Kris' Blog #4

November 6, 2012

My little brother’s Bday! Colton is a legal 18 year old. Crazy. Today I woke up at the crack of 8am. A full hour later than expected. But oh so worth it! We finally made our way downstairs around 9AM and Kirk was already hard at work.
Once we sorted out our gear and got the final bits sorted out(Thanks to Lucas! The dude knows where EVERYTHING IS!) 

The plan was to take Kirk out for breakfast as a thank-you. In the end we were the ones saying “thanks” again.
We hit the warehouse to find Shawn some new kicks cuz he, once again, thought he was bigger than he is…..shoe size that is.
We also had our way with the plethora of DEcals at the warehouse and soon found ourselves rolling down the City streets in the HMK van again.
Kirk had one more surprise for us, the WAAAM Museum in Hood River. 

Now let me tell you, I could spend DAYS in this museum.
Joining two of my passions, cars and airplanes….I was a little kid in a toy store.
Now Kirk said we could only go thru quickly and had to basically make a quick walk of everything and leave. His day was a busy one.
And his plan didn’t work. I took as many pictures as I could and even made a few panorama’s. So many highlights, it’s hard to describe everything in there. 

We saw the first commercial Boeing, a SteamCar, an ElectricCar, a million dollar Mercedes-Benz and multiple immaculate million dollar vintage planes.
Now the best part about this Museum is that everything in it HAS to run.
Not only run, but fly and drive. Now that’s special to see all of these vehicles in working condition.
Truly a sight to see. And I couldn’t click fast enough. That is, until we entered the last hanger. 

There sat the GullWing Benz. And it had it’s hood open and the rope taken down. The owner and his son were checking compression and doing a small tune-up.
The owner Bob, told us he purchased the car for $8000 from “some Hollywood type named Pat”.
That “Hollywood Type” was none other than Pat Boone! And he mentioned it so nonchalantly.
Not only that, we started talking about racing and what we were doing in the States. Bob told us a story of the only thing he ever won for road racing cars, a set of tires. He got those tires from a young tire rep named Carroll. Shawn, Kirk and I all looked at each other and before any of us could ask, Bob said, “Uhh, Shelby” He won tires from a young Carroll Shelby! Of all the trophies I’ve won, I’d trade them in to say that I got a set of tires from THE Carroll Shelby.

And to top it off Bob also told us he was the originator and patent holder of modern day icefloors for hockey rinks. You know the NHL Outdoor Classic? Yeah, his technology makes that possible. Salt Lake City Olympics and the outdoor rink in the football stadium…..yeah he built it. The Pacific Rim Hockey League that didn’t get off the ground, he built the rinks in Asia for two years before the NHL pulled the plug on that idea. The man is an innovator and has some amazing stories. I just wish we had a full day to listen to all of them. It was hard tearing away from those guys, even moreso trying to get Kirk to leave the Museum. And for good reason, HMK is a proud supporter and sponsor of the Museum and his 12yr old son is not only an entrepeur in his own right, he is an avid airplane enthusiast and protégé to some of the guys that own these great machines. Make sure you check out those pics!
As we left the Museum we saw two guys trying to unhook their trailer from their truck. With a little help and friendly advice, they were soon on their way.
Oh and there’s a tugboat parked outside too!

Hood River reminds me of my hometown of Kamloops. Mountains all around, great weather, an amazing outdoor playground for boating, mountaineering, mountain biking, sailing, snowmobiling and dirtbiking.
An outdoorsman’s paradise.  Mt. Hood is pretty spectacular and Kirk stopped to explain and point out his riding area. On the side of a volcano and how they ride on the lava flow! Not flowing lava tho, haha.

We got back to the HMK Garage-Mahal and Kirk hooked me up with some liners for my old Team Boa boots, now they are back in action! As quick as Kirk had me set-up, Shawn had the hood of the truck up and steering dampner unbolted. Let’s not forget the valve cover of the Cummins off. The tick we were hearing was driving him crazy so he decided to adjust the valves before we went any further.
Before I go any further, I gotta talk about Kirks HMK tow rig…this is a badass rig, and I don’t even like Bowties!
This is a sick rig and will be featured in a diesel magazine soon. To top off the truck was custom made “Cat Tracks” which consist of sections of a PowderClaw track as mudflaps. ‘Badass’ pretty much sums up this truck.

So it’s all of 2pm by this point and after I had to make sure the Cummins was at TDC for its valve adjustment, which, by the way, is way tougher than Shawn lets on. Kirk offers his home to us again for the night but seeing as the weather is absolutely perfect, we decide its best to make tracks and get some miles under our belts. Besides, if I spent much more time in Hood River, I mighta not left.

After circling town a few times looking for a non-existent Dodge dealership(Shawn broke something – go figure) we decided to hit the next town and strike out for the part we needed. But before we got that far, we traveled thru Hood River and again, it amazed me as the fall colours and fallen leaves framed the whole town as the perfect place to be this time of year.

We shook off and pinned it down the Freeway. After missing our Exit, we doubled back and hit the aforementioned Dodge dealership. And of course they lacked the part we needed, but not to worry, it’s not stopping us from forging ahead. After waiting on Shawn again, AND cleaning his mess in the truck, we pulled outta town and again headed towards Spokane.
And because Shawn is the delicate “Racer” of the group, I have driving duties pretty much all the time.
Hey, he drove 1500km without anyone co-piloting to pick me up in Kamloops so I kinda feel I need to at least “beat” his KM total for this trip.
Besides, I think he has trouble seeing over the steering wheel….I’m doing him a favor!

Fast forward two mountain passes and a slight visit into IDAHO on our way into Montana, we stopped at the Crossroads Truck Stop, which is the same truck stop I stopped at on my way to Los Cabos a few years ago. After 8ish hours of driving and 900kms Shawn finally climbed into the drivers seat. A good friend would give him a couple phone books to sit on, instead I just crawled into the co-pilots seat and grabbed my laptop.

The time change blows chunks, but we are still making good time. Seems like I drive the hard parts cause Shawn is cruising at 80mph on a fairly quiet freeway. It’s almost 2am and we don’t plan on stopping for awhile but then Shawn gets tired right away....
I should mention we were invited to Helena to spend the night with two good friends of mine, Pam and Sean. I’ve known these two for 10+years and was really looking forward to seeing them, unfortunately couldn’t quite make it to Helena and pulled over at the Anaconda reststop just before Butte.
Considering most people work on Wednesdays, we did the polite Canadian thing and graciously declined the couches and decided to get as far as possible before we stopped for the night.

I plan on driving thru the Dakotas tomorrow and seeing all of that(flatness) for the first time. This will put us in Minnesota Thursday which gives me time to tear our race sled apart and get everything packed up for the ride home in the flying tin cans we call commercial airplanes.
Actually, I love flying, whether it’s gliding, skydiving, jumping sleds, or flying, there’s not one thing that I don’t enjoy about being in the air. Well, maybe that I don’t get to fly the plane…

We Have officially travelled 3551km as I type this, I’ve been along for 2000kms and drove a very serious portion of that. I think we are about even now. Nah…I’ve driven more. I’m Stamping It!

We pulled over at a rest stop in Anaconda. Time is 2:41am and we are trying out our insulated trailer and heater set-up. Cots and sleeping bags, hopefully we get a good night sleep and make our way across the Dakotas tomorrow.

Obama is in for another term and the legalization of Marijuana has surprised the minority of Colorado and Washington.

Until tomorrow!