Off we go again. This time, to the West coast for the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show. If you’ve never seen this show, you should. The indoor show is phenomenal by itself, being housed within 8 ‘not small’ buildings. As if that isn’t enough, they also have a ‘drive-in’ show that fills the fairgrounds between all the buildings, bringing in another 500 or so cars. Many of the cars seen outside could easily fill the front row of any other indoor ISCA event. In other words: its an Automobile Nirvana that every car lover should experience at least once in their lifetime, if not every year.
Day one took us northwest through the Nation of Texas and in to New Mexico. We followed our noses to Ruidosa and finally found some snow. Ok, a little left-over snow, but snow nonetheless. Old snow is better than no snow in my book.
The next morning we left on our trek to reach Flagstaff, AZ, a city that houses my favorite haunted hotel, the Monte Vista. Because I’m always up for an adventure, we took the less traveled route, through the mountains, valleys and high desert of New Mexico and Arizona. I won’t deny to having the ‘wanderlust’, so a new road is always intriguing to me. Dragging a 36′ trailer filled with all kinds of treasures just adds to the adventure.
During our journey to the NW, we stumbled across “The Very Large Array“, a curious display of what appear to be old-school satellite dishes, however they are quite a bit more than that. This creatively-named, Y-shaped grid of 27 huge radio telescopes (each is 82 feet in diameter) has been placed out here in BFE with the task of seeking out data about black holes, our sun and planets, the Milky Way and galaxies beyond. Together they create the same effect as an antenna with a resolution 22 miles across. Amazing stuff indeed and WAY above my pay grade.
As luck would have it, the Ghost did not make herself known – this time. However, ask me about the first time I stayed here, if you get the opportunity. Before we left, we found a little place called MartAnne’s Burrito Palace (Breakfast Palace is more like it). It seemed logical that breakfast would be fantastic here…and it was. Consider this my new favorite restaraunt in Flagstaff. Fine job, MartAnne’s.
1584 miles, 5 apples, 37 Tootsie Pops, countless pee stops and one Haunted Hotel later, we’ve arrived in Pomona, CA. For now we wait; tomorrow the “hurry up” begins as we set up the Hudson for its debut at the 2015 Grand National Roadster Show. For now, I’m signing off. Stay tuned to our Instagram and Facebook pages for updates to the Hudson’s first trip to the West Coast.
vaya con Dios,
Randy
