While we're doing some reminiscing here...
I met Dick on the mg list when I first joined it back in 1996. He and I
became cyber-friends, like a lot of us have. Then the Brit Run deal came
up, and he and I e-mailed even more as we were all planning and scheming
for the trip. He bought the V-8 in the spring of 1997 and went to
Pennsylvania (?) to pick it up and travelled down to Florida, then to
Houston, then to Salado, TX, for the spring GOF (May 9-10-11, 1997), then
back to California to make final preps for the trip.
I met him in person at Salado at about 9:30 on Friday night... He was the
first member of the Brit Run troupe that I met fact to face. We talked a
lot over the course of the weekend and he was very excited about our
upcoming adventure. He really knew his cars, too!
The next time I saw him was in Cache Creek, BC, on Saturday, June 7, when
Bob Nogueira, Barney and I pulled into the campground that Dick and Ross
MacPherson had picked out for us. The McNaughtons were there, too, so our
group was as in tact as it was going to be until we met up with the
Murdocks outside Fairbanks. We had a lively, enjoyable evening talking and
laughing as we all sat around a big warm campfire. Dick was a private
person, but was very social, too. He laughed easily.
Something that I will always remember is Dick's "possibles" bag. It was
full of "possibles". Really cute. "Hey, Dick... Do you have a left-handed
can opener?" He'd reply "Let's check the possibles bag. (It's possible)"
The bag was just a big duffle bag chock full of stuff.... absolutely no
rhyme or reason to how the items were tossed in there, but he always found
what he was looking for in a trice! And there were no unnecessary items in
that bag.... only 'necessary' ones. I've wanted to start my own "possibles"
bag, but I don't think I could do Dick justice...
We all pulled out of Cache Creek on Sunday morning, headed for the rest of
our journey. Four cars travelled the Al-Can (or Alaska Highway) together
for the next nine days. Dick enjoyed "playing" with that V-8 which would
almost be almost idling as he'd pass us on a grade, MGA huffing and puffing
at the end of it. There was not reckless driving or child's play. The drive
was fun, but safe.
We sacrificed a couple of travel days because our highway "of choice", Top
of the World Highway, was washed out from the late and heavy spring rains.
We wanted to see if the crews could repair the road and waited an extra
day. More rain in the mountains dashed that hope, and we wound up retracing
our steps (also called "detour") to the tune of 723 miles. The Top of the
World Highway was on of the must-do's on Dick's list. [Barney and I made
the trip for him on the way out. It was an emotional drive.... and very
beautiful.] When we arrived in Tok, Alaska, there was a sign that read:
"Dawson City 154" miles! And the road had indeed opened the afternoon
before...just after we left.
We met up with the Murdocks at Cheena Hot Springs, north of Fairbanks, and
we spent the night there. That was the only time all five cars were
together. The next day we fiddled around awhile and finally headed out for
Prudhoe Bay... just Dick in his V8 and Barney and I in the 'attitude'. The
others headed south for Denali and the Kenai Peninsula. We learned later
that Bob had decided to head back to Dallas.
Dick wound up ahead of us when we started having trailer tire trouble. The
sharp rock they use for the road's surface caused two flats in three miles.
So after hassling with that mess, and driving up and back to Coldfoot to
get the tires repaired, we decided to leave the trailer in a pull-out along
the road, and headed out with bare essentials, including two spares in the
boot. We crossed the Arctic Circle about midnight and found Dick asleep in
a campground a ways up the road. He was snoring so peacefully that we just
left a note on his tent and kept driving into the midnight sun.
He caught up with us in Deadhorse (at Prudhoe Bay) later that morning, and
I spotted a hotel where the oilfield workers stay.... about 1/3 the cost of
the other hotels, and built the same way... modular buildings up on
pilings. We all decided that $50 per night (for bed, all meals, munchies
and sandwiches in between, pool table, tv, laundry, etc.) in that part of
world was CHEAP! I know Barney and Dick ate more than $50 worth of food
while we were there, and we loaded up on sandwiches, etc., for our trip
back down when we left. We definitely got our money's worth. We relaxed at
the Arctic Oilfield Hotel and did some sightseeing and souvenir buying. I
remember that Dick bought a gift for one of his grandaughters there.
Thursday morning Dick and Barney took a tour further out for a better view
of the Arctic Ocean. That's where that neat photo of Dick was taken. He had
a smile on his face that almost filled up the photo! He had accomplished
that part of what he had come all tlhis way to do.
After a lunch-feast at the hotel we packed up and started back down the
haul road (Dalton Highway on the map). This time we were ahead of Dick. At
about 3:30 a.m. on June 20 Barney and I pulled onto the grassy property of
an abandoned store, and pitched the tent. We were across the road from a
general store we had visited on the way up, and we had promised the owners'
little girl we'd stop to visit her again on our way back. Dick pulled in
about 5 a.m., but decided not to pitch his tent and just to sleep in his
car. About 8 he told us he was going on into Fairbanks to get breakfast.
The little store wasn't open yet.
Barney and I packed up, visited the general store and then headed into
Fairbanks . We found Dick dozing in his car because the restaurant he
wanted to eat at didn't open until 11:30. We all had lunch, then headed for
the car wash because the cars were hardly even recognizable! We weren't in
any particular hurry, and took our time digging out the dirt and dust. Our
next stop was to be another "must-see" for Dick: Denali National Park --
halfway between Fairbanks and Anchorage. Once the cars were cleaned up, we
pulled into the restaurant next to the car wash. I got a cup of coffee to
go while Barney made some phone calls. Dick waited for us in his car.
We came out and I noticed that Dick had dozed off. I walked up to his
window and rubbed my hand against his stubbly beard. "Cut that out!" he
growled with a big grin spread across his face. "Well, would you prefer
that I do it (rub his beard) or that he (Barney) do it?" Dick laughed.
"Well... you, I guess..." We got into the MGA and both cars pulled out...
with headlights on.
At approximately four-forty-five p.m. Alaska time, eighty-five miles down
the George Parks Highway and about six miles south of the Tanana River
bridge, Barney checked his mirror for 'the car behind us', as he so
frequently does when he drives with other cars. Then he asked me to look
back to see if I could spot Dick's car.
I did not see it.
God bless you, Friend....
At 05:07 AM 6/20/98 EDT, MGSMGBGT@aol.com wrote:
>
>In a message dated 6/18/98 5:14:20 AM, barneymg@ntsource.com wrote:
>
>> Please take your LBC on Saturday and drive an hour in
>>memory of Dick Criswell.
>
>I met Dick briefly in Indy in '96. It was all too short a meeting of a grand
>enthusiast, and I regret not knowing him better. I cannot drive the A
>tomorrow in Dicks Memory, lost the drain plug from the pan while checking
>speedo calibration (it read 20 MPH low) and cooked the bearings, but I will
>stop disassembling the engine in the early P.M. and take the Sterling out on
>my favorite twisty roads. Rest easy Dick.
>
>Bob Shaw
>
>
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