The Model A Touring Club US-Canada tour is now over. Participants said goodbye at our final stop in Leavenworth Washington on Thursday and headed home. Most towed their Model A’s on a trailer, or RV. Other Model A’s were driven home.

Before finalizing the chapter on this unique bucket-list tour, there are a few more details about touring in Model A’s that I want to share. Traveling in general is fun and exciting. Traveling with like-minded folks in vintage Fords is a different experience all together. If I were to come up with a word to describe adventurous Model A Touring Club tour-goers, it would be grit.

Driving Model A’s to beautiful destinations is not for sissies. The journey takes guts, creativity, and skill. Take Stan and Mary.

Here are Mary and Stan kindly posing for the camera, ready for a day of travel. You might wonder why Mary is wearing multiple layers. She is wearing a t-shirt, sweatshirt, and jacket. A brimmed hat and 2 hoods are covering her head. Why? The beautiful truck you see is a roadster, an open-air vehicle. Mary is dressed for the drive from Jasper to Lake Louise. She will experience the cold, fresh air first hand as they drive along the Icefields Parkway.

Here is another look of their beautifully-restored Ford taken earlier in the tour. Note the raindrops. Besides cold, driving a Roadster pickup means you might get wet. Model A travelers won’t let a little rain stop them. What do they do to stay dry? Use side curtains.

Here is the roadster pick-up outfitted with side curtains that the pair made as a DIY project. According to Mary, the curtains take care of the rain, but she still gets wet if the wind is blowing. Ready for anything, a blanket is used to help solve the problem.

One more interesting detail about this Roadster pickup is the truck bed cover. This too was a DIY project designed and constructed by Stan and Mary. It is used for touring and can be used to keep luggage, tools, and other valuables safe while traveling. The lid was made to stay open while loading and unloading, and closed and locked while driving.

Model A Roadsters are loved by their owners and adapted to meet the needs of touring. Here is Leonard and Kay’s 1930 Roadster shown with side curtains.

Tomorrow I’ll share some stories about highs and lows on the road with Model A’s. Meanwhile, here is a photo of Mary demonstrating one of the most important approaches to having a great time with Model A’s. A sense of humor.