Day 45 – July 20, 2001 – Our dinner last night and all the flights out kept us up pretty late so we slept in a little this morning. We had the day in Fairbanks to work on cars, recover from the trip, and do any preparation necessary for leaving Fairbanks tomorrow. All the cars were worked on in the garage of Gary Nash, a member of the Vernon Nash Antique Auto Club in Fairbanks. Gary made his garage available to us day and night while we were there and we were able to get all four cars ready for the trip.After a trip like the one we had been on, we needed to clean everything and make sure we had all the nuts and bolts we had started with.

The Antique Auto Club held a cookout for us later that evening at Alaskaland. Organized by Sherry Camarata, a large group of their members came out and brought their classic cars. We had a great time visiting with them, admiring their cars, and telling them about our trip. Afterwards, we finished the T repairs/adjustments and packed everything up. Tomorrow, we start the trip toward home.

720b – Sharing a meal: left to right, Ross Lilleker, Ginger Hardeman, Bruce Lilleker, a member of the AAC, Jennifer Hardeman, Ben Hardeman. (I’m sorry that I didn’t get his name.)

720c – The only other Model T at the picnic belonged to George Clayton, a long-time resident of Fairbanks. George promotes his truck as being the “most unrestored Model T T in America”. He knows the history of his truck and can tell a great story about how it came into his life. George drives the car in every parade and the children of children he used to entertain come to see him now.

720d – A sudden rainstorm blew up during the picnic. We were in a pavilion but the cars got a good washing. As the sun came back out, a heavy gust of raindrops pelted down, sparkling like diamonds in the sunlight. It was beautiful and surprising and lasted only seconds but I was able to catch this photo.

720e – After dinner, they asked us to speak for a few minutes about the trip. Many of the group had never been to Prudhoe but even those who had driven the road were amazed that we had done it. In truth, we were feeling pretty proud and happy right then. Proud we had made it there; proud we had made it back, and happy that we were about to head for home. On the trip up, I had been given a card stating that “happiness is doing something that no one else thinks you can do”