The 1991 Transcontinental Tour - Williamsburg, Virginia to Vancouver, British Columbia
/Written by Louise Pearson. Photos by the author. Originally published in The Bulb Horn, 1991, Volume LII No 4.
On July 3rd 1991, Ken and myself in our 1911 Lozier and Marge and Earl Young in their 1913 Pierce-Arrow embarked on another “Great Adventure,” driving from our homes in the Chicago area to meet with the crews of 21 other vintage automobiles gathered in Williamsburg, Virginia to participate in the tenth Transcontinental Reliability Tour. This was our eighth tour cross country and the sixth for the Youngs. Tour Director Millard Newman, Judy and Howard Henry and Althea and Ernie Gill have done all nine tours, including the Transatlantic Tour that circled the British Isles. Our 945 miles to Williamsburg was relatively uneventful except for running out of gas and being held up by a parade in Ripley, Ohio.
The pearson’s on Mackinac Island
Williamsburg was warm, but we did manage to visit Colonial Williamsburg and have lunch in Chowning’s Tavern there. Sunday, our July 7th kickoff banquet in the Williamsburg Inn was a happy occasion, greeting old friends an meeting new ones, including Donna and Noel McIntosh from Australia, and receiving our final instructions. Monday morning, we were anxiously awaiting our 9:00 departure, this being the only time during the tour that we leave en masse. We drove in rather humid weather that reached 99 degrees part of the day.
Ray and Diane Kyle’s 1913 Cadillac
After an overnight stop in Fredericksburg, Virginia we had an interesting tour of the White Post Restoration Shop and spent that night in Cumberland, Maryland. The next day we arrived at Station Square in Pittsburgh via various routes. At one point, two of the tourers were seen going in opposite directions on the same bridge over the Monongahela River near the hotel. The Station Square project is a very nice complex of shops and restaurants near the hotel. We also enjoyed visiting the Station Square Transportation Museum.
Thursday, July 11th, was our first “rest” day. We were kept pretty busy, however. Jean and Whitney Snyder entertained us with a delightful luncheon and tour of their automotive and carriage collections. Whitney generously offered the use of his garage to anyone in need of repair. In the evening we enjoyed a dinner cruise aboard the Gateway River Belle.
On our way to Mansfield, Ohio we had a coffee and doughnut stop at the home of Paul Tusek in West Point, Ohio. We thank Paul for his gracious hospitality. Our next stop was near Canton at Bill Haines’s new home for a sumptuous lunch. His place is really a work of art in a lovely setting. The inside is equally magnificent with the woodwork done by Amish craftsmen. From there we drove a few miles to see Bill’s wonderful car collection He has the world’s largest fleet of American Underslung automobiles. Further on, Ginger and Larry Kraus entertained some of the group at their log home. At the restoration hour we helped Whitney Snyder celebrate his umpteenth birthday.
The Haines Underslungs: Count the wheels and divide by two
Nancy Westermeyer’s 1913 Franklin was given intensive care at Wayne Coffman’s shop in Tiffin, Ohio, Wayne also operated on Larry O’Neal’s 1912 Cadillac. Tom Lester had two flat tires and more problems than on five other Transcons. He even had grease on his clothes!
Sunday morning after leaving Perrysburg, Ohio about eight cars from our group met at Domino’s Classic Cars near Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their Sunday hours didn’t start until noon, but a very accommodating young lady came out, saw our cars, and opened up early for us. We enjoyed the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit, the Detroit Tigers Museum and the car collection which covers a span from the late eighteen hundreds to modern. The eye catcher of the exhibit is the 1931 Bugatti Berline de Voyage Royale for which Tom Monaghan paid 8.1 million dollars.
We were allowed two days to do the 230 miles between Flint, Michigan and St. Ignace. We decided to do the distance in one day so we would have more time in this beautiful area (throughout the article, when I say “we,” I am usually referring to the Youngs and the Pearsons.) Our jaunts included a run to Hassel Point for lunch overlooking the lake, a climb to the top of Castle Rock and a ferry trip to Mackinac Island where we rode bikes everywhere and lunched at the Grand Hotel.
Tom Lester looking for offers on his 1909 mercedes
On the way to Marquette, Michigan our odometer quit working. Ours and the Youngs’ were within on tenth of a mile every time we checked, so from then on Earl was our official mileage minder. Leaving town, we took a side trip to view Bond Falls which was well worth the extra time. Continuing into Wisconsin, the four of us spent our free evening having dinner and visiting with our daughter and her family.
In Ashland, Wisconsin we happened on Jean and Whitney Snyder doing some repair on their 1909 Simplex in a local garage. They assured us that they would be on their way shortly so we continued on to Duluth. It was several hours later before the Snyders made it in.
Edith and Henry Petronis’s 1913 Turcat-Mery (the only one known to exist), named the Merry Tomcat, had a quickie oil change. It took 16 quarts of oil! In Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, our Lozier had a Jiffy Lube Oil Change and it took six quarts.
In the evening, the whole group went by bus to Joyce and Dick Gold’s beautiful home in Deephaven, Minnesota. We had a wonderful time viewing their car collection and being treated to a steak and chicken cookout.
Alex Joyce cleaning the wheels on his 1913 Lancia
On our way to Fargo, North Dakota, we stopped for breakfast in the town of Staples, Minnesota. Before leaving town, we were snared by a local reporter asking details of the tour. She later sent us copies of the very nice article she had written about the Pierce-Arrow and the Lozier. The local car club in Fargo treated us to an ice cream social in the parking lot of our motel. It was very nice visiting with them while enjoying all the ice cream and cookies we could eat. We skipped dinner that night.
Jack and Drena Millers 1913 Stevens-Duryea
In North Dakota a state trooper was seen presenting Tom Lester with a speeding ticket. Rumor has it that he was doing 80 in a 65 zone. Tsk! Tsk! Nancy Westermeyer’s 1913 Franklin was left in Minneapolis for piston replacement.
We traveled to Bismark, North Dakota to stay on our free night. While there, we visited the state capitol and did some car maintenance. The 1913 Vauxhall belonging to Donna and Noel McIntosh was seen in the parking lot with the hood and radiator off for repair.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park s divided into three sections. We drove some 35 miles from Dickinson to visit the South Unit. We started at the Medora Visitor Center before covering the 36 mile scenic loop through the park. The buffalo roam the park, having right of way wherever they choose. We saw a herd of amost 200 at one point and many other smaller herds. There were several overlooks where we stopped to view the badlands. One of the largest prairie dog towns was visible as we left the park. The town of Medora is very picturesque, and we enjoyed the badlands saloon before heading back to Dickenson. On our route the next day to Williston, North Dakota we took the opportunity to run the 15 mile scenic drive through the North Unit where we saw more buffalo and wild horses.
Before arriving in Glasgow, Montana we toured Fort Peck Dam on the Missouri River. It is one of the largest hydraulic earth-filled dams in the world. In town we saw the Valley County Pioneer Museum covering the cultural and natural heritage of the area “from Dinosaur Bones to Moon Walk.” Owner Roy Connell gave us an interesting tour of his complex. One large room was devoted to the Stan Kalinski wildlife collection flanked by the ornate and historical Buffalo Bill Cody bar. Some of the group took in the local rodeo in the evening.
Leaving our next overnight in Havre, Montana we stopped in Fort Benton. Referred to as the birthplace of Montana, it was founded as a fur trading post. We enjoyed a walk along the levee of the Missouri River to see the historical buildings, the Lewis and Clark State Memorial, ruins of the old fort and the museum. Also, we stopped at the Agricultural Museum of the Northern Great Plains which depicts the evolution of farming in that area.
In Great Falls we had another busy “free” day. In the afternoon we visited the Charles M. Russell Museum. Featured were his home, his log cabin and the museum’s permanent collection comprised of 7500 works of art. Very Impressive. On our free day we rented a “wreck” and drove 200 miles to the Eastern entrance of Glacier National Park at St. Mary’s Visitor Center. We drove the Going-to-the-Sun Road across the middle of the park past St. Mary’s Lake, many glaciers, over Logan Pass on the Continental Divide, along McDonald Lake to the West Gate and then the return 200 plus miles back to Great Falls. It was well worth the trip.
Between Great Falls and Missoula, Montana we crossed the great divide again via Rogers Pass. This was another beautiful drive. The next day we had time to visit Thompson Falls.
Larry and Jo Ann O’neal’s 1912 Cadillac
On our next free night several of us elected to stay in Sandpoint, Idaho. We called ahead using a number given to one of our group. Arriving at the motel, we found they had no record of our reservations. It seems that the number given to us was for a motel in Pismo Beach, California. There was a music convention in town that had tied up most of the rooms, but all of us eventually found accommodations.
Spokane, Washington is a beautiful modern city. The Spokane River is lined with a great park system. Leaving there, we took a side trip to visit the Grand Coulee Dam. The total length of the Dam is just 57 feet short of one mile with a height of 550 feet. The lake formed by the dam covers 82,300 acres with a shoreline of 600 miles.
John Drew’s 1911 Torpedo Runabout was the only ford on the tour
On the way to Everett, Washington we traveled through Stevens Pass. This could have been a beautiful drive except for the rain and the road construction. From Everett we headed for the docks at Anacortes to board the ferry to Vancouver Island. We were in line for several hours waiting for the ferry. This ship hauls over 300 cars and several hundred passengers. We docked at Sidney, Vancouver Island, then drove to the Empress Hotel in Victoria. This is a very impressive operation. On our rest day we took a morning bus tour of the city. In the afternonn we drove with friends to Butchart Gardens. These gardens were formed from an abandoned limestone quarry. It is very beautiful and features sunken gardens, rose gardens, Japanese and Italian gardens, fountains, a concert lawn, horticultural center and restaurants.
Leaving Victoria, we drove 90 miles to Nanaimo for an overnight stay before boarding the ferry to Horseshoe bay, British Columbia. On the way into Vancouver, we were hosted at a coffe stop by the Rolls-Royce Owners Club at the historic Salmon House. This area was shrouded in fog, but as we left we drove down out of it. The Westin Bayshore in Vancouver was the terminus of our tour. Completion dash plaques were presented to each and every driver as they drove up to the front of the hotel.
After dinner closing remarks were made and awards presented. Each entrant received a large beautiful wooden plaque with the entire tour route engraved on it, and Judy Henry was presented with a new “u” for her typewriter. The offending letter kept sticking, so many of the words in our “Tattler” were without it. There was a three-way tie for the first place trophy: Whitney Snyder, 1909 Simplex; Tom Lester, 1909 Mercedes; and Ralph Lehtola, 1910 Buick.
We want to thank the many people who contributed to the enjoyment of the tour: Tour Director Millard Newman; Financial and Registration, Susan Young; Checkpoint, Dorothy Conant; “Tattler” newspaper, Judy Henry; Technical and Safety, Ernie Gill, Howard Henry, Ken Pearson, Tom Lester, Whitney Snyder and Ralph Lehtola. Also appreciated were the coffee stops, lunches, cocktail parties and dinners. I won’t name these individuals here because I’d surely leave someone out unintentionally. There were many things that I did not include because I think I’ve “run off at the typewriter” as it is.
Our closing banquets are always viewed with mixed emotions. We are all so happy to have completed the tour, but we know we will miss the many friends that have become our family.
This has been a great experience. By the time we drove from Chicago area to Williamsburg, cross country to Vancouver and down to Seattle, we had successfully completed just over 5,000 miles. From here, the Pearsons had their car shipped by van and flew home. The Youngs drove on down to the Monterey Peninsula to attend a Pierce-Arrow meet. They had their car shipped and flew home from that area. The 23 cars and passengers that competed our tour all headed home in different directions with the question “where will the next one take us?”
Additional Photographs Taken in Vancouver, B.C. Canada
Provided by Ken Findlay
