Dear fellow club members: 

I would like to tell you about my wonderful trip to the “Pike’s Peak or Bust” Jamboree in Colorado Springs. 

Starting out in my Model A on a nice cool morning from Bakersfield,

Click to Enlarge Photos

 California on Friday, June 10^th I spent three days driving to get to Colorado Springs.  The first night was spent in Seligman, Arizona where I got to drive on old Route 66!  There I met up with Larry & Helen Rose and Rick & Sharon Davis.


We drove through the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert before we got caught in a terrific windstorm.  The wind blew me away and I got caught in a giant dream catcher.

Sante Fe was our stop for the second night where we joined up with Art & Jane Tibbetts, Stu & Sue Slattery and Stan & Mary Nicks.  The Slattery’s were driving their Model A for the whole trip, just like me.


After driving through some beautiful country, we reached our destination of Colorado Springs June 12^th.  Gary & Evie Stanfill and Ken & Kava Koop, driving from Bakersfield too, caught up with us here.  John Reed with his sons Joshua and Alex were at the Jamboree too.

Colorado Springs is a beautiful town, with lots of attractions to see and very friendly people.  Over 345 Model A’s were gathered for this Jamboree.  Immediately I noticed a 1928 AA Model A Delivery Van that had all kinds of contraptions on it.

I just had to sit in the driver’s seat and try it out.  There was a typewriter bolted on to the side and when I pushed the keys some water came squirting out of nowhere and got me all wet! 

The Royal Gorge train trip was scheduled for the next morning and what a treat it was.

The train took us through a beautiful canyon and we got to see the world’s tallest bridge.  It was too scary for me to drive across but Gary & Evie Stanfill did it.  They said the bridge swayed as they drove across it.  After the train trip we drove through to Guffey, an old mining town and then went to the Florissant Fossil Beds where there were giant Sequoia stumps that were fossilized.  Interesting.  On our way back we stopped at a Wolf Preserve and got a chance to howl with the wolf pack.

My next big event was the drive up to Pike’s Peak for the Grand Tour.  I got up early, drank lots of water (to help avoid altitude sickness) and made it to the top at 14,110 feet!  The view from the top was beautiful, in fact, it was the inspiration for our nation’s song, “America the Beautiful”.

Hot chocolate and donuts were waiting for us which was good because I was famished!  I was careful driving back down in first gear so as not to make my brakes hot.
 

The Pike’s Peak Model A Ford Club put on a well organized Jamboree.  There were lots of seminars, a great swap meet

(where I met Dave Bockman who showed me some dandy starter drives), a well-stocked Hospitality Room, a foot-stomping country western dinner and an elegant banquet.

After 5 days we bid adieu to our Colorado friends, decided to take our time heading home to see various attractions.  We went to Taos, New Mexico first where we visited the Taos Pueblo.  This ancient community of 1,000 years still has Native American Indians living in it.

The dwellings have been passed down through generations of family.  There’s no rent or taxes.  Neither are there running water or electricity.  Water is gathered from the river flowing close by and propane is allowed for heat and light. 

Then we headed back up to Durango, Colorado and rode the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Rail Road.  What fun it was riding in an old-fashioned steam train!  We winded through breath-taking scenery along the Animas River.  Our destination was the old mining town of Silverton that still has colorfully painted timber-frame storefronts retaining the aura of their days as saloons and bordellos.  Coming back, the engineer had to make a quick stop because someone left a gate open across the tracks.  It was quite a jolt.

The next couple of days saw us going to Mesa Verde to see the cliff dwellings and camping overnight in beautiful Monument Valley.  The ladies were able to catch the evening and morning light for their photographs of the monolith red rocks.  At this point the Slattery’s, Davis’ and I went one way, the Nicks another way and the Koops, Stanfills, Roses and Tibbetts yet another.  We all went through the Grand Canyon on our way home, just at different times and places.

Whew, it was nice to get back home to Clara and Edsel on June 24^th.  It was a wonderful trip and I sure enjoyed myself.  I want to give special thanks to the Koops and Stanfills for all their wonderful food and cooking when we were camping.

Regards, 

Henry Bear