Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto
Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-16 12:31 AM (#181517)
Subject: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
We just came back from the Great American Vacation to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming! What a great trip it was. We took the 1958 De Soto Firedome convertible - we went from Denver through Rocky Mountain National Park to Grand Lake, through Ward and Walden and then up through Lander. We spent the night in Thermopolis and then drove through Cody and in the east entrance. We spent three nights at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel and the final night at the Old Faithful Inn. We left through the south entrance, through the Grand Teton National Forest and then south to Lander and followed the same route home. I was only on I-80 for 19 miles - the rest was all two-lane! It was about 600 miles each way.

Anyway - we had these photos to share



(Lake Yellowstone Hotel 2.jpg)



(Lake Yellowstone Gas Station 1.jpg)



(Lake Yellowstone Hotel 1.jpg)



(Lake Yellowstone Gas Station 2.jpg)



(Roosevelt Lodge 1.jpg)



(Yellowstone Sunset 1.jpg)



(Grand Tetons 1.jpg)



(Man at the Helm.jpg)



(riding in style.jpg)



(top down shades open.jpg)



(Do we really need to drink pop in the car.jpg)



(Family at the Lower Geyser Basin.jpg)



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Attachments Lake Yellowstone Hotel 2.jpg (222KB - 297 downloads)
Attachments Lake Yellowstone Gas Station 1.jpg (169KB - 392 downloads)
Attachments Lake Yellowstone Hotel 1.jpg (194KB - 315 downloads)
Attachments Lake Yellowstone Gas Station 2.jpg (174KB - 383 downloads)
Attachments Roosevelt Lodge 1.jpg (211KB - 293 downloads)
Attachments Yellowstone Sunset 1.jpg (214KB - 335 downloads)
Attachments Grand Tetons 1.jpg (214KB - 292 downloads)
Attachments Man at the Helm.jpg (214KB - 276 downloads)
Attachments riding in style.jpg (184KB - 292 downloads)
Attachments top down shades open.jpg (179KB - 370 downloads)
Attachments Do we really need to drink pop in the car.jpg (213KB - 305 downloads)
Attachments Family at the Lower Geyser Basin.jpg (158KB - 297 downloads)
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58 Ray
Posted 2009-07-16 1:04 AM (#181522 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: Colorado
Wow Mike, what a very cool road trip! Those are some great pictures, thanks for sharing. What was on the front of your car? I am assuming some kind of bug shield?

Whats the next road trip?
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-16 1:13 AM (#181524 - in reply to #181522)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
Howdy, Ray - that is a bug shield. It is a period piece, I think it is from the late fifties or early sixties. A company in Greeley had a whole mess of 'em on eBay. It was especially for a '57 - '58 De Soto or Buick. You should have seen the collection of bugs I gathered on that thing! Money well spent, in my opinion.
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Gidman
Posted 2009-07-16 1:22 AM (#181526 - in reply to #181524)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Wow! Congratulations! Beautiful country to be cruising in the Firedome!
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55BlueHeron
Posted 2009-07-16 10:52 AM (#181552 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Mike - That looks like a fun trip. Your whole family will have fond memories of this trip for life.
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59SportFury
Posted 2009-07-16 12:54 PM (#181562 - in reply to #181552)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Hi Mike,

This looks like much more fun than meeting some Dutch guys! Sorry I missed you but this is something everybody should do with their classic car, wished I could do that with my car someday. Maybe I need to buy another car and drive it around for a while before getting it shipped

Ron
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-16 2:10 PM (#181564 - in reply to #181562)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
Thanks, guys - it was a good balance - the De Soto was a great piece to the trip, but didn't dominate too much. Yellowstone was incredible; Wyoming is such a beautiful place - and just spending a week with my little family was the best of all.

The De Soto survived the trip pretty well. The only casualty was the starter relay. It stopped functioning midway through and I had to hot-wire the car each time I needed to start it again. Very late in the trip, I lost a pin that actuated the gear on the starter motor into the flywheel. Luckily, I was able to diagnose the problem, find a cotter pin, and make the repair fairly easily.

Amid all the stuff in the trunk, I was able to bring a small Craftsman tool kit, a pressurized air tank, a 5-gallon safety gas tank, and some basic fluids: oil, power steering, brake, and coolant. We used the 5-gallons on a lonely stretch around Jeffrey City.

There was construction around the south entrance and I ran over a good size rock. I also scraped the underside of the back bumper on a gas station dip. The paint may have received a surface scratch or two, but all-in-all the De Soto survived very well.

Here's the route we took



(2009 Trip from Yellowstone.JPG)



Attachments
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Attachments 2009 Trip from Yellowstone.JPG (127KB - 299 downloads)
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B/G 61
Posted 2009-07-16 5:26 PM (#181581 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: RE: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Awesome - beautiful pics and beautiful car - these cars were made to drive and it's nice to see you using it like it was meant to be used -
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Sonoramic60
Posted 2009-07-16 6:41 PM (#181601 - in reply to #181564)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto


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Mike --
A bug shield?!
Back in the days when our cars were new, the only guys who put bug shields on their cars were the ones who also put those clear plastic seat covers on their car seats and the plastic pencil/pen holders in their shirt pockets while they drove at a sedate 5 mph under the speed limit even on U.S. 85 from Fort Collins to Cheyenne. Incidentally, that was a great place to "blow out the cobs" and I easily pegged my 440 CID/375 HP '67 R/T at 150 there when that stretch became I-25 in 1967.
Of course, you're not the menace to society that I was (am?) so I had better stay still.
Joe
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-16 11:45 PM (#181629 - in reply to #181601)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
Careful, Joe! You know I did put plastic seat covers on my 1958 Plymouth when I had it. I may not have had a pocket protector, but I occasionally wore a helmet in that car - True! Just ask Ray. You pretty much pegged me.

Tonight was the first chance I had to wash the car since I came back from the trip. I am not sure if the bug shield did all that much - the front of the car was still plastered with bugs! You should have seen the shield, though
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58 Ray
Posted 2009-07-17 12:09 AM (#181632 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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I remember the helmet!
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Sonoramic60
Posted 2009-07-17 7:56 AM (#181653 - in reply to #181632)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto


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Mike and Ray --
I never wore a brain bucket (except a football helmet and a steel pot) as the NHRA didn't require them for the stock classes back then -- though they may have been required for the stock sport cars.
Us "cool guys" back then (and you have no idea how hard we worked to be "cool"!) didn't like those clear plastic seatcovers because (1) why should we take care of the factory ones so the next owner could enjoy them and (2) girls in short shorts found them very hot, plus they couldn't slide across the seats easily once they got stuck on them.
As for the bug deflectors, they were both aerodynamically a drag (i.e., they slowed you down -- perish the thought!) and detracted from the appearance of the car (if Exner, Mitchell, et al. thought they looked cool, they would have put them on). Besides, Pepsi and Coke served as great bug removers back then.
(signed)
Joe Cool
PS, The company was Fingerhut and everybody who bought a new car was sent a sample of their product. It was good stuff as the rancher who was the first owner of the Beast put it on it back in '60 and it sure protected those seats in time for me to enjoy them 40+ years later.
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Doctor DeSoto
Posted 2009-07-19 3:18 PM (#181868 - in reply to #181653)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Yer bummin me out, Mikey. Livin the dream.

Just get in and keep driving. Bugs, rock chips, small dents .... all part of the bigger experience few have the conscious level to grasp.

2 lanes, rolling hills, little towns. Never buy gas along the Interstate ..... you will never hear the stories.

There is 10x the potential experience to a car like this that just a car in the hobby ..... at car shows, amongst other car people. You gotta get it out amongst the real lifers in the backwater. Can't put it to words, but it is something you have to experience to understand.

Nice work.

**************************

On another note, nice to see you are "poisoning the well" with those kids of yours. Next thing you'll tell us all is that you are instilling a work ethic in them and raising them to be responsible adults. What is wrong with this picture ?

Stumbled onto a screaming deal on a "Rolls-Royce" HVLP unit to retire my old (now illegal) paint gear. Still working almost every day on the shop. I'll meet you in Como with my DeSoto yet. Gid, you in ??? Let's go up to Granby with all three and make some guy cry.
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-19 10:37 PM (#181946 - in reply to #181868)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
Not Bummin' Doc! Just giving you a little glimpse at your not-to-distant future! Whether you are starting a restoration, putting on the finishing touches, or driving it into the ground - it is all a lot of fun. Everyone does different things with their cars and its all good. Whether you just sit and watch it or take it on road trips once a summer - it doesn't matter. One of these days I might be like Gary Gidman and just drive mine every day. At least that's the way I picture Gary under that warm California sun!
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Gidman
Posted 2009-07-20 9:52 PM (#182052 - in reply to #181946)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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I'm sitting still this summer, Mike. Brakes. I'm bummed.

But thanks anyway, thinking of me like that. Might as well imagine my favorite dog riding with me as well!

I remember as a kid we would go to Yellowstone in the Beast, top down, hauling the trailer,camping, fly fishing for trout, awed by the beauty of it all.
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-22 6:22 PM (#182282 - in reply to #182052)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
That's no fun, Gary. But absence makes the heart grow fonder - you'll be driving it again soon.

I have another picture as we left Denver. I should have taken a picture after the trip was done and before I washed the car - it looked a lot rougher!




(birthday 10.jpg)



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Attachments birthday 10.jpg (220KB - 310 downloads)
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1959Dodge
Posted 2009-07-22 7:40 PM (#182298 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Well, this Gary drives that red convertible everyday. Aug 6th we will be driving her up to our local mountains 8800 feet then down into Big Bear lake which is about 7777. Wife will be in the "Chase Car", my 64 Dodge , I bought New, when I was a 22 year old kid. Then 3 weeks later, we are off to Solvang, a Danish village close to Santa Barbara Calif---nuttin like cruising the mountains and the sea shore in a convertible---I'm glad the wife prefers to drive the 64 it will be going to Solvang too!--sooo gud time to buy gasoline (Oil Stock) LOL

Gary
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-22 11:42 PM (#182324 - in reply to #182298)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
Very nice, Gary! It is always good to hear from our man in Yorba Linda! Home town of President Nixon. You are more advanced in your technical capabilities than I am. I always love to watch the youtube videos of your adventures. When I was on our Yellowstone trip, I thought of you and the '59...we brought along a dvd player for the kids (I didn't want to, but my wife insisted). I thought of how cool your flip-down-fold-out dvd player is. Is there any other Forward Look car with one of those??? Doubt it.
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1959Dodge
Posted 2009-07-23 8:18 AM (#182355 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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I have never seen another hidden in the dash like mine, in any car, so far. I have had several people beg me to install one for them, but I like being retired. We will take the Videocam on our trips and hopefully have some new videos for you.
Your pictures are great, That hasta be my fav year for Desoto, I usta like the 57, cause of the Hemi, but I really like the way the trim sweeps up in the rear fins on the 58's

Gary
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2009-07-23 11:56 AM (#182366 - in reply to #182355)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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for those of you who haven't seen it, you can catch a glimpse of it in this video - as long as you have internet through cable or some other better-than-dial-up connection.

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1959Dodge
Posted 2009-07-23 3:36 PM (#182385 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Mike here is one of the DVD player "Coming out of Hiding"

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Gidman
Posted 2017-08-28 11:14 PM (#547232 - in reply to #182385)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Still one of my favorite threads!
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2017-08-29 4:38 PM (#547299 - in reply to #547232)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Location: The Mile High City
Hey, thanks Gary! That brings back some good memories!
Do you have some images of your car to share?

Here is the original image my friend took (uncropped)




(01 resized.jpg)



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Attachments 01 resized.jpg (245KB - 245 downloads)
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RICKYMOPAR
Posted 2017-08-31 10:03 PM (#547474 - in reply to #181517)
Subject: Re: Family Trip to Yellowstone in the De Soto



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Great pictures!
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