Dad and I pulled out of Dale's driveway around 1am, drove down to the Quick Trip on Highway 20, and fueled up. By the time we arrived at the first and only checkpoint 20 miles later at Oolagah, the 24 oz. coffee was gone, and I was digging for my fire jacket. Unlike our other drives, it was very cool at this point, we headed on up 169 north with the windows rolled up, and the temp guage hovering at 175. The fenderwell exit headers are 30 years old, and have been repaired many times. The engine is solid mounted, the exhaust has a single solid stud mount right near the turn-outs. 1000 miles of bad roads and a bottoming out suspension were beginning to take their toll. It didn't sound like we had a header leak, but we were getting a little carbon monoxide inside the car, so I was forced to open a window wing and freshen things up every 30 or so miles. It would have been a straight up grind at this point, but Dad and I had plenty to talk about, so that kept me going and engaged. Chanute Ks. put us 109 miles down the road, so we pulled in for gas, another large coffee, and a large bag of Chocolate covered something. An hour later we hit Garnett Ks., and jumped off 169 north onto 31 north, which was a very narrow 2 lane, with switcbacks and 90 degree turns, with picturesque farmhouses and barns right next to the road. I'm sure it would be an enjoyable drive had it not been 4am, and I was completely gone, as it was, it was sheer terror for Dad! We've driven OTR trucks together, so he knows when I'm at the end of my rope, he was trying to modulate his voice, but it wasn't working, the front tire had dipped off the pavement more than once, and I was running about 45. I pulled off on a dirt road, did a semi-circle, and parked the Valiant on the right shoulder, almost back on the highway, and shut it off. I left all the lights on in case someone approached on either road, and we jumped out and stretched. "I'm done Dad'. "You're telling me"! We walked around the front of the car to switch places, and the passenger's headlight went out. "What the..." Dad started It came back on! "Nothing Dad, the ole girl was just winking at us"!
