Elevation!

Our ascent in Wyoming.

BACK -to chicago, and beyond.

Morning comes quick; we are less than 2 hours away from DMC Midwest. We hope to arrive early enough for the car to cool down some. GPS and Iphone want us to drive through the city, but we decide to stay on 80 and take the long way west. It works out great and we arrive at 7:30. Dave’s there at 8:00 and start working on the car. The new radiator has a defective weld and it’s decided that the driver side fan is faulty. Replacements are made along with a check of the left rear wobbly tire. It needs a new bearing and the bonnet needs new rods. It’s fallen on Oli twice in slight winds while he was tanking up.

Oli and I take advantage of the time to catch up on email, work and facebook. Oh yeah, Oli sets up the new hard drive, takes a call to tech support. Why is it so hard to write instructions in a working manner and not just in 15 different languages!

The car is repaired, hoses checked, idle adjusted and we are ready to hit the road. Thanks again Dave, Julee and Mike for taking such good care of us! With a stop at the Post Office, we are on the road to Cali by 3:30. Oli manages to drive with the sun in his eyes; we are heading west, people. The sunset is beautiful, I try to get a picture of the wide-open spaces and colorful sky, but the road is clogged with trucks. You'll just have to believe me that it was lovely. After a tank up somewhere in Iowa, he takes the passenger seat and I start driving. The sun has set and it’s open road and I hate stick. But it’s okay; I drive for 45 minutes and miss my exit. We are on 80 heading west, where the heck did it go? I take the next exit and Oli takes over. We should have had a training session with the D before I took it on the Highway. I’ll drive some more tomorrow, in daylight, so I can see where I’m going and I plan to turn the voice on the GPS. Tonight we plan to stop in Omaha, Nebraska. This is a tight run, we have to be in Cali by Friday, early would be nice. So enough for now, write more tomorrow.

Montreal Comic Con Photos

DeLorean Time Machine Photos are here!
http://www.Tinyurl.com/MontrealComicCon

Monday 9/13/2010 The Canadian countryside is very much like Indiana, corn farms. There are some trees that are changing to their fall colors. No billboards, just road information signs, one to three or four lines to announce the businesses at the next exit. It’s a long haul; we make a stop at Best Buy to purchase a new hard drive. With all the photos we have taken my computer and external hard drive are filling up. During the show we finished the photo paper roll and started taking email address so we could send the guest a digital copy. Great idea but it takes up a lot of memory on the scratch disc and we had to load the emails so we could send them the next time we had Internet access. Well, complications abounded and some emails dropped out, don’t know what happened. The solution was to post pics to Photo Bucket for guests to access. Thank you everyone who donated. Your generosity was fantastic, Montreal donation total, $5,000. Now to exchange Canadian money for American and send the $ to Team Fox. Not so easy, there is a new American law to protect against money laundering.

Oliver’s observations:

Canadian women do not normally take their husband’s last name. Perhaps the husbands don't offer it to them?

We saw no billboards in Canada, at least to Montreal, then from there across two provinces down to Detroit. They do have, however, standardized road signs that display three or four services with standardized symbols and brief text. I’m guessing these are purchased by the businesses that can afford them, because we saw everything from paintball to museums listed.

Apparently, Montreal has an entire underground network of city that is particularly used in the winter, as the weather is so harsh. I am told you can shop, eat, and get from here to there without ever seeing the surface or going outside. We never got to explore it due to our tight schedule. They have a small replica of Notre Dame from Paris, and I noticed a subway entrance copied from an art nouveu styled one in Paris. They love Paris here!

And the same with French fries. They love them frites. Big bowls of them served. And they dump curds on top along with chicken gravy and call it a Poudine. Terry is not a big fan of that dish.

Saw a guy in McDonalds sitting by himself playing chess. He had a shaved head and wore pink bunny ears. He wasn't very sociable. -Go figure.

Grasshopper in the car suddenly sprang out from hiding and terrorized the cockpit crew. We pulled off and released him, unharmed. We recovered shortly thereafter.

Took a coin op bath with the car. Raised the gullwing door to type in the coupon code, and when the entrance opened and green light lit, I quickly moved forward, lowering my door, -and immediately got sprayed by the blasting water jets through my little open window. I’d like to write that we laughed and made little soap mustaches on each other, but the moment was not that funny. Now, I can laugh. :) But I was soaked for an hour afterwards. . . .

Our drive westward on Monday ends in Michigan City, MI. We order pizza, Oli works on the computer and I fall asleep to Steven Cobert. I was laughing in my sleep.

Montreal Comic Con!

Terry’s Montreal Blog Saturday Sept. 12 and Sunday Sept. 13

Saturday morning starts with a walk to the convention hall, Plaz Boneventure. The weather is beautiful and we hunt sticks. We need something to hold up the banner, can't use tape or push pins on the walls. We reach the convention center with no luck, so I go in to set up the car and Oli continues the hunt. The hall is buzzing with excitement. Lot's of vendors set up and still setting up. I think our neighbors are doing henna tattoos. Oli arrives with 2 poles, which look curiously like scaffolding braces. I don’t ask him where he got them, and he doesn’t volunteer the information, (but there is a major construction site across the street from the convention center. . .)

And we start rushing to complete the set up, the doors suddenly open at 10am for VIP's! Whoops! Who knew, the Internet said 11:00? All is well, people start lining up and the fund raising begins. It's a constant rush, Oli at the computer processing photos and signing posters and me snapping pics and setting the time circuits. Oliver is interviewed by a radio show which also has video on their website. We meet one of our followers from our blog, which is a rare thing! Before we know it, it's 5:30 and we are out of photo paper. We still take photos and emails so we can send the guest the photo. I'm invited to do a radio spot, an interview that is translated into French after each discussion point. My answers sounds so much better in French! The show winds down enough for me to introduce myself to Elvira. She is the sweetest, and commented that we were doing a good thing. She even came over for a photo in the car. The show ends with a photo shoot, a very excited fan wants pics from all sides. I pack up and then we are off to the hotel to refresh and get ready for dinner. We've been invited to Phillo's a Greek restaurant. The food is served in courses, family style. We enjoy some wine, great company and good food, lots of good food. Our hosts for the show and dinner, Oscar and Alex are wonderful. Feddy and his wife keep us entertained and Jason and Julia tell us all about Montreal, or Mount Royal’ (the city is built on an inactive volcano.) They all give us suggestions of a good iconic picture for the car, but then warn of all the roadwork throughout the city. We'll do our best to find a good spot before we depart for Chicago. Yes, back to Dave's garage for some needed work and then zoom to Danville, CA for the Concourse De Elegance.

On Sunday, back to the photo taking and poster selling. The show is extended 30 minutes; Brent Spiner and Peter Mayhew have graciously agreed to stay a bit longer. This was announced at 4:30. BY 5:00 both had left, so we start packing up and are ready to roll at 5:30. The elevator isle is cleared and Oli weaves his way to it. The elevator is locked on another floor so the hall manager Maryanna scrambles to find it. All is well, it arrives, Oli drives on and the elevator takes us up and down and up again. Yes, we passed the correct floor then back to the original floor and then to the exit floor. Away we go, down the ramp and onto the wrong highway, with a u turn correction we head for Ontario, then back to Montreal, then on the correct road to Toronto, Montreal. Both the GPS and phone route us through Canada as the fastest route. We drive 3 hours and have to rest. The hotel, is infested with flies so we leave, the manager offers a fly swatter. With a smile and a no thank you, I help him give me a refund! Credit card machines are so complicated;) We make our way to the next exit and stay at a Canadian lodge style hotel, with a billiard table for a buffet! Just like the Beverly Hillbillies!

Team Fox on NBC Bangor News

Here's a brief clip from the NBC News station in Bangor, Maine.

Team Fox on Montreal News

Here's a clip from the Montreal News station.

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, -and Stem Cells.

Up early for a dash to Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory! Very nicely done, eductional and delicious sample of Caramel Crunch. They had a flavor graveyard up on a lonesome hilltop with a few trees and a white picket fence. It featured discontinued product names on tombstones, so guests could 'find closure', having mourned the loss of favorite ice creams no longer offered.

Driving onwards, the road suddenly. . . ENDS! Doc might say, 'Where we're going, there are no roads!'

Actually, the pavement ceases to exist with little sign of any being added in the near future. A courtesy stop light assists us when the dirt path is reduced to one lane. Perhaps a landslide wiped out the road, because there was a steep cliff to the right hand side. . .

Now on to Montreal where we have a date to meet Leslie, a cancer patient at the Royal Victoria Hospital. The hospital looks like a grand, medieval castle, sitting atop a hill; a huge stone edifice which is challenging to navigate around.
Leslie is a Back to the Future fan and his cousin Peter contacted us last month, by way of some DeLorean websites and mailing lists. Leslie has Lukemia and we're unsure if he would be able to come out to the car. It was raining lightly, but with some help, Leslie made it outside and down to where the car was parked! This was a big step for him and was a rare excursion, if not his first outside of the building. With his battery powered 'medical tower' of IV's in tow, he sat in the car and grinned from ear to ear.
The car was parked in the hospital's garage, lucky because of the rain! We all took pictures, played with the time circuits and hoverboard, quoted the movie and told stories. His girlfriend, E.J. was also there and helped.Leslie's knowledge of the movie facts was impressive. After a lot of talking and photo taking we make our way back into the hospital, Leslie chooses to walk through the parking lot rather than try the narrow/shorter pass we navigated earlier. Leslie makes the long walk well, but after the elevator ride up, we sit in the family room, closer than his room, for a rest. We all sit and chat some more. Leslie may have tired from the walk, but not the talk. His story is very interesting to us. He is 32 years old, was feeling tired in January and diagnosed with Lukemia. In Canada, stem cell therapies are available and he was given a stem cell transplant. This transplant came from an umbilical cord, (following a babies birth), and introduced to his system after 4 chemotherapy treatments. The chemo kills his diseased bone marrow and the baby stem cells are transplanted through intravenous drip. "The cells know where to go", he says. They travel to the hips where adults make most of their bone marrow and the cells get to work. Leslie said that he could feel them working, that there had been a scare that the transplant hadn't taken, but he could feel them. He has a long road for recovery, but the nurses and his family believe that he will make it. If all goes well, he will no longer be his original blood type, but rather the same type as the baby whose umbilical cord was donated! Incredible!
He went on to educate us about adults being able to donate stem cells too. We still have them, and produce them, and donating is similar to giving blood, but the recipients must be a particular 'match.' There is a registry called BeTheMatch.com where more info can be found.
Leslie was so kind to share some time with us, and we left him with some souvenirs to remind him of the visit.

Peter wins the prize as the world's greatest cousin. He and Leslie were born in that same hospital just two months apart and have a close relationship. He wanted to do something special for Leslie and found us. Since we are appearing at the Montreal Comic Con this weekend, it provided the perfect opportunity to make this happen! Peter explains that with socialized medicine, Leslie's treatment is paid for by the government. Injections, which can cost $1000. each, only cost a small dispensing fee for patients. He explains the downsides to us: Since the funds are focused on patients healthcare, the buildings/structures are not a priority. He pointed out that the hospital is a mix of old structures with new additions built as needed. (Though we are told that the hospital will become condos and completely replaced with a state of the art hospital in four years.)
Care is also prioritized with the most immediate needs being met, such as heart attack patients first, for example.
Peter also said the downside of public healthcare in Canada is that the government takes almost 25% in taxes from individuals income as well as a 17% tax on purchased goods, to help pay for it.
(I'm thinking the American government takes more of our income tax than that, then doesn't give us healthcare. . .)
As Marty McFly says, "It's been. . . Educational."

ABC BangorNews

News clip from the ABC Bangor news station.

Breakfast is found in the office lobby, where the morning newspaper has us on the front page of the State section! This snowballs into an email from the Bangor NBC station and we make a date to meet them at Central Bagel at 12:30 in Bangor. One interview turns into two, when CBS also shows up and we are visited by the fine folks of Bangor, ME.

We meet one young man who recently lost his grandmother (who had been misdiagnosed with P.D.) He says she had PSP, or 'Progressive Supranuclear Palsy' which we had never heard of before. Several others tell us their own stories of loss, due to P.D. Many donations are made and photos taken, even more than in Bar Harbor!
Then off to Boothbay to recover our camera battery charger. Then we take to the highway to make it as far as we can towards Waterbury, VT. We make it as far as Twin Mountains, NH, stop at the Cromley's Inn. It's out in the middle of nowhere and we're surprised to see a few other cars in the parking lot. Carol, the owner, told us her father had built the lodge and it had been a family business for years. It was so peaceful, the silence was deafening! After unpacking, we have to climb back in the car and drive several miles to find food! After a few false tips from our GPS's suggestions, we spot something open and dine at the Mountain Breeze, a small boutique cafe that doesn't accept credit cards. (!) The apricot raisin pork loin was presented in a most fancy way and was almost as delicious as the triple fudge chocolate cake we had as an appetizer. The cafe sits across from a very old movie theatre that was showing 'The Girl who Played with Fire.' (Only show at 5:30!) An image preserved in time, when it stood as the proud, exciting center of entertainment for this wide spot in the road. Back for a peaceful nights sleep.

Bangor to New Hampshire 9.7-9.8

We leave Boothbay Resort with big hugs and memories of hand picked lobsters, with directions to stop in Belfast, Maine. Lori has called ahead and set us up a meeting at the Welcome Center.
And welcomed we were! They had printed signs to greet us, including one being held by a bear!
Win and Lori's friends, Jim and Pattie are a wealth of information about the area. And Win took the opportunity to make a nice donation.(He did not expect the sound it would make as a result!)
They make some calls and a reporter shows up and we are interviewed by Abby Curtis of the Bangor Daily News! Photos taken and off we drive for Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor is busy, there's a huge cruise ship at port! We park the car on the street across from 'Oli's Trollies', and let her do her thing. We enjoy a walk to the pier and around town. We meet Larry a street puppet, quite a character. Larry is purple with blue hair. Oli asked him if he enjoyed blueberries? Larry said why yes! We enjoyed blueberries in ice cream, yummy. When we return to the time machine, a crowd of restaurant workers are lined up, taking photos, making donations and generally overlooking the scene from their nearby deck. We get directions from them, then drive through Acadia National Park. Finding the entrance, we decide to buy an annual pass for national parks since we'll be checking out several, later on, out west. The fresh air is intoxicating! We take a hike down to sea anemone cave that can only be seen at low tide, because at high tide its filled with water. No critters in the tidal pools. Tide is coming in and the sea gulls have had all day to dine on the captive lunch. We continue on around the island on a one way loop, stopping for some photos at a scenic overlook at sunset. Really beautiful. Then off to find a place to rest. We find a cute cluster of cabin/cottages that we saw on the drive in, and rest we do!

Boothbay Resort

Sunday evening, September 5: We arrived in Boothbay before dusk and met the Mitchell family and saw their beautiful resort. Their hospitality was immediate and Oliver took their son Cody for a quick ride before dinner.
The 'Lobster Dock' was recommended and we had Lobster rolls and some chocolate cake, then returned for some rest before the big event.Monday September 6th, 2010
The day starts quick. Shower and out to the car to get ready for the tent party! A big yellow tent has been set up, a movie screen and picnic tables at the ready for the guests to arrive. 9:50 and Oliver is taking pictures! The donations just keep on coming! There's blueberry soda and pulled pork sandwiches. Blue sky and cool temps in the shade. Cody operates a bunch of bluray and projector gadgets and plays the trilogy throughout the day on a bed sheet stretched tight. Families from the community come out, and though there is not a huge crowd, the attendees have big hearts and give generously. A great day of meeting the fine folks of Maine. With the cash, checks and CC slips tallied the total is ..... $1655.84. Thank you Mitchell family for hosting us, throwing a wonderful party and making us feel so welcome at your beautiful Booth Bay Resort! We hope the time machine appearance and publicity helped introduce some new folks to your place too! Just so you all reading this blog understand, this fund raiser happened because we met Win and Lori Mitchell in downtown Salem Mass. at our Halloween fundraiser there last year. They took one of our business cards and called us last month wanting to help. And help they did! They helped give us the boost to take this 2 month tour to a whole 'nother level! With the help of friends -and friends we have yet to meet, we will find a cure for Parkinson's Disease!

Happy Birthday Andy!

We aim for a little town where two good friends live. Andy and Kathy Probert are celebrating Andy's birthday today, and we're going to present our good wishes in person.
We have a great brunch with them, and return to the house to chat. Andy brings out a booklet of storyboards he drew for Back to the Future, and Oliver pours over them, inspecting each little line and curve. Andy points out a few of the inside jokes he often inserts into his work, and shares the resulting stories from his days at Amblin.
He hears voices in his driveway and we go out to meet some neighbors who are attracted to the car. They make a donation and then we're off to meet Andy's oldest daughter, who has planned a birthday dinner and wants to see the time machine. Kathy is excited to co-pilot the time machine, and says it will be her first time! We arrive, photos are taken, and donations are made by their two little girls. It's neat to see three generations around the car, with the designer of the 'Back to the Future' time machine being the patriarch of the family!

Traffic Troubles

(From Oliver) As we travel north, the sun coming into my drivers side window pretty strong, we get caught up in traffic just before the George Washington bridge. We had the choice of local, with lots of exits and on ramps, or express, which is straight through. We chose express.
Unfortunately, this was the route that quickly came to a stand still.
As we creep along in three lane traffic, the engine temperature needle slowly starts to move upwards. With only one of the two fans working (did we mention they are new?) to cool the radiator, we eventually have to pull over onto the shoulder and give the engine a rest.
There are few things that make you feel so conspicuous, than sitting in a DeLorean time machine, on the side of the road, in a major traffic jam. Normally with onlookers, it's a quick wave at 60mph and they're gone. But in this situation, everyone has several minutes to stare. And stare. The flexi-mesh shade screen offers little privacy and my stress needle was at the same level as the car's temperature needle. It doesn't help to feel the 'whoosh-whoosh' of the traffic on the other side of the guard rails, flying by, unhindered by the road work, or whatever is holding us up.
Things cool, as the sun is setting, and we risk pulling out into the molasses-like traffic again. Slowly, start and stop, giving the new clutch parts and my leg a real workout.After 15 minutes, the shoulder on the side of the road starts to disappear, and before long, we find ourselves trapped with no where to pull off as the engine temp creeps up again.
It's late. We're tired. And traffic and car troubles add to the excitement of the situation.
Suddenly, we see a break in the guardrail! There is no question we're going to make a run for it, regardless of the little sign that says 'Authorized Vehicles Only'. We may die trying, but we both agree it's better than dying at a stand-still.
Terry watches for a break in the high speed traffic whizzing by, then shouts 'CLEAR!'
I stomp the gas, release the clutch and we fly out into the stream. The night air starts flowing through the radiator and we avoid the engine cracking wide open. But 30 seconds later, we spot brake lights ahead. Another dead stop appears around the bend!
We can't believe it. But an exit arrives just before reaching the next jam, and we get the 'heck' off! We meander along local streets and roads, find a hotel and collapse.
Time traveling ain't all lollypops and rainbows!

Giant spiders, Apples, Clutch Fluid and a Wedding.

The next morning, the package has not arrived yet.

So, a slight change in plans: Oli heads to Tom’s to start with an oil change while I wait for a package that I don’t have a tracking # for! Oops! So, I wait.

Tom Sweeney is a talented guy who has a few DeLoreans as well as a couple of Bricklins! He's also a Halloween/Haunted House person, just like us. Several years ago he and Marc built a large metal warehouse with the help of Tom's son, (who operated the backhoe -at the age of 10!) and it serves as the service center for all kinds of automobiles. -Half of it also houses Tom's wife's (Rose Marie) antiques. In fact, she came in with a giant 10' black widow spider from the saturday flea market as we were working.

Meanwhile, back at Marc's, the parts arrive! Marc is off to Tom Sweeney’s garage -and Shari and I head for the apple orchard. It’s a beautiful day and the apples are wonderful. We get some apple cider doughnuts too. Then do some shopping, pick up some pizza and garlic knots, (wow are they good) and then head for Tom’s garage. Good news: the clutch is back in order. Replaced both the clutch master cylinder and slave units. Here's a picture of Marc getting a boost up with help from the hover board. (We got its batteries charged up while we were there.) The old clutch fluid had lots of black chunks in it. (the rubber seals were going bad.) Even though cylinders had been changed in 2004, they tend to wear out if the fluids aren’t flushed and replaced with new every two years, apparently.

More bad news, we discovered a leaky (new) radiator and a bad (new) fan. (Did I mention they are NEW?)

But we can travel if we are careful.

We clean up from the repairs and head to a wedding photo shoot, with Marc's nephew. Aaron heard the time machine was in town, and asked if it could make a brief appearance, so we figured 'What the heck!' It took us to the 'Jersey shore. The whole wedding party arrived in a big bus just after we pulled in, and lots of photos and video were taken! Best wishes Aaron and Deanna! Your future isn't written yet, so make it a good one.

Friday we give the car a bath and make some calls to friends who may be able to assist us with the clutch problems. It seems that I should change our car’s name from Lil D to 'Blanche' because she is always relying on the kindness of strangers! (or our friends). We arrive at Diamond Select at 10:30. We are given a quick tour of the work area, they do so much there, all the comics, cartoons and movies. Ryan is a great host introducing us around. Then down to the car for photos. The whole office building comes down for a visit! Thanks for a great morning!
Now off to New Jersey, we find our way to our friend Marc’s house and he shows us his awesome pinball machine and more collection. Then Sheri, Tiffany and friends come by and it’s off to the Tavern for dinner, in Marc's convertible BMW! The restaurant is a historic, 1700's place. I had the Lobster Bisque, then off to the Farm for ice cream. It was a lovely evening with fall is in the air. Now to get some rest for tomorrow's clutch check up. The hope is that the parts arrive and we can start the repair with Tom, and Marc will join us after his Nephew’s wedding morning breakfast.

Towards Baltimore, Maryland

Thursday Up early to finish the curtains and then a big ol’ hug for our beagles as we say good bye to them. We know the grandparenst will take good care of them while we're time traveling and off we go for points east. First stop tomorrow is Diamond Comics-Diamond Select Toys. They manufacture very cool Back to the Future toys and replicas, which are available at BTTF.net

We make it all the way to Townson, MD, lucky too because the clutch is misbehaving. Oli does some research and believes that the master or slave cylinders need to be replaced.

Let's see what happens next. . .

Heading north again!

Monday, Oli spends the morning at our ghost theater putting out the little fires. I do laundry and errands, and dinner with the Zillas, who inspect our shiny new engine.
Tuesday we pack, prepare the dogs goodies for a stay in NC and dinner with friend Jill!
Wednesday we wait for the post office to open to claim a package and we are on the road. One DeLorean loaded with all our travel stuff and one Honda loaded with two dogs and their travel stuff. It was a great trip, we arrive in NC and have lunch with Mummy, Deaddy, Chris and Annette. When we return to the house it’s let’s make a theater time.
We assemble rigging and hang curtains and blacks in Doc’s Magic Theater. What a lovely space!

August 25, 2010 Saturday, the engine is completed and we take it for a test drive around the city. Using the opportunity we visit Amy Ellison and family (an old friend of Oliver's) and he gives the kids a ride around the block. They make a generous donation into Mr. Compassion and we head back to DMC Midwest for some diagnostics. The new engine is overheating! A new radiator is installed and we depart from Dave’s garage after the quick change! -Thanks to Dave for working late on a Saturday and fixing the problem!

Stopped somewhere in southern Indiana for a snooze. Up early Sunday to make it home to our puppies. Home by 8:20pm, time change we lost an hour. Ordered Pizza from Papa John's and had some fun with the nice delivery guy.Most importantly, we hugged our puppies! Now for speed packing and readying the car for a 2 month tour! Have already made lists, now to use them.

Chicago Video!

Here is sample of the fun we had with the people of Chicago.
Everyone wants something.
All these people said "I want to sit in the time machine."
And we replied, "We want to cure Parkinson's."
And in the end, everybody gets to their destination!
(Music is 'Dragons' by Caravan Palace.)

Post Convention

Monday, We drive to Dave Swingle's garage, drop of the DeLorean and head for Chicago. Brunch at Ann Sather’s, cinnamon rolls, super yummy!! We enjoy a drive around the city via Joe's (Terry's brother) car, and a movie. Dinner at Greek Islands with fellow DeLorean owners, Bob, Gail and Ryan Brandys. Back to the burbs for some much needed rest!
Tuesday, we sleep in, no morning appointments. Down time is an important part of time traveling! We get some business done and then a trip to the garage to check in. The new engine has been shipped, so with the old engine removed, we take advantage of the opportunity to scrub the engine bay for the first time in 28 years since it was assembled in Ireland.

Sunday, the last day!

Today, Oli and I are on our own.
-But wait!
Zack, a show volunteer that helped us Saturday has returned! Thank you! It’s a great day. We meet the General that Darth Vader strangles in Star Wars IV, and a guy from Star Gate. (booth photos on Olympus)

The day has a nice easy pace. The show closes at 5 and we are packing the car when Claudia Wells escorts some new friends over to the car. The have a radio/internet show and one of them is Walter Payton’s son. I squeal with excitement! Sunday ends with me getting a big bear hug from my favorite Bear’s son. Don’t know how it can get any better than that! Our drive back to Joe’s house is uneventful; the car makes the trip fine. Dinner plans? None, so we stop and get Culvers butter burgers frozen yogurt to go. We are so happy to have had the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people, visit with good friends and raise funds and awareness for Team Fox and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research at the Chicago Comic Con!

Friday August 20

Friday we start at 12 so with some prep and polish we decide to eat some of the pizza and we are glad of it, because the day flies by. Lot’s of donations are made and everyone pitches in. A visit quick from JC, Linda and Mary. Mary brings goodies! It’s so good to see good friends. JC and Linda make a donation and we take pictures! Off they go to enjoy the show with instructions to take note of the really cool things for us to see! More donations and more pictures. The day flies by! It’s 8 pm and the show floor closes. Exhausted we head to the room to collapse!

Thursday the 19th. Preview.

Thursday, Meet my Nephew Grant and his friend Jacob for breakfast, and start to plan our strategy for the upcoming few days. We head for the convention center, do some finale set up and have lunch at Giordano’s Pizza. We order 2, one for now and one for tomorrow! Stuffed Pizza is the best! Oli and I are on our own for Thursday, the show has a preview night, 5-9. It’s great! A very nice crowd, a great way to start our Chicago fund raising effort.

To Chicago

Thursday 8.12.10 We picked up the Penske truck and car trailer.

Friday 8.13.10 we take to the open road. First stop North Carolina for a visit with the family. Chris and Annette, Mummy and Deaddy. Dinner and then back on the road.

Destination, Chicago Comic Con! But first we drop the car off at DMC Midwest for a visit with the DeLorean Doctor, Dave Swingle, Saturday afternoon. My brother Joe and his wife Judy pick us up at the truck drop off and we have a great Italian dinner in the pretty town of Crystal Lake, IL.

Sunday we make a trip to the Apple Store for some assistance with our phone and have dinner with my Brother Eddy and his daughter, Stephanie. Did you know that Webber Grill has a restaurant? They do and it was good!

The company made it even better!

Monday we spend a good amount of time at the DMC garage. Oli and I test drive the car to make it heat up, but the weather is so nice that it’s not until we return to the shop that she overheats. Engine trouble, now what do we do?

We discuss the options for engine replacement and repair and with 200,000 miles on the old engine, the logical choice is replacement. We decide on a stage 2 engine, for better performance and for the plain fact that it comes with a new stainless steel exhaust system and water pump. We’ll be replacing the a/c compressor and a/c hoses along with the hoses for the engine. A lot of work to get to, but now we wait for Houston to rebuild, modify, powder coat and ship the new engine. At least we know that the car can run short distances and we decide to leave her at the garage until Wednesday when we have to load into the Rosemont Convention Center.

With these decisions made we can now enjoy some time in Chicago!

Tuesday we drive into the city for a foodie tour. First stop: olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting. Interesting. We 'drink' small cups of different flavors.

Now the spice store, green peppercorn for me! Now for lunch at the Polish deli, perogi, sandwich and a fudge brownie!!!! Now a stroll through Old Town past Second City, then to the Jewish Deli for a marble rye, a stop at a tea shop and a walk through the zoo. The weather is perfect. We finish up at Oz Park to see the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow statues, very nice indeed.

Over heating!

So. I changed out my thermostat after the Cincinatti trip, but before the Oklahoma trip. It was purchased at NAPA, and was set for a slightly higher temp than what a DeLorean engine should have. So, my preventative measure compounded the problem. New thermostat installed today! I enjoy working on the engine more and more as I get more familiar with it. I like to try to sound impressive by telling Terry that I had to remove the 'air intake manifold' to access the waterpump and themostat. :)
Tested the new part, and I noticed the fans were not coming on. Fortunately, I also ordered an otterstat, which tells the fans when to turn on, if the car is sitting, stopped in traffic. Swapping that out, it seemed to work like a charm! I've heard that overheating an engine can easily 'toast' the otterstat, so that is an important thing to remember to change out.
Fans come on now before the needle even hits the first mark on the dial!
New thermostat with new seal, repaired or replaced a few hoses, tightened hose clamps, new otterstat, new coolant tank lid, and fresh antifreeze. -Also bled the radiator of any air bubbles, as required on DeLoreans. *Gotta burp the baby.*
Next time leap, we'll be visiting our friend and official DeLorean service center owner Dave Swingle to have old hoses replaced with fancy silicone ones! No more blowing out rotten hoses. Also replacing our A/C hoses which will work much more efficiently too and I'm looking forward to that.

Saturday: The big day!

Saturday comes quick; the show floor opens at 10. We are there and ready. Grant and Jacob depart at 12, what a fantastic help they were! Debbie and Gary stop by and help for a portion. We have a couple of show volunteers helping as well, thanks to a great guy named Spat! But the greatest gift was Barbara; Mary’s sister spent the whole day with us and helped us have the best day ever in our fundraising history! A photo op with John Schneider (Smallville and the The Dukes of Hazzard.) Exhausted but buzzing with excitement we have dinner with Barb and some catching up.

August 18

Wednesday Joe and Judy drop us at the garage and we ready for the drive to the convention center. We make it there safe and sound. Locate our hotel and load the car in. Easy load in, once we find the right door. (Guard One: 'Go to guard Two.' Guard Two: 'Go back to Guard One.') !
We have a 20 x 20 booth so we set the tables, get some pipe and drape and hang our banners. Polish the car and depart for a date with Billy Elliot. What a fantastic show! The subject matter is dark; coal miners strike, fighting in the streets, Margaret Thatcher puppet show and a 13-year-old boy named Billy that can dance! Awesome scenery, amazing use of stage and very talented performers. Oh yes and music by Elton John! After the show my gal Mary drives us back to the hotel, with a stop and steak and shake for a sandwich and some visit time. Had a wonderful time, Thanks Mary☺

We left home at 5am this morning heading west towards a fundraiser in Oklahoma.
About an hour and a half into the drive I noticed my temperature gauge rising.
We stopped when coolant steam started jetting out of the overflow tube of the expansion tank. We sat and let things cool down a bit, and added some bottled water we had with us. Went down the road another mile or so and the same problems occurred.
AAA to the rescue. (We requested a flat bed, as we've heard this is better for DeLoreans.)
After getting towed back home, our friendly neighborhood garage discovered a cracked coolant cap and loose belts, both of which may have caused us the problems.
We replaced the cap, tightened the belts, topped off the coolant, did a pressure test, frantically fixing everything, and tried again. We had a narrow window of opportunity to make the 20+ hour drive.
An hour out of town, a coolant hose blew, this time, great billows of steam pouring out of the exhaust vents, creating a spectacular visual effect! Yeah, I know. Wish I had taken a picture of that, don't you? Please accept my apologies. I was a little distracted.
Fortunately, the next exit was close, and we coasted down the off ramp into a very small mom-n-pop's convenience store. By now, it was lunch time, so taking a cue from our DeLorean Jedi master Bob Zilla, we took it as a sign. We ordered a couple of hot dogs and drinks and chips and just cooled ourselves off while the car finished it's show in the parking lot.
Later, I was able to make the repair myself, good enough to get us back home, but something is making the engine run hot and I don't know what it is.
(Besides this blistering weather!) A fun thing about the cooling system is whenever something happens, you really need to let it cool down for about 45 minutes to an hour before you can even work on it. -Or else risk getting scalded, of which I'm not a big fan. Normally, our D is trouble free, and you'll rarely find a blog post about unexpected problems, compared to the number of uneventful trips we've taken. But this particular episode has shaken me up. I'm always praising the car's performance and really don't like for it to be seen on the bed of a tow truck, or broken down on the side of the road. It just perpetuates the myth that DeLoreans are not good cars, which couldn't be further from the truth. It's a machine, that requires regular maintenance and care, and I know it's just a matter of time before I unlock the mystery of why the engine is unhappy right now.

Douglas Sonders Photo Shoot!

Terry and I have never had the honor of being part of a professional location photo shoot, so this was quite fun experience.
Douglas Sonders is a celebrated photographer with a list of high profile celebrity and corporate clients that will blow you away. Even more impressive are his amazing photos.
We met Doug in Celebration, Florida during the exotic car festival a few years back, and he had an idea of doing a session with the time machine to create images which could be used to promote our drive to cure Parkinson's.
His busy schedule has him flying all over the world and we figured that if it was meant to be, the opportunity would present itself someday.
Well, on Saturday, June 26th, 2010, it did!
It was more than a six hour shoot, with a location swap in between, and Doug assembled a team of talented folks to help, along with renting generators for the lights, and hauling a huge load of equipment to make the car look it's finest. He arranged the location and contacted a lovely model named Emily, to create a female version of the character 'Marty McFly' from the movie. To add further excitement, he lined up a professional pyrotechnics guy to set up flame trails behind the time machine.
Keep in mind, these blurry snapshots are from my camera and not Doug's! He's in the editing phase of the shoot and we hope to see the results of his work in the near future.
Our thanks go to Doug and everyone involved who gave of their time and talents for this project.
Here's a LINK to Doug's site, and below is a little behind-the-scenes video I took of the process of Doug capturing the DeLorean time machine in the outer Washington DC area.