Welcome to another travel journal. I've had lots of feedback (mostly good) about our posting of the trip from Seattle to Flint back in 2011. And as luck would have it, Bob (Helgy) is going to be my navigator AGAIN next week as we head off from Seattle, Washington to Baker City, Oregon.


The Tour is hosted by Tom Meleo and Jim Farris. It is called a "Six Cylinder Tour" and is restricted to ONLY 1929 through 1936 year Chevrolets (strictly enforced).
It was CLOSED this year after 35 registrations were received.

My intention is to post PHOTOS here every day while we are on the road. So let us know what you think about them. The trip begins Sunday morning at 7 am outside Seattle. Truthfully, it has been an ongoing activity for the past couple of months in order to get the car ready (it has NEVER been driven at a VCCA event before - at least not more than 20 blocks!). And to add suspense to the journey, Baker City is about a 7 hour drive from here.

So sit back and read on as we visit the OREGON TRAIL and relive all of the adventures that those early pioneers endured....
-- Bill and Helgy

SATURDAY: Packing and loading. Last day before we depart.

Car parts from my Grandmother's 65 Chevelle.



Car Parts for other people.



Stuff to sell at the trunk swap meet.



Truck all hooked up and ready.


At the corner of....


Famous trailer seen in the G&D.


A hint of what's in the trailer.


And a peek further back inside.



That's all for now. Gotta pack some blue jeans and T-shirts. It's suppose to be in the high 80's and low 90's all week. If you've never been to Eastern Oregon, you'd be surprised. Lots of folks ended their Oregon Trail trip here for a good reason.

Now, I need to set the alarm clock for 5:30 am. Bob will be here at 6 and we'll boogie down with our first stop at Mickey D's. A guy's gotta eat... and also have some life-saving coffee at that time of the morning.

Day 1 Sunday

Driving from Western Washington to Eastern Washington. Between Ellensburg and Yakima.
No, we're not in an airplane. It's a Silverado climbing out of the Valley.


Now in Eastern Washington. Does two trucks with trailers constitute a "convoy"?


Tom Meleo welcomes us at the motel in Baker City, Oregon.


Cal shows off his "not pink" car.


Part of the line up. The parking lot is empty because it's dinner time.


The sun sets slowly on two trailer queens.


Did somebody see my pitchfork?


Free ice cream for the whole gang. You're never too old for something tasty.


Bill & Bob working hard (hardly working?) in the motel room after hours posting these words of wisdom.

Bill re: photo #4 " Cal shows off his hot pink car"
WOW! I saw it at the annual chill feed in January and it was in pieces!! Man he went to town on that, and it looks great.
I was hoping to see him and catch-up at the Auburn swap meet. Tell him I said hello and..GOOD JOB!
Jay

We're all getting on the steam train now....

Day2 Monday:

Jim Farris our leader(?), forest range(?), boy scout leader (?)...



Touring on curvy, climbing roads with almost no traffic!!! What state are we in?



Destination - Sumpter Valley Railroad. Tickets?




Here comes our ride! Tickets Please!



Some folks hide from the sun by sitting inside.



Tickets P-L-E-A-S-E-!!!!!




No caption needed.




Our Engineer. Good job. Fantastic scenary.




A visitor in the Men's Room at the railroad station!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Add your own joke here.)



Some of the group stop downtown Sumpter and grab a cool one.




See you tomorrow. Choo choo.

Day3-Tuesday:


Gathering in the parking before the Driver's Meeting at 8am. Yes, most of these are in our group. Sorry.



Oopsie - Al's car won't start. And 27 cars have already left the parking lot. This is when you know who your real friends are.




Roughly an hour later... It now purrs... Al is very happy.




At one of the two museum stops... Very old, but very cool.




Cars lined outside the museum. 33 cars in our group. All older than 1937.




Having lunch at the Senior Center. Great food for such a large crowd.




Some folks, however, couldn't wait to eat their dessert first!?!?! No names, please.




A differnt musuem downtown Baker City. Really nice, old stuff, in very good shape. Also a superb story about the early pioneers and gold miners.




Resting on the back patio, chewing the fat after a long day touring. Some spouses are shopping.... of course.




Finally, a night out at the local movie theature. Good parking spot for at least two cars.





Tomorroow is the BIG tour.... and yes, it's also September 11th. But we are out here in the boonies. Out biggest fear is running over a skunk in a vintage car. That doesn't help the market value of it. Nor do the "spouses" appreciate it.

Great tour coverage, Bill! It makes me wish I could be in two places at the same time... Have an Awesome week!

Day 4 - Wednesday:



Too much happened today... we'll post 10 photos and then another bunch in a second posting.

Follow along as we go the actual Oregon Trail!!!




















Yes, This is a "real" dirt road that we're traveling on.




Oops.... Ken's carb won't stop overflowing. That's not a good thing out in the middle of Nowhere, Oregon.




The wives don't seem too concerned -- standing in the middle of the road and all....







<Continued in the next posting.>

And the tour continued on our way to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center -- and lunch!!



Photo from inside an actual covered wagon which came across on the trail.




Sitting Bull??








Lunch was a recreation of what emigrants ate along the trail.




Rare. Two 1936 Coupe Pickups overlooking the Oregon Trail.








This is it!!! Actual ruts of the Oregon Trail.




Resting before Dinner after a long day's drive and exploration.





An evening troubleshooting a pesky generator.




Off with the "shiny", and on with the "yucky".




<One more posting for today... See next.>

Looky, looky, we were in the newspaper today!!








That's all for today... Last day of touring is tomorrow when we go from 4,100 feet elevation to over 7,392 feet in our vintage cars. Check back here to see who makes it. Ha ha.

Here is a link to the article.

Click >> Rolling Back Time

Day 5 Thursday:



Morning "roll call" for all drivers.
Not all of the people in this photo are drivers!! (Thank god.)




Mystery Blond Woman in the crowd?!?!?




And we're off. Touring the Oregon country side AND a small climb from 4,100 feet elevation to 7,392 feet!!!!













Finally. Our objective. A beautiful, natural alpine lake at the top of this mountain pass.









And... we enjoy a couple of Diet Pepsi's. No, seriously... they are PEPSI's!! (Thanks to Matt.)



<more in the next posting>

Day 5 Friday continued:



Still enjoying the cool breeze and the quiet solitude at 7,000 feet elevation.



Two 1936 Chev Coupe Pickups at the same place. Wow... You don't see that everyday. But then again, you don't often go over 7,000 feet in Oregon state.




Heading off the beaten path looking for a good photo op.




This will be the last photo of the two '36 Coupes... I promise.




Oops... this was too good to pass up. Dan and Kaydene's Pickup represents "real" working vehicles.




Back at the motel - it's Trunk Swap Meet time!!!!!!!!
(Been waiting all week for this to happen!!)




Chewing the fat inside a trailer, trying to stay out of the 86 degree heat.







And, then there is the final farewell dinner. Held at the Senior Citizen's Center.




Unfortunatley, this is not one of the locals, but in fact, our own photographer - Jim Seiber.




<Final photos for today in the next posting>

Day 5 (still):


Al and Bill - getting giddy waiting for din din.




Tourmaster Jim Farris explaing to everyone how he organized such a great tour.




The two youngest members of the Tour, showing us why they are so loveable! (and... don't ask why they're not in school.)




Kaydene and Blondie.




The "real" Jim Seiber receiving an award for all of his dedication in providing the photographic collage for many of the previous Tours.




And SUPER JIM getting a new cape so that he can now go higher than 7,392 feet!!




And this pretty much summed up the entire week!




<Time to load up and get ready to depart tomorrow morning.>

Day 6 - Friday (On the way back home.):



Leaving Baker City and heading back north to the "Big City" (Seattle).... ha ha.




A fruit stand alongside the freeway in Yakima.




I honestly don't know how Bob took the close-up photo first. Especially since we are trailering at 60 miles per hour!!




Don't blink. Here's ANOTHER fruit stand just outside of Ellensburg.




Not too far away, in this land of eternal wind, is a "wind farm".





And not too far past that, is.... you guessed it!!! Another fruit stand!!!!



And that brings us to the end of this journal. We appreciate all of you who followed along with us. Now it's YOUR turn. Organize a TOUR in your area for next year!! It's fun and educational. And best of all.... YOU get to make all of the rules!!! :-)


<Many, many thanks to Bob Helgeson for all of the photos used in these postings. Also he was a great traveling mate. And best of all, he didn't complain about my snoring!!)

--Bill Barker