's that?
All you can eat steak buffet at Sirloin Stockade - we stick to seafood - and Best Western overnight in Rolla, Missouri, where a group of Brit/Euro Bikers were staying on their Route 66 Harley Tour. Back-up bikes on a trailer make us feel superior - we pull out before them and leave them far behind.
243 miles covered.

The Real Springfield

Breakfast at Jungle Jim's Cafe, 1923 Peoria Road. (Near to Shea's Gas Station Museum.) Walls covered in car racing pictures and memorabilia. Double eggs over easy. Little old lady comes up to chat re the smartcar, drives a yellow beetle. Morning stroll in the town of Abe Lincoln. Public library for free internet.

West of the Windy City

Made the Indiana border at 7:20 am. Blasted through to the Illinois border by 8:03. Arrived in Chicago and were most impressed by the revitalized waterfront. Used automated breakfast menu at the Wild Bean Cafe which is part of BP gas station. Easily found the sign that marks the beginning of Route 66 at Michigan and Adams, and we cheerfully hit the Mother Road. Out through the suburbs of Cicero and Berwyn to Lockport, Illinois, a historic canal town. Running into Nascar fan traffic at Joliet, Ill., with roadside scalpers. They have come to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. win the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. We divert and get lost in rural countryside ending up on I57 south. Back on Historic Route 66 and photographed the Gemini Giant in Wilmington. Stopped in Dwight to look at beautiful historic railway station and Bank designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Lunch at Wishing Well Cafe in Odell in retro heaven then to restored Standard Oil Gas station. Atlanta Illinois to see Bunyon statue. Overnight at riverside campgrounds in Springfield, Ill.,

Day 2: Kitchener-Stevensville 346 miles
Day 3: Stevensville-Springfield 340 miles

780 miles from Toronto.

Smarter

Lunch at Lapeer, Michigan. Across Michigan to Stevensville. Stayed at Ray's Motel which had been owned by four generations of the same family, and it showed. Driver of a funky woody-style PT Cruiser stopped at traffic lights ran back to us and asked, " How did you get a smart car into the USA?". More photo ops and "thumbs ups" on highway