Cortez, Colorado - September 29th

Today was the first day that our tour starts and end at the same place. It was nice not to have to pack up our bags and check out of the hotel! I got up early to work on the car before the day, as I knew that today would be a taxing one for Cisco. Our route was to take us through the mountains of Colorado, including a pass at over 11,000 feet. The tasks took longer than I'd expected, so there was no time for breakfast, or even a cup of coffee before I headed out to meet up with the rest of the group in Cortez, 40 minutes away. Once we had assembled, we drove north into the mountains.

Soon we were driving along sweeping roads surrounded by aspen trees that were just turning colour. Some were already yellow, and as we got higher there were also patches of orange. Apparently, here, there is only about 2 weeks between the start of the colour change and all the leaves dropping, so we timed this amazingly well. We stopped for lunch at Ouray. Just as we were about to leave, the wind got up signaling incoming rain. Our next stage was to take the "Million Dollar Highway", a famous stretch from Ouray to Silverton over a mountain pass at 11,000 feet. Fortunately, the rain as no too heavy, and the views were magnificent. There were even a few flakes of snow near the summit of the pass.

We stopped in Silverton, a small ex-mining village, and wandered around in the rain until it came time to head home. By this point, Jerry's E-type had suffered a failed generator, so there was some nervousness about getting home without his battery failing. Fortunately, we all made it back to our hotels without incident. This was perhaps the best day yet....

Monument Valley, Utah to Cortez, Colorado - September 28th

Sunrise over Monumant Valley

I woke early enough to enjoy the sunrise over Monument Valley from the balcony to my room.  The rock formations are very unworldly - it's easy to see why the native indians consider them as sacred. I ate a hearty breakfast with a view of the valley before heading out to join the rest of the group at another hotel in Monument Valley. From there we headed out of the valley to Goosenecks State Park. At this site, a river has cut a 1000 foot deep canyon in 3 or 4 close horseshoe curves. From the overlook, you can see the river meandering 1000 feet below in 3 loops.

At this point, the group split into two. Most of them took a route up Mokee Dugway - the side of a mountain that includes a 3 mile stretch of dirt road. Three of us, including me, because of various issues with our cars decided to bypass this section. We rejoined 60 miles up the road at a roadside diner, where we enjoyed excellent burgers and milkshakes. From there, it was a hundred mile drive to Cortez, Colorado where most of us are staying. Some of the group (including me) are staying a further 25 miles outside Cortez at the Far View Lodge in the Mesa Verde national Park. It is a very nice location, but I could have managed without the extra miles, as I was getting tired by then. I will sleep well tonight...

Flagstaff, Arizona to Monument Valley, Utah - September 27th

After spending the night in a cabin with a wood-fired stove (actually gas-fired really), we woke to find a layer of frost on the cars outside. What a contrast from the temperatures of previous days! The altitude of 7000 feet makes all the difference. The group converged on our hotel, and we set off for the Grand Canyon. After an hour or so, the heat of the sun caused all the jackets and sweaters to disappear. We spend several hours at the Grand Canyon on the South Rim. The scale is overwhelming.

We had a good lunch at the lodge, before continuing to several overlooks of the canyon. It was on one of these excursions that the "leader" of the group (name removed to spare blushes) had the major embarassment of running out of gas! Fortunately Darrell, our saviour on more than one occasion, had a can containing some gas, but not enough to get us to the gas station, so we had to siphon some out of one of the other cars...

From the Grand Canyon, we set off on another 100+ mile drive to Monument Valley, on the Utah border with Arizona. Cisco continues to keep running, though I think that all the miles and high temperatures are taking their toll. There are more and more odd "clunks" coming from the car and I am becoming paranoid about any unusual symptoms. We have now covered more than 1000 miles on the trip, and we aren't half way yet! A couple of us are staying at "The View" hotel in the Monument Valley Park itself. We managed to arrive before sunset to witness the changing colors of the rocks as the sun goes down. I am looking forward to seeing the sunrise from my room tomorrow morning if I wake up in time. I miss having our dog Maggie to wake me up for breakfast!

Sunset in Monument Valley

Tomorrow, we move on to Colorado...

Laughlin, Nevada to Flagstaff, Arizona - September 26th



The South West Oil Leak tour car collection - one XK120, 11 E-types, and 2 XK8s

The Southwest Oil Leak tour started officially this morning. We gathered together in the hotel car park for photographs, before setting off. We are fortunate that one of the participants, Chuck Goolsbee, is a great photographer, and he has been busy taking photos of the action all day. We then left in convoy for Oatman - an old mining town, which is most famous these days for being located on the historic US Route 66. The town is also noted for the wild Burros that roam the town...

A group of burros in Oatman, Arizona accepting tempting treats from visitors

From Oatman, we followed Route 66 towards Kingman on a switchback road through the mountains. This was lots of fun, particularly for the enthusiastic drivers.

In the afternoon, we paid a visit to the Grand Canyon Caverns. They are dry caves more than 200 feet below the surface. The tour guide was a real character, and managed to make it pretty entertaining, though the rock formations were much less spectacular than those  seen in wet caves. One rather bizarre feature of the caves are that they are officially designated as a bomb shelter, and vast qualtities of survival provisions have been stored there since the 60's...

Vast quantities of food, water, and other provisions have been stored here since the 60's

As we proceeded towards Flagstaff, the altitude increased steadily, and as a result the temperatures dropped to much more pleasant levels. It was once again a joy to be riding in a convertible. Two of the cars had significant breakdowns on this first day, but we managed to get them back on the road by the end of the day. Unfortuantely, I had another occurence of the "graunching" noise from Cisco near the end of the day, but it seemed to pass, so hopefully I will be visiting the Grand Canyon with everyone tomorrow...

Bakersfield to Laughlin - September 25th

My trip nearly ended in Bakersfield, so it is with some relief, tempered with nervous concern, that I write this from Laughlin, Nevada. After a quick breakfast at our hotel in Bakersfield, Lloyd, Jerry and myself prepared our cars for departure. In my case, this required 2 quarts of engine oil, which is rather concerning, as the engine has never consumed much oil before. I think the extended high speed running, compounded by the high temperatures may be responsible. Anyway, this concern was soon forgotten as we drove out of the hotel car park. My car (known as Cisco, as it was the sale of the last of my Cisco shares that paid for it), started making a horrible loud graunching noise. I immediately turned off the engine, and the three of us tried to work out what was up. Restarting the engine, resulted in no noise, but as soon as I depressed the clutch pedal it returned. Then, it vanished. After a lengthy consultation, the combined heads diagnosed terminal clutch failure. However, as there still seemed to be some life in Cisco, we decided to take a test drive around the area. Surprisingly, the problem didn't return. I therefore decided to take a gamble and continue the trip, at least for now. So, we departed from Bakersfield, and headed east towards the Mojave desert. As we left the smog of the California Central Valley, the temperatures rose, and before long were in the 90s. I must say that driving long distances in a cramped, open-topped car under the blazing sun, has its downsides. There were times when I envied those who waved enthusiastically, and gave us the thumbs up, as they past us in their air-conditioned mini-vans! After a stop to fill up with gas and have a bite of lunch, we returned to our cars. As had become the norm, there was a small group of people admiring the cars - they seem to attract attention wherever we go. As we descended the mountains towards Nevada, the temperature reached 100 degrees, so it was with some relief that we pulled into the parking lot of our hotel in Laughlin. Laughlin, like many of the other towns close to the border of Nevada, is devoted to gambling. The room rates are low, as they expect to take your money in the Casinos. The streets are lined with bright neon lights trying to attract you to lose your money there. After a few hours to relax and cool off, it was time to get together with the rest of the group at one of the Casino hotels. In all, we have 12 cars so far, including 9 E-types. One or two more should be arriving very late, after having some problems. It was good to meet many of these poeple for the first time. We "see" each other regularly on the Jag-Lovers internet site, but most of us have never met. Tomorrow, the real adventure begins. I still have concerns that my adventure may start and end with calling for a tow truck to take the car back to Monterey...

The Northern California Group Set out for Laughlin

From the left: Lloyd's 1971 OTS, David's 1969 OTS, and Jerry's 1964 FHC

The Northern California contingent consists of Jerry Mouton, Lloyd Nolan, and myself David Langley. Jerry met up with Lloyd and myself in Salinas around 8:30am, and after a bite to eat, we set off in convoy heading south in thin drizzle. Consistent with the spirit of adventure, Lloyd and I drove with the tops down, and as a result got a little damp. However, as we headed inland, the drizzle gave way to overcast, and later sunshine. Our first overnight stop was to be Bakersfield, which is only a 3 hour drive or so, so we decided to take a detour to San Luis Obispo. The cars all performed well, though I have a wandering speedometer needle, and a squeak coming from who knows where.. As we approached San Luis Obispo, we were once again engufted in mist. We found a spot for lunch near the Mission, before returning up Highway 101 to Paso Robles and then heading inland for Bakersfield. The further we drove inland, the warmer it got. Despite this, the cars all seemed to be fine, though the drivers were somewhat the worse for wear when we arrived at the Vagabond Inn around 3:30pm. The air conditioning was very welcome. The temperature in Bakersfield is probably just under 100 degrees. Tonight, we dine at a Basque restaurant, Noreiga's. Apparently, it has a very good reputation, so we are looking forward to it. Tomorrow, we will head for Laughlin, Nevada to join up with the rest of the group who are already converging from all over the Western United States.

The Route

The route commences close to the California, Nevada, Arizona borders at Laughlin, Nevada, and ends at the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.

What's the trip all about?

Back in 2010, a few of the regular contributors to the E-type forum on the Jag-Lovers website decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Jaguar E-type's launch in 1961 by taking a road trip. It was to be a low-key affair; no formal schedules, no fixed itinerary; just a bunch of fellow entheusiasts out to enjoy a road trip in their Jaguars. The idea was well received, and many of the frequenters of the forum signed up. Though some of us have met face-to-face, for many of us it was an opportunity to meet for the first time after years of communicating on the forum.

In my case, making this trip has been the chief incentive to get my E-type back on the road since late last year. Back in the summer of 2008 I took the car off the road when I discovered a crack in one of the front subframe rails. I expected this to be a few months work at worst, but when I started dismantling the car I found that the damage was more extensive. Thus started a project that ended up refurbishing everything in front of the firewall, as well as strengthening the lower part of the monocoque tub which had been poorly repaired sometime in the past. While I was at it, I rebuilt the independent rear suspension, and other areas too numerous to mention. Thus a 3-month project turned into 3 years... This trip was the incentive I needed to finish the job.