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Day 13 - 3 May 2003

Needles, CA to Victorville, CA - 149 miles

        After a brief Continental breakfast in the motel lobby, we gather for a brief meeting to discuss the itinerary and days events. One thing everyone was looking forward to, is a lube and maintenance stop, arranged by Daves brother Cecil, in Victorville.     Last night, I received an email from Bob Kabchef, known on the Studebaker newsgroup, as "Studebob". He requested that the caravan meet him along old Route 66, just east of Barstow, so that he could take some video capture of the Tour, as they passed through a rolling section of the old road
    Dave's brother had also been in contact with Bob and I was elected to do the coordination for the meeting.

       We departed Needles at 8AM and proceeded along I-40 for a good while. Around 9AM, I started to get cell calls, first from Cecil, then StudeBob to finalize the meeting. We entered old 66 at Newberry Springs and about 5 miles later, right in the middle of the Mojave Desert, see StudeBob's , Stars 'n Stripes, 57 Transtar pickup parked outside a filling station. We stop, greet, chat and Bob asks that we follow him to this isolated secton of 66 near Dagget.

    After the 'shoot', Bob falls in line with us and we continue on to Victorville, stopping once for a refuel stop. We're on old 66 for a good while, weaving back and forth under the interstate (I-40), getting a close look at how it was 40 years ago. The road is only 2 lanes here and we pick up a couple out-of-state pickup trucks and then an SUV, towing a small house trailer. Not many can pass our caravan, given our slow speed and spread down the road.

    At one point, we took, what appeared to be a regular turn down a spur and follow it for about 2 miles, when, surprisingly, we're at the gate to a military facility and can go no further. Not fettered by this small inconvenience, we all make a U-turn and start to backtrack, then realizing, that the drivers of the odd trucks are somewhat disturbed by this 'turn' of events. They were apparently relying on our navigation. I won't mention what the driver of the SUV vehicle was trying to get across, he had to deal with the trailer.......
    We get back to Route 66 and realize the we were to go under I-40 again before proceeding, so back on track again.

        A bit later, Cecil meets us on the road and we proceed toward Victorville, where he leads us to his house and furnishes a very nice lunch for everyone while we take turns at the lube center

    A local news reporter with camerman shows up and interviews a few of us. Now we're getting some notariety and we make the newspapers in Chino and San Bernadino Counties.
    Surprisingly, the weather in Victorville is high forties and windy, but still pleasant. We're close to our midpoint, Santa Monica

    All our cars are done, we thank Cecil and Helen and depart for our Motel for the evening. That night, it's dinner at Dan's Steak House, downtown Victorville

    Morning in Needles

    This is the stretch between Needles and Barstow.

    Later on the return, we'll head down to Amboy, 40 miles south
    PALM trees .... and a pit stop
    This is just north of the Twenty-Nine Palms Marine base

    More scenery Pics

    THEN, just east of Barstow, around Newberry Springs, we meet up with Bob Kabchef, AKA Studebob from the Newsgroup Bob drives a 57 Transtar, with a great red, white and blue paint scheme

    Bob drove all the way down from Visalia, this morning, just to hook up with the caravan and take some pictures. He led us to an area on Old Route 66 where the road rolls like a washboard and took an historic video of the Tour. He, then, trailed along with the Tour into Victorville, where we had lunch and then departed

    ...more Barstow pics from Paul

    Going through Barstow, you'll see familiar Route 66 cafes

    In Victorville, Dave Farris' brother Cecil welcomes the troup into his home for a bite to eat and a welcome respite from highway travel.

    His dog 'Bear' looks on inquisitively

    StudeBob shares stories with the club

    Then bestows on each a 'Golden wreath" award

    A reporter and cameraman from a local paper interview Dave Farris about our venture

    StudeBob welcomes us to California and pays tribute to our efforts

    Cecil made arrangements for our cars to have an oil change and lube job. Bob went into the pit to show the 'younger ' set where the critical points were

    The young attendant marvels at the old technology

    In goes Norris, Paul Thrush is in line

    Dinner at eight at Dan's Steak house

    Before dinner, back at the Motel, a young father and his son, are looking over Pauls Avanti and the 55 Pres. They've never seen cars this old, look this fresh. Hesitatingly, the father asks if they can get a ride in one of them, but the schedule is tight and we have to turn them down, in order to find a gas station.

    Norris needed his wheel bearings tightened, so we attend to that in the parking lot. We also find that his oil pan bolt wasn't tightened enough by the service place. Later on, we tell others to check theirs.

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