It was already raining when we left the Hampton Inn in Poughkeepsie, New
York on Sunday morning at 7:00 AM. The evening before Lou and I coated the
windshields with Rain-X anticipating a rainy ride home. The windshield
wiper on the Model A Ford is marginal at best and only works on the driver's
side. I also found that Rain-X is "marginal at best." Maybe it works
better on a modern car with curved glass.
So it was off into the dark morning in the rain but fortunately traffic was
relatively light. We followed a main road for a few miles and eventually
our intrepid navigator Trisha guided us to route 44 east towards
Connecticut. We didn't actually see any sunrise but the skies brightened
enough for us to assume the sun was "up". The rain continued now at a more
steady pace as we made our way into the hills of western Connecticut.
Despite the rain the cars were running well with no issues except the
visibility wasn't the best.
In Avon, CT we parted with our traveling companions Lou and Rose as we
turned more NE on 202 and they kept going east on route 44. I reminded Lou
to stop for gas on the way home...this is worth remembering. We stopped for
a quick break and some expensive gasoline in Simsbury, CT and with a full
tank of 11 gallons (I am now positive the tank holds 11 gallons) we had our
sights set on home in Maine.
We made our way through Massachusetts and we eventually stopped in
Tewksbury, MA for a break and some lunch. The rain was really pouring down
by now. We decided to take interstate 95 all the way north because we
wanted to get home before dark. After we got through Haverhill, MA traffic
wasn't too bad on 495 and we eventually got onto 95 north in New Hampshire.
It was through the Hampton tolls, over the Piscataqua River bridge, through
the Maine tolls and onward to Portland and beyond we went. It was very cold
and damp in the car at 44 degrees. We were pretty bundled up inside but it
was still pretty raw. One half mile from the rest area in Gray, Maine and
only 4 miles from our exit the car stopped running. I pulled over to the
side of the road and couldn't believe that after 4000+ miles we might have
to call AAA. I tried starting the car and it coughed, ran and stopped
again. I figured it had some sort of ignition issue and messed with the
ignition switch on the dash watching the ammeter. Then my eyes were drawn
to the gas gauge and the big ZERO. We were OUT OF GAS! Really?? In my
focus to get home we ran out of gas. I tried adding about a pint of Marvel
Mystery Oil to the tank and the car actually started and sort of idled but I
could only get about 50 feet up the road before the engine conked out again.
I had a half gallon of coolant in the trunk so we decided to dump the
coolant in the radiator and take the empty bottle to the gas station a half
mile up the road. The bottle took .6 gallons of fuel and when we got to the
gas station the car took 10.4 gallons equaling the 11 gallons that Ford said
was the fuel capacity.
With that episode behind us now we continued on, exited the Maine Turnpike
and drove another 12 minutes home arriving about 5:00 PM. We were both cold
and wet and glad to be home after that miserable day.
Here's what I have for a few statistics:
Miles driven during the trip: 4,477
Gasoline: approximately 248 gallons. Some of this was REAL gas without
ethanol.
Oil used: ~ 15 quarts between the 3 cars. Oil change in Yukon, OK
States: 19 -- Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas,
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia,
Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire
and Maine.
Days of rain: 2
Days of sunshine: 25
Flat tires: 2
Blown fuses: 2
Lost hubcaps: 2
Replaced distributors: 2
Broken started bolts: 2
Broken engine: 1
Guitar pickers in Nashville: 1,352
People who took pictures of our cars: 1,353
Pairs of Daisy Duke shorts at the Dukes of Hazard Museum: 4
Mountain ranges climbed: 5
Continental Divides crossed: 1
Number of dead deer seen on the side of the road: 31
Number of dead deer seen in the middle of the road: 1
Other Model A's seen on the ride home: 2
Number of people who asked if bought the car new: too many
 |
| A very early departure |
 |
| Not the best visibility for the passenger |
 |
| Lou & Rose ready to put the A to bed for the night at home |
No comments:
Post a Comment