172. Sad farewell to our Earthroamer – and Dick’s Lowell Thomas Award

Monday 13 October 2008

On Monday 13 October, we drove to the new Earthroamer factory facility and were welcomed by the Company’s owner, Bill Swails. We met up with Mike Funari who had been the wonderful man at the end of the phone who assisted us with the Earthroamer breakdowns in Kazakhstan and Mongolia and when we had other technical enquiries along the way.

**We parked outside the new Earthroamer factory at Bloomfield**

**Dick and Bill Swails inside our Earthroamer**

**Mike, the man who helped us over the phone a number of times**

That evening the staff of Earthroamer along with their families gave us a welcome back barbecue dinner with a congratulations cake. It was a wonderful, warm and friendly gathering of people.

**We enjoyed a barbecue with the staff of Earthroamer**

**Michele’s daughter sang a song to us all**

**Michele the co-owner of Earthroamer with Bill, cutting our congratulations cake**

On Tuesday 14 October, we drove ourselves to the local Bloomfield airport, where we handed our EYH944 Earthroamer over to Bill with the hope that he will sell it for us. When it came to leaving the vehicle for the very last time, Pip found herself shedding a few tears. This vehicle had become our secure adventure machine and had enabled us to see amazing places and meet wonderful people. Bill drove her back to his factory to place a ‘For Sale’ sign on her windscreen.

**Our last photo beside our Earthroamer**

**We watched Bill drive away with a tear in our eyes**

Our friends John and Martha King had landed in their aircraft to pick us up and take us with them to New York.

We called into the Cessna aircraft factory in Wichita, Kansas on the way and said hello to the past President Russ Meyer.

**Dick, Russ Meyer and Pip at the Cessna Aircraft Headquarters in Wichita, Kansas**

In New York we attended the Explorers Club function on 16 October where Dick received the Lowell Thomas award for his aviation achievements. The other recipients included Chuck Yeager and John & Martha King!

**Dick and Pip with General Chuck Yeager at the Explorers Club in New York**

We spent the weekend with Tom Warner at his Beechcraft Fly-in at Tullahoma, Tennessee with the Kings, before they flew us back to their home town of San Diego.

**Tom Warner and Dick in Tullahoma, Tennessee**

We hired a car and drove ourselves back to Los Angeles and flew home to Sydney.

For almost three years, on and off, we have driven our Earthroamer across the USA, Canada, England, Wales, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Japan and Australia. It has been a fantastic journey with wonderful memories and Pip has taken many photographs to help keep those memories alive. We really enjoyed each other’s company and became a good team sharing the tasks of driving a vehicle around the world.

We now wait to hear that someone has bought our Earthroamer, however Dick says we could head down through South America if the economic climate in the States results in no one buying our Earthroamer!!

Thank you to all our family and friends who have read our web site and taken an interest in our travels, we really appreciate your enthusiasm and support.

Farewell for now from Dick and Pip Smith

Travelled 1,479 miles (2,380 kms) from Los Angeles to Denver

Total trip from Denver to Denver, including the ferry drive to Seattle and the Los Angeles to Denver segment is: 45,552 kms

EPILOGUE – The Earthroamer has been sold – 6 January 2009

Just before Christmas we were advised by Earthroamer that the vehicle has been sold. We understand it was purchased by a US military veteran.

We are really pleased that our Earthroamer has gone to a good home and we are hoping to be able to find out what adventures it participates in during the next few years.

Click here to return to the Smith’s Overland Earthroamer around the world drive index page.

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