Seattle Port

Shipping a delorean time machine to Hawaii is stressful.  But then, if it were easy, someone would have already done it before now.
We've been saving for three years to do this, and as is common, things generally end up costing more than expected.
We were supposed to drop the car off at the shipping yard on Thursday, September 11th, with the boat leaving Sunday the 14th.  We planned our trip across the country accordingly, as well as some vehicle maintenance.
But of course, plans change. And like the butterfly effect, everything thereafter changes.
A few days before the boat was supposed to leave, the shipping broker informed us of a cancellation, and plans would be postponed for another week.
This affected our plane tickets!
While this gave us more time, it added a bit more to our expenses.  It did however, allow for some more repairs to be done to the car, and we ended up putting new tire$ on the rear, along with full balance and alignment.  Along with the care from Toby Peterson's DMC Northwest, the car has never been better.
We were then to deliver the car Wednesday, for a Saturday departure, and as we prepared it, I decided to add a label to the battery cut off switch, to make things as obvious, clear, and easy as possible for others.  I tested the switch (to remind myself which direction is off, and which direction is 'ON', so I could draw the label correctly.  What happened next was unexpected.  Lots of smoke and a burning smell rose from the fuse area!
This affected our vehicle!
After the excitement, and a rectification of the problem and repair of melted wires, we had only 1 hour to get to the docks before closing.  Terry followed in a loaner car, as we raced to the destination which was 1/2 hour away.  Unfortunately, Seattle traffic was thick, the dockyards are a labrinth and after much stressful, frenzied driving in circles, U-turns, and panicked braking, we arrived at 4:32, as they were locking the gates.  But a policeman took advantage of our misfortune and took several photos of our car before we departed.
We returned the next morning, having had a full rehearsal.  Though we were prompt, it took a while to check the car in, because most of the staff had abandoned their positions and streamed out into the parking lot to photograph the car!  So, we waited.
Finalizing all the paperwork, we were told the crossing would take another 10 days longer than previously specified by the broker.
This affected our hotel plans!
Handing the keys over to a stranger is difficult, especially when you consider finding 'reverse' in the DeLorean is a secret that only owners know how to do.  There is a learning curve to driving the car, and I had no opportunity to help teach the handful of various dock workers who would be taking the wheel.  Paranoid?  I guess so.  After all, what's the worst that could happen at this point?
The car was inspected, or 'surveyed' for damage before we turned it over to them, for insurance purposes.  I locked the car, and we departed.
The next day, we received a call that they could not load the car onto the boat, because the keys were locked inside the car!  Again, we raced to the scene, unlocked the car, which was the only car left in the lot.  Would it make it to the ship?  Was it too late?  Could my heart take much more?
This affected the number of gray hairs on my head.
Now, as I write, we are sitting in a hotel room near the Seattle airport, and the Matson app on my iphone tells me 'Your vehicle has been loaded to vessel.'
I spent most of the day in bed, trying to relax.
We'll fly Monday morning, and wait 19 days, if we're lucky, for the time machine to catch up with us on the Big Island.
We're not sure how much time we'll have on the islands.  It will take a good amount of time to arrange for, then ship the car back.  Perhaps we'll put it on a boat for return near Christmas, fly home to family, then catch up with it a month later when it finally arrives back on the mainland.

Perhaps the message, or lesson here is, start traveling while you're young.  Because it can be stressful, and physically challenging.  Both of which are easier to deal with when you're young!

Milestones!

We're aiming for Hawaii at the end of September, and this will mark our 50th state!  The only DeLorean (and a time machine too!) that has driven to (including a boat!) every state in the U.S.!
And along the way, we've managed to raise almost a quarter of a million dollars for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research!!!

Time Travel Pavilion!

In March, at the Orlando MegaCon, we gathered four (4!) different kinds of time machines together for one big fundraiser!
 
 The Tardis, from Dr. Who, The H.G. Wells Time Machine, The DeLorean, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Phone Booth!

It was fantastic, and a once in a lifetime opportunity for people to see all four at once and have their photo taken with each! Together with our friends, we were able to raise $4,665.95 for Team Fox!!!  Lots of cross-'mashups' going on with different characters posing with different machines!

From Glaciers to Coconuts!

2013 was a record year for our fundraising! Over $50,000.00 just this year!!! We reached Alaska, and met real Eskimo families! We ate Llama, which was tasty,














and even met up with Christopher Lloyd a couple of more times!

We now have only one state left to 'time travel' to, which will complete our 50 State Mission. It was a challenge driving to Alaska, but nothing will compare to our 'Voyage to Hawaii!' Terry and I plan to bring the DeLorean to at least two of the islands, Oahu and the Big Island of Hawaii. It will be a thrill to drive around on an active volcano!


 
We found a monument in the Yukon that spoke to us.  It says: "Dedicated to those who follow their dreams."
How nice!  Thank you! 

"North To The Future"

April is Parkinson's Awareness month, but at the beginning of May, we'll be driving North to Alaska! Not only is it the nation's 49th state, but it will be our 49th state to visit in the DeLorean time machine! We've got a special event lined up at the Dimond Mall in Anchorage with their movie theatre and we're looking forward to a wonderful fundraiser in the 'last frontier!'

Route 66!

After being abroad for so long, we thought a trip down the 'Mother Road' would be a good idea. Reconnect with our own country, in one of the most historic and traditional road trips there is! Beginning in Chicago, and ending at the Santa Monica pier, we spent 12 days on the road meeting restaurant owners, gift shop vendors, and motel innkeepers. And we took some pretty neat photos! The final step was a visit to 'Cars Land' at Disney's California Adventure. What a beautiful attraction, and a fitting summary of our own adventures! We highly recommend this combination Route 66/Cars Land for everyone! It's a journey of a lifetime!

The final month in Argentina!

Some Garbarino staff show their support!

I can say we never would have expected to spend a significant part of our lives in South America. (Previously, I took a trip to Venezuela with my brother and father in February for almost a month.) Then Terry and I began with the Garbarino commercial in Argentina in August, and will return home in March! (We were able to 'visit' home a couple of times for Christmas and to prepare for the tour, but it feels like it was only briefly.)
We've met some amazing fans, seen some great cities and sites, and best of all, we've been able to spread the word about Team Fox and the MJFF, while fund raising all the while! What a perfect fit! The total so far is $22,000. pesos. (which roughly converts to about US$5,000!).
That is a wonderful amount considering it is a result of what I call 'passive fundraising', meaning, we did nothing more than create an opportunity for people to donate, if they wanted to. Any amount, no expectations. There are materials they can take (again, no obligation) which mention the MJFF as well as our mission ToTheFuture.org. Partially in Spanish. So close to 100,000 pieces of information will have been distributed by the time we've finished, and we know of at least one Parkinsons patient we've helped connect with a physician, and the treatments have produced very positive results! I figure even if we had only changed one person's life for the better, that's a pretty good thing! We'll miss Argentina, and we don't know what direction we'll be heading in the future. It will take some getting used to, returning to 'normal life', though I doubt whatever we do next will resemble normal.

The Future isn't written yet. . .

Even time travelers can't predict the future. (Even if you think you know what will happen, things can always change!)
We never dreamed we'd be going to Argentina to work with Christopher Lloyd on a national commercial series for Garbarino. We flew to Buenos Aires on July 29, received the car from customs on August 11, and started filming on August 16th. Returned home September 5th.

Have you ever woken from a really great dream and shut your eyes tight, attempting to return back into that great dream?
-It rarely works!
But in October, Garbarino called again and said the campaign was going so well, they wanted us to return for a national tour with the DeLorean time machine! After the logistics were worked out, (and we arranged for our puppies and United States lives to be taken care of), we loaded the car onto a plane once more and flew 'Back to Argentina!' on November 11.
The tour is planned to end March 1st, 2012. Three full months of displaying the car inside Garbarino stores, meeting fans, and getting to see the rest of the country!
I don't know what will happen after that. No one does. I guess we'll all have to wait and see.

Still Going!

We've not kept up with the blog as we had intended. But as most of our plans have evolved, so has this one! We've collected so many great stories and photos of our adventures, we're organizing them in a different way and will eventually present them when we're done.
ToTheFuture.org was originally designed as a one year mission, but we have found that our raising funds and awareness for Parkinson's disease has become a lifestyle for us. In fact, Debbie Brooks (co-founder of the MJFF) made that very comment to Terry last year at an event!
So the mission continues. We've reached 44 states and have 6 states to go. We've had to pace ourselves, but we're getting closer! And you never know what life has in store for you.
Last August, Terry and I (and our DeLorean time machine) were flown to South America for a series of commercials starring Christopher Lloyd for a consumer electronics company called Garbarino. You can see several of the commercials and fan videos on YouTube.
We were in Argentina for an entire month, which put our lives on a different track for a while! But we had fun, learned a lot, and introduced everyone we came into contact with to Michael's foundation. (Yes, we even did some out of country fund raising!)
No sooner had we landed in Miami and picked up the car from the airlines, we drove straight to New York City to help with the NIKE Marty McFly Mag shoe campaign, in which 1500 replicas were auctioned off for the foundation. (Another creative angle for leveraging the appeal of Back to the Future to fight Parkinson's.)
So, we're still on the mission! And more adventures will follow! -We promise to share.

San Diego Comic Con

We received a call to come to the San Diego Comic Con to assist with a Team Fox fund raiser using the method Terry and I originated with our time machine! Desi DosSantos of ScreenUsed.com was featuring his DeLorean screen used in BTTF3 in the Profiles in History booth, and generously decided to use the high profile event to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research! Since it was the last minute, Terry cleared our work schedule, booked the cheapest airline tickets she could, and even found a hotel! (No small task, as Comic Con is sold out to maximum capacity crowds early, every year.) Lots of fun and hard work, as it was held over 5 days, with a preview on Wednesday night. Didn't get to see the show, and only had lunch twice during the 5 days, but it was a real blast working side by side with Desi. He's an amazing person, and a true, dedicated, tireless professional.
Several celebrities came to our booth, including Billy Zane, from the BTTF films (one of Biff's gang), and spent some time with Claudia Wells (Marty's girlfriend), and Lou Ferrigno and Ben Vereen even stopped by! Said Hello to Drew Struzan (Oliver's hero), the most famous and accomplished poster artist in the history of cinema. He painted all the posters for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, and all the other 'important' films. Now retired, he made a special appearance at the con to announce his new book featuring his lifetime of work.
We figured the show amounted to over 42 hours of work. We took hundreds of photos, and met lots of fans.
We're not marathon runners, but it sure felt like a marathon!!!
$11,131.90 was sent to Team Fox thanks to Desi and his wonderful car! Our biggest fund raiser yet!

An article from last year!

Since we're time traveling, I figure it's never too late to post an article from the past! A high school friend of mine is a talented writer and works for my home town paper. Front page, Sunday edition! He did a really nice write up and I thought it was certainly deserving of posting here, even if I have been tardy in doing so. Thank you Michael Conley, for years of friendship and your interest in our endeavors.

Ocean City Car Show 2011

Well, the show was quite different than many other events we attend. There were amazing, unique cars, trucks and motorcycles, as well as a 4-wheel drive RV camper, a drag racer, and a suped up tractor! Somehow, out of all this, and hundreds of entries, we were given a rather unexpected 'Best of Show' trophy! Go figure!
Donations were not as strong as we would have liked, but we made sure everyone who saw the DeLorean was made aware of Team Fox! We talked to lots of people, and handed out lots of cards to send them to the website and learn more about PD.

Ocean City, here we come!

We're time traveling to Ocean City Maryland to the OC Car Show. Come check out the show and all the loud hip-hop, cray-zay spectacle! We'll be accepting donations for MJFF, so bring some dollahs! :)

Future and Past

Here's the latest, and some oldness:
Time Circuits are set for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania June 17, 18, 19.
And I found a web page from the past and thought I'd post a link here.

http://www.wtoc.com/global/story.asp?s=11138015

Gold, Wood, Glass, and Frank

October 1 Friday

After a nice breakfast of cereal and bananas we check out of the Super-Super 8 by presenting the clerk with a Golden DeLorean. It was such a nice place that we had to do something to let them know that we appreciated them. Plus, now he can demonstrate where to park with a toy DeLorean, rather than a yellow Camero!

Onward to more redwoods. The Avenue of the Giants is not far away so we travel through, taking pictures and videos. It's a place that you would expect to only exist in fairy tales.

These are giant trees! Our first stop is at the Shrine Tree, it’s part of a redwood play area of sorts. There’s the tree to drive through, 2 playhouses and a fallen tree you can drive up on. We only drove through the tree.

The next tree, Chandelier is a beautiful living tree. The best of the three, and a nice shop with friendly staff. With a few passes, I think we have the pics and video we need. We do a bit of shopping in the gift shop and drive on down the road to Fort Bragg, Ca. Not to be confused with Fort Bragg NC. At Fort Bragg there is a place called Glass Beach. It’s history is that the area had been used as a dump and over the years has created it’s own unusual sand. Glass bits that have been broken and polished by the sea and sand can be found sparkling in the sunshine. We find two children running barefoot along the waterline of the glass beach, with the mother following (holding their shoes for them.)

-Not judging; just sayin’.

Another overcast day for us, but the beach still sparkles with glass, white, green and brown are the most prevalent. Colors. It’s an amazing place. The waves are more powerful and larger than our Myrtle Beach ocean. No wonder surfers love California.

Onward, we pass through a small town with a cinema, the ‘Egyptian Theatre’ playing ‘Night of the Living Dead’ -from the 1960’s! $1 gets you in to see the film, which is in black and white. 25¢ popcorn too! We later hear that the theatre still has the old organ in it, but we must press onward, as the movie isn’t playing in the daytime. On the next stop along the coast to take seaside pictures we meet an older gentleman who’s first statement is “so you are raising money for Team Fox.’ This is so unexpected and refreshing! Not the usual question we get! He’d taken a moment to carefully study and read the signs and wanted to make a donation. His donation is in memory of his friend Frank who’d passed away earlier in the week. He was sad but really glad to see the Time Machine because before Frank passed away, they’d gone together to see his favorite movie at the Egyptian Theater, ‘Back to the Future.’ He wished he could have seen us and the car. I’d like to think that Frank was watching this chance meeting from above. Our extremely random moment may have even been his way of saying, ‘Thank you for your friendship!’
A hug, in the form of a stainless steel time machine, appearing at just the right moment. It was magical.

"I've always wanted to do that!" -Doc Brown, BTTF3

October 2, 2010 Saturday

We wake early from a most icky hotel and depart quickly! Vrrroooom! We are only one hour from Jamestown; the drive takes us past peach, olive and almond groves. Jamestown is a
beautiful old town; we spend some time walking about admiring the architecture. There's even an antique store named 'Time Travelers.' Now to make our way to Historic State Park: Railtown 1897. Fans meet us as we pull into the parking lot. Jesse, a BTTF III expert, is there to great us in his BTTF t-shirt! I think he’s more excited to see us than anyone else could possibly be! We meet George Sapp, the engineer and he shows us where we should park. George has been here since they filmed Back to the Future, the longest of anyone. Bill a park volunteer shows us around some of the BTTF movie props and shares his knowledge and secrets with Jesse filling in any blanks. We ride the Armstrong, a huge turntable that the engines spin on when they come out of the round house. It was called the Armstrong because back in the day it was human strength that pushed it, now it’s air powered.

It takes about 3 hours of work for the locomotive to get warmed up and prepared to move. We watch in awe as Sierra # 3 comes out of her holding area, spins on the turntable and takes her position on the rail with the little red caboose and our D front and center. What a great picture they've prepared. We start helping folks make donations and take pictures of the car. Jim and John, (local reporters and fans of the movie) do a quick interview.

Gayle and Geoffrey, who we met in Danville at the car show, come by to say Hello. They have brought friends, Karen, Dennis and Marty. Marty is a Railtown volunteer and he takes us on a backside tour of the park. Marty shows us how the engines work, how they hand make tools, how the belts and pullies powered the bigger tools. Took us onto an old private car that was built special for Mr. Crocker the local banker, no relation to Betty. He even has the keys to Clara’s car. The one Clara stops when she realizes that she loves Doc! Universal reupholstered the seats with crushed purple velvet and gave the train car a nice facelift. It's normally not open to the public, but we get a moment to pretend we're back in time with Clara on the train!

There’s a Hollywood little red caboose made especially for the scene where Marty (Michael J Fox) jumps from his horse onto the back of the train near the end of part III. It's just a partial caboose facade, and it was placed on a flat truck on the tracks for the stunt work. It’s all so wonderful and I hope I’ve taken enough photos to capture some of the magic.

Another film crew has arrived and they set up to interview us. They are producing a documentary about DeLorean Time Machines and their owners. Sam Maccarone, Chapin Wilson and friend Jim. Very nice people and we are happy to be part of their movie.

Now it’s time for the moment we've been waiting for! To ride the train! Sierra #3 is readied and we board, greeted by a smiling volunteer and a cold bottle of sparkling Apple Cider. The train 'toot toots' and we are off down the rail. We are given a history of the train and tracks by John who is married to the lovely popcorn lady and has ridden the rails for over 12 years. There are cookies to enjoy as we roll on down the line. The ride is wonderful and we are let off to take pictures as the train does a fly by! We board again for the last leg of the trip, enjoying every second of the ride. This engine is called the ‘movie star locomotive’, because it has been seen in more tv shows and Hollywood films than any other, -including Back to the Future 3! (For the movie, they 'decorated' the train with a wood burning smoke stack shape, and added numbers on either side to read '131'.) It underwent an entire restoration and was out of commission for over 14 years. This year the star was ‘reborn’, and #3 was put back into limited operation the first weekend of the July, August, September, and October. (Only 8 days, and we were lucky enough to be there on one of them!) After everyone disembarks, we have a moment riding on the locomotive herself with the engineer! We're given the drivers seat and Oli pulls the whistle rope, just like Doc Brown!
It could not have been more exciting and emotional. A perfect day! To return the favor, we offer rides in the time machine to all the workers. As if to put an exclamation point on the dream-like day, the sky starts to darken in the distance with a slice of sun cutting through -and a rainbow appears. Returning from the final time-trip with a passenger, the car's engine suddenly dies in the parking lot. Oli turns off the headlights, stereo, effects lights and A/C. Michael Bispo, the engineer that took us for the ride on #3, jumps off our battery and we thank him for saving the day! (We had been running the display lights for a long time without any assistance of an outlet, and the battery just couldn’t recoup. And the day has flown; we realize we missed some of the park, so it is decided that we will stay the night in town (there are a couple of old bed and breakfasts, after all).

We get a room at the Jamestown Hotel (a beautiful 1800’s structure). A big boxer-dog meets us at check-in. Andie is the owner and the dog is her best friend; follows her everywhere. She allows us to plug the car in overnight, so the battery will be fresh and ready to go in the morning. The hotel is quite historic. Has burned down several times, changed hands even more, and was even once used as a hospital for injured gold miners.

The rooms are very comfortable and have private baths. Antique pull-cord toilets and clawfoot tubs with brass hardware. And the water pressure is the best on the whole trip yet!

Now we are resting after a fine dinner at the National and prepare for Sunday. Still undecided if we go to Yosemite or Hearst Mansion. We’ll decide after breakfast.

Oliver’s note: I’m resting on my side of the bed while Terry blogs on hers. My back is turned to her. My eyes are closed, and my mind is slowly relaxing from a very active day. I listen to the muffled sounds of the live band playing downstairs and the rowdy laughter of the people in the bar. I imagine this is much like it must have been in the 1800’s, so the ambient sounds are more charming than a nuisance. Then something strange happened. I feel my side of the bed settle as if someone is gently walking on the mattress near my pillow. There are ‘movement sounds’ close to my head. I open one eye to see if Terry is standing by the bedside. Nothing. Everything is still.

So I dismiss it, perhaps my imagination, or a swimmy-headed effect from the heat of the day. A few seconds later, the mattress definitely settles again, pressing down, then up, with sounds of a presence near the bed; a strange sensation.

It gets really freaky when Terry says, ‘what’s going on over there?’, questioning my restlessness.

I have been as still as a stone. Completely silent and motionless the whole time.

The next morning at breakfast, we find that the hotel is haunted, and after discussing the occurrence, we agree that the ghost was just tucking me in!

TIMBER!!!

September 30 Thursday

We set out for the Redwood Forest by way of the Oregon coast road 101. It’s very cloudy and at times it seems that we are driving through the clouds. High mountain cliffs and jagged rocks down below. The drive is long but we are rewarded with majestic vistas. We make our way to the Redwood State Park of California; awesome huge trees. A fellow in a black, Shelby Cobra flags us down. His name is Joe and he wants to take pictures of our car. We let him know that we are on our way to ‘Tour Through Tree’ and he decides to join us. We take photos of each other’s cars as they pass through the narrow opening.
Joe is a truck driver for concerts and knows our friend Opie; small world. We say our goodbyes. It’s been a long day so we find a hotel near Fortuna; it’s the best Super 8 of all time! Clean, inexpensive and a security system that shows the entire property. The clerk demonstrates with a yellow Camero Match Box car where to park by the room. Funny, yet surprisingly helpful. We are too late to see Michael J. Fox on CNN so we go to sleep.

The Incredible Faisal, College, and Future Girl.

September 29, 2010 Wednesday

Up early to ready the car for Bellevue College! Faisal, the assistant Dean of student programs meets us at DMC Northwest. He is a car enthusiast and has been friends with Toby (owner of the DMC shop) for more than 20 years and has owned many DeLoreans over time. He plans to bring his own modified DeLorean to add to the display, so he quickly does some detail work. He is so enthusiastic about bringing the cars to the campus, he helps us clean our car up too! He’s full of energy and a love for the vehicles, and his positive excitement is contagious. He teaches us a few tricks about the stainless steel we didn’t know, and gives us his remaining cleaning fluids so that we can have them for our Jamestown appearance! Very generous and fun person! We follow him to the school. It’s a cloudy day but there’s no rain. Security escorts us to the location, which is right in the center of everything, in front of the cafeteria and activity center. A beautiful fountain with a stainless steel sculpture is the background. (How appropriate!) Every 45 minutes or so (between classes) we are swamped by students passing through the square wanting to have a picture in the car. It’s a great day for friendship and fundraising. Faisal has prepared a nice sign, and we have our donation jug and banners and literature to hand out. The promotional video is playing, speakers booming. Oli and I pass out the left over MJFF flyers we picked up from the last event in Danville and Feisal makes many donations for his fellow faculty and students that want a picture! There is a special needs group taking a tour of the campus and I have the pleasure of showing our car to Amy, a blind student. She is shy to touch the car at first, but soon relaxes and responds to the descriptions. Oliver shows her the vents and she is surprised by the warmth still coming off the engine. We make our way to the drivers seat and she holds the steering wheel and stick shifter, and programs the time circuits, pushing the buttons and hearing the sounds.

Oli and I also learn how to say Back to the Future in sign language from a deaf student! Check out the video!

Everyone was so receptive and kind and generous. Oli and I enjoyed lunch as their guests from the cafeteria with Faisal and his wife Teresa. They are members of the Northwest DeLorean owners club, rally winners and fine people. We finish up at the school around 2 and say our goodbyes and depart for Oregon, having raised $300., thanks to Faisal and the wonderful students and faculty at Bellevue College! So many people continue to be surprised that the car actually starts up and drives! We figure if we make a straight shot for Portland we might have a chance to visit with Kristen Shelly, ‘Future Girl’ to any BTTF.com fans. She’s an avid Back to the Future aficionado and a talented writer, having published 5 books, with her sixth in progress! Everything works out and we meet Kristen at ‘Claim Jumpers’ a restaurant with a North West, 49er’s feel! After indulging in the Mother Load, a slice of chocolate cake that is over a foot tall, we had burgers and great conversation. Great fun. She points out that the company we are working with in Arizona, Hill-Rom, sounds a bit like Hill Valley, the fictional town where the movie takes place. I had never even thought about it!

Now we are in Salem, Oregon for the night and plan to get to the Redwoods tomorrow.

Aliens, Lava, Mermaids -and a Crapper.

September 28, 2010 Tuesday

Up early to run errands. We pull up to a remote gas station/post office/grocery in the back woods to mail some letters. While waiting for the post office to open, Oli forgets his headlights are on and when we finish and start to leave, the battery is dead.

We pull out the extension cord to start the battery from an outlet (we have a converter), but the folks inside say they have no outlets! “They’re all taken.”

O.k. .

So we ask a guy in a truck that pulls up, for a jump with our cables.

He says it looks like we have a bunch of crap on the car, and then says ‘Ask someone else.’

O.k. . .

This morning seems to be balancing out the wonderful, kind, warm, friendly-filled day we enjoyed yesterday.

Finally things start to turn around when a nice guy with a truck pulls up and he gladly helps us start the battery. Took just a second and we were on our way. Doing laundry before we visit with Pat ‘Pinky’ Erickson. On the way, we see a guy standing on the corner wearing no shoes. (Just tube socks.) He carefully crosses the street. At the laundry mat we are visited by a gentleman that worked at Area 51 and has flown missions to Alpha-centuri. Another character tells us about his time traveling, and body reconstructions, which helped him look like the aliens so that he could spy on them for global security. He still has scars inside his mouth from the morphing, he says. He also helped build space ships for government operations.

And it’s only 11:30am. Our day is young.

Gotta love Seattle.

Pinky’s: We arrive at Pinky and Steve’s at 12:15. Pinky is out the door to welcome us! So good to see her, she introduces us to a house full of family. Even her Sister Sue takes time away from work to come and meet us. We are so happy to meet every one of them. They are an amazing family; they rally behind Pinky’s ideas and get ‘er done! It’s a wonderful afternoon, lunch is salmon and fruit salad and bread and molten lava cake! Delicious! The company and conversation exhilarating. So much to talk about and catch up with and share. All the while we are entertained by Stella, Pinky’s 3 year old granddaughter. She had just returned from her first trip to Disneyland and had all kinds of stories to tell about the princesses. There’s a puppy in the house too, Speedy a Corgi, you know, the Queen's dog!

It’s a fun afternoon that ends with Jacob, (Pinky’s son), Pinky and Steve each getting a ride in the time machine. We say our goodbyes and depart for the Underground.

Underground Seattle Tour that is. It’s a fun tour under the streets of downtown Seattle.

We park under the freeway, and take a quick peek inside ‘Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe’, which Oliver remembers visiting back in 1986. It still has the mummified man, and a couple of Fiji Mermaids! What a fun, bizarre shop. We find Pioneer Square, with a glass and steel 1909 ‘Pergola’ built as shelter for a cable car stop. The history is fun, Jim the guide talented and the architectural history is fascinating. Did you know that Seattle used to flood with the tide, burned to the ground and to correct the flooding issue the streets were raised which meant that the second story of buildings became the street level entrance? Also, when the roads were raised shoppers had to climb up ladders because the sidewalks were not raised until years later! Also, Thomas Crapper invented a flushing toilet which became popular in early Seattle times. Sound familiar?

Yeah, I know, cool stuff! We finish the evening with spaghetti dinner with Misty and Toby.

Tomorrow we meet Faisal Jaswal, the assistant Dean of student programs at Bellevue College for what he’s calling a “friend raiser” fundraiser for TeamFox!

Repairs, new DeLorean friends, and conveyor sushi.

September 27, 2010 Monday

Up early and on the road to DMC Northwest. We really don’t know what will happen with the door hinge. Oliver has read as much as he can on the internet about broken hinges but there’s not a lot of info available. We arrive at the garage before Toby, so we seek some coffee and a chocolate doughnut and find them at Safeway; Oli keeps trying to tell me something about an elephant in a Safeway bag, I think he needs some coffee.

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Oliver interjection: “How do you get an elephant into a SafeWay bag?”

You: I don’t know. How?

“Well, first you take the ‘S’ out of Safe. And then you take the ‘F’ out of Way.”

You: There is no ‘F’ in way.

“That’s right!”

(Well, I think it’s funny.)

Now back to Terry's part of the blog:

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We make our way back to the garage and there’s another DeLorean waiting for service. His name is Ben and he just bought the car a few days ago, and would like the brakes checked. “The car only has 17,000 miles” he says proudly! We notice that he’s driving it on it’s original NTC tires, which must be 25+ years old. He may need more than just brakes…

With two cars waiting, another D drives in; another brand new owner who wants his car inspected by Toby. Toby arrives and gets right to it. He rolls a D out of the bay and into the lot that is getting a new Stage 2 engine installed and we roll in our D with her broken wing.

Toby opens the door to release Oli out into the wild, as I help put the door brace in. Upon inspection, we see that the hinge on the door half has broken as well as the pin and both pieces are still there. Since there are apparently no huge inventory of hinges left over from the factory closing, (unlike many other parts) and no one has deemed making new ones to be profitable, Jon, the tech believes he can weld it back together. If we had more time, I’m sure we could locate the part, but ‘time’ is not a luxury we have right now. So Jon gives repair a try. The weld seems to go well, with good penetration and he’s happy about the way it looks. Oli figures it’s like a broken bone. They often heal back stronger than they were to start with. Toby is off to Home Depot to find a rod to replace the pin that snapped. So both the hinge and pin needed replacing. The good news is that the torsion bar is in good shape. The door is repaired, and the tension adjusted, and Oli can get in and out of the car regular style now! He’s so happy to see the wing rise up all the way on it’s own power and not droop. As with most DeLorean repairs, the car is enjoying the attention, and presents a coolant leak for Jon and Toby to chase after. The new silicone hoses take a while to settle into place, and since they are so ‘squishy’, they often take a few tightening sessions before all the leaks are stopped. This is the third session of pressure testing and tightening the new hoses, and hopefully this will be the last. No big leaks, and no big deal. Just part of the game. The parking brake needs a half turn tightening, so that is done. We notice the passenger front wheel has some play in it, which is a bother, since we just replaced the entire steering rack in November. But we’ll have to tackle that issue later.

It’s lunch time and Andrew Wells, a DeLorean owner of several months, comes by the shop. Andrew has been checking out the blog and requested Toby call him when we arrive. He’s a big BTTF fan and is considering doing some time machine converting of his DeLorean. It’s lunch time and he takes us to a great bagel shop near where he works. The three of us pile into his really nice D, and off we go! He’s got new upholstery and the car is just pristine. Very thorough reconditioning. He had wanted an automatic, but learned to drive a stick on this very car! (Back in 1983, all I had to learn on was an old VW Bug!) We swap stories and he even buys us lunch! What a great feeling to get treated so nicely by a generous stranger. (though now, he’s our newest Seattle friend!) Andrew works for Microsoft (BING division) and he points to the looming skyscraper through the cafe shop window. Terry and I do not disclose that we are Macintosh people, for fear that he will revoke our bagels...

We return to the garage, and Misty, Toby’s wife arrives and she and I go off for some girl time. Oli sticks around with the boys and meets Feisal, a long time D owner who has a turbo getting worked on. It has been highly modified and is his 7^th or 8^th DeLorean! He obviously loves playing with them and the various modifications that can be done. He enjoys our time machine and offers to set up a quick event on the college campus where he works. He says he’ll work through the permits, etc. and plan to set up in front of the student center around 11am on Wednesday. We’ll see!
Oliver receives an exciting email from one of the photographers from the salt flats! He followed through with his promise and sent us some outstanding photos of our car, both in action, racing across the flats, and posed with the lights and beautiful, moon-like surroundings as the background. Just fantastic!

Toby and Misty have offered us a bed at their house while we are in Seattle; Both say they want to support our mission, and agree that saving us the out of pocket expense of a hotel room can be part of their contribution! So very kind and thoughtful! It’s really nice to sleep ‘at home’, for a change. They have a nice property in the woods, a peaceful distance from the city. We even see a wild bobcat strolling by the barn! Dinner at a sushi place, where the plates of sushi pass by the tables on a narrow conveyor belt. Everything is fresh and we have a wonderful time visiting with our friends and trying mysterious looking dishes, trying to identify what each food is. Back to their house for sleep.

'Goodbison, Hello Seattle!'

September 26, 2010 Sunday

Early start. We want to get some miles under the tires so that we can be at the service center first thing Monday morning before they even open. Oliver climbs into the cockpit backwards through the only remaining operational door to the time machine and we are off to Seattle. He says he’s going to pretend he’s an astronaut, and resign to the fact that he can’t just ‘get out’ whenever he wants to! We stop along the way to refuel and I pump the gas. He says I’m just showing off, every time I open my door! He refuses a cold soda, still in his ‘astronaut mind-set’, trying to keep his intake to a minimum. It’s a long drive through Montana; it really is Big Sky Country! Then a bit through Idaho and now Washington. Stopping only to refuel and quickly answer questions, allow photos, and collect a few donations. Seattle is in our sights but it’s getting VERY foggy and starting to rain (a cliche' for Seattle) so we decide to stop short, cuddle up in a small motel room, order some pizza and rest. Oli is happy to finally climb out of his rocket ship. "That's one small step for, -man am I glad to get out of there."
We hear from Toby Peterson who runs the DeLorean service center in Seattle, and he says he’ll prepare the hover port for us in the morning. However, concerning the supply of new hinges: it’s not good news. Seems that it’s a growing occurrence that the front hinges on gull wing doors fatigue over time and break. As a result, there are no hinges! The idea is that we can weld it back together and all will be well! Not going to think about that now, because Back To The Future just came on the TV and I’m going to enjoy it. Them. Part 2 follows. (No Part 3 though.) Who’s in charge of programming here???