Santa Fe New Mexico to Albuquerque New Mexico - about 110 miles.

We are up on what they call the high plains over 7000 feet that is as high as mount Ruapehu. Hence we have had untold issues with vaporised fuel etc. Never the less we only had one Jeep we had to load twice.

The first load was straight forward in the middle of the road, using Kenny’s 20 ton semi-truck to block traffic. The second load was chaos; the Jeep had pulled off the road into an earthmoving site blocking the motor scrapers and dump trucks. A second recovery vehicle bellied on the curb leaving him stranded across one lane. One of the 5 ton heavies hooked on a chain and pulled him clear but bent the trailer leg in the process, more welding....

We managed to push the dead Jeep onto the trailer. We got back on track and took a wrong turn and Recovery team ended up three miles in the wrong direction. By the time we caught up with the convoy we had missed the daily drivers meeting.

We were given two memorial VFW gold coins for services rendered to the convoy.

We crossed the Rio Grande River like a rocket sled on rails.

Not a good day to be in the USA after the shooting at Las Vegas. Everyone on the convoy is in a pretty depressed state, all flags including our NZ flags are at half-mast.

Today is a rest day and it did not start well, the big red Dodge Ram would not start so it was off to the battery shop to get two new 850cca batteries.

Next we had a Jeep on the trailer with a dodgy starter motor which we fixed in short order. Next there was a Willys wagon with brake adjusting to be done. After that there was a Jeep M38A1 that pulled in with a new cylinder head to be installed. The old one had blown the head gasket and had overheating issues. The job was done in a Walmart car park.

Yates and co installed new brake shoes and wheel cylinders to provide Mitche's M37 with some method of stopping.

Peter, Paul and waiting for Mary

Tucumcari New Mexico to Santa Fe New Mexico 210 miles.

A very long day 210 miles at 25 miles an hour equals 8 hours driving plus two hours of rest stops etc. The environment of the route resembles the Mckenzie country . We were surrounded by Mesa or table top mountains, utterly spectacular drive, punctuated by pedestrian Tarantulas crossing the highways looking for a mate.

We had the M170 ambulance back on the trailer from first gear as it was running like a dog on only three cylinders. We had other issues to deal with including the Dodge Ram having flat batteries and another Dodge M37 running out of gas on the freeway. The State Trooper had no sense of humour about the situation. It was the third time this truck had run out of gas on the convoy. Paul has given the driver some very serious counselling.

Haigh and Parker Christensen.

Parker is 13 years old and loves MVs. Capt Boots shouted him a three yr subscription to the MVPA, and arranged for him to join the convoy for 3 days riding in different vehicles between rest stops.

Regards Good Peter (Peter Haigh) Bad Peter (Peter Yates) and Paul the Baptist

Day 15 Amarillo Texas to Tucumcari New Mexico about 120 miles

A very good day with nothing busted.

 
This pic is Mike Edridge who bought his 1944 Bedford all the way from Pelorus Marlborough NZ. Mike runs an earthmoving/contracting business. The Bedford has a leaking brake cylinder which they are fixing on the next rest day. His previous event was the Alcan Alaska Highway Convoy. Mike Is a member of the NZMVC, and is preparing a Series 1 Landrover, in addition to the Bedford for the Armistice 100 Convoy.

Mike and Diana from Texas in their Mercury 1946 V8. This is the truck that had the broken main bearing cap back in Chicago. Mike is an Aussie who builds new Spitfires in Texas. See supermarineaircraft.com

This pic is of two characters who turn up at our camp every night Leroy with the beard and JT. Leroy is practicing Gidday mate, with limited success.

Regards peter and Paul and still no Mary

Shamrock Texas to Amarillo Texas about 100 miles.

Well the day started a disaster. Right at the start we had a Jeep ambulance that was no go so we loaded him on the trailer. Then another Jeep ambulance was dead at the start so we loaded him.

Now we were two up on the trailer and that adds up to about seven tonne on the back of my Dodge Ram. Thank god she is the heavy duty model because that is one hell of a load. 100 yards from the start and we have another dead Jeep that was no go, so we put him up on Paul's trailer.

Another few miles and another dead Jeep with a broken fanny. He gets loaded on our last trailer.

The convoy finished early at noon and we spent the whole afternoon getting everything running again. We were given beer, money and shouted out to a big Texan steak house and challenged to eat a 72 ounce steak, we declined the challenge ( 72 ounce is about 2 kg )

Regards Peter, Paul and still no Mary

We gained a new asset yesterday. Paul now has his own 2016 Jeep JK 4 door and trailer.

The convoy ran pretty good yesterday with only one break down - a 1955 jeep M170 ambulance . The vast majority of the Americans on the convoy are in a state of depression because of the death of Hugh Hefner the founder of playboy.

A 1983 M915 AM General owned by Kenny Fields and the trailer is a M337. The truck engine is a Cummings 855  developing 400HP. Kenny bought the truck for US$5400 and it only has 4800 original miles! [It will have a lot more after this trip!]

This was typed up by Jim Diamond of New Jersey and dictated by Good Peter.

#MVPACONVOY

Today is a rest day it is raining cats and dogs. We are parked up at Fort Reno, Oklahoma

We have decided to profile some of the convoy vehicles.
 
This is a Chevrolet one and a half ton truck from World War Two.

This truck is owned by Warren Duchesne he bought it a year ago for $1000. Previously owned by the Colorado School District. It was used to recover stranded snow bound school buses and to fetch snow bound children inaccessible to buses. Unbelievably, the complete tool kit still in Cosmoline preservative, the original extinguisher and the rifle rack were still in the truck.

The military designation is G506. It has a 235 cubic inch 83 HP engine. It has a 4 speed gear box and a two speed transfer case. It is the baby sister to the famous GMC (General Motors Corp).

151,053 Trucks made, most exported to Russia and UK

More info: http://vehiclesofvictory.com/chevy-g506/chevy-background/

Encouage the boys and send your comments to haigh.co@xtra.co.nz

#MVPACONVOY

The B team (Jim Diamond) replaced a bad spark plug in the Jeepster. Lanny ready to hit the Indy 500 and take on all comers.

No military vehicles on the trailer, no spanner work. Grizz ripped up a fan belt, and Hospice Inc. made some more dough.

Police escorts becoming embarrassing, up to 20 cruisers at a time screaming past us shutting down intersections, makes you wonder if they are trying to run us out of town. Wet rainy day reminded us of home, 100's of people lining the streets with brollies waving US flags honouring their veterans.

Tomorrow is a rest day. We have a list of issues to be dealt with:

1. The Commanding Officer of the convoy wants his steering knuckle looked at.

2. Frank driving another wants brake light looked at and vacuum wipers fixed.

3. John G wants his starter motor swapped out.

4. The Medical Officer driving an M37 + trailer wants an oil leak attended to.

5. One of the younger ladies in the convoy has a clothing strap that needs adjusting. There has been no shortage of Deputy's offering assistance to help us with this issue.

6. Last but not least Weaner the camp Jack Russell, and veteran of four convoys has requested we give him a bath with all the extras.
 
Peter, Grizz and Paul.

From somewhere in Oklahoma to somewhere else in Oklahoma, maybe Miami OK to Sapulpa OK, the days are starting to blend together.

We decided to slum it in a motel with a hot shower, so we made a clean start to the day.

We are partners in a new business venture brokering spare parts to keep vehicles running. We have named it Hospice Parts Inc., and should make a few bucks if the vehicles don't expire. We have already had one Dodge heart valve fatality.

Our gifted toolset has suffered a loss; the 7/16" wrench is AWOL, or possibly MIA. Bad Peter (Peter Yates) aka (Grizz) has denied all knowledge, and on investigation, offers no credible explanation for its absence, after some repair works on the Dodge brakes.

Hospice Inc. brokered a new carb for the Jeepster, complete with brass fittings from another vendor.

All is good

Regards Peter Yates, Peter Haigh and Paul Baptist

Branson Missouri to Claremore Oklahoma about 120 miles

The day started with  a dead Jeepster at the the start point which we loaded on the trailer.

We then got a radio call that a M101 trailer had come loose with a broken coupling. We loaded it on to our number two recovery trailer. We sent a request out by radio to Dolly in the forward recon unit to find a welder man and get him to the lunch break point. Dolly is a girl who can get and make the impossible happen and sure enough there is a welder man with a portable welder big enough to weld the iceberg split in the Titanic. The trailer coupling is welded up in short order.

Paul and I get the hood up on the 46 Jeepster. We get it going adjust the idle and decide it is good to go and set it loose.. Well  it only ran about a mile then went dead again so we reload onto the trailer. This caused all sorts traffic drama and bent a sheriff deputy right out of shape to the extent that he stated that " this is a circus equivalent to 10 monkeys shagging a donut"

We arrived at the finish point for the day and worked on the Jeepster till midnight and replaced its  carburetor. We used some no 8 wire to hook up the throttle linkage.

Regards Peter and Paul