Joe Machado here with the results and findings of the trip from Palm Desert, Calif to Denver, Colo. This trip was also to test on what to see and do as I plan my future business for the Classic Car Tours.
I found some Imperials and other Mopars along the way by taking two lane black top roads. That will be discussed here also.
We left here Wednesday noon, 12:30pm, the 21st of April with two grandchildren and my wife, Tonya. This day was to get as far as possible before going to Zion National Park, Utah. Made Mesquite, Nev., just before sunset. Spent the night here.
Thursday morning, we ate in St. George, Utah, then headed for Hwy. 9 toward Zion.
We had a ball with the grandchildren in Zion as they are 3 and 5 years old. Was there for half of the day and carried a large ice chest so we could do picnics with the kids. It brought back memories of my two children when we used to travel the country in the very same car back in 1985. That trip was 7,000 miles, 32 states across America and Canada.
The next two lane blacktop from Hwy 9 was a left turn on Old US Hwy 89 to Hwy 12. There a right turn, Easterly bound to Escalante, Utah, where we spent the night and it was getting very cold. In the low 40'.
Next morning we awoke to ice on the ground and continued on Hwy 12.
After about a 1/2 hour of driving, we started getting snow and icy roads and was hungry. After breakfast, I knew we needed to make time and it was not feasible to have a picnic for the kids, so we had to eat at a restaurant.
Being Friday and we needed to be in Denver that evening, we headed down the road in the snow and ice and only saw snow plows out there with us.
Hwy 12 headed North to Hwy 24. Then headed East to Hanksville where the hwy headed North to Interstate 70. From here we headed hard for Denver in snow and ice all the way to I-470.
When we arrived at our Daughters there was about 1 foot of snow and still falling.
I will not bore you with the goings on there.
We left Denver the following Thursday morning as it was starting to snow again after being 81 degrees Wednesday, the 28th. We drove down I-25 toward New Mexico, as I-70 West was in heavy snow. No, not again!
It kept snowing or rain all the way to the New Mexico line.
In New Mexico, the radio was talking about I-40 being closed due to heavy winds and blowing dust to the point that I-40 was closed. So, I just headed South so we could take US Hwy 60 West.
Belen, New Mexico is where we decided to spend the night and found a 50's diner that looked to be fun. We hit the diner for breakfast and noticed that most of the posters there were of Mopars in new car ads.
Upon leaving the diner and heading South on I-25, we drove to Socorro, New Mexico and turned West onto US Hwy 60.
There I found a huge yard of old cars lined up like they were for sale. There was a 62 Imperial, white 4 door if anyone is interested. We drove West and in Quemado, New Mexico I saw what looks like a 59 Imperial on my left, next to a home, outside in the weather as if it has been sitting for a few years. It looked to be a 2 door. Is anyone looking for one, well there it is. And, oh yes, in Datil I saw a lot of Mopars, like a 56 New Yorker, red and white sitting outside a home.
From the New Mexico-Arizona line we stayed on US Hwy 60 West thru to Apache Junction.
Now, for those of you looking for a place with lots of cars, and many Mopars there also, Show Low, Arizona has them. I stopped in a restaurant for just coffee to warm up and wake up. A gentleman came up to us and said he has lots, like about 100 cars for sale. His name being, Arvel Adams. He has a towing service along with other things related to cars and told me about the cars. I asked some questions and here is a sample of some incase any of you are interested.
59 Plymouth, 58 Safari, and Fomoco's and GM. How many Mopars he is not sure of. I think I saw his place back when I went thru in May of 2002. If interested, his numbers are: 928 537 2081 & 928 537 4004. I presume one is a cell as he was answering a cell while we were talking.
Now, as for the Classic Car Tour thing, I want to say a big thank-you as many of you told me to pursue this as being something very good for the tourist and had some very good suggestions.
All were good, constructive criticism.
What I did on this trip was to put myself in the mode of being a tourist. What I got to thinking was that with the layed back atmosphere traveling across two lane blacktops roads is there can be no hurry. It is very hard to make an itinerary when dealing with roads where we had to stop, sit on the highway where it was under construction, totally shutting down and waiting for a 1/2 hour, etc. Sometimes seeing something out of the ordinary that we did not see before and just wandering about in a town, depending on the tourist likes and dislikes.
With these findings, it will not be very practicle to make positive plans of where to spend the night and deal with reservations until the situation warrants a need to call ahead. Two lane black tops roads are not kept free of snow or construction like Interstates are. Hence, I am not looking to set up a positive mode of specific places to be each day.
My tours will be set up with the understanding that we will travel at your leisure, not mine and the surrounding terrain. The weather makes decisions sometimes and detours as needed. If a road is washed out from a water storm, then time is and will be consumed for rerouting. One lane roads suffer from this and I saw where many had this happen as repairs were obvious.
This way, the travels are closer to the way these cars were traveling back when. This includes all the reasons for delays to be expected and that there would be a signature from the tourist with the understanding that these things would happen on an acceptable level so as to not be a problem, but an experience as part of the travels on two lane blacktops.
Again, I would and expect further comments to improve on what I have mentioned here as you, the tourist, would like and dislike from what I have said. I need input with the understanding that this maybe has never been done in this manner before, so it will be a learning process even after being put into use. Have I confused you yet? Well, put yourself in my position and it gets more complicated. I have to also maintain the vehicles as I make them dependable as humanly possible and still try to keep as much as close to old time sake as practicle. We will be creating memories, good and the bad, but try for the good. It will never be perfect, but fun is what I am after.
So, please, again, write me offline from the IML and I will respond personally to all.
Thank you again to all have in the past with your awsome responses. I just knew it was time for this to happen, Joe Machado
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