Dutch John, UT
Well, the Drivers are off fishing on the Green River (that flows out of the Flaming Gorge, UT) so the Navigators took over the Blog. We were warned that the “town” we are staying in, Dutch John, was going to be bleak. It’s not. It’s actually kind of cute. The cabins are new, and very well designed. We have a day to relax and explore. We didn’t have to get up early, to meet for breakfast early, to pack the car early, and get out of Dodge early. So we’re happy.
Things haven’t changed much since our first long road trip in Scotland. The Navigators and the Drivers (mostly Type-A’s), are a delicate balance of giving directions and taking directions, without annoying each other. The Navigators are still in charge of wrangling maps, Turn-by-Turn direction books, Garmins, walkie-talkies, cameras (or cell phone cameras), and coffee cups. However, this year there’s a new element – Texting. Staying in touch with each other is key. So when the Walkie-Talkies don’t work, (most of the time), we constantly text while taking pictures, and yelling directions. It’s almost impossible for Drivers and Navigators to hear one another with the wind noise that is part of the pleasure of driving in open cars.
Buffalo encounters and road work have slowed us down a bit; especially when time is of the essence because a bathroom stop is really important. As a matter of fact, the lack of equality between Drivers and Navigators was made very clear when we were stuck in a long road work delay on our way to a comfort stop in Yellowstone. Some of the guys just jumped out of the cars and disappeared into the woods!
With the exception of some potentially catastrophic events, it’s been a good trip. We’ve seen truly breathtaking vistas in the Black Hills and Northern Wyoming, (Southern Wyoming, not so much). Our post drive, evening gatherings have allowed us to relive the day’s adventures; and watch cute cowboys play pool. The weather has been diverse and very cooperative for the most part. And, extremely important, we’ve had relatively few breakdowns. Amazing!
The Drivers had a great time fishing, and caught many fish…of course, except for the BIG ones that got away! They came back with big smiles on the faces and a lot of fish stories! The photos below document that the river was beautiful and they actually caught fish!
Alpine, WY
We (two Healeys and a Cobra) departed Yellowstone on Sunday morning, headed for Alpine, WY. We drove through Yellowstone going south and stopped at Old Faithful, but it just went off before our arrival, so we proceeded on towards the Grand Tetons. It was beautiful weather, definitely a top-down day, although a little cool. We arrived in Jackson around noon and had lunch and a photo-op at the park in the center of town with the antler arches. We then proceeded along south to Alpine, a small town about an hour south of Jackson. There, we checked into our hotel, napped a bit and washed a lot of road dust off our Healeys. We had dinner that night at a local saloon/restaurant.
Below are photos of our experiences on another terrific day in Wyoming.
Yellowstone Day 2
While most of the club members have returned home, a small group of stragglers remain behind…going fly fishing. The main group, lead by Steve Kirby, departed the Yellowstone Lodge Saturday morning for Great Falls, ID, then on to Salt Lake, then home. The fly fishing group (Scroggies, Roses, & Biss’s) stayed on in Yellowstone one more day. We were picked up at the hotel by the fishing guide and driven into the park to fish the Firehole River, one of the main tributaries to the Madison. The Firehole is surrounded by geothermal features…clearly surrounding the river banks, and several which flow into the river, thus increasing the river’s temperature. Evidently, Jim Bridger, one of the earliest pioneers and mountain men in the area, caught fish in the Firehole and immediately cooked them in one of the riverside thermal pools!
We had a great day fishing and covered a couple of miles of the river. Everyone caught fish! The scenery was also beautiful and the weather was perfect. We quit fishing at 4:30 in the afternoon, but it took us over an hour to get back to the Yellowstone Lodge…due to Buffalo nearby and on the road, virtually stopping traffic. Once we got to the obstruction, one big bull walked across the road, alongside our vehicle right in front of us. These animals are really huge!
That evening, we walked to the Three Bears saloon/restaurant for dinner. It was a beautiful balmy evening with a nearly full moon. Tomorrow, we will drive through the park, by the Tetons and Jackston and to the town of Alpine for the night.
Yellowstone Day 1
We departed Cody about 8am and had a relatively short drive to Yellowstone. We entered the park from the east and did the “Upper Loop” through Yellowstone…as you can see, it was a spectacular day. Following a day’s touring, we exited the park at the western entrance and stayed at the Yellowstone Lodge nearby. This was the last night together for the entire post-Conclave touring group, as some will stay on one more day of fly fishing, while the main group heads for Idaho Falls, and ultimately Salt Lake to load the cars for shipment home. Below are some photos of the day.
Cody, WY
Another great day touring in Wyoming. We had two firsts today. First, in all the other road trips, we have never climbed to 10,000 feet before…we did it today going over the Big Horn Mountains from Buffalo to Cody. Second, we have never encountered snow before…we did today over the summit, fortunately the roads were clear but we missed the snow storm by just one day! We also encountered several road work projects and travelled across gravel and muddy roads. The cars are a mess. But fortunately, we all arrived in Cody save and sound.
There was one slight hiccup however…near the summit, Mike & Anna who were following the group in their big truck & camper & trailer noticed that Russ Thompson was pulled over working on his Healey and stopped to help. Although Russ is a mechanic, he could not solve the ignition problem on the roadside. So, Mike & Russ offloaded Mike’s Cobra from the trailer and loaded Russ’ Healey aboard. They then proceeded on to Cody with Russ driving the Cobra and Mike & Anna towing the Healey. Thanks to Mike for coming to the rescue!! (the problem turned to be a bad ignition coil, which was replaced in Cody).
Once in Cody, the team members dispersed, some went to lunch, some checked into the hotel and relaxed, some went to the Buffalo Bill Cody museum and Winchester gun collection (outstanding, by the way!). We met in the bar in the evening for cocktails and appetizers and discussed the next days plans for touring Yellowstone.
Below are a few photos of The Occidental hotel before departing Buffalo for Cody:
Here are some photos of today’s drive:
Buffalo, WY
Today, after extending fond farewells to our Conclave friends, one group headed for the airport to return home, while others headed out on their post-Conclave tour. We left Deadwood with a large group of Healeys for Buffalo, WY, about 180 miles away. Along the way, we visited the Devils Tower National Monument (remember Close Encounters of a 3rd Kind?). Although it was partially shrouded in clouds, we had a good view (see photos). It is even more impressive in person than what we’ve seen on film. The rain was just beginning as we departed and continued, hard at times, throughout the drive to Buffalo. We stopped for a potty stop and to gas up at a small country store which was quite an experience (see road sign photos). Around noon, we came upon a small town where Steve had pre arranged a lunch at “Donna’s Diner”. It was like a Route 66 diner with a lot of locals (cowboys, truck drivers, farmers, etc.) who were not used to 20 or so Healeys stopping for lunch!
On the next leg of the trip, Ed & Abby had a breakdown due to a bad alternator, which resulted in a dead battery. Everyone pitched in and we were able to get him to Buffalo with spare batteries and push starting his Healey. We charged up his depleted batteries that night.
The Occidental Hotel was quite remarkable, a 130 old hotel that had at one time hosted some of the West’s most infamous characters, like Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, and supposedly was haunted. The saloon looked like Hollywood set with animal heads mounted throughout the room and a cowboy saloon bar. Do you think that a bunch of Californian’s with Healeys stood out? After cocktails, we had an excellent dinner in the restaurant next door.
Enjoy today’s photos:
Deadwood – Day 5
We began the last full day in Deadwood with threats of afternoon thunderstorms…therefore most of us planned for morning drives and get the Healeys under cover by afternoon. At the time of this post, it is late afternoon and just beginning to get cloudy. Our group of six cars departed after breakfast on a relatively short drive short drive to Spearfish Canyon, which was spectacular. It is just north of Deadwood and is very old geologically with steep hillsides, beautiful rock formations and a couple waterfalls. Spearfish creek traverses the road throughout the canyon. At the end of the drive most of the group stopped at Cheyenne Crossing for lunch while Mike, Anna, Kathy and I continued on to tour through Sturgis, just on the other side of Deadwood.
Tonight is the grand finale banquet which will wrap up Conclave. Tomorrow morning, after fond farewells, our large group will split up into separate smaller units for the journey home.
The Banquet this evening wrapped up the week of Conclave. The Popular car show winners were announced, as well as the photo contest and other miscellaneous categories. Jeff & Diane Boysen (no surprise here) won the “Hard Luck Award” for their collision with the deer and Carol Ames won the “Best Hat” award at the Ladies Tea. Following the awards, we were treated to a very special entertainment show…a Native American music group called Brule. It entailed a mixture of old and new era Lakota music, played by a rock-opera (all band members are South Dakota Sioux). See their website at http://www.brulerecords.com.
Below I have included various photos from Day 4 and Day 5…
Day 4 Photos:
Day 5 Photos
Banquet Photos
Deadwood – Day 4
Today was another busy day at Conclave. Most people either went shopping, worked on their car, hung out in Deadwood, or went on the “Tunnels & Pigtails” tours. Tonight was the western BBQ dinner in the main conference room, including a program which presented the Funkhana, Gymkhana and car show awards held earlier in the week. Yea, our club members won several awards:
- Car Show Awards
- 100 – Lon Bender
- 100 – David Deamer
- 100-6 Peter Roses
- 3000 Dick Ames
- 3000 Modified – Ed Neumeyer
- Jensen Healey – Chuck Lakowski
- Gymkhana
- Russ Thompson
The remainder of this blog post presents various photos contributed by various members of the team.
Steve Kirby – Car Show
Terry Cowan – Custer State Park
Deadwood – Day 3
Today was car show day, so we spent the day in Deadwood. The car show was from 8:30-10:00 in the morning at the rodeo grounds, followed by a parade lap through downtown Deadwood and nearby Lead, followed by a public car show in the Historic Old Town. It was epic to see a couple hundred Healeys in this rustic old gold town. The police and many “yellow vest” traffic guards sectioned off several roads and the Old Town, which were used exclusively for the Conclave event. This was by far the best venue for displaying the Healey Marque that I have ever seen. Lining the roads were many locals and tourists waving and applauding the parade of Healeys. Something to see and experience! Enjoy the selected photos below.
Tonight we’re taking a bus to the Mount Rushmore monument for an evening program and dinner. Since we will be returning late, I will report on this activity in tomorrow’s post.
Chief Yellow Cloud
Wild Bill with his infamous “Dead Man’s Hand” 
Deadwood – Day 2
The second day at Deadwood involved taking a drive to the Custer and Crazy Horse monuments or alternatively going to the Gymkhana and/or Funkhana, or take one of the other local drives through the Black Hills. Our small group of 6 cars took and abbreviated tour, led by Steve Kirby, to the Custer State Park. The scenery, landscapes, rock formations and weather were perfect. This is one of the most beautiful places in the country, as the photos demonstrate. To my knowledge, all cars and drivers performed flawlessly. Only one slight delay…a Buffalo roadblock (see photos) that delayed us for 10 minutes or so. It seems, they think this is their road! We had lunch at the State Game Dining Hall and headed back to Deadwood by way of Rapid City and Sturgis.
At least one of our members went to the Gymkhana, and I hear Russ Thompson posted a good time.
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