After several months of anticipation Frank and Rick departed the Island on Oct 9th. Was time to start the Street Rodder Magazine hot rod tour on the West Coast of the USA. Our first stop was in Port Angeles for lunch with our American Cruisers Mike and Tomi Elliot and Larry Herzog. Always nice to hook up with these friends. After lunch we departed for our first major destination. We travelled down Hwy 101 to Sacramento.
We were in Sacramento for 2 days. Rick met up with some long lost (35 years lost) friends for breakfast Sunday morning. Great to see them after all these years. The afternoon was taken up by our first stop. Sherms Plating owner hosted the get together at his shop to see his collection of hot rods and for dinner. Gary (owner of Sherms) had a food truck park in his lot and served us dinner. All paid for by Sherms. Such a great host.
Monday saw us head down the highway to Fresno California. Two stops this day. Magnum Suspensions is a company that specializes in old school suspensions for early hot rods. The next stop was the highlite of the day. John Lawsons collection of 32 Fords was mind blowing. In his climate controlled building was housed 54 perfect 32’s. Each and every one of them were licensed and ready to drive at his will. He had two more buildings where several other cars were being repaired or built. Mind blowing. Next stop was our hotel in Bakersfield Ca.
In the morning we were heading towards Lake Havasu Arizona. We made a stop at the Borax mine in the Mojavi Desert. Remember the 20 Mule Team? This is where they were from. A very big open pit mining operation. We had a good tour and the guide was very knowlegable. There is still 150 years of borax left to mine. This mine supplies 20% of the worlds Borax. There was a display of products that have Borax in them. Just about everything has some in it. The trip across the desert is something else. Nothing out there but sand and transport trucks.
Arrived in Lake Havasu Wed. Oct 15. Waited for the Eastern participants to arrive. They did but only 6 of them. A bit disappointing. Wed evening was a kick-off dinner at the London Bridge Resort. Thursday we toured Premiere Hot Rods. A GM licensed builder of 1950 to 1957 Chev pickup bodies. A small shop that does a large job. From there we went to Parker Arizona for lunch on the shores of the Colorado River. Thursday night was a street car show. About 600 cars lined a city street from 4pm to 8pm. Well attended.
Friday morning was the start of the big show. The resort closed the golf course down and parked 800 cars on the fairway’s. There were some amazing cars on display. There was another dinner at the resort. Very busy place with all attendees being invited. The show carried over to Saturday afternoon.
After being on the road for a week and a half it was time to bid farewell to the new friends we met and to Lake Havasu. First day we left at 4 in the morning and drove for 12 hours to Bridgeport Ca.. Next day was a 14 hour grind to Florence Oregon. Long hours but they went by quickly. The boys could smell the barn. Seven hours to Port Angeles and a quick visit with Mike and Tomi. Last day was an easy drive home.
This was another bucket list trip completed. Whats next? We will see.
Barbados. From top to bottom, its length is the same distance as Lantzville to Ladysmith. 240,000 residents. A former British colony, everyone speaks English and many residents speak a creole type mix of words. Bajans are polite, welcoming, friendly. We never felt unsafe there, day or night. 
Thanks go to Dave and Lynn F. for finding this treasure trove of old photos. There’s 406 in 
Crown Isle Resort sponsored their first invitational car show on the golf course under sunny skies. Attended by many VI Cruisers and friends including 10 from the Olympic peninsula, Art F. caught the event with his camera.
Frank L and Rick H left Sept 6 to join up with members of Ocean Idlers, Langley Loafers, and North Shore Rod and Custom for the annual CANAM tour. This is an invitational bi-national cruise where Canadian hot rodders get together with a bunch of American rodders. The Americans, The Outriders and the Over the Hill Gang, came from Washington, Oregon and California.
Well, that was a hot one! Temperatures on the street were north of 30 C with more than 360 vintage and classic vehicles and a Cedar Rocket parked on the pavement at Shopper’s Row and the Tyee Plaza in Campbell River. The show was full of VI Cruisers, the ones that are members of North Island Cruisers who put on the terrific show and shine, the ones who put their cars and trucks into the show and the ones who parked outside and wandered in to see and visit friends. Congratulations to Jim and Lois M. for the prize win with their ’70 Chevelle on its first time out. 
Other roads... 
