Roadmaster Road Trip TODAY

I'm about to get on the road for a full and LONG day of driving the Roadmonster. My high school friend Clare has given up on freezing to death in New Jersey and is moving down here to Texas. I've converted ANOTHER one, HA. She got a $100 ticket from NYC to Dallas and asked me to get her and drive her back to Austin. Such fun.

I also have to run out to the ranch in Burnet to get the license plate off the BBQ pit trailer my father-in-law gave me at Christmas. He lives in Dallas so today is a good day to knock this errend out. He wants the plate for his flatbed trailer, so I'll have to license the BBQ pit in my name to get a new plate, no big deal, except for the fact that the trailer is at the ranch now so is about an hour west of town in the hill country.

SO I'm driving out to the ranch in Burnet, then just going to drive north through the country until I hit Dallas...or Oklahoma...ha! I've never driven to Dallas through the country roads to the west, should be fun, nice change from the interstate and who knows what I'll see. I'm guessing instead of 2 1/2 hours on the interstate, this back way will take me 3-4 hours, but I love a road trip and it's a gorgeous day for a Sunday drive.

I figure once we have some dinner at stop by the in-laws it'll be 8 before I head back south, and Clare is moving to South Austin, so it'll be LATE when I get back home. Oh boy.

Her flight gets in to DFW at 5pm this evening. If I get to Dallas early enough I may hit some salvage yards. We'll see what the day brings!

Ok all, have a good Sunday, I'm off to add more miles (!) to my Roady!

-Mike

Possible yarding, woohoo!

Remember, TBI red passenger seat skin!

Have a safe trip Mike. I look forward to the photos.

Nothing like a road trip in the Roadmaster!

Photos from Mike'surely you jest!There is no way that Mike could post about anything without PHOTOS and lots of them.
I am curious as to whether Mike uses a camera phone or a point and shoot for his photos?Sure he will tell us all about
his trip when he gets back.
Take Care '
Jim Gordon

With all the still shots of his cars he takes on the road, I wouldn't be surprised to learn he's got a tripod that he stores in the 3rd seat footwell of the Roadmaster for just such occasions.

So how'd it go?

I forget what my wagon looks like.

toomanytoyz wrote:

So how'd it go?

I forget what my wagon looks like.

it's white with red guts, like your brother

600 miles later and I'm home at 11pm....that was a LONG day on the road, but had a lot of fun!

These are not the most exciting pics, and I really REALLY need a wide-angle lens so you could see how truly HUGE the sky is out there, but at least these will give you something to look at. Talk about WIDE OPEN SPACES.

When I left home this morning it was 60 degrees, sunny, but windows up on the drive out to the ranch. By the time I got to Burnet it was 71, and the warmest I saw was 76. PRETTY WEATHER.

For you MapQuest guys, I headed north from Burnet on Hwy 281 to Lampasas, from there went to basically the ghost town of Evant, the pretty little town of Hamilton, and caught 220 in Hico, which turns out to be a biker mecca, and 67 up into Glen Rose and on to Cleburn and into the Dallas area.

So who wants to take a ride with me? Here we go.

Here's the play-by-play. At the ranch I turned north, the windows all went down and the stereo went UP. Best of Steely Dan was blasting in these first pics.

From the ranch in Burnet to Lampasas and to Evant you are litterally IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. In the encyclopedia there are pics of this area listed as middle-of-nowhere..ha! On the upside you can see FOREVER out there...and north of Lampasas you can drive as fast as you want. Not many trees, rolling hills with a few bluffs, again, it's the wide open spaces. I kept the cruise set just above 80 on this leg. These are from Burnet to Lampasas







These are Lampasas to Evant, smaller road and more hills





Here is the bustling metropolis of Evant Texas.


I honked like the sign said but nobody came to pump my gas...



North from Evant to Hamilton, less hills and a lot of nothing!



Hamilton is actually a neat little town. I especially liked this place.


Great warm winter weather! 73 degrees. Ahhhh


From Hamilton to Hico. You could see FOREVER. Moved to my Tom Petty CD...In to the Great Wide Open.. ; )


Next is my favorite part of the trip. Hico to Glen Rose turns out to be both a biker and car mecca. No joke. From Hico to Glen Rose there are a lot of bikes, the roads run FAST, and we get into some larger hills with GORGEOUS views! I so wanted my motorcycle, but even still had a ball running these in the Roady. Eased the cruise control up to 85 on this leg and was still getting passed!
Biker fun!

Running FAST!

Look at that Vette!

More bikes, looks like FUN

Cruising Speed! Warren Zevon blasting Wherewolves of London here. ; )


60mph....ummm...yeah right! Zoommm!

Look at these views! Gorgeous out here!







Took this between Glen Rose and Cleburn. Hahahaha! Roady felt right at home!


As you get closer to Cleburn and Dallas the hills slowly melt away and the land levels out. Knew I was close to Dallas when all the radio towers came into view




My long-way took longer than I planned, and when I got to Dallas I only had one hour before Clare's flight landed. I made a quick run through Pick-N-Pull. A few plain Caprices and Roady sedans, nothing that I needed. I did take a few pics... See here







I made a mad dash through a car wash as the Roady got dusty in the salvage yard parking lot, washed up and got to DFW airport right at 5pm for Clare....could not pick her up in a dirty car.



We had dinner in Dallas and then took I-35 back to Austin in the dark. Stopped at The Czek Stop in West for some junk food, had a nice visit.

NOW if you are still with me, here is the downer of the day. Just north of Temple Texas an 18-wheeler threw a tire tread, which hit my Roady dead in the grill and cracked it. You guys know how I keep my cars and how much I love my wagon....I resisited the urge to cry. Clare had the passenger seat reclined and was dozing, and it about scared her to death. She thought we'd been hit. I pulled over and got out. By luck the bumper, hood and headlights seem fine, but I'll need a grill. Will take a better look at the car tomorrow in the daylight.

If anyone has a good grill, please let me know.

No broken grill pics gang, don't want to look at it.



Other than that it was a really good day. Hope you liked the pics.

-Mike

That sucks about the grille, and the lack of TBI red interiored Caprices in the yard.

I definitely need to put Texas on my must-visit list. Looks like a great place to be.

Flasheroo wrote:

Photos from Mike'surely you jest!There is no way that Mike could post about anything without PHOTOS and lots of them.
I am curious as to whether Mike uses a camera phone or a point and shoot for his photos?Sure he will tell us all about
his trip when he gets back.
Take Care '
Jim Gordon

Naw just an old Olympus 5-megapixel digital. An FE-110. It's scratched and beat up, but it's "old reliable". I got my son a nice new 12mp camera for Christmas and it takes terrible night pics, but good day pics. My old Olympus does ok night or day.

Besides you know I don't trust anything new.....

Yeah it never fails. In the light this morning I saw that two of the three black air dam pieces under the front bumper are now broken too. The one on the right is just hanging there by one bolt and the center one is totally bent up. Such fun.

Will be heading to the salvage yard as soon as I can.

Glad you liked the pics!

-Mike

I just looked on Ebay, no wagon grills, only sedan.

Come on folks, who's got a good grill and air dam pieces?? I parked nose-in at work this morning so nobody would see my front end.

Yeah I noticed the air dam pieces in your photos but I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news.


(Watch guys, he's going to pull the photos where you can see it. )

I kid, of course.

The air dam WILL be fixed tonight. I just crawled under there at lunch and I can put ot back together....not perfect but ok. I also snapped and glued the grill back together. It looks better but there is a chunk missing on the bottom edge.

We do what we can!

Great pictures Mike,

So what is the story on Evant?

Is there anything there at all?

I get goose bumps just looking at the empty buildings and wondering what used to be.

I now know if there is a car listed on CL in Evant,to beware.

lornejay1 wrote:

Great pictures Mike,

So what is the story on Evant?

Is there anything there at all?

I get goose bumps just looking at the empty buildings and wondering what used to be.

I now know if there is a car listed on CL in Evant,to beware.

Not much there. They have a diner and some houses, a gas station... The area is surrounded by large ranches and I'm guessing that's what keeps the town alive...as it is.

They have a website!
http://www.evanttexas.net/

I have driven HWY 190 from Killeen to lampassas up to near Temple.

GREAT PICS !Love Tejas !

GSBULLDOG wrote:

GREAT PICS !Love Tejas !

Glad you liked the pics. I love road trips!

Bummer about the grill, man...

Bondo the grill and then paint it body color.

Krzdimond wrote:

Bondo the grill and then paint it body color.

Nah... These need the chrome!

I'm sure somebody on here has a spare grille. I had a couple, but they are long gone now.

Every time there is a wagon in a local yard, the grille is broken The only good grille I've gotten was off the one wagon I parted and that went on Dusty to replace the missing teeth she had when I brought her home.

Don't worry though, Mike they are out there just be patient.

I thought about an Impala SS grill painted white...but that throws off my Roady GS theme, and I agree, Buicks need chrome.

I'll find one.

Anybody that has never been to the southwest really needs to go...you'll want to move there.

After being around trees and mountains for 40 years there's nothing like cruising across the plains and desert at 80mph, being able to see for miles!

TylerW wrote:

Anybody that has never been to the southwest really needs to go...you'll want to move there.

After being around trees and mountains for 40 years there's nothing like cruising across the plains and desert at 80mph, being able to see for miles!

Amen Brother!!

And if I start to miss trees the piney woods are less than an hour away and stretch all the way to Lousianna, and if I want hardwoods I head to northeast Texas. I love Austin, there is a totally different landscape in every direction and all within 1-2 hours. Never boring! ; )