Road Trip

Tuesday August 23 Day 14

Destination Oregon.
From: Twin Falls Idaho to: Salem Oregon
Via Burns Oregon

574 miles
10 hours 54 minutes

We decide to drive Hwy 20 through Eastern Oregon rather than the Interstate 84 North and along the Columbia Gorge. Eastern Oregon is ‘High Desert’ and dry, range land. Populated but sparsely, and no Cellular phone service. We drive through a section of grass fire just finished being put out. We begin to see snow covered peaks in the distance. First town stop is Burns, a Cowboy/Ranch town, great old buildings, and it does have traffic lights. We drive through ‘Brothers’ and Bend is our stop before Salem, we have Lunch at a Local diner. further on we drive through ‘Sisters’ and on down past the Detroit Lake Recreational area, the Dams, and through Willamette National Forest. The scenery is now green, the trees large and tall, unlike any scenery seen so far, even at Yellowstone. Highway 20 becomes Highway 22 and it’s a short time to home.

Thus endeth the Ultimate Road Trip!

Saturday August 20 Day 11

2011 Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise

Met Alan Mulally President and CEO, Ford Motor Company.

Woodward cruise day

Drove to the Pontiac end of Woodward Avenue and began to travel south east headed to Ford Road and Mustang Alley at Nine Mile road in Ferndale.
Busiest most congested section of Woodward is between 12 Mile and 14 Mile.  If a vehicle exists, it’s likely to be here, somewhere.

Just past Nine mile we turned around and drove back up past Mustang Alley, finally finding a good spot to park only one block off of Ford Road, right next to the Shelby area.  Mustangs galore, all years, spread down many blocks of Nine Mile.  Shelby and the Shelby club had a good representation.
Headed toward Woodward end We decide to stop for lunch at a newer Cafe named ‘Torino’.  Appropriate for’ Ford Road’.

Who walks by but Alan Mulally himself, CEO of Ford Motor Company!

After lunch we head up to the Woodward end and the main Ford display.  The new 2012 Festiva Sports/Performance vehicle is on display and it looks impressive.  Should be a popular car.  Also present are many new Boss302 Mustangs, including the Leguna Seca.  One was set up on a stand and turned sideways to feature the undercarriage.  Very impressive car.  Well done Ford!

We leave Nine Mile and head toward 14 Mile and the Burger King where the Motor City Marauders Club is set up.  Before getting there the sky turns and in an instant Woodward is struck with high wind and bucketing rain.  A real mess.  Tent shelters are blown over, Garbage is blown everywhere.  People stand trying to hold down their shelters.  Vendors god safe blown about and soaked through.

The dream cruise is over.  We drive on and head for home.  No doubt though later when the storm is past diehards return to cruise some more.We learn later the storm was much worse than we saw.  Trees were broken and uprooted falling on people’s houses and cars, not far from Woodward.  Some people lost electricity.