The Better Vacation, Steaming
by Pat Farell
As we crested the steep grade in the early morning's fresh sunlight,
the steady chuff, chuff of the steam
engine became silent as we started a long coast down hill on the other side of the
mountain. A whole new world came into view. The lonely screech of an adult red tail hawk echoed above us as we
stealthily rolled along the tarmac roadbed, which twisted along through the evergreen lined rolling foot hills just
above Estes Park, Colorado.
We had just began another stimulating week long steam tour of fun and adventure. With no
particular schedule to keep, we fine tuned our steamer for our best performance, while also finding time to stop
and see the interesting
sights along the way.
This is the way it was at the "Steamin' Thru The Rockies II 1998 Steam Car
Tour". If you were invited on
a week's vacation of affordable adventure, no schedule, a good defined tour map, renewing
old friendships,
everyone with a common interest, and a chance to build your knowledge of your favorite
hobby, would you be
interested?
As I am writing this from the sun deck aboard a Caribbean cruise ship, my mind reflects on
the differences in
vacations available to us by choice. The Caribbean vacation is very unlike the steam car
tour just described. With
it's high costs, tight schedules, strangers with no appreciable common interests, and a
confined tour route, it
makes me wonder why more people don't do steam car tours and forget the cruise ships. The
steam car,
when properly cared for will appreciate annually in value, far in excess of the costs of
the tours attended. There are
no tight schedules to keep as only lunch and dinner times need to be kept track of. For
after all, we do have some
scheduled priorities don't we?
Steam cars are interesting to everyone and people seem to
"relate" to them
very well. Most all people tell us that their grandfather or possibly their neighbor had
once owned one of these
mysterious machines. Peoples interests are genuine. When you have to stop for water,
neighbors rush with their
hoses to be the first one to be to satisfy your steamer's thirst.
The Stanley Steamer is very life like in that it can move silently about with only the
stored steam in the boiler, pushing the car along very swiftly. It's available speed far exceeded the performance of
the contemporary cars of it's day. Today, for most Stanley models, they still keep pace with modern speed
limits quite easily.
The only noises the Stanley makes when it rolls along, is the swish and clicks of the
water pump checks, and an occasional eerie howl when steam is automatically being brewed up in it's boiler. Simple
to drive, there are only three controls to attend to while driving: the steering wheel, the throttle lever,
and the brake pedal. The steamer is more like a spouse's temperament with good days and bad days. The reason why of
this is caused by the fuel blend, air temperatures, humidity, and the spare time general
maintenance that has been accomplished.
The most gratifying thing of a steam car tour for me is the sharing of the touring
experience with family and friends. I know of no other vacation experience that can be as
intimate and be as enjoyable as a journey through ever changing scenery in a "steam
car tour".