Lincoln Highway
Day 27
Well, we almost made it.
It is hard to believe we had been on the road for 26 days on this incredible journey/vacation. It certainly has been an exciting adventure, but all good things must end and I was looking forward to being home again.
We had driven 100 miles from Huron when we stopped for gas in Watertown, SD. The car was running well and we were making good time. We had crossed into Minnesota and had gone about 55 miles when we entered the town of Dawson.
Steve had seen a “Finding Minnesota” segment on TV a few months back about Dawson. It is a self-proclaimed Gnometown USA. Gnomes are spread around the town and as we drove by we saw a whole park filled with gnome statues. We thought it would be fun to take some pictures so we turned around and parked. We read that each gnome represents one lucky citizen of Dawson and an honorary gnome is made in their image. After a few pictures we hopped in the “A” to continue our drive home.
When Steve started the car he immediately heard something that didn’t sound right. He checked under the hood and although he didn’t see anything, he was concerned. Hoping it was nothing we drove away from Dawson. We didn’t get more than a mile away and Steve said “Well, that’s it.” and he steered the car to the side of the road. The Model A had traveled 5,577 miles and it was done.
After doing more investigation, Steve saw the timing gear had broken. This time he didn’t bring an extra one or even have the tools to fix it, so our only choice was to call Triple A. We had one more problem, though. When we spoke to a Triple A agent we were told only one person could ride with the driver. Steve called his friend Dave and asked him if he would come and pick him up and then I would ride with the driver. Dave said yes he’d come as soon as he could.
While we waited for the Triple A person 2 people stopped to see if they could help. One man was a mechanic and was very knowledgeable about cars, but he didn’t have the right tools or part to help either.
We waited about an hour and Rod from Triple A came with a flatbed to load the car on, but we still had the dilemma of 2 people that couldn’t be left on the side of the road. God bless small towns. Rod called his wife and she came to pick me up and Steve rode with Rod to his shop, in Dawson.
Rod decided that Steve and I should drive their PT Cruiser to our home and he would come later with a pick-up truck and a different trailer to bring our Model A home in. Steve called Dave to say he didn’t need to come and we left for home. Once Rod got to our home he unloaded the “A” and then put his PT Cruiser on the trailer and drove away! Wow talk about personalized service and the kindness they showed us.
Now Steve has his work cut out for him and in the next few weeks he’ll be tearing into the “A’ to fix everything that went wrong on this trip.
We had planned on driving the Lincoln Highway going east in a month, but we have reconsidered and I think that will be next year’s trip in the “A”.
Some stats on this adventure are:
4 flat tires
2 carburetor cleaning issues
Ignition switch problem
Starter problem (I think)
We averaged 21 miles to the gallon
Drove 5,577 miles
Miles on the car 69789
If I got anything wrong or forgot to add something, I’m sure Steve will tell me in the morning!
Thanks for riding with us on this journey.
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