2010 Peking to Paris Rally

This was the first day since we left Beijing that we could stop and relax for a while during the day. It felt pretty good. View from the top of the French Alps. Amazing weather at the top of the pass. Henry made the climb with no problems. He is leaking a little oil and drinking about a liter of water every day, but that is ok because so are his passengers. Tomorrow we have a time trial on a race track. That will be interesting. We haven’t told Henry yet. Yeah, we have started to talk to... (more...)

It’s been a crazy day here at Mission Control!  It all started with the following email  and picture from Lang. Today started with an Italian traffic jam on the Autostrada.   Well, here we are in Italy.  The ferry was a couple hours late and it is raining cats and dogs. And oh yes, there is an accident on the autostrade that has us stopped! It will be an interesting day! -Lang Little did Lang know just how interesting today would be!  Within an hour of receiving Lang’s email I got... (more...)

Fritz and Lang phoned in from the docks this morning where they were patiently waiting for the ferry that would carry them from Greece to Italy.  Lang said the trip to the docks was exciting considering it was raining and they were down a windshield wiper (this time on the navigator’s side).  Both were in good spirits despite the drizzle.  “The car’s held up perfectly!” said Fritz going into a list of the minor issues including a few cracks in the frame, and the metal around the... (more...)

We crossed the Bosporus Straits. We are now in Europe!!! We had ice on the car windows this morning and snow on the ground. Pretty chilly start. Today was a “rest day”. That meant we drove only 6 hours to the next hotel… My brother and sister in law traveled from Houston to see us. Very cool! The automobile club of Turkey hosted our group tonight with a cocktail party, dancers and a great dinner. I had to tell my brother that every night during the rally was not like tonight! Tomorrow... (more...)

Model A before and after oil change and lube at Ford dealership in Turkey. We stopped at a Ford dealer today in western Turkey.  They were pretty amazed to see us drive up.  We were freezing from a long drive in rain and 38 degree temps.  We asked them if they would grease the car and change the oil.  Tea arrived immediately and the guys went to work on the car.  They did all the work and hand washed the car inside and out. We tried to pay, but no way would they accept anything. They ended... (more...)