MTFCA Forum

The Summer of 2010 Joy and I had two things we planned to do. One was to have our 2 ½ year old daughter for a week and the other was to go on the MTFCA tour to Glacier National Park. As it turned out, both were during the same week. It seemed like we could do both. I made a half cushion for the rear seat of our “1909” Touring and put a child’s seat on the other side.
The trip to Kalispell from Idaho Falls was 700 miles. We chose secondary roads and there was very little traffic on the well-maintained Montana roads. I expected them to be busier on the weekends than they were. It took 3 days each way to and from Kalispell and we had 5 days of touring through Glacier and elsewhere.
What could have been a disaster turned out to be one of the most wonderful trips we have taken. When MaryEllen got restless we would simply find a school playground and let her wear herself out. Having Grandma in the seat next to her, she got plenty of attention on the trip. I estimated 70 hours driving and 1100 miles for the total trip. It was absolutely delightful. The trip went well for the most part. We did seize the engine after one of the passes. The water had been doing fine but mysteriously ran out. After hiking down a bank a few times to fill the water jug, the engine would now turn over. Surprisingly, it started but not running on all 4. We drove a few miles to a better spot to pull over. Upon raising the hood, I saw one spark plug wire had pulled out of its connector and was burnt from the exhaust manifold. I was pleased to hear it running fine now. We had been considering it on a wrecker and back home.
Montana is so beautiful and driving 35 mph or less lets us enjoy it. We stopped at a cherry farm where we could pick our own cherries. It was just the right time of years. MaryEllen charmed the owner standing on the ladder and picking here own. We got quite a discount.
The Tour was headquartered at the Whitefish Mountain Resort. There have been several discussions here on the forum of what a mistake that was. A 4-mile-long climb with as much as a 9% grade led to the resort. A couple of 5th wheel toy trailers failed to climb it and one blew its transmission. Several cars stopped part way up and returned to a second choice of accommodations. We gritted our teeth and let our T grind its way up in low gear. No Ruckstell or auxiliary transmission, but open cars are lighter. Downhill was tricky too, but we made it each day. I don’t remember adjusting my Kevlar’s.
Otherwise, I thought the tour was marvelously planned and well run. There were about 175 beautiful Ts of every description and the best folks to be with. As a Model T attracts a lot of attention, so does a Grandchild in a group of this kind. MaryEllen got a lot of attention and would say “How Doin’” whenever she had a chance. We couldn’t have been more pleased with having her along.

The 50-mile long Going-to-the-Sun Road was intimidating, but the Ts didn’t seem to have any trouble with it. There was construction so all the traffic was going about our speed. Glacier is beautiful even with some overcast skies. The Miracle of America Museum at Polson was another highlight of the tour. I knew Gil from Montana swap meets and could see some of the treasures I had traded him. What an accumulation of memorabilia he has put together. We did not go into Canada with the cars as worries about complications with a grandchild.
The places we went and the people we met were as wonderful as could be. We would surely go on more MTFCA tours if they weren’t so far away. I can’t say enough about the folks who put together these tours. After planning and helping on many large and small ones, I know what time and effort go into them.
Thats’ my story and I’m sticking to it

What a wonderful experience! Thanks for lettIng us re-live it, Rich. Pure Joy ! (no pun intended)

Sounded like fun. Thanks for sharing and the pictures. If I were to go, think I’d select the TT with cast iron Warford and Ruckstell

Rich,

Thanks for taking the time to share the story and pictures from the tour. It looks like it was an amazing trip!

Thanks for posting. Just think of all the memories you all have. You can never replace them just add to them!

Rich, I think that is our 1909 Roadster in the background of your first picture.

I also see the Eckleys - Joy & Lloyde.

Chris, I'm sure that is your '09. I remember it being parked near us that first day, and how I admired it. You and Rose were to dressed to the nines. I thought that was grand.

That was a great tour - too bad we weren't acquainted back then Rich ! I remember Chris & his wife. We drove our '19 Centerdoor up the damn hill everyday - one of the last trips, Diane says "I smell smoke" - floorboards were just about ready to combust - made a mad dash to the shoulder & we both bailed out - lucky they didn't ignite !

That fella's museum was unbelievable - I spent most of the day drooling ! Thanks for the memories !

Wow That was an exceptional tour and our Torpedo with the Warford loved that climb except once when we were very low on gas but we made it. We were surprised to see our picture on the front page of the Whitefish paper on the Road to the Sun! I sure wished it wasn't so foggy on our drive up and we would have followed the locals back down from Logan Pass instead of following the tour route around the park. We'll never forget that tour like others they're amazing times!
Thanks for sharing the memory

Thanks for the memories.
It was a great tour.