Blue Earth, Minnesota to Humboldt, Iowa
August 10, 2006
It was too early to quit for the day so we continued south to explore more small towns and country roads. When the county road we were on changed to gravel, we detoured a bit west to another blacktop.
Our detour took us by a farmyard where we spotted a cherry 46 Tudor with original maroon paint. We pulled in to find a nice young man named Brock working on a Mustang in his shop.
The 25,000-mile original 46 came from Oklahoma. Brock told us about a 30 coupe for sale a 'few' miles from away and offered to lead us there.
He said the coupe was rough and cheap. It was. That little side trip was 30 miles out of our way and we decided to let the coupe rust in peace.
By now our day was about used up and we had 50 miles to go to the next motel at Humboldt, Iowa. We checked in at 7:00 PM and went to find some food.
We called Jon Reed from the restaurant and he joined us for coffee and chat after dinner. Jon is an Ahooga board poster and has been our Hershey guest for several years. Greg Weast and Jon Christenson, internet friends, called during dinner to check our progress.
In order to make it to Humboldt by dusk, we had to forego a side trip to Livermore, Iowa to visit with Jim Terwilliger. Jim is an old timer with a collection of A&T stuff, knowledge and stories.
We tried hard to make this adventure one with no time constraints. Looks good on paper but to end at a motel by nightfall required some scheduling.
We had some electrical problems today that caused a loud backfire. Twice as we were rolling along about 45 MPH the car acted as if the ignition were suddenly switched off and then back on resulting in a loud report.
The cause is likely an intermittent short or open. All the insulation is brittle as uncooked spaghetti so it is difficult to trouble shoot or repair.
Tomorrow morning we will do a complete rewire. Continuing as is will likely blow out the muffler, manifold gasket or head gasket. We can deal with wiring easier than a blown muffler or gasket. Jon offered the use of his shop and pick-up so we will do the rewire there.
August 10, 2006
