San Bernardino to Santa Monica - about 60 miles

All the day started ok and we rode like a rocket sled on rails stately into the big Los Angeles.
1000 sets of traffic lights down the Santa Monica Boulevard all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

We went thru Beverly Hills past sunset Boulevard. I am sure I saw Julia Roberts out walking her dog but the sighting was not confirmed by anyone else in the convoy. Paul was sure he saw Jed Clampett.

We had drama with a dead Dodge half way down Santa Monica Boulevard which we managed to fix on the side of the road. The traffic in LA is absolute madness they drive at full bore cut in out around and thru you. No one indicates lane changes. We got to the end point of the convoy at San Pedro after 8 hours driving in LA traffic to travel only 60 miles. I.e. an average speed of about 8 miles an hour.

Our final dinner was hosted by Fort MacArthur Museum. Pictures above. A wonderful meal with final speeches. Haigh spoke and handed out kiwiana to our new friends.

There was a sense of regret and reluctant acceptance that it was OVER… for another two years!

Regards Peter and Paul

Barstow California to San Bernardino - about 100 miles

Well a good day with only two recoveries, Loaded a Jeep at start, it had no brakes.
The beautiful straight 8 Navy Packard died with a dead gearbox and it was in a narrow windy piece of road. We towed to a straight bit of road and loaded him onto a trailer.

Lots of welcome events - especially very pretty Ms Route 66 girls. We got a huge welcome from Victorville.

We got a huge welcome from Victorville. We bled Jeep brakes here during afternoon break, and put him back on the road.

Also for you 4wd nuts is a pic of a 4wd Chev Corvette with a 454 cubic in engine and a 4wd transmission.

We were hosted overnight by American Veterans (RSA) in San Bernardino. Slept on top of the trailer deck, but huge overnight dew left the sleeping bags soaked by breakfast time.

California sure is a big town. Leroy Cunha (with a beard} is a real character and he lives 450 miles from here but is still in California!!

Best regards
Peter and Paul

Barstow Rest Day – Day 27 Oct 12

A quiet start to the day with breakfast at the Calico Saloon.
Then we were on Parade at the Marine Corps base. Barstow hosts a Marine Corp Base, A Marine Corps repair facility and Fort Lewis a desert army corps training base.

The afternoon got pretty interesting as we were taken on a tour of the military vehicle repair and reconditioning facility. There were all sorts of jobs underway with work being done on everything from Humvees to M777 big guns.

The place is enormous. 250 acres with 25 acres of buildings. 1000 people work there. Humvees are reducing in popularity, and the MRAP’s being replaced by the MATV's.

Regards

Peter and Paul

Needles California to Barstow California about 150 miles

Well the day started half ok we had to deal with a half flat tyre on the big red Dodge Ram.

We rolled up into a two bit town called Amboy for lunch. The town is owned by one guy who is the sheriff, Mayor, Postmaster and Undertaker.

At the least you now who is running the place unlike NZ which is simply a third world unmitigated political shambles.

To some extent we have moved to executive management roles in the convoy as there is a guy now on the convoy who can spin spanners better and faster than us. His name is Warren and he is an absolute automotive genius.

We rolled down Route 66 into Calico - a ghost town. However 10 metres from the end point a Jeep died with a busted front diff. The pinion nut had come undone and had seized the diff. Paul used his magic and disconnected the front axles and we loaded him on the trailer.

Below are some pics of mascots two of the March units have adopted, the moose heads and the road runners.

As previously advised the Americans are desperate for more kiwis on the next convoy in 2019 so I have taken the liberty of booking Gav, Nathen, and Bernie to participate.

Regards Peter and Paul

Kingman Arizona to Needles California about 100 miles

Not a good start to the day. We had pitched our tents on some nice green grass on the edge of a sports ground. At 1am it started raining big time. It turned out to be an automatic sprinkler system had come on. Our $30 tents stood up to the downpour.
A quiet day with zero breakdowns and no spanner work.

The highlight to the day was a lunch break at the ghost town of Oatman Arizona, the mountainous drive in was punctuated by hairpin turns, challenging the heavies and trailer combos. Oatman is inhabited by wild burrows, remnants of the mining era, which get fed by the tourists.

The only other drama is the Dodge Ram has a slow tyre leak. [Confuscious says ' Slow tyre leak suddenly becomes total deflation" ED]

We crossed the Colorado River and rode in to Needles California for the overnight stop, and a free lunch.

Williams Arizona to Kingman Arizona about 140 miles, 9 October 2017

Well this day turned into our finest hour. We were approached at 5am and met by the convoy executive team and we were issued with an executive order. “Peter & Paul you guys are as from this hour and this day at appointed the official deputy Convoy commanders “we were unprepared and overwhelmed by the shock announcement. We accepted the offer as we were given prior knowledge that the refusal to take the roll was not an option.

This now meant we were only one position away from the job of convoy commanders. Not too bad an outcome for two boys from New Zealand. Now the deputy convoy commanders role involves the minute by minute management of the entire convoy.

Recovery loaded an M38A1 Jeep that used a full tank of gas to do 60 miles. Carburettor had a punctured diaphragm. Fixed at lunch break. Sam’s '47 Willis lost a generator bolt and was loaded complete with trailer.

300 yards from Kingsman a 5 ton heavy ran out of diesel... go figure. [running out of diesel used to be a firing offence at Lendich’s in Kumeu - ed]

Big drama with cops, trying to bleed fuel line. Peter rearranged the officer’s attitude and was invited into the back of the squad car with handcuffs. He politely tried to refuse the offer. The sheriff insisted, and Peter was escorted in the back to the finish line.

Peter and Paul

7 Oct. A rest day in Williams Arizona with no tool work, no recovery work and no driving.

We took a train trip from Williams to the south rim of the Grand Canyon on a steam powered train.

Today is Paul's birthday hence a big party was put together at the campsite around a big fire which consumed $200 worth of fire wood. At least 50 convoy members turned up to the party and the local pizza delivery man did his biggest delivery run in the history of his business.

My very good friend from Pukekohe, Colin Browne and his daughter Anita met up with us. They are doing a Trans America one month tour. This now means the NZ compliment on the Convoy today is now over 10 percent and it has got the Yanks somewhat concerned that we may conspire a takeover of the country.

Peter Haigh arranging the US free trade agreement with Trump, given that NZ no longer has any meaningful government. He was also put on notice by wife that lawns need attention, followed by a one month home detention.

Regards
Paul and peter

Winslow Arizona to Williams Arizona about 100 miles. Day 21 Friday 6 October

The day rapidly deteriorated into a complete shambles we got up at 4.30 am to make coffee and the CO was on the radio informing us he was towing in a Jeep for us to deal with. No amount of towing, bashing and kicking would make it go. Battery was dead flat. The 78 year old owner could not explain how why it was flat. We winched it onto the trailer. Then we winched on a second Jeep that was flooding gas. This was all before 0700hrs 1st gear. 1 mile down the road a Dodge M37 ambulance water pump bearing collapsed. Our rig was full so he was winched onto another trailer. An M38A1 jeep ran a Conrod bearing and was terminal; he self-towed with his A frame.

Lunchtime the pump was replaced on the Dodge, a new needle valve fitted to the Jeep carburettor and the generator removed from Jeep 2 and sent to the auto sparky in Flagstaff.

We arrived completely shagged at the finish point at a little town called Williams near the Grand Canyon and set up camp in a RV park. The climate here in the high desert at 7000 feet is 85F during the day followed by a frost overnight.

Regards Peter & Paul

Gallup New Mexico to Winslow Arizona about 130 miles

A long drive thru desert not too many issues with only one broken dodge weapons carrier on the trailer at the end of the day with fuel pump issues which Paul dealt to in short order.

The lunch break was at a Petrified Forest park where we did a 30 mile park drive. The best part was the view from high ground of the Painted Desert. The desert is undulating massive and appears to have been painted red. We ended the day the day in Winslow Arizona famous for not much other than the eagles song " Take it Easy"

We spent the night in the info centre car park, punctuated by 9000 ton Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains shunting on the tracks beside us. The trains are MASSIVE, 120 flat cars double stacked with 40ft containers, five engines, running every 7 minutes..........

Peter and Paul

Well, I'm running down the road
Tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on
My mind

Four that wanna own me
Two that wanna stone me
One says she's a friend of mine

Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
Drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
And take it easy

Well, I'm a standing on a corner
In Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin' down to take a look at me

Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
Gonna save me
We may lose and we may win though
We will never be here again
So open up, I'm climbin' in
So take it easy

Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen
My load, got a world of trouble on my mind
Lookin' for a lover who won't blow my
Cover, she's so hard to find

Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own
Wheels make you crazy
Come on baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
Gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy

Albuquerque New Mexico to Gallup New Mexico about 110 miles.

A busy day, started with Sam the 78yo veteran with Jeep starter problems. He had travelled all the way from California to join us in Albuquerque.

Most problems related to fuel starvation, the 7500ft altitude and high temps combined with high alcohol content boils the gas causing vapour lock.

This sign is located in Grants New Mexico, where the American Legion Post (RSA) provided a hot lunch and motorcycle escort out of town.

This is another captured vehicle that succumbed to vapour lock. We have been negotiating to purchase some of the victims with little success to date.

Peter and Paul

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