A lone cowboy tops a mesa in the ole west. He peers out over hundreds of miles of open country. It's just him, the horse, a canteen and a carbine. He shifts in the saddle, stretching forward he reaches along side the horses neck and gives him several affectionate slaps (Pats)... They ride off the mesa to God Knows where, Heaven knows what, but its a solemn scene played out in many an old story line,,, well this is the modern version,,, as you may have guessed this is one of the non-plate related stories I sometimes run, so exit now if you are not up to some "Chat" by your Convention tired Editor...
No dust on the Dashboard??? Yes, that is the name of this little piece. Ever since Big Hoss was new I have driven him hard and fast, been in 27 states now and two countries. Done my homework and maintenance and it has rewarded me with the mileage reaching 254,000 shortly after returning to Concord from Denver.
And just like the ole cow-pokes horse, when we reach these milestones, I reach up on the dash and rub my hand there, pat it a time or two and just think of the places we've been and the things we have seen. There is dust on other parts of the dash, but that ritual has been repeated over and over now. It has been a wonder.
My traveling partner to Denver was Paul Caudill from Greensboro NC who volunteered to go with me when Richard Fawcette had to cancel for medical reasons. Paul claimed from the start it was not just a trip, but an adventure. I did most the driving and he manned the camera for the shots at the left as well as others.
I nearly re-traced my path of 97 when I did my road trip to Tucson, stopping to see my good friend Harold Thomason, in Brinkley Arkansas. A retired military man, Harold now runs the family general store right on the main drag through Brinkley, for his Mom who is ailing. He is a good son. We talked longer during my visit in 97, but it was good to see him in our brief stop. Then on to Humphrey Ark...
In Humphrey we met with 89 year old Edgar Frizzel. A local historian of sorts he remembers when the cross roads at Humphrey were the focal point of several grocery stores and a lot of folks coming to town. Now just a speed zone on a busy rural road, the old buildings and friendly people still give you a glimpse of what life must have been like say in the 20's to 40's. We bought all the city tags and dog licenses that Edgar had... I took 19 of the Humphrey tags to Denver, and came home with none...
Paul got the dog licenses and will keep them, all dated 1946, the city tags were vintage 1948 and 1949. Next stop Pine Buff.
In Pine Bluff at a local (Big) indoor flea market we ran into a black fella who thought every license plate was a 21 Alaska. He had a badly corroded frame for a plate that had a car dealers name on it and couldn't imagine that two serious collectors of plates did not want to pay $20 for it, tossing in the badly rusted 56 Ark., plate it contained. I did get a rusty Pine Bluff city tag with a manufacturers date of 1922 on the back. That will restore to something worthwhile.
On to Oklahoma through the wilds of western Ark, talk about Country!!!
Spent the night (Sat. pre-convention) in Sallisaw Oklahoma, with no idea the adventure that awaited us on Sunday.
Leaving after a McDonalds stop early Sunday we finally hit some back roads in the OK State and found a shop with dozens of old cars around it. What a gold mine, but nobody there except some yapping dogs just ornery looking enough that we waited a long time before getting out.
I left copies of TNS on the door for the owners and explained we were just passin thru, what a nice bunch of stuff. (Where was this place, I told ya,,, Oklahoma...)
By afternoon it was 100 degrees plus, we stopped at McDonalds again only to find the severe winds had badly damaged the camper on Hoss, but luckily I had materials to fix it and a brief stop saw us back on the road, a half tank of gas and headed into the OK Panhandle... Big mistake.
You don't drive country roads in Oklahoma on Sunday without plenty of gas. We finally stopped at a farm at one point and asked a lady if there was any place to buy some gas on Sunday, she directed us back to the next town (We were on empty) and used a farmers co-op Credit card pump to buy the most expensive gas of the trip yet, 167.9. Topped it off and finally after much heartache with the camper hurting again in the draft of the 18 wheelers, we made it to Raton NM for the night. Next stop Denver...
Up and off early we were on the road to Denver and wondered what the week would bring, old friends, new ones and definitely finds, it was exciting.
At one point in our trip Paul innocently asked, "Shouldn't we check the oil?" And knowing Big Hoss like I do my answer was confident, I said "For what?"
Once in the Hotel in Denver, the nice Holiday Inn, we were greeted by Joe Chris Sullivan from La. and we saw many more friends, as the evening progressed..
I want to thank especially the staff that kept me entertained when I wasn't talking plates, Kendra at the Lobby/Bar where you could get hot coffee at 5:AM most of the week. Jacquelin (Sorry if that is misspelled) who asked for one of our convention badges for her growing key chain, and two special ladies I saw in the evenings there, Kellie and Sally working the Bar/Restaurant needs of our ALPCA Members as well as other customers.
Time switches to 12 hour days while at a convention, it fly's by, so all too soon it is time to leave. One three hour Directors meeting and I exit to an anxious partner ready to get some miles behind us. That we did. (Checked the oil,,, as suspected "PERFECT")
Stayed South of the Oklahoma panhandle this time and clipped the corner of New Mexico like before, and headed southeast across the Texas panhandle, and the wide open spaces. Into Oklahoma and hit I-40 back to Sallisaw and another stop at The Motel there where they had nice rooms and great prices. Steak house right across the street!
A full day, over 20 hours of driving saw us at the TNS HQ by just after 3:30 Tuesday AM. What a trip. We shopped and visited very little in that quick trip home from Oklahoma, but it was so good to be home. The ole truck,,, a 93 Chevy, 3/4 ton, affectionately named BIG HOSS and well known in the US now, was none the worse for wear after all these hammered on miles. I did all that worry for nothing. Heck, lets go to NY to beat the NC Late summer heat. Think I'll plan that for labor day!