April 14, 2010
Yesterday I posted a scratchboard of Coyote Pass near Kingman and a friend asked me, "Didn't your dad used to drive you as a baby over that pass in a '49 Ford? And don't you wish you still had that Ford?"

Yes, and yes. Here is a photo of my father and his pit crew on the annual Route 66 Fun Run in 1993:



Left to right: BBB, Al Bell, Milton Cece (his Norwegian cousin from Iowa) and Ray Hader (pit boss). This was taken in Seligman across the street from the Sno Cap Drive-In as the cars for the Fun Run lined up. This guy had painted this huge postcard backdrop and for $20 you could have a professonal photo taken. I thought this was a very cool idea and wished I would have thought of it. Later, when my father was ordering more photos for his friends the guy admitted that we were the only ones who bought a photo (there were over 500 cars on the run!). After I found this out, and in subsequent Fun Runs (we drove in it every year for at least a decade) I would quiz the vendors (tables with really cool books on Ruote 66 classic gas stations, etc.) and they would invariably tell me that they weren't doing jack for sales. I always asked why they thought this was the case and one astute vendor said, "All their money is in their cars." Ha. I think that nails it.

And here's a couple photos of the view from Coyote Pass looking towards the snow-capped Hualapais:



"Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at 75 mph can double your vocabulary."
—Old Biker Saying