Drive the Driftless Tour - July 15-20, 2019

By Este Scheve

Twelve representatives from our Northern Illinois Regional Group participated in the “Drive the Driftless” Early Ford V-8 Club of America National Tour, headquartered in Winona, Minnesota and put on by the Twin Cities Regional Ford V-8 Group #46.   Our route to there from the Chicago Suburbs included the beautiful area west of Rockford to the Mississippi, and then along the river to Winona.  The Mississippi would be a centerpiece of our tour as each day we went in a different direction to see the geologic features of the Driftless area, plus museums, shops and various places of refreshment.

On our first evening after arriving in Minnesota, Monday July 15th, there was a geologist who gave a talk and showed a movie about the area and explained the unique features of the region.  The movie was recently produced and will eventually be shown on public television throughout the country.   It was very interesting and got us ready for what we hoped to see.

As Tuesday, the first day of touring dawned, we followed a very roaming route, up hills and down into valleys, while the curving side roads tested the abilities of our transmissions and brakes.  Beautiful scenery, countryside and farms made the trip interesting.  Our first stop was Elmer’s Toy Museum which the name does not accurately describe. There were six buildings stuffed with cars, motorcycles, bicycles, toys, and old advertisements overlooking a panoramic view of the river from the Wisconsin side.  It was adjacent to Elmer’s junk yard which we did not have time to explore.  There were seven cars in our group and after the long day of driving, we did not always follow the planned route exactly for the next three days. 

The next day, we headed northwest and our first stop was the National Eagle Center where we saw some injured eagles and learned about their habitat.  Outside there were spotting scopes to see eagles along the river.  From there, we had a nice lunch and boarded a sternwheeler to tour Lake Pepin.  It was a lovely boat ride with a nice breeze and commentary from the Captain. On the way back, we stopped at the tavern where “Grumpy Old Men” was filmed and some purchased souvenirs.  That evening, a few went to a local cruise night at a drive in restaurant. 

Now it was getting really HOT.  Temperatures started to take off and, as much fun as riding in a Ford V-8 can be, the heat was searing.  Ron Steck found out about a junkyard in Spillville, Iowa, which was along our route, but not a scheduled stop.  Our group decided to make that our tour for the day.  The junkyard had all Fords from the 1950’s, but the owner decided that on that day, he didn’t want to sell anything. So, we looked around. 

Meanwhile, others went to the Bily Clock Museum, also in Spillville.  Brothers Frank and Joseph Bily, who worked on the family farm, decided to build clocks during the winter.  They took their mother’s treadle sewing machine and rigged a small saw blade where the needle would go and they made their own scroll saw.  While one brother did that, the other carved wood. Between them, they made the most amazing clocks which they never would sell.   Henry Ford offered to buy one of the clocks for a million dollars in the 1920’s, but they wouldn’t part with it.  Eventually the collection went to the town which maintains the museum today.  The theme of the clocks appeared to be religious or about the pioneer/immigrant spirit.

On the last day, it was hotter than hot.  We went directly to Lanesboro, Minnesota to go through their town museum, look at the interesting shops and have lunch.  On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at an old 1950’s gas station and some participants had their picture taken with their car with the gas station as a backdrop.  That evening we had a great meal in the hotel and said goodbye to old friends we had seen and new friends that we had met.  Everyone left on Saturday morning for home. 

Those participating were Ken Bounds in his 1951 Mercury, Joey and Millie Novak in their 1953 Mercury, Dan Pudelek in his 1950 Ford Crestliner, John and Este Scheve (towing their 1947 Ford Coupe), Joe and Delice Serritella in their 1941Ford Coupe, Ron Steck and his friend John Sovie in Ron’s 1941 Ford Woodie Station Wagon and George and Dawn Zulas in their 1940 Ford Tudor.  There were over 40 cars on the National Tour all together.  It was a wonderful week and a very good time “Driving the Driftless” in vintage Ford V-8s.