This is the second trip I have made to central Oregon with the Sprite and I decided to make the trip in three days this time instead of two. The trip up was uneventful except every time I stopped for gas it became a car show. The unknown was, would Interstate 5 be open north of Redding due to the fires.
Fortunately it was, and I got to Madras about 4:00 Sunday afternoon. My brother had arrived ahead of me and had us checked in to the room and event.
After breakfast Monday we took the tour to Maupin which ended up being about 125 miles and went through some beautiful country. It included a stop at Shaniko which is very close to being a ghost town. A few people live there and about three or four businesses are still operating. Then it was across an Indian reservation, stopping for lunch at The Three Braves Market. Lunch took about an hour and a half since we spent so much time talking to the locals about the history of the area. We returned to the hotel in time to clean up the Sprite for the car show Tuesday.
Tuesday morning, we headed to the Erickson Aircraft Collection where the Car Show was to be held. There were 75 cars at the show: 9 Bugeyes, 2 Square Sprites, 64 Big Healey’s.
We ended up with 1st place for Sprites, but not Best of Show Sprite. Oh well, next time.
Wednesday, we took the Crooked River/ Prineville Reservoir Run. This went out into the country east of Madras and covered some of the same roads as Rendezvous 2014.
This trip ended up being about 115 miles and was a lot of fun.
Thursday, we took the Observation Rally. this is similar to a scavenger hunt, we had to find signs and objects along the course. This Tour ended up being about 108 miles and we ended up in third place, having missed 5 items.
Friday was getaway day and once again I planned to take three days to get home. It took me awhile to get the car loaded because it attracted a swarm of bees and I had to wait for them to leave. I think this was an omen. I hit the road and everything went well until I was just south of Shasta Lake, when the Sprite missed and backfired a couple of times.
Everything cleared up and it was on to Redding with no further problems.
Saturday, I got on the road headed for Salinas, the car ran great until I was just north of San Jose, then it sputtered, missed, and backfired 5 or 6 different times.
Everything cleared up and I got into Salinas with no further problems.
Sunday I was headed out on the home stretch, but decided to stay on 101 instead of going across 46 to the 5. This turned out to be a good plan. The Sprite ran great until I was just south of Paso Robles, then it started missing, backfiring, and sputtering; it wouldn't clear up. I had to drop down into second gear to get up several of the hills.
“Come on baby get me to Santa Maria”! We made it to Santa Maria and just as I got on the off ramp everything cleared up, wouldn’t you know it. I got a motel room and put in a call to Eric at Absolutely British, telling him I would be by in the morning.
Monday morning, I was at Eric's, explained what the car was doing, and of course it ran perfectly at his shop. We decided it was a combination of fuel and electrical problems. We changed the fuel filter, found a loose plug wire, damage to the rotor and cap. Eric had a rotor but not a cap. We changed the rotor, filed down the contacts inside the cap, and fired her up. Car ran great! I decided to stay in Santa Maria one more night and then head out in the morning.
Tuesday morning, I took off for home, car ran great all the way and ever since.
However, I do need to get a new cap. Don't want to push it too far! Oh yes, by the time I got home I had driven the Sprite a little over 2200 miles, it was a great trip.