|
DAY ONE Monday July 27, 1998 The tour begins with my good ole' mom and dad ferrying me to the Everett home of Div. 6 photog Rich Carlson. The mid 90 degree temperatures seem to raise a notch or two when we hit our first snag - a massive traffic jam south of Mt. Vernon Wa. It's the same thing going north so dad is already excited about the return trip. Gee, and I thought a slow, leisurely drive south would give them a nice day...I didn't quite figure on it being this slow. We reach Carlson's just past our scheduled arrival time of noon. Remember we still have an eight hour drive to Medford. We pack up his low-slung wagon, then Rich tells me we have to make a quick stop...or two, before we actually get on the road. I was not surprised as 'touring' with Rich is ALWAYS an adventure as you get to make many, many stops along the way for any number of reasons. Most of them are usually far off the beaten path, and sure 'nuff, he doesn't disappoint. It's a slow day and we only have to make 3 or 4...at least one of them for me. Our planned noon departure from Puget Sound turns into a 3:30 deal, but Rich is smiling as with a rare second person on board he can fly (literally) down the diamond lanes.
About Olympia we begin to see the haggard (after the harsh western
swing) Sonoma refuges coming north on Interstate 5. A couple of the
NHRA troupe lead the way with the first recognized racer The Jerzees
Fueler of Bob Vandergriff, followed a ways back by the Bud King rigs.
Back on I5 in the fading light we run into some kind of bugs...I mean
LOTS of bugs!
It's past midnight...well past, when we come around a corner revealing
the twinkling lights of Medford in the distance. The weather report for tomorrow will see temps over 100, with cooler marine air coming in Wednesday and Friday...that night session at Seattle could be quick. Y'all come back tomorrow night for Day 2...TOP FUEL TUESDAY!
|
All images and stories on this website are Copyright Larry Pfister © 1998. Any reproduction of images and/or stories in any form without the expressed permission of Larry Pfister is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved. Some images are copyright property of others and are posted on www.horsepowerheaven with permission of the copyright holders. If any copyright images or words are posted to this site in error, please inform the webmaster via email and they will be removed immediately.
Our
stop at Willy Erp's place has the guys helping Carlson's lowrider over
the pit.
A ton
of manufacturer midway caravans have slipped by as we reach Salem Oregon
for 'breakfast'. Carlson's craving of lean, often bloody red meat finds
us at the Roadside- a pricey, peanut shell ridden, very busy joint.
Rich says the T-bones here are to die for. Mine sucked BIGTIME! Never
again, as at about $17 U.S. I figured this to be $25 at home, and I've
had steaks worth half this that were far better.
She
didn't believe we were photographers. Sucker...
Hilight
of the trip was passing Bobby Labonte.
The
window was so covered in road kill it looks like big rain drops. Ahead
looms very dark skies, complete with thunder and lightening. A late
night fill-up at Grants Pass sees a very cool looking and sounding blown,
tubbed Thames panel rumble past.
Dreams
of 250 million, and a real 427 Cobra.
Wonder
how RJ Reynolds managed this one?
A
few raindrops fall and smear the bugs across the windshield. In the
front lot of the Reston Motel are parked the rigs of Worsham, Hoover
with Hofmann's Pontiac piece at the side with Mr. Magoo out back. The
NEC hauler of Gary Densham arrives just after we do, as does the Lucas
alky flopper of Jason Rupert. Considering this race is called Top Fuel
Tuesday, we wonder where the open wheelers are. 