I said goodbye to all my California friends and as it started so shall it end. I placed a notice in the PX and gave away most of my junk. I packed every thing I could into the Ford wagon and headed east. I was given 60 days of leave. And by now that did not come as a surprise me. Apparently they had no record of me taking any leave at all and were feeling quite generous. I started out nice and slow, expecting to do some sightseeing along the way. Things were quite different however than they were on my trip west. The wagon was packed too the limit and Billy was a hands full of responsibility and required some travailing techniques.
We, my wife, son, and I that is didn't make it out of California when the station wagon started complaining. The inside was full and there was a 4 foot high pile of stuff tethered to the roof. The load was carefully stacked in layers to make the long journey home. No doubt the weight of the load was somewhat more than the limits of the wagons intended use. The first thing that went wrong was a flat tire and that was quite time consuming as I had to unload the back of the wagon to get to the jack and the spare tire. The wagon was so low to the ground that it was difficult to get the jack under the wagon. Then the wagon was so heavy the jack could barley lift the wagon up high enough to get the spare tire on. I had to let some of the air out of the spare to get it to fit on at all. That meant that I had to drive slowly until I got to a gas station to fill it up again.
According to a weather reports the up and coming mountain range had a forecast for lots of snow. I did not want to stop and chance being weathered in for who know how long or where. Sure enough it was snowing once I got up into the mountains. I think I drove for 12 hours and my first stop was Salt Lake City, Utah.
I didn't see much of Salt Lake City as I was only there to sleep and off early next morning. This trip back across the country was not living up to my expectations. I drove again for another 12 hours and made it to Cheyenne, Wyoming. As I recall there was a mountain range there too. Just like the mountain before it was snowing. After a good night of rest I was ready to go and off to a good start. In no time at all I was in nowhere land. There were miles and miles of nothing but tumble weeds, then finally a gas station and none too soon. when I was all fueled up and ready to go the wagon was not. This would prove to be the beginning of the end for this Ford
The wagon would not start and this place out in nowhere land was of no help. I pulled out the starter and tried to fix it but that was not to be. I went to the road and luckily got someone to stop and give me a push start. I was on my way again but with a lot less confidence and not wanting to turn off the motor unless I had to. In fact I drove late into the night. I was scared tired and finally could not go any further. Some of the red warning lights were lit on the dashboard and I not coherent enough to deal with it. I realy don't remember where we ended up but we found shelter from the storm and spent the night in another hotel.
Hotel Hell that is. For out in never never land the place was loud and noisy. their must have been a party going on and lots of drinking. The room was dank and nasty. I was too tired to find another place to go and went with the flow.
The next day was smooth sailing and it was as it should be pleasant. The food stops were interesting and everyone was so nice. We stopped along the way and took some pictures. If the whole trip was like this day it would have been a vacation in itself. I did push my luck and extended the driving late into the night.
I had made it to Des Moines, Iowa that knight and I was going to sleep no mater what. Next afternoon I woke up late and started tinkering with the wagon. It was low on oil and the radiator needed some water. I walked to a nearby gas station and picked up assorted fluids and fixed what I could. I really wouldn't know until I got a push start if everything was OK. I was parked on a hill and pushed the wagon myself jumped in popped the clutch and off I went. With no red warning lights on the dash I stopped for gas and continued my journey home. About an hour later all hell broke loose. The motor was making some very unpleasant noises and smoke was poring out from under the hood.
Oh where oh where could my fan belt be. And there is no one around to be helping me. I used a pair of my wife's nylon stockings to improvise for the belt and put some windshield fluid in the radiator. Another push start and very reluctantly it finally started. At the next gas station I wanted to get a fan belt but they didn't have one for my wagon. The overheating had done some serious damage to the motor and my 130 horse power motor was not doing very well. I fueled up and filled several containers with water. I was now limited to 20 minuets of driving before I would have to pull over and add water. At this point the drive was nerve racking to say the least. Once again I was exhausted and could not go another mile. And Holy Toledo, Ohio that's where I am. After 4 or 5 days of driving under lass than desirable conditions I am not looking forward to tomorrow and just want to get some sleep.
I didn't wake up until 5 pm and was in no hurry to get going. On the other hand I wanted this nightmare to be over. I was still amusing myself about the holy Toledo thing and how lucky I was to have made it that far.
The rest of the journey through Ohio was not too eventful. I was able to fuel up and add oil with the motor running. I refilled my assorted containers with water and stopped frequently to add water to the radiator. Now Pennsylvania was quite a different story. The hills of Pennsylvania, bull shit these are mountains all lined up one after the other and the scariest roads I have ever been on. I am coming down the first mountain with both feet on the brake and this is not the pedal that should go to the metal but it did. I down shifted used the hand brake and changed my under ware when I finally came to a stop. The rear brake cylinder was leaking fluid and I had to crush the brake line to stop the leak. Now I have only the front brakes and I am holding on to the seat of my pants. It can't get any worse that this, wrong when I turn on the headlights the motor starts to stall out. The battery is dead and the alternator is not strong enough to run everything. I pulled over and disconnected one of the headlamps.
Pennsylvania is dark. I mean scary dark. There is no question in my mind; if this wagon stalls out I am going to be the new front bumper for some 18 wheeler and that is what this state is all about Trucks, 18 wheelers everywhere. Ok I am negating steep mountain passes. I barely have enough power to clime the steep embankments and the pedal is to the metal. The tractor trailers are up my ass and the wind from them blowing by rocks my wagon. Then at the top of the mountain it's like two feet on the brake, only one headlight on and can't see shit. Then through no fault of my own on the way down the mountain I am flying past the same tractor trailer that has and will soon be up my ass. It wasn't until daybreak that I noticed the thick white smoke trail I was leaving behind. The transmission started slipping and I made it to a gas station in time but they did not appreciate my business. I did however get gas oil water and transmission fluid. I had to go down the road to fill the transmission and that's not easy with the motor running
By the time I made it home I had crimped the rear brake line to stop the fluid from leaking out of the rear breaks and only the front brakes were working. I was using a nylon stocking as a fan belt. The battery was dead and because the starter motor was shot and in the back of the wagon I could not turn the motor off without getting a questionable push start. I had to disconnect one of the head lights because I wasn't getting enough power from the alternator to keep the motor and lights going at the same time. I had to stop constantly and add water because the motor was overheating.
The transmission was dumping transmission fluid through the modulator valve into the intake manifold causing me to leave a trail of thick white smoke. The motor was knocking, pinging, backfiring and making more noise than a jet engine. Well we almost made it home. I was about a mile short and that my friend wasn't too bad with all things considered. We called home and were rescued by my sister in law and her friend. We transferred the belongings into the two cars. I removed the California license plate and once again a Ford would live up to its name. Found On Road Dead.
That is the way it was back then and I left several cars abandoned hear and there when I thought it would cost too much to fix. I bought several cars for a hundred bucks and left them wherever they died. This was no exception to the rule. Jim Raab
http://www.jimraab.blogspot.com/
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