MTFCA Forum

I hope to leave before 9 tomorrow AM. I live NW of Milwaukee and the plan is to make it through Chicago before nightfall. It is not the mileage. It is the traffic. I take 45 down from Milwaukee and when I get to the south side of OHare, I head west about before heading south. Last time I ended up on the freeway going up a hill. I do not want to do that again, so I hope I can follow my directions. GPS only avoids the Interstate, and puts me on a regular highway at times. I do not mind, but I think the parties behind me do.

Hopefully I will sleep at camping places that have Wi-Fi. Otherwise I will look for a McDonalds or a Starbucks.

Taking a long way around by way of Bloomington, IN and then up to Detroit do I can see my son. Might even stop to see the Klepingers in Greenville OH. They just put up a youtube video tonight about an American LaFrance fire engine. Look up Kleps Garage if you would like to see it

I will track the miles driven and the mileage. See if I still get 22mpg in a Touring. Will try to post every day.

Good luck, and see you there. We hope to be in Tuesday evening, with Piquette and other stops on the wish list for the week.

Dave, if you're going by way of Bloominton, this is pretty much on your way up to Dearborn.

It's a must-see if you haven't been there.

I aim to start tomorrow AM as soon as there's enough light to see. I plan to go by way of Jeff City, Springfield, Indy, and Columbus. This time I'm taking a hotspot so I can use the computer online anywhere. We'll see how that works out.

Wishing yoo all a safe trip and enjoyable time.

David and Steve - have a safe trip both ways and an enjoyful time at the OCF.
We'll be following you!
(That's not a threat )

Todays stop is to visit Russ Potter in Bismarck,IL and then try to get to Bloomington iN where I can post a few pics and tell you what has happened so far. All good.

Looks like I will cross over your track today as I head south of Indy. Columbus is out of your way unless you are heading to Richmond. Maybe see you in Richmond. Safe travels.

I hope all the travelers have good tops and side curtains! It's supposed to be rainy for the next several days. :O

Dave, I live about thirty miles west of Bloomington. If you need help with anything, 812 821 8294 will reach me. If I don’t answer, leave a voicemail. Or text me.

I made it to Bloomington at 9PM. Not fun driving a touring in the rain and the dark. I think I had at least 20 cars behind me. No passing lanes and no shoulders and lots of double yellow lines in Indiana. I did get a chance to meet with Russ Potter today. He showed me his collection a couple weeks ago. WOW!!!

My son went to a wedding and did not leave me a key. Good thing I did not bring the speedster.

Thank you for the offer Bill. I will call and say hello tomorrow. Wish I could have stopped to say hi. I went through Spencer. Kankakee to Bloomington today, but I was running late.

Where I camped the first nite. Seen driving past the camp grounds Just before I left WI Illinois, here I come.

Next stop Indiana Illinois, and I thought Milford was in Nebraska Illinois 1908 Chapel on the road to Bismark
I went to Bismarck to drop off a carburetor with Russ Potter. He is booked until Hershey, but will check it out when he has time. Was good to see him and Mary again.

Lot of roads like this as I drove through southwest Indiana. Gravel, stone, asphalt that had to be 100 years old. I call it hillbilly country. Neat round barn in the same area.

Nice photos Dave, thanks for sharing tje sights and adventures of your trip.

Dave, a quick search shows 27 towns/cities in the US named “Milford.” Of course, our “MIlford” (Nebraska) is commonly referred to as part of the “Three City Area.” Omaha, Lincoln and Milford……

Made it to Dayton Ohio. Next stop Detroit. Maybe not. I have just been told I should stop in Toledo to get a hot dog. Make Klinger happy.

Dave, it sounds like a great time! Keep us all posted on your adventure!

Saw this on the road. Had to stop and compare the technology. Breakfast location one day with Bruce, Tom, and Butch.

Robin and Holly invited me to their house in Louisville. They are active in the speedster circles and I met them there. Holly made a wonderful dinner of Ratatouille for us followed by ice cream, of course. I told them they need to go to Old Car Festival at least once. Maybe next year. I set my GPS to Richmond IN on bicycle mode. This keeps me off the highways for the most part, except it took me down a road like Pikes Peak. Turn after turn, down, down, down. Finally made it to the bottom and had a nice gentleman help me grease the car. Came around the corner from his place and crossed this bridge over the Ohio River. Then back up the mountains on the other side and I had to drop in to low. Slow going. Made it to Richmond and headed north. Phone died and GPS ran out of juice. I had to steer by the sun up to Greenville where I pulled into Burger King, charged my phone, and headed to the Klepingers in Bradford. Now to plan the rest of my journey.

I never really wrote about the first three days.
Day 1 - Milwaukee to Kankakee
I left Milwaukee about 815 in the morning traveling down 45. 45 will take you to Mobile, AL if you want to go that far. It is a pretty safe road in WI with sparse traffic. When you get to Chicago you have to switch over to 83 and go west unless you want to drive on the east side of OHare Field. So far an easy drive. I must have missed a cutoff and I ended up on residential streets. Stop signs at every corner. Turn left here. Turn right here. I finally found my way to Villa Avenue which I know went south where I wanted to go. I have come to the conclusion that people in Chicago never make right turns. They all turn to the left. You get to an intersection and the left turn arrow goes on. 20-30 cars turn left and then the straight arrow goes on. You get to the next intersection, and the pattern repeats. Mile after mile. I eventually made it back to 45 and found a trailer park north of Kankakee.
RV and Campground. I pulled in and asked if he had a space for tonite. He had 25 spots and I was 1 of 2 there tonight. Turns out the RV's were for a few year round people. Some paid by the week for a place to live. One trailer had 16 doors - it was for transient workers like the carny people that use them. The owner, Papa Don, 71, was a great guy. I went up to see him at 6 and we talked about life for 3 hours. He then ordered a 12 piece chicken dinner that we shared with 6 others. As run down as it was, I would go there again.

Day 2

Today I decided to visit Russ Potter on my way south. Set the GPS on bicycle so I ended up going east and west and south all the way down to Bismarck. Three weeks previous I had stopped on my way north to visit him. Russ if feverishly working on carburetors before he heads to Hershey. He took me over to see his display of carburetors and meet his son Jim. What an awesome display. All cleaned up and repainted, and row upon row of carburetors, not to mention all the other parts he has. I was there for over 2 hours and Russ couldn't be a nicer host. This trip I dropped off a carb, talked for 30 minutes and headed on. More county travel. Lots of farms and lots of corn. I ended up in what I would call hillbilly neighborhoods. Nothing but trailer homes. I think some of them had been there since the war. Gravel roads. Dirt roads. A few covered bridges since I was near Rockville where the Covered Bridge tour takes place. I kept outrunning the rain until I got about 30 miles from Bloomington. I had to put up my top and install my tail lights. It was getting dark. Not a lot of fun driving a Model T on the main highway in to Bloomington. Windshield was all wet from the rain. My headlights do not really light up the road, but at least tell me where the white line is. I am sure the people driving past me when there were finally 2 lanes in each direction thought I was nuts to be out in that weather. My son said I am crazy, but I finally made it to his place. Safe for another night.

Day 3

Should I head up to Greenville Ohio to see the Klepingers or south to Louisville to see the Coopers. I went to Louisville. It was only Sunday. I had a whole week to get to Dearborn. Not a lot happened on this day. We put the top back down and covered my stuff with a tarp. Dark rain clouds followed me all day, but I did not have to put the top up. Besides, the weatherman said I was not going to get wet. He was actually correct this time. Saw a lot of lovely scenery and small towns. Very little tobacco. I guess they do not grow it around here. Lots and lots of corn and some of the roads seemed to take me through the middle of a corn field. Not straight roads either. A lot of twisting and turning across the countryside. WI, where I am from is pretty flat and the townships are laid out in squares, so most township roads go straight, a mile on each side. You won't see that in southern Indiana. It does make for fun driving and lots of looks from people living on farms in out of the way places. Not the area where you would see a Model T drive past your place. It sort of made it fun. Eventually I got tired of all the back and forth and headed to Hwy 31. Wonder if that is the same Hwy 31 in WI. Finally crossed the bridge in to Louisville and made it to the house of Robin and Holly Cooper. It was their son's 30 birthday, so had a great visit with the family. Finally called it quits about midnoc. At times the car made some strange noises, but on the flats it was just fine. As they say, 'Keep on Truckin', so I did.

You have traveled a long way, Dave. You are a brave soul! Love your pictures and information.o

Dave, It sounds like you are having a great time! US31 runs up through Indianapolis, South Bend and ends up in Benton Harbor MI. So, it's not the same road as in WI.

Someday, when I get more experience, I will have to do something like what you are doing in our 1925 touring, or our 1920 center-door.

Yesterday was more of a picture day. It started out here in this little dinner in Greeneville, OH. Breakfast with Tom, Butch, and Bruce. My goal is to reach Toledo. I have a campgrounds I have
googled. I made it. I wonder if I should stop and play a round of golf. First I have to get up in the golf cart, and then I have to find out what purpose is the cow. Is it sort of like disc golf? Do I just hit the cow, and then tee the ball up on the closest cow chip for the next shot? What about taking a divot when I tee off?
Do the supply goggles and a towel or do I have to supply my own??? There are a lot of bridges like this in Ohio. I enjoy looking at the simplicity of the span. Is it just structural or was the engineer also thinking of esthetics? Just a positive part of the journey.
As you drive through the boonies you get a chance to see all these beautiful churches. They are not stuck in the middle of tall buildings like in a city where you really cannot see how well they fit into the picture. The brickwork stands out and all the unique bell towers. My dad was a bricklayer, so I learned to look not only at the beauty, but also the work required to lay the bricks in the different patterns which create the effect. What kind of architect did they have over 100 years ago that was able to design all these stuctures? Don't forget that most of these were built before the days of the car. They were all hauled in by horse cart from the depot.

I forgot that I cannot take vertical pictures. They will not post on the forum. I do not know if that is just me or my phone. I want to get a but that requires I download it into youtube and I have to think about that. I spent a long time on Road 3. It seems very strange to be on a road with a number. What do they do about your address? Do you say i live on 7654 3 street? Is your address letters - ABCD 3rd St? It was just a long 20+ miles directly north. Put the T on cruise, sit back, and enjoy the scenery.

I was followed all day by dark clouds to my left(west), up ahead (north), and to the right(east). Someone got rained on, but not me. I was able to drive with my top down all day. I do not know what will happen after OCF. Looks like Michigan is going to get rain. Maybe I can outrace it. I will have to hit the throttle and crank it up to 35. Do you think that will do it?
Last night I went to the closest place I could find for dinner. Some would call this the local dive bar, but it was nice and clean, and the lady bartender was a sweetheart. I ordered a sandwich to take outside, but no beer outside. She gave me permission to park the T out front so I could keep an eye on it. Four guys came running out of the bar and would not let me back inside. You could tell they have been there most of the day, but they were very friendly and had some good questions. I thought one of them was going to fall over, but he held his ground. I even had to start it up and lift the hood. They were all very pleased and when I got inside one of them ordered me a beer. My pulled pork sandwich was the best pork I had ever had in my life. It literally melted in my mouth. I used BBQ sauce, but did not really need it. The potatoe salad was excellent as well. The bartender got a nice tip. I gave her $25 and got a big hug in return.

No hotspot here. Will have to post tonite. At McDonalds in Dundee. I think Ohio. Need to stop at Cabela's to upgrade the sleeping bag. It was cold last night. Heading NW after OCF to Ludington.

Dave,

Sounds like you're up in Dundee, Michigan! Welcome to my end of the country! Well, I'm from Toledo, but close enough. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for some of the names I've seen on here at the car fest. I plan on heading up Saturday for the day. If I spot you, I'll make sure to get some pictures of your car for you. I'll make sure to post an album on here after the show of all the T's I photograph.

Did you get your hot dog for klinger?

After that introduction looks like a place to get BBQ 10501 Maumee Western Rd, Monclova, OH

Thanks Ben.

Yes that is the place for BBQ. She got a very nice tip.

I got 2 hot dogs and bought a third for the guy that asked me for money.

Right now we are riding around in somebodys Model B. Forgot the guys name. He has a K here, too. Fixing a leak on the B.

I do not remember what day I am on, so I will just continue. Got a hot shower last night and again this morning. Hot water is so nice. Last night I could not find the owner of the camp ground until after dark, so I had to put up the tent in the dark. I do not like doing that, but it has happened before. The owner was down at the pool hall if that is what you want to call a garage with a pool table in it. He was playing pool with a friend of his. We discussed the different sites and how much they cost, with or without water and electricity, etc. $20-$50 for tonight. It was dark. I could not have seen where I was going anyway. It was a fun banter back and forth so he finally settled on $20. I think it just went straight into his pocket. The government will never know. Then we had to play a game of pool I have not played in probably 35 years. It went down to the wire and he won. I had one ball left on the table. His buddy had found a mushroom on the base of a tree about the size of a basketball. They cooked it for dinner and offered me some. After all that BBQ, I had to turn it down, but it sure smelled good. Time to turn in.

In the morning I decided I wanted to head in to Toledo. Some guy named Klinger on Mash told me I had to eat at Packo's, so I drove into town. I was already on the north side so I was able to drive all the way along the riverfront. Beautiful big homes and glimpses of the river. Finally made it to my destination. There were only 3 cars parked in front and one of them was just leaving. I know I probably should have gotten a chili dog, but manager special was for 2 dogs so I got that. As you can see, it is 2 half dogs with mustard and onions. There were only 4 people in the restaurant so I choose to eat outside in the sunshine. After I finished I got up to leave and a guy walked up and asked me for some money. Probably wanted to buy drugs. I told him to come inside and I would buy him a hot dog. He is banned from inside. He told me what he wanted, so I went inside and bought him a dog. I felt good about that. Time to hit the road and head to a KOA campground. On my way out of town I got to see where the local baseball team played, but no game today. I suppose I could have gone all the way to Dearborn, but thought I would try KOA. Very nice people, a bit rundown, and the lady at the desk asked for a ride. I drove her over to the primitive campsites, left the road, and we bounced among the trees. She loved it. That is what makes a Model T special. It goes anywhere. I then took her back and went to look for a site. I do not know. Looks pretty crowded. I had the whole section to myself and a real toilet about 200 feet away. Time to set up the tent, and call it quits for the night.

Today I left eh campgrounds and headed to Dearborn. I have my GPS set for bicycle so it constantly wanted me to go on a bike trail. I would backup Google, look at the map, and drive a few miles. Then I turned on the GPS to bicycle and headed on. Otherwise it kept trying to make me go on the freeway. I took my time and made it to Dearborn where I met up with Rob Heyen, Bruce Van Sloan, Kim Dobbins, Dean Yoder, and Bruce Balough. We took rides in the Model K and the Model B. We also worked on the cars so they would be good to go for OCF. Tomorrow we will head out to Piquette. Will we see some of you tomorrow between 2PM and 4PM?
Here is my cot tent in the campgrounds from yesterday. It got real cold, so I decided I needed to stop at Cabela's on my way to Dearborn to get a better sleeping bag. I saw this and thought, 'Is Michigan afraid that the soybeans might burn?' They are starting to turn yellow and drying out. Wonder if they are edible? Is this the pumpkin patch where the great pumpkin will rise on Halloween?

When you drive down the local roads you get to see many things you do not see in modern iron. It is nice to get off the beaten track and go through all the many small towns to see buildings like this 1912 Village Hall. If you haven't been, there is always good things to see at Cabela's. I skipped the aquarium, but I always enjoy looking at the stuffed animals. How much time did a taxidermist have to spend preparing all these animals? That is my new sleeping bag on the railing.

Here is a bit of a teaser for those of you coming to OCF and those of you who cannot make it. Model B and Model K. When we went to the hardware store we put Dean on guard duty. I wonder if this guy will trade for a Model T? The car runs great. It got me all the way to Dearborn. Just think how fast I could get home.

Holy Cow,
You're having a great trip! Thank you for taking us along on your journey. We're camped in Frankenmuth Michigan for the night. They're hosting the Autofest this weekend, and the town is filled with all kinds of cool cars. A lot of hot rods and muscle cars. We got here later than planned, but still cruised town in the '27 Fordor. Checkout time at Jellystone Park is 1pm. We'll see you at Piquette Friday afternoon. Myself, my son Sam, and his friend Connor.

Today was a work day here in Dearborn. Time to polish and clean up Rob's cars. We all went to lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch and then headed to the Piquette Museum. We had a little show with 7 beautiful cars. Steve Jelf showed up, too. Kim Dobbins rode with me to Piquette in the T and back again. I think today will be a picture day. Today was registration and walking around Greenfield Village. Met a few people I haven't seen in a year or more including Tammy and Scott. Enjoy.

Model S, 3 Model K's, the 6 cylinder, Model B, Model A 6 cylinder 6 cylinder More to come on this machine. It has a large blade on the other end for cutting ice in the winter.

Beautiful pictures, must be quite a sight with all those cars in front of the Piquette Plant.

What an incredible lineup of cars! And what a wonderful thing to see, Henry's own little six cylinder joke back at its birthplace!
Such a lot of history in one little spot.

Looks like Dean was sleeping on the job! LOL

TWrenn wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 10, 2022 9:24 am

Looks like Dean was sleeping on the job! LOL

When your brain has accumulated that volume of knowledge, skill, and expertise, you must allow it to rest.

Dean fell asleep early tonite so I cannot post pictures. Might wake him up. Took lots of photos and met a lot of people from this group. Will take more pics tomorrow and then have to head home. Pray the rain stays away. Rob gave rides in the Model K and Paul in the Model B.

Dave, sorry I missed your calls, as you went through Spencer! Sounds like a great trip! Have you considered going northwest to Ludington, Mi. and catching the ferry across the lake to Manitowoc, and then South? Less traffic than Chicago! Safe travels! I have been to the OCF many times, but always with my antique bicycles, and not the T’s. Blew the engine on my tow vehicle this spring, and am waiting for prices to settle down before replacing it! Bill

Bill. That is exactly what I plan to do. Head north and avoid Chicago. If I break down I have help going that way. Just praying not much rain. I have been lucky so far

Looking at the radar this morning, you are going to need the top today! Plus a wiper, or some rainx for the windshield!

I have all the photos in my phone. Maybe I can start loading them now that i am on the ferry. I stayed at the KOA campground in Ypsilati because rain was coming. I think it raind most of the night. In the morning my plan was to head to Grand Rapids to visit a friend, Brian. I put google on bicycle. It wanted me to drive on all the footpaths on the U of M campus in Ann Arbor. Got to Lansing and the must be more bike trails to Grand Rapids. Highway, dirt roads, dead ends, gravel, I rode them all. Finally pulled into Brian's driveway. Havent seen him in 4 years. Gave his family a couple of rides. Then we determined the ferry was at least 3 hours away. CRAP. Cant stay here tonight and it is dark. So I started driving and just kept going. 90 miles later and 1AM. Try to find a hotel open that late in a small town. Remember. Ferry leaves at 9.
Did I also tell you I lost my muffler again. Fell off the bracket and rolled in the street. I drove a block thinking it was the exhaust nut. Walked back and found the muffler. Some one ran over the tail pipe an squished it, and intake pipe was mangled, but muffler was OK. Lady on the corner could have kicked it to the side. It fell off right in front of her. Got all fixed and went to the hardware store to get nuts and bolts. It used to be a car dealership. Downtown. Beautiful brickwork and a full size freight elevator in the back.
I need a drink.

Henry's special 6 cylinder car that looks like an N 2 Model K touring the 6-40 roadster Model K All lined up at Piquette on Friday

Model S, K,K,K,experimental,B,A more views of this beautiful car

You asked for pictures, so here we go. Most have no captions, just pics. This is the front. What is it? You will find out later.

This is for cutting ice in the winter.

That is me on Tom's fire engine. There were 6-7 fire engines this year.

I believe this is a Model S other side of Model S

This is a couple pictures of my car on the SS Badger as we prepared to load prior to sailing from Michigan to Wisconsin. My car was the first one loaded, and I will be the first one off the ship. Age has it's privileges, I guess.

The crossing was not too bad, but I got a bit seasick which is normal for me. I was able to play Bingo and one a prize of one of those old plastic coin purses that we put out pennies in when we were younger. There were about 25 Amish people on the ship and they were allowed to play as well.

When we were about a 1/2 hour from landing a man had a medical emergency. They paged for any available health care workers to come to the cruise director's office. I had first aid 40 years ago, so I felt I could not help. After about 15 minutes they asked if anyone had oxygen and nitroglycerin. I happened to have my nitro with me which I gave to them. I have not needed it, and I hope it helped and the man survived.

The last picture is the hardware store where I went to get some nuts and bolts after I re-installed my muffler. The man informed me that the building use to be a car dealer, and had a full size freight elevator in the back that would fit a Model T. You can see on the right where to door would be to drive out your new car.

The Ferry is arriving in Manitowoc. Time to get below and get in my car. The view from my car just before I drove off. The Lake Michigan shoreline as I was heading home. This guy built a large house on the shores of the beautiful lake. The views are fantastic. Would you like this house or the next one?
This is a very simple home on the shores of Lake Michigan. If you have ever lived on the lake you know how much you are drawn to it in later years. The colors today are about as super as they get.

I hope you have enjoyed my travelogue as I drove from Milwaukee to Louisville to Dearborn to Ludington to Milwaukee. I covered over 1200 miles and would love to do it again if I had a traveling companion. I think I would find a way to skip the portion driving around Chicago. I ran out of gas one time, and had to repair the muffler after it fell off. Dallas originally helped me replace the muffler 3 years ago on my first trip to Dearborn. He said he would honor the warranty if I returned to his shop. I was only 115 miles away from his place.

I pray that Steve Jelf arrives home to Kansas safely, and that all of you have a safe journey home so that we can meet up again next year.

Nice pictures and narrative. Glad you had a safe journey.

Thank you so very much for the wonderful narrative! I have followed it every day since you began it!
Wayne Sheldon.

Thanks Dave. A great way for those of us that could not go this year to get a little OCF fix.

Dave,

you just put another landmark on my (hopefully to be realised) Model T roadtrip - the S/S Badger. As a steamfreak I MUST try that out.

The best we can do here is S/S Skjelskør and you have a ride on that when you come here next time.

Hi Dave, Thank you for taking and posting your pictures, and also for the travel log about your trip. You might want to identify the picture taken on our little get together Saturday afternoon on the shady end of the game field. I'm standing between you and Steve Jelf, to your right is Ed Beadeau (I know I spelled his name wrong, please forgive me!) Behind me are Dave and Kathy Tagert. I can't identify the others.

Thanks again, Dave!

Keith

Rusty in the vest, Cole in the car or is that Cole's father, and Eric on the far left. I am embarassed that I forgot the name of the man in blue.

I also had to include the green truck pulling the saw. Dallas has competition. Great weather. Great bunch of car owners. Wish they could make everyone stay both days. Too many left after Saturday.