No sooner did we (Elayne Bendel and Jim Ayres) get back from the annual Mike Cunningham Wine Country Picnic in Sonoma on October 13th than we were off again on another long-distance road trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the LCOC (Lincoln and Continental Owners Club) Western National Meet.
Leaving the usual sunny and warm weather of Southern California we began our trip on Tuesday October 16th by heading eastward to interim stop Flagstaff, Arizona. There we intended to meet Western Region board member Jim Higgs and his wife Carol at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel.
As we hummed along effortlessly in Jim Ayres’ new-to-him 1988 Mark Vll we encountered little traffic leaving town. The route was fairly simple once we got past Interstate 15 and merged onto the I-40 toward Flagstaff.
“Wouldn’t it be something if we ran into the Higgs?”, Jim asked. Not long thereafter, that came to pass. We overtook Jim and Carol and the two Jims traveled together in their black Mark VIIs until both cars stopped for gas at Newberry Springs, California. They had time for a brief meet and greet and some picture taking at the gas pumps before each car went on its way.
Driving long distances to meets is old hat for Jim Higgs but a leap of faith this year for Jim Ayres, since he only purchased his vehicle a few short weeks prior to the meet. Ayres couldn’t help hoping for the best but planning for the worst throughout the journey. Nevertheless, his car cruised along sweetly, averaging over 20 miles to the gallon on the way to Flagstaff while climbing up and over some steep grades.
We passed a lot of interesting desert landscapes on our journey and found the scenery much more exciting than driving through the central valley of California on the way to and from Sonoma.
As we approached Flagstaff things got a bit more interesting than we had planned. Temperatures plummeted as we rode along in our light California duds. We ran into rain and then snow along the route. The temperature read 33 degrees in Flagstaff. Brrrrrrrrrrrr. Nevertheless, both we and the car arrived safely at our hotel where we joined up once again with Jim and Carol and had a great and well deserved dinner at the nearby Coco’s restaurant.
The next morning after a pleasant breakfast we filled our tanks and were off and running again. The weather improved slightly but we were still under a canopy of foreboding clouds. However, the beautiful Southwest scenery made this part of the trip very enjoyable. A target of opportunity popped up as we drove, which was the world-famous Meteor Crater. When we discovered that it was only 6 miles off the main road we couldn’t resist the chance to stop and have a look. It was well worth the detour and we spent a fascinating hour touring the visitor center and looking down into this enormous artifact caused by a meteor hurtling toward our planet some 50,000 years ago at a speed of 26,000 miles an hour! The meteor exploded before hitting the ground but the concussion caused the huge crater to form. The fragment in the photo with me is one of the largest pieces of the meteor that was found. I’m sure glad I wasn’t around when this visitor arrived!
Another potential detour popped up as we continued down the I-40 and that was the Petrified Forest where trees from a bygone era had turned to stone. John Walcek who stopped there said it made for some great photo opportunities, but we were anxious to get to Albuquerque so we kept on moving.
Entering New Mexico fantastic red rock plateaus appeared on both sides of the road and we marveled at the strata exposed and speculated about their geologic history. Then directly in front of us a huge mountain stood tall and disappeared in the clouds. We were approaching Albuquerque so we guessed that the city had to be nearby. The low clouds and erratic sun patterns made for a very surreal sight as you can see from the photo below. We later learned that this mountain is called Sandia which means watermelon in Spanish because the rocks often turn pink in the sun. As we got closer, we realized that the City of Albuquerque lay at its base. We got to inspect this mountain via the tram at close range the following day but that is the subject of another story.
At around 6:15 p.m. we arrived at the headquarters hotel for the meet, the Crowne Plaza, Albuquerque, and were greeted by something as fabulous as the scenery. Parked directly in front of the hotel like the queen she is was a gorgeous black 1956 Continental Mark II owned by Dan and Jacki Flanagan of Prescott, Arizona. Immediately our cameras were clicking and you see the results below. What a way to begin the meet!
To be continued…
The transfer of Bill Green’s 1978 Lincoln Continental to its new owner went off without a hitch. OK, technically there was a hitch between the truck and the trailer, but that was the only one. Tim Moore brought his trailer to Bill’s farm in upstate New York on Saturday, Sept. 8 to pick up this beauty and take it to its new home. He was delighted to have Bill and his wife share lots of information on the car. “It’s a great car with an interesting story,” Tim commented. They happily documented this transition in the photos here.
By the following Monday, title was transferred at the DMV and the car had taken up residence in the Garage Mahal on Tim’s property in Richmondville, NY.
Tim Moore of Richmondville, NY was selected as the applicant with the “Best New Home” for the 1978 Lincoln Continental featured in our LCOC website Classified Ads promotion. The goal of the current owner, William Green, was to find the best home possible for the vehicle, and he entrusted that task to the LCOC.. The Free-To-A-Good-Home promotion was designed to introduce the new live Classified Ads section of the LCOC website and draw visits to the website and that section. The promotion worked as intended: the traffic to the LCOC website increased by a factor of 5!
There were over 40 applications. Unfortunately, there was only one car. The selection committee culled the applications down to 5 finalists, and then narrowed the field down to 2 top contenders who had phone interviews. Most of the applications were extremely compelling and the decision process to narrow the submissions down to one winning entry was very difficult. We could have easily and happily awarded a dozen cars if we had them!!
Learn about the new owner and his passion for Lincolns in the upcoming Story of the Month on our home page.
The 2018 Lincoln Homecoming is history. This year’s event celebrated was hosted by the Lincoln-Zephyr Club, which celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special three-say tour to northern Indiana prior to the annual Homecoming weekend at Hickory Corners.
Participation at the Homecoming was down, in part, because no special tour or events were planned at Hickory Corners this year.
We did, however, have an enjoyable time—one attendee described it as “a large picnic with your car friends.” A good description.
There was a fine turn-out of Lincoln-Zephyrs and Continentals. Watch for a photo of them lined up in front of the Lincoln museum. Friday afternoon, a VIP reception was held in the Lincoln museum for those individuals who have donated $5,000 or more. Each individual received a custom-designed pin that will be presented to all donors at the $5,000 or higher level. Note: individuals who did not attend will receive their in the mails shortly.
The highlight of the weekend was the Saturday evening dinner, held for the first time at the Gilmore Car Museum conference center.
Following dinner, there was an impromptu fund raiser that brought in more than $41,000 for the museum’s endowment fund.
A big “thank you” to all who worked to make this year’s Homecoming so enjoyable.
A more complete report will appear in the next issue of the Lincoln Link, as well as in Lincoln club publications.
Best wishes—
David Schultz
LMCF chairman
Posting Contributed by Pam Avedisian
The Lincoln Zephyr Owner’s Club celebrated its 50th anniversary at the beginning of August in the Midwest. Tom and Joan Brunner led a small but enthusiastic group on a three-day tour of the South Bend/Auburn area of Indiana, where we enjoyed visits through Amish country, along the Lincoln Highway to the Studebaker Museum, the J.D. Oliver mansion and the National Automotive and Truck (NATMUS) and Early Ford V-8 Museums, culminating with the Founders’ dinner at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg (ACD) Museum. We stayed in Elkhart, which from 1906 to 1934 was home to no fewer than 25 automobile manufacturers. The group sends their grateful thanks to Tom and Joan who spent many hours organizing and executing these tours.
The celebration concluded with the 5th annual Lincoln homecoming at Hickory Corners, Michigan, where the sun shined bright for the People’s Choice car show on Saturday. A great time was had by the approximately 100 people in attendance.
Photos from the Studebaker Museum: the actual barouche which Abraham Lincoln rode in to the Ford Theatre on the night of April 14, 1865; and Ed Avedisian in an early 50s Studebaker, like the one he previously owned.
Our visit to Amish country included a visit to the barn of a man who, together with his son, crafts buggies and coffins. Carolyn Henderson, Allen McWade, Rob Zarnosky, Kirsten Hickman, Ron and Eleanor Schneider and Ken Walaszek listen intently.
The Early V-8 included this Mobilgas tow truck and a worker taking a nap. The Mercury custom done in the 60s at the NATMUS and the Cords at the ACD Museum were real favorites.
And last, but not least, a beautiful line-up of 1940s in front of the Lincoln Heritage Museum, including Ed Avedisian’s 1941 Zephyr.
