Canyonland and Back Tour: Last Train to Clarksville

Today was planned to be a driving day to get us into Arkansas and half way to Memphis, TN. The day started with cool temperatures and light wind, a nice change from the awful winds we encountered a few days ago. Our first stop before we hit the highway was to gas up with more “real” gas. To save some time we got on I40 through the city and actually stayed on the interstate for 60 miles before exiting back on a secondary highway. The traffic was heavy but something we could manage, the problems were exit only lanes that squeezed traffic and construction. Once off the highway the roads were a lot more friendly to our Model A’s. After traveling for a while we noticed a distinct change in the topography, from flat farm land to lots of hills and more trees, very similar to back home in MA.

A bio break in a small town gave us the opportunity to talk to a local guy who happened to drive in with his 1954 F-500 flatbed truck. It was an original rust free truck and his dilemma was whether to leave it original or fix it up. He had replaced the original flathead V8 with a newer 6 cylinder but that was the only change. It was a great looking truck the way it was, but I think he will fix it up.

Next stop was in Eufaula for lunch and gas. We had seen Braum’s all over the place but it is only an Oklahoma chain so we had to try it before we crossed in AR. It was good, but the thick shakes were excellent. More gas and off we went. Well almost, the Bendix on Lou’s starter died again, so it required a push to get it started.

We were cruising along and I had to call for the guys to stop as my overdrive was acting up again and I wanted to check the oil, which I added very little. The problem was still intermittent the rest of the day but did not slow us down.

Crossing the state line into Arkansas, the roads around Fort Smith were pretty busy and it seemed to take a long time to finally get out of the congestion. Once on the open road again, RT 64 was a pleasant driver to Clarksville, AR and the Holiday Inn Express where we got checked in. It was now time for Lou and me to do some maintenance. Lou and his son Larry worked on the starter and I drained the old oil out of the overdrive and refilled it with fresh oil. Bruce assisted both of us. We also noticed that we were collecting some pretty good size bugs on our radiators, this could be an interesting contest.

Today was a driving day with 272 miles driven.