Our Trip to Lake Tahoe

50^th Anniversary Grand National Meet

By Ken & Carolyn Bounds

Last month we told you about our 2,040 mile trip to Lake Tahoe in our ’50 Convertible.  We mentioned that 1.5 miles from the hotel the overdrive quit working.  This was a real concern because the long trip home would have been difficult, if not impossible, if it couldn’t be fixed.  I was fairly confident, having tools and most of the relevant parts in the trunk; but my big hope was that something had just gotten too hot on the long pull up from Carson City.  We decided to settle in, start enjoying the meet, and address the overdrive tomorrow.

We had a great time that Saturday afternoon meeting many old friends and watching the meet get set up.  The registration folks were kind enough to give us a table to promote the 2014 Central National Meet, which our group is hosting in Springfield, IL, next August; we would spend many hours over the next few days at that table.  We spent some time scoping out the huge layout of this meet, one of the largest in Club history.  The two meet hotels were the massive Harrah’s and Harvey’s complex, connected by a tunnel, with 1,265 rooms, two casinos, and a dozen restaurants between them.  The concourse would be held in a huge parking lot in a spectacular setting behind Harrah’s.  Even that large lot would not hold everything; the Display class cars would need to be across the street on the roof of Harvey’s garage while the swap meet and trailer parking were behind another hotel adjacent to Harvey’s. 

Sunday morning it was time for meet registration, the operational check, and car cleanup.  But first, we decided to drive to California and test the overdrive.  Neither took very long; Harrah’s sits almost on the state line, so as soon as we left the back parking lot we were in California.  Even better, the overdrive was working!  It would not fail us again for the rest of the trip.  We drove the car down to the car wash area manned by California/SW Director Don Singleterry; more about that later.  Don did a great job of setting up a nice space for hundreds of attendees to clean up their Early V-8s.  After washing away 2,000 miles of grime and bugs, we were ready to go.

As meet registration began we took over our 2014 CNM table.  What a great vantage point to see the throngs of V-8ers arriving from all over the country.  As we heard several tales of travel woes and breakdowns, we were even prouder of our Convertible’s performance on the trip.  The planning and dedication of the folks involved with registration, concourse check-in, and clothing and accessories distribution/sales were evident as they smoothly handled over 600 registrants.  The crowd seemed to come in waves, but by Monday afternoon it was down to a trickle.  However, the registration area was a happening place throughout the meet with the registration desk, V-8 Club book and accessories sales (ably run by Carol Rasmussen), banquet signup, information area, V-8 Foundation table, and three 2014 National Meet tables attracting participants all week.  The adjacent memorabilia room and people’s choice raffle rooms were always busy.

One day at registration, the word was spreading around not to leave any food in your vehicle because of bears in the area.  Someone had been washing their car, looked up at Don Singleterry and said “There is a bear behind you.”  Sure enough, a bear had walked up behind Don.  Don said later “He looked so cute, like you could just reach out and pet him.”  The bear was that close!  Soon, another one appeared in the area.  Fortunately, for Don and everyone there, the bears walked away. 

We would like to give many more details about this wonderful meet, including a great welcome party, a very special ladies luncheon, an impressive international presence, a huge concourse, a smooth-running awards banquet, and much, much more.  Unfortunately, we just don’t have enough space in this issue to relate all that and get us home.  We hope to give you more details about the meet next month to adequately relate what a terrific job was done by the meet organizers and volunteers.  Stay tuned!

Very early Friday morning we began our trip home.  Based on our trip west, we were confident we could make it home in three days – about 680 miles per day.  The only real concern was that in Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming it might be several hundred miles between cities with a decent selection of hotels, so we might need to exceed our average the first day.

The Flathead was purring along great at 60-65 mph, the overdrive was working flawlessly, and our high-altitude carburetor allowed us to climb the steep grades with ease.  We had plenty to talk about; there was much to discuss about the great meet we had just experienced plus many, many details to discuss for our Central meet next year.  With confidence in our car, satisfaction with our week in Tahoe, and intense planning for our own meet, the hours and miles melted away.  With each gas stop in towns with names like Fernley, Winnemucca, Elko, Wendover, and Evanston it seemed like we could just keep driving as long as we felt like it.  We had made it to Wyoming and our goal for the day – 684 miles.  But it was just after 5 pm and we had several hours of light.  Should we shoot for Laramie, another 300 miles away?  Why not – that’s just 5 hours.  After all, the hotel we stayed in on the trip west was nearly new, no one knew about it, and it should have plenty of rooms available.

At 10 pm it was now dark and we were getting a little tired, but the lights of Laramie were in sight.  We pulled in to the hotel we had stayed in 8 days earlier; hmmm, lots of cars in the parking lot.  I went to the front desk and sure enough, sold out!  No problem – another hotel was next door.  Oops, not only was it sold out, but the desk clerk told me that he had checked around and there was not one room available in Laramie; we would need to go on another 50 miles to Cheyenne.  That didn’t sound so great since we would need to climb the highest elevation on I-80 in the dark.

We left the hotel to go back to the Interstate and suddenly all power was gone!  We were on a dark road with no lights.  Suspecting an issue with the battery cables, I opened the hood and twisted the cables a bit.  Carolyn heard the clock wind – we had power.  It was too dark to diagnose the problem here, so we got back on the road to head for Cheyenne.  We were about to meet the Super Moon.

A Super Moon occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to earth in a given orbit (perigee).  Although the specific time of the June Super Moon was about 24 hours away, it was a cloudless night and the moon was bright.  Good thing.  As we cruised along I-80 at about 60 mph, the lights went out again.  With no headlights, safely finding the shoulder would be nearly impossible.  But with the light of the Super Moon, I could see the reflectors on the shoulder.  As I eased over to the shoulder we hit the rumble strips.  Amazingly, the vibration brought the power back!  Meanwhile, Carolyn had been on the phone and found a hotel room in Cheyenne.  All was well as we climbed 8,640 feet over Sherman Hill.  We made it to Cheyenne; 1,056 miles since we left Harrah’s.

Saturday morning I cleaned and tightened all the battery cables.  We would have no more electrical issues the rest of the way home.  We were now 986 miles from home – a piece of cake.  Saturday was much like Friday, only a lot warmer.  Wyoming was behind us and we faced the 450 miles across Nebraska.  Again, the miles and gas stops just became a blur.  By afternoon we were in Iowa and as Carolyn was driving the car began to vapor lock.  Several times she needed to flip on the electric fuel pump for a few seconds until it smoothed out.  By reducing the speed to about 60 the problem eventually went away.

Darkness was upon us before we hit Illinois, but we were almost home.  It felt good to drive those last few miles.  We pulled into our driveway at 11:15 pm.  We had driven 986 miles that day, 2,042 since Lake Tahoe.  The Convertible had performed nearly flawlessly with only a couple of very minor glitches.  This had been the longest road trip either of us had ever taken and most likely was the longest distance our 63-year-old car had been driven.

The long drive in the reliable Early V-8 was fulfilling.  What a way to celebrate 50 years of the V-8 Club!  The Golden Jubilee Grand National meet was one to remember for a long time.