A Great Adventure
By Ron Steck
As Wednesday August 22nd dawned John and I were ready to start our journey to Billings Montana, 1,250 miles away to join the Montana Tour. At 6:00 am we rolled out of my driveway in my 1941 Ford Woodie Wagon. The car has a rebuilt stock flathead V-8 engine, new clutch, recently rebuilt transmission and a 3:54 rear axle. When friends expressed concerns about my car breaking down on the trip, I assured them that with a few extra parts I was bringing along I could probably be able to fix the car. I contrasted the fact that if they had a breakdown involving their modern car’s computer electronics they would be stuck.
Traveling west we got a feel for “small town America” as we traveled over country roads. When we reached the Mississippi River we crossed with a ferry as the bridge was out. Traveling west through Iowa we soon made a stop in the town of Anamosa to visit the National Motorcycle Museum. Continuing we reached Dyersville, where the movie “Field of Dreams” was filmed. As we stopped for gasoline, I opened the hood to add some oil and inadvertently bumped the rubber fuel line. A shot of gas came out. “That’s not good”, I thought. A mechanic tried a makeshift remedy that seemed to work, but the issue was finally solved when I used my national membership guide to get in touch with a local Early Ford V-8 Club member named Ed who sold me a new rubber fuel line that he had on hand.
After our first day of travel, we stopped for the night in western Iowa for a well-deserved night’s sleep. Once again, we were back on the road early in the morning Thursday, August 23rd for our second day on the road. The day’s drive brought us 3/4ths of the way through South Dakota. We traveled 540 miles before we got a hotel room for the night. Friday, the third day of our drive took through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We stopped to view the Wounded Knee Battlefield, the sight of the 1890 Indian massacre. Heading up the highway 100 miles northwest our next stop was Custer State Park. During our stop at the park we saw buffalo and donkeys. The donkeys were tame, and we learned that their forbearers were once used by gold miners but were left behind when the miners departed. We also viewed a cave which was open to the public. After Custer State park our next destination was Mount Rushmore and we observed that impressive monument. After a full day of activity, we headed to Ellsworth Air Force Base to get a room at the Air Force Inn. I am eligible to stay at military installations as a military retiree.
When we checked into the Pine Tree Inn, Air Force lodging, we encountered some people interested in my car. They did not believe we were driving it so far. On the Air Force base John and I enjoyed eating together once again at the chow hall, something we had not done in 43 years. After the meal I stopped at the gas station and filled up with gas also topping off the radiator with a gallon of water, replacing what had boiled off. “Woodrow”, my nickname for the station wagon, is not fond of altitude. We then drove around base and over to a hanger to see the B-1 bombers. John and I were both aircraft mechanics and the sight brought back memories of the past.
After a good night’s sleep on the Air Force Base we left Saturday morning and headed to Deadwood South Dakota. We stopped at a car show we spotted in Deadwood and fit right in. I happened to meet someone I knew from home who drove his 1957 Oldsmobile there. Leaving Deadwood, we soon crossed over into Wyoming and drove to the Devil’s Tower National Monument. We saw a couple climbing up the face of the tower. I walked around the base of the tower, which is about a mile and a half around. After spending the night in a local hotel, we headed off once again Sunday morning. Our travels brought us to Sheridan Wyoming. We continued into Montana and made a stop at the Little Big Horn Battlefield. At Little Big Horn we heard a presentation about the 1876 battle where General Custer and 242 soldiers were killed.
Now we were only an hour from Billings and the starting point of the Montana National Tour. We started to see other Early Ford V-8 automobiles that were also going to be part of the tour arriving in Billings Montana. We checked into the hotel designated for the tour and saw many more cars and people from the Early Ford V-8 Club. Checking in with Norm Clark we got our packets for the week and directions for where we were going for dinner that night. The dinner was a fondue and we enjoyed it. After dinner it was back to the hotel.
We awoke to rain, Monday morning August 27, not my favorite driving condition. Off we went touring together to Great Falls. It finally stopped raining and we had a lunch break. We had to drive up a pass and there it started to rain again and at the very top there were even snow flurries. It was only 37 degrees outside according to my phone. I was glad that there was a heater in the car. We stopped by the Lewis and Clark museum which was interesting. It was raining again when we finally arrived at the hotel for the night.
Bright and early Tuesday we were off in a procession of Ford V-8s to Bigfork
Montana. For the next two days we had to alter our route due to the fires at
Glacier National Park. After driving most of the day, we finally arrived at the
motel for the night. We went out for dinner and washed clothing. Later that
night we discovered that one of the guys had hit a deer and it had done damage
to his car. The plan for the next day was to go to a car collection and then
another event. A few of us decided to go up to Glacier National Park instead.
Wednesday morning, we got an early start to go to Glacier National Park. Another couple followed us out there in their truck, but after breakfast I had them ride with us in the Woody. After some difficulty entering the park due to the fires they had experienced, we went to the East side entrance to the get into the park. Even with the smoke in the air it was a beautiful park and should be seen. After making it up to the top of the visitor center we spent some time up there to enjoy the view and again people started asking about the car. On the way down, we went past several old-time tour buses and the drivers pointed to the Woody. We talked to one of the drivers who told us that the buses had Flathead V-8 engines in them up until 1991. On our way back, we saw another area where fires were starting. Once we were back to the hotel, we had dinner at the local VFW. I had several other people come up to me and say that they had wished they had gone to the park as well. It turned out to be a long day but well worth it.
On August 30th as the tour continued and we drove around Flathead Lake which is about 35 miles long and 16 miles wide. It is the longest Lake in Montana. We cruised on to our next adventure where we stopped at an Indian museum and store. I saw some great pictures and sculptures. We had lunch next door and finished our drive in Helena the state capital.
The last day of the National Tour was Friday August 31st. We drove out to the Gates of the Mountains for a boat tour up the Missouri River. The guides gave us the history from as far back is 1500 years ago explaining a drawing of a Buffalo on one of the walls along what was a star. Many people have different ideas on what this was to represent. The River had several dams along its path. From our boat we could see Mann Gulch, the site of the raging forest fire that took the lives of 12 smokejumpers and an additional firefighter, August 5, 1949. The story of the Mann Gulch Fire is one of the more interesting stories told by the guide.
After the tour we had our final meal together. John and I said our goodbyes to
our fellow tour participants as they began to head off in their Ford V-8s.
We thanked Norm Clark for putting together such a great National Tour.
For John and me the adventure was not over as we headed out to
Yellowstone National Park to camp.
We had another week of adventures on the way home. On Thursday September 6th,
after driving for 16 days and 4846 miles our trip was completed as we arrived
safely home. It was a great
adventure and the car did an excellent job for all those days and miles. I look
forward to the opportunity to experience another travel adventure such as this one sometime in the future.
