Bucket List Trip about to start

[basketcase0302]

Enjoying the ride along, (from a former 11 year one ton DRW 71' owner).
Petronix is the "cat's meow" when it comes to ignition / some will change the distributor to a duraspark / and the mentally insane, (coming from a Ford purest) will put a chebby HEI in it LOL!

Godspeed and safe travels!

[Jim Bathgate]

Last night after dark, I took a few shots of the historic Conoco gas station with its neon lights ablaze. Quite a site.

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I took the truck over to a local repair shop first thing this morning to see if they could replace the leaking rear axle inner seal. I told them I brought an extra oil seal with me so they wouldn't need to wait on parts. The guy said they normally only work on big rigs but he'd ask the mechanic if he could help me out. The mechanic was agreeable, and was soon working on it. I went off to get some breakfast and when I came back they said they didn't have the special big thin walled round shouldered socket to take off the main axle nuts. So I reached in my toolbox in the back of the truck, pulled out the socket, and said "you mean this one?" They were pleased at the quick solution and I was glad I brought 500 lbs of tools and parts along.

So at 10AM I was on my way.

No trip to the panhandle of Texas would be complete without a stop at the famous Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo.

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It was a windy and cold afternoon and one spent dodging tumbleweeds blowing across the highway. I took a four foot diameter tumbleweed right in my grill and had to pull off the highway and spend the next ten minutes pulling pieces out of the grill,the radiator, and the undercarriage of the truck. Fortunately no holes in the radiator so I was on my way again. I used to think that those old western movies overstated the number and speed of tumbleweeds, but I am older and wiser now.

I ended the day in Santa Rosa, New Mexico where there's an auto museum I plan to check out in the morning.

[popeyes71]

Being overly prepared has payed off for you! Enjoying the sites along with you!

Hope the brake caliper is working as it should.

[Jim Bathgate]

No issues with the brake caliper although I have tried to be gentle and not heat up the brakes. Of course on the open road you don't need to use your brakes much.

I started off the day yesterday with a visit to the Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa, NM. This was a small one man operation with a lifetime collection of memorabilia.

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[Jim Bathgate]

I made it over the Continental Divide before the snow they were forecasting.

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Most of the day was spent going uphill against a 30+ mph headwind so at times the truck struggled, but then so were all the other trucks on the road.

Spent the night in Holbrook, Arizona and hope to make it to Kingman in the afternoon today.

[Jim Bathgate]

Headed for Kingman this morning. Here's the truck at a scenic rest stop early in the morning.

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The truck and I successfully crossed over the 7300 foot summit of the Arizona Divide. Then it started snowing, then the traffic on route 40 came to a complete stop and we all sat there in our trucks listening to Bing Crosby sing White Christmas on the radio while the snow accumulated on the road and our trucks.

What ever happened to the Global Warming we have been promised for the last 30 years? Here I take a 4 week drive around the country in the Autumn, and I've only actually seen 4 days worth of actual Autumn weather. The rest has been Winter weather. This is ARIZONA I'm driving through, not Minnesota.

After about an hour of Christmas tunes, the traffic finally began inching along (got to use the granny first gear on my truck for about 30 minutes) and we discovered that at the front of the tie up was a big rig that had jackknifed in the snow.

So finally made it to Kingman in the afternoon and stopped in at the Arizona Route 66 Museum. Route 66 was the primary road people used during the depression to flee the dust bowl areas of Oklahoma and find a new home in California. John Steinbeck's book (and the subsequent movie) Grapes of Wrath was about one such family, the Joads. Here's an old truck similar to the Joads.

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Long quotes from the book were posted on the walls of the museum where the driver of the Joad family truck worried about whether the sounds the truck was making were going to result in a breakdown that would mean tragedy for the desperate family. Kind of reminded me of my trip around the country in my old truck. Your ear does get attuned to any sounds out of the ordinary.

In addition to having Route 66 run through it, Kingman is a major railroad artery for the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe). Here's a train barreling by the old train station, now a RR Museum.

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[popeyes71]

That granny gear has several good purposes, pulling, climbing and slow traffic. The clutch gets tiring on the leg after a while. Glad you and the truck got through the Arizona divide.

[Jim Bathgate]

Another good use for the granny gear is for when you are parked on a hill with an emergency brake that can't hold too well.

Well I made it to Bakersfield today and hopefully tomorrow I will be back home in San Jose. Here's the truck this morning shortly after entering California, in need of a good washing after all the salt from the snowy roads we were on during this trip.

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After making it over Tahachapi Pass, I spent some time locating and setting up for photos and videos of the world famous Tahachapi Train Loop.

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For Railfans this is the gold standard - having a train so long that it literally loops over itself while negotiating mountainous terrain. In the photo above you see six BNSF engines pulling a train so long that it not only loops over itself, but completes a figure 8 by the time the last car comes through the tunnel. It was worth the 90 minutes standing on the top of a cold windy hill waiting for the next train, hoping it was going uphill (the desired direction), and hoping it was long enough to loop over itself. Today was my lucky day.

[popeyes71]

Thats impressive, glad you got the shot and got to see it! Welcome back to California! Now you just have to be careful of all the crazy drivers here as you get closer to home.

[Jim Bathgate]

You are totally right on California drivers. I made it home today in one piece, but some nut in Gilroy dove his car in front of me after changing 3 lanes in order to make an exit. I avoided collision by inches, and this was the closest call I've had on the entire trip. I think traffic congestion in the Bay area makes drivers crazy and they'll do almost anything to save a few seconds. I'm glad I'm retired and don't have to fight that traffic on a daily basis.

Anyway, I'm glad to be home. The house and the wife were still there to greet me and as they say "There's no place like home".

Special thanks go out to the repair shops that got me going again on the road. In particular, Gary Konakis Automotive in Elko, Nevada saved my trip by sorting out the mismatched coil/points problem. The truck ran great after his fix.

After spending about six hours per day behind the wheel of my truck, I got to know it much more intimately than I had before. I have a pretty long list of items I want to fix on the truck, but overall, I think Ford did a great job in designing a strong, reliable vehicle for the time (1968). I do think my shoulder muscles are quite a bit stronger from working the manual steering all day. Of course trucks today are much more comfortable, but there's nothing like driving a 50 year old truck around the country. I had quite a few guys give me a thumbs up as they drove by me on the freeway, and several took up conversations with me at gas stations or parking lots. Many of them remember fondly their dad's having this vintage truck many years ago.

Thanks also to all who followed my rambling on about the trip on this site. It made it seem as if I had some companions along the way, and your comments were much appreciated.

[Idaho Chris]

I enjoyed following your ride. I must admit, I'm a little bummed its over! Glad you and your truck made it safely home.

[hdman90]

Same here, sad to see it end, but glad you're home safely and that everything worked out well!

[jzjames]

Great story. Thanks for putting it up here on

[robroy]

Jim, I enjoyed following your story and photos also. Thanks for taking the time to make this thread.

[sargentrs]

Great trip, Jim! Thanks for the ride-along. Keep us posted on updates on your truck.