Page:Motoring Magazine and Motor Life January 1915.djvu/14

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12
MOTORING MAGAZINE
January, 1915.


Joplin to California Over Arizona Desert

Sixteen Year Old Miss Drives Car From Home to the Pacific Coast

Desert sentinel in Arizona

Across the continent to see California is the desire of the motorist of the East at the present time. They all want to see the State, and especially this city and the big exposition.

Recently, W. H. Frickelton and family of Joplin, Mo., arrived in the city, having come overland in their new Overland car.

Frickelton, who is a motor car dealer in Joplin, decided to spend the winter in San Francisco, and while handling other makes of cars, selected the Overland as the car he thought would suit him best for the trip.

Purchasing a new car, he and his family at once started westward by easy stages, leaving home on November 22d. Miss Jean Frickelton, his sixteen year old daughter, was at the wheel. She drove the car the whole distance.

In speaking of the trip. Miss Frickelton says: "It was the most enjoyable drive I have ever taken, and at the same time the longest. While it was hard work at times on account of the road conditions, it was, however, interesting, as we did not have the slightest trouble with the car, not having to think of it for one moment.

"We left home and stopped at Cherryville in Kansas for the first night, having had a most delightful afternoon drive over good roads.

"The next day we drove from Cherryville to Wichita by way of Fredonia, and found the roads very rough. What made it especially annoying was that a great part of this day's travel was through flint hills, the tough rock being used on the roads, which took many miles off of our tires.

The road near Caliente

"From Wichita we came west by way of Dodge City to Liberal, Oklahoma, over very good roads. It was after leaving the latter place that we encountered the first of the sand which at times made the going slow.

"From Liberal our route lay through Guyman, Oka.; Amarillo, Texas, and Plainsville. This place is 85 miles from the railroad, and it seemed a 1,000 miles distance from good roads. In one spot we drove for twelve miles through the mud, most of it hub deep.

"The bad road continued until near Roswell, N. M., when we again reached fine roads and a most beautiful country. From Roswell we drove over the mountains, going as high as 9,000 feet above sen level to Alamagordo.

"Leaving Alamagordo, we went on to El Paso, thence to Deming, Douglas, Brisbee, Tucson, Phoenix, Agua Caliente and Yuma. It was leaving Yuma and through the Mammoth Wash that our car showed the kind of stuff that it was made