Days 9/10: 2,484 Miles Later -- Rode Hard And Put Away Wet

The final 250 miles from Cincinnati were fairly ordinary, except for one thing we hadn’t seen on the trip: rain. North of Cincy we stopped in a downpour at a Dunkin Donuts Cars and Coffee where Chris Zimmerman welcomed our Drive Home III team with coffee, breakfast sandwiches and – of course – donuts.

We proceeded north and as the weather cleared David retrieved the Triumph from the trailer to ride the last 160 miles to our hotel in Birmingham, MI. We arrived at dusk shortly after the rain had started again and we were glad to see David get off the bike in one piece.

My wife Alison met us in Birmingham, and the team enjoyed a final dinner at the Triple Nickel Restaurant.

Most of the group then headed to Churchill’s Cigar Bar to finish out the night in smoky fashion (some enjoying it more than others), and Ali and I had a fun reunion with old friends Beth and Jim Salter and our new friend Dawn Fisher.
  

Day 10 brought freezing rain turning to snow, but the team excitement (after some coffee) was palpable. We loaded up the cars in front of the hotel for the drive to the Lincoln of Troy dealership to stage our final trek down Detroit’s famed Woodward Avenue. David was sitting in the El Camino as we were about to depart when a tour bus rolled past on the narrow street and its back bumper sliced a three-foot scratch into the left fender of the car.

After a bit of heated conversation with the driver and exchanging insurance information, we motored to the dealership and were met by a small crowd that included media, car enthusiasts and Paul Sabatini and his superb staff at Lincoln of Troy.



 No sooner had we rolled the cars into the bays to prepare them for our final trek, Paul’s team analyzed the paint color of the El Camino and prepared a touch-up mixture to try to mask the scratch.

After remarks by David and Executive Director of the North American International Auto Show Rod Alberts, we were given a quick briefing by the Michigan State Patrol. Police car lights flashed as we rolled out of the dealership and down Woodward Avenue about 10 miles in heavy wet snow.

 

 

The culmination of the Drive Home III trip across five states was the arrival of our merry caravan at Cobo Hall and an eruption of cheers and hugs among our team.

After driving the cars into Cobo, we parked them where they will be on display for the North American International Auto Show, all still bearing all the dirt and grime of the 2,484- mile trip. I have to admit feeling a touch of emotion as we walked away from our trusty vehicles, and we finished off with a team lunch and parting remarks from David that included presentation of a plaque to our Road Boss, Tabetha Hammer of Hagerty.

Reflecting on this second Drive Home trip, I’m left with many of the same emotions from last year – fun and funny memories of our team, gratitude for the new relationships I’ve built and a bit of melancholy about our separation.

Our crew owes a big thanks to David Madeira, Ashley Bice, Tabetha Hagerty, Derek Klein and all our sponsors. Special thanks to State Farm (particularly Tamara Harvell and Ed Gold) for their sponsorship, for allowing me to be part of this event, and for providing our team the really snazzy team jackets. And thanks also to my driving partner, Hemmings.com writer Bill Hall, a generous fella who always gets assigned the coolest car but sometimes lets me drive it, and someone whose keen perspective and sense of humor make him a lot of fun to be around.  

 
Postscript: Somewhat exhausted on the way to the Detroit airport for our flight back to Seattle, I told Alison that if I start kicking around the idea to participate in Drive Home IV next year she should do her best to talk me out of it. She laughed, with both of us silently knowing that if the chance comes again to help raise awareness about the importance of preserving America’s car heritage, I’ll find it hard to refuse the call of the road and the Drive Home adventure…