Open Roads International 2002: A Journal

[BJ8Healeys]

June 12,2002--Rock Hall, MD to Winchester, VA


This morning I, along with the Hunt/Hunt and Bowen/MacDowell car, left Rock Hall bound for Winchester, VA., a modest journey of less than 200 miles. By prearrangement we met Steve Byers of North Carolina just north of Annapolis, then swung up towards I-70 to run west past Frederick, MD and then drop down to Harper's Ferry, WV and on to Winchester.

At Harpers Ferry, the Brits wanted to get a photo of their cars on the overlook with the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers in the background below. Problem was, there was a long sawhorse across the entrance to the overlook. No one was in sight, so I moved the sawhorse to allow the cars to enter the gravel parking lot.

After we shot the photos and were ready to proceed, a young park ranger came running up, and he was HOT! He pointed out that the area was closed and we were not allowed there. I told him that the visitors were from the UK, on their way to California for the Austin-Healey event, and they simply wanted a nice photo to memorialize their visit to Harpers Ferry. They showed him their passports so he calmed down a bit, and even said that his parents had owned a Healey.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 14, 2002: A Layday in Sunset Hills, (St. Louis), MO

An informal display of the Highway 50 group and the Gateway AHC folks' cars took place this morning in front of the hotel and as a result of an announcement in the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" many other LBC's showed up along with lots of the general public.

Informal car show, six days on the road....

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 15, 2002--Sunset Hills (St. Louis), MO to Olathe, KS

Terry Ganey is a former Healey owner who lives in Jefferson City, MO, the State Capital an through Terry's efforts the Governor declared today to be "Austin-Healey Day" statewide. Per prearrangement a good number of us met at Terry's lovely home and proceeded to the Capital where we parked our Healeys in front and went inside to meet the Governor's representative who read his boss's Proclamation and afterward delivered it to Bob Brown.

Austin-Healey day at Missouri capitol.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 15, 2002--Sunset Hills (St. Louis), MO to Olathe, KS

Healey owner Larry Dickstein of Lone Jack, MO (pop 540) had extended an invitation for all to drop in on his place, and most everyone did--and what a place it is out on the rolling countryside complete with old-fashioned windmill! His garage was State-Of-the-Art and contained his BJ8 and pristine white AN5 along with a vintage Norton and a couple of MG's. Larry was in the process of loading up his Harley which is being towed to Tahoe.

At Larry Dickstein's home. What you can't see is his humongous garage to the right up the hill and the lovely windmill, behind me as I took this photo.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 16, 2002--Olathe, KS to Dodge City,

I have received a few inquiries about what if any problems have been experienced thus far and seeing as how yesterday we passed the halfway point on the Route 50 trip a report is appropriate.

--Probably the most serious issue was Bob McElwee's bad starter, which he solved with a diversion today to Victoria British's Kansas headquarters somewhere near our route.
--Allen Feldman had a punctured tire for breakfast today which caused him to get a late start.
--My ignition switch developed some internal point of resistance which was beginning to melt the insulation on the wires running to it. Pending a proper replacement there is now a simple SPST toggle switch in its place. Otherwise I have run over 1500 miles from the starting point and have had to add one quart of oil--with most of what has been consumed winding up on my right knee as the result of the tachometer cable seal's slow failure.
--Bob Brown had a slight leak from an oil cooler line which has been replaced.

Passing through Council Grove and enjoying the quaint architecture of the Old West town, Steve Byers had his only problem so far when he encountered Barney Fife way out here. He said I was roaring through his little town at 29 mph in a 20 zone, and he had to nip that in the bud!
Actually, this is a posed photo since he did not issue a ticket but gave me a stern warning.

 

[Editor_Reid]

...he did not issue a ticket but gave me a stern warning.

Steve, I just hope you learned your lesson. Did Deputy Fife show you his bullet? I'll bet you never sped through that town again!

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 16, 2002--Olathe, KS to Dodge City,

We ran along the tracks of the ATSF ("Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe" as the song went) intro Dodge City, and after being welcomed by local Healeyist Melvin Dale and his wife we were ushered to "Boot Hill"for a photo-op.

US50 group at Dodge City "Boot Hill".

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 17, 2002: Dodge City, KS--Colorado Springs, CO


At Pueblo CO we diverted from 50 and took I-25 to Colorado Springs. We are poised for an assault on nearby Pike's Peak in the morning. Steve Byers is also with us and the only consideration is our proximity to the nearby forest fires.

Colorado forest fires.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Steve, I just hope you learned your lesson. Did Deputy Fife show you his bullet? I'll bet you never sped through that town again!

Oh, yes, I learned my lesson. Every time I motor through Council Grove now I make sure I observe the limit!
I've been pulled over numerous times in the Healey but only once was I issued a ticket (for doing more than 45 on an interstate!). For the others, I think they just wanted a closer look at the car. One highway patrolman walked all around the car with a big grin on his face.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 18, 2002: Colorado Springs, CO to Grand Junction, CO--via Pike's Peak Toll Road

The reason for yesterday's diversion from Route 50 to Colorado Springs was because a number of us wanted to drive up the Pike's Peak Toll Road, and that was today's goal! We left the hotel early to get to the Toll Road entrance just as it opened for business. We wanted to be the first cars up in the morning so we would not have to worry about meeting any "downhill traffic" which would allow us to cut the apex of uphill corners and thus permit us to "straighten the corners" and drive a bit more vigorously.

In the end we all made it to the top and enjoyed the fantastic vistas as well as the famous ice cream. I recall having a self-congratulatory feeling having driven to the top of this plus-14,000 foot peak whereas most visitors are consigned to arrive via cog railway. The trip down was exhilarating to say the least--a challenge to the brakes as it was necessary to keep speeds down in order to negotiate the tight turns and loose surface.

Summit of Pikes Peak.

 

[BJ8Healeys]

June 20, 2002: Toelle, UT to Ely, NV

After clearing through town we took a hard left and got onto SR 93 ALT--which certainly lived up to its moniker of "The Loneliest Road". It was 119 miles from West Wendover to Ely and as I recall there was exactly one gas station/cafe between the two towns. The two-lane road was more or less straight with minimal shoulders, well-ditched on either side, and a departure from it at speed would certainly be an event.

The Loneliest Road in America.

 

[Bob McElwee]

I missed the stop at Jeff City and at Larry's home. A former neighbor that had moved to Independence agree to go to Vicky B and pick up a starter for me. My wife was driving our daughters BJ8 for her to Salt Lake City where she met us at the airport. Our former neighbor met us at the motel in Olathe and they sat in the a/c while I laid on the hot parking lot switching the starter out:friendly_wink:. We had a enjoyable dinner with them and then he took the old starter back to Vicky B the next day.
Our daughter could only stay the week at Tahoe so some good Gateway members flew out to Reno, rented a car, let Daughter return it and drove her BJ8 back to St. Louis. Both cars went 5,600+ miles for the 3 weeks with the tops down the whole trip. Wonderful trip and times.

 

[Michael Oritt]

I'm enjoying seeing Steve's photos of the trip--adding a visual certainly gives additional perspective.

In my last "arrival" post I said: "So, unless something of particular interest comes up I'll sign off for a while and resume my posts when my limited powers of observation are made greater during solitary travel." Unfortunately something DID come up on the way to Los Angeles and rather than mix in with or step upon Steve's great photos I will resume things beginning tomorrow under a new thread entitled "Post-Open Roads International 2002: A Journal" ​Stay tuned....

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Thanks very much for your post, Michael. It brings back some wonderful memories of a special Healey trip. Your mention of Blue Highways also reminded me of one of the most enjoyable books I've read. I hope you didn't mind my adding my two cents' worth.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Steve--

Not at all and I am hoping you will continue to post more photos of the trip. I just thought it would be easier if I put notes on further days' travels under a separate topic.

BTW I started putting up my trip commentary in response to some folks' musings about travelling on US 66 to next years' Conclave in Big Bear. I am gonna keep that in my sights.

 

[steveg]

Michael,
What a wonderful Healey travelogue!!

 

[BJ8Healeys]

Michael, like you, I kept a narrative of my Healey trip from North Carolina to Conclave in San Diego in 2008 as a daily report to the Healeys email list. I found that I enjoyed documenting that trip for my personal reasons as well as an historical record of my time with my Healey that future owners might enjoy reading. It seemed a good thing to illustrate the narrative with photographs when I combined the daily reports into one narrative after returning home.
After doing that for the 2008 trip, I began doing a similar photographic and narrative record of all of my longer Healey trips --- Canada for Conclave 2009, Alabama and Florida for Southeastern Classics in 2011 and 2013, Deadwood for Conclave 2019, etc. Because I keep a detailed maintenance and trip log for my car, I was able to reconstruct the narrative for Lake Tahoe after the fact.
I don't have any photographs to illustrate your trip home because we took different routes. Although we took two weeks to get to Lake Tahoe, having used up my leave at work I had to make tracks on the way home, so I did it in only three days.

I hope to do Conclave at Big Bear next year, but it's too soon to tell.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

For those wishing to re-trace Michael's route, there is an excellent Healey Road--marked variously as '2' or '722'--west of Austin, NV. Going west, it's pretty boring, similar to 50, but after 20 miles or so you're in some medium-sized mountains following a creek. It has excellent pavement, with many sweeping turns--none very tight--and interesting foliage and geology.