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See the movie "Twister" for more details on "Bob's road".

The Lincoln Highway goes near my home town in Iowa. My father was a member of the Lincoln Highway association, organized to promote the lincoln highway.

http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org

The cool thing, like mentioned above, is that most of the Lincoln Highway is still in use as back county roads. The small section between Scranton Iowa and Jefferson Iowa includes an old run down hotel and a gorgeous bridge The Eureka Bridge.

Also, a bronze bust of Lincoln was installed nearly every mile as a promotion. I think a few remain in museums.

Here's a picture of the hotel I mentioned (I remember it as run down and boarded up).

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Just to clarify that I took a number of road trips in an actual Packard, here's one from da woods in Northern Minnesota. A nice 200 mile jaunt that put us at a resort on Pelican lake, perfect for fishing and drowning worms--in the rain.

That's my brother Tony in the cap, I'd say about 10 year old, and the figure half swallowed by the trunk is my dad, Tony, Unloading the family Clipper. He's probably digging out the outboard motor we took along so we could just rent a little fishing boat, and not have to drag anything.

All of you here could affirm that the Packard trunk has ample room for an outboard motor, tackle boxes and several pieces of luggage to boot (hey, I made another funny). In my recollection, we never filled the trunk, and of course all that weight in the back, including two kids in the back seat presented no problem for a level riding TL suspension.

Ah memories, lovingly preserved in immortal black-and-white using a 4 x 5 Kodak bellows camera! Still have it, too.

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... and what was a road trip without the chief cook and bottle washer? Really just The Chief. Those specs my Mom had have come right back in style. Notice I'm following the age-old rule, get the car in the photograph no matter what.

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Guy,

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

You're welcome, Kev. I'll have to do some digging for more. I'd like to find the old 400 when it was painted a monochrome gunmetal gray metallic. Incorrect and it was later changed back, but it looked MEAN.

We always drove the '55 Packards year 'round here in Minnesota, which included of course lots of winter driving.

The cars proved to be very stable in snow and ice, even without the '56-only "Twin Traction" differential. On country roads to church (late), my dad tried to stay on a glazed snow-packed road after crossing an uneven intersection followed by a sudden dip. Usually easily manageable at 60 mph, which was minimum speed on this particular approach that morning.

Here's the remainder of the trip:

Two complete 360s in the road followed by a ride through the ditch as far as a barbed wire fence. Injuries: none. Damage: scratched paint on front fender. Towing cost: none. Drove it out of the ditch.

Fear factor: not too bad. It happened too fast.
Recommended? No.

Any other winter Packard adventures out there?

Bump to check if anyone has had a recent Packard Road Trip they'd like to share. Or a "First Spin of the Season."

It'd be great to hear some stories and see some pics, including memorable road trips in other makes-- modern or antique.

55PackardGuy wrote "A nice 200 mile jaunt that put us at a resort on Pelican lake"

Would this be the Pelican Lake NE of Brainerd, MN? If so, that is where I developed a 14 unit townhome project
http://dmarrin.com/ . My wife and I moved into one of the units there last Fall. We are only about 5 minutes from Breezy Point Resort. Interesting thread.

Dan,

Lots of Pelican Lakes around. I've never visited the one around Brainerd, but I have been to Gull Lake several times near Brainerd many years ago. That whole area is beautiful.

The Pelican Lake from the Packard trip is a ways Nortwest of you, off of Highway 53 near Orr, MN.

Nice shot of your car! The white against green is quite dazzling. Feel free to report on some Packard adventures, to the lake or wherever. Top down or up.

Just occurred to me that a Packard is particularly appropriate at any lake named "Pelican."