June 15, 2006
It has been a wild four days since we left San Antonio, Texas, but we have finally arrived in L.A. as promised, so I guess that would make this the Promised Land! On Tuesday morning we left Willcox, Arizona, and traveled to the Pima Air and Space Museum near Tucson. We spent about two hours at the museum and most of us took the guided tour of the hundreds of planes and memorabilia. It was very educational and informative.
From there it was off to our lunch stop at the very new and very cool Hi Speed Customs shop in the historic old section of Tucson. John Sewell Sr., John Jr., Anthony Ribeau, and Paul Martinez have done a fantastic job of setting up a shop that includes vehicle and parts sales, a service and paint area, and even a motorcycle chopper shop. Everyone was impressed, so check it out if you are in the area.
From Hi Speed in Tucson we made the two-hour drive to Phoenix. Rick Love from Vintage Air led us on a cruise through the mountain and desert areas between the cities. It was very hot, but everyone made it to SO-CAL Phoenix, our host for the evening. Frank and Mary Streff and their crew greeted us with food and beverages and a tour of their facility--a great place with lots of vintage Ford parts.
Rush hour was done by the time we departed SO-CAL, and we made it across Phoenix with ease. We stayed Tuesday evening in Peoria, Arizona, on the west side of Phoenix. Ray and Karen Doe greeted us at RB's Obsolete in the morning with the biggest stack of Krispy Kreme donuts I have ever seen. There we added about eight new travelers to our merry band, including Ray Doe himself.
We lunched in Blythe on the California/Arizona border, and then we headed past Palm Springs and into Corona, the home of Barry's Speed Shop and the filming location for the TLC show "Wrecks to Riches", and the incredible metal masters, Marcel DeLey and his sons, Luc and Marc. What an incredible shop they have! The project bodies they are fabricating at their facility, Marcel's Custom Metal Shaping, blew everyone away.
We spent last night in Placentia, next to our Primedia offices, and today it is on to the Petersen Automotive Museum and then the SO-CAL open house in Pomona. Saturday and Sunday will be spent at the L.A. show at the Pomona Fairplex. The fun never stops on the Road Tour!!
Jerry Dixey