Montana to the Nationals in OKC

DAY 1: Left Kalispell at 6:30am on Saturday July 16th. 37 Terraplane purred to Missoula with no issues. Got 13 miles to the gallon and made the 120 mile trek in 2.25 hours. Not bad! Learned that Muralts Travel Plaza resturant is still closed for renovations so went to Crossroads truckstop and had the fastest breakfast served ever recorded at the 4Bees. Left Missoula headed for Billings at 9:30. As we neared Butte discussion arose regarding the next fuel stop. Gregg said he would stop in Bozeman and refuel stating that he had 1/2 a tank. I asked how big the tank was. He made me dig out the owners manual to find the tank capacity. 16.5 gallons is what I found. Now, GPS says we have 130 miles from our location to Bozeman and we have 8ish gallons in the tank!! I ask what is 8 times 13? So we stopped at the truckstop outside Butte to gas up after watching a semi try to make love to a camper that was passing us at a robust 55mph. I swear there was not 2 feet between that semi and the tail light of that camper. Really, I needed a break after that. We spent a bit of time at the truckstop discussing the car with interested onlookers while waiting for the vapor lock to clear. Met a great couple who have a 34 terraplane Coupe from Sheridan, WY and a gentleman who just did 4100 miles on Route 66 this March in a 37 Chevy. After trying to cool the fuel line with water to no avail, Gregg cracked the fuel line and I cranked the car and he started! As we were leaving the truckstop I voiced my fear of Homestake Pass. I had doubts that we would make this climb without incident. Terrance the Terraplane proved me wrong, passed a semi mid pass and did not overheat (with cab heater on) during the climb over the Continental Divide in mid 70's degree temperatures. On to the next pass, Bozeman Pass, which has the left lane closed, speed limit due to construction at 45 and a line of semi's moving at 30 mph. Temperature is now in the 80's and at this low speed and climb it started to vapor lock but Gregg had it in 2nd gear and recovered. We had the cab heater on and we really pushed the engine temperature to the point that it used to boil over. Luckily the new radiator did not allow this and we made it over the top with no incident. We cruised into Bozeman and onto Livingston with the engine a bit warmer than normal. Outside temp in mid 80's. We took on Livingston Hill quite confident. Up we went and at the crest here starts vapor lock again. Gregg keeps the engine going and all seems to level out. The outside temps rose to over 90 at the top of the hill. As we neared Big Timber under normal power here starts vapor lock again. We pulled into town to cool down. Not just the car, but it's occupants as well because the cab heater has been on since Livingston. The window Kool-Air was empty and we moved it to the front passenger window for more direct passenger cooling. We left Big Timber optimistic but I was not fairing too well in the heat. We braved the hills from Big Timber on into Billings with the cab heater on, the engine temp running hotter than Gregg liked and the cab temp rising. Upon our arrival to Billings the Kool-Air was empty and the floorboards so hot it was burning Gregg's feet thru his shoes. I had my legs on the seat under me as the air blowing thru the heater was burning my legs. We continued on to our days final destination in 95+ heat. We arrived in Hardin very hot and tired and the car was too.

DAY 2: Sundays are a very hard day to find a car hauler much less a rental car. So we settled for what you can do on a Sunday which is rent a car from an airport. We departed Billings in a air-conditioned 2009 Impala at noon headed South. Crazy thing in Wyoming, they have gates to closed the Interstate with a sign telling you to go back to the last town. Thank goodness it is not winter as it seems easy to get stuck in Wyoming. Damn nice rest stops though! Drive to Sheridan was a fast cool 75mph. Outside of Buffalo as we watched a summer storm move thru ahead of us, we noticed smoke. A lot of smoke but thought nothing of it. Until, we come upon a highway patrolman stopped in front of those nifty gates that are closed and we are directed off onto an exit. The smoke is thick. There are BLM fire trucks everywhere and the prarie is on fire and is burning across the road. We are sent on a 40 mile detour via a secondary highway thru oil country. Kinda cool. We continue on to Cheyene where we land for the night as we are both night blind. We do not need any more excitement for the day! Can't wait for day 3!!!!! This is not a boring trip!!