Story and Photos by Paul and Marilyn Duncan (except where photo credit noted)

    Twenty-one Tin Lizzie members in 9 Model T’s and 2 modern cars, toured the countryside around Socorro, NM over 3 picture-perfect driving days. The touring group also included 2 of Leonard and Johnel Scarborough‘s young grandsons as well as Andy Andrew’s Model-T-riding Dalmatian dog, Jackie. Local Tour Coordinator, Frank Lewark from Lemitar, NM led the group in his white ‘26 Touring while Susan Lewark drove the trouble trailer with their modern car. We only needed to use the trouble trailer one time during this year’s tour.

    The Comfort Inn & Suites in Socorro was our base motel. The parking was excellent with plenty of secure trailer space available nearby at Ty Zimmerman’s tire facility. Hospitality room events were organized by Lorna Azevedo and Fran Gurule. Many participants gathered at Fran’s suite on Thursday and Friday evenings.

    On the first day of driving (Thursday), we took the back road that meandered through the NM Tech campus and golf course to reach the East by-pass road to Escondida and on to Lemitar 7 miles north of Socorro. Our first stop was at the former livestock auction barn that Frank Lewark and Leonard Scarborough have recently purchased. They are in the process of renovating the space as a work shop and storage space for their antique cars. Later, we drove up the nearby hill to Frank & Susan Lewark’s home. Their property has several buildings that currently store Frank’s collection of Model T’s and parts as well as other antique vehicles and parts. In one of the “shop” buildings they have a wonderful collection of antiques displayed on the walls and a large meeting room to host Socorro Old Car Club meetings. Susan provided homemade cookies and coffee. Vern Willan proclaimed the main shop space as “the ultimate man cave!”

    After picking up picnic lunches at the Marathon Travel Center, we followed behind Frank’s white touring to San Lorenzo Canyon. The Canyon landscape features prominent sandstone formations that were created over the past 200,000 years, mainly due to water. The 7-mile trip in the Canyon required driving our T’s in a sandy wash. The Cover Photo on this issue of the newsletter shows the Tour T’s parked at the far end of the canyon. We stopped for lunch in a shaded grove of cottonwood trees that Frank Lewark had planted years ago when he worked for BLM.

    Later that evening, we dressed in vintage and gathered at the Jackson Ranch Steakhouse for our group banquet.

    On the second day of driving (Friday), we followed NM-1 (Old US-85) south to Fort Craig and returned to San Antonio for lunch at the Owl Bar and Café. The old highway road was straight for miles and had many old narrow bridges over dry arroyos. Fort Craig, a former Civil War-era military garrison is currently under BLM management where they maintain a small Visitor Center. Historical volunteer, Mark Grinstead, led us on an informative walking tour of the ruins at the fort.

After lunch in San Antonio, we returned to Socorro along an 11 mile well-maintained Middle Rio Grande Conservancy irrigation ditch bank road.

    On the third driving day (Saturday), we drove Highway US-60 to Magdalena with a brief stop at Water Canyon campground.

In Magdalena we visited the Route 60 Trading Post owned by Model A club member James Chaves. We set up a car show on Main St. and Magdalena Mayor Richard Rumpf stopped by to visit. Tour participants found local lunch spots and the Market Place antique store. We did not drive to Kelly but returned to Socorro. Later in the day, we participated in the Socorro Fest car show and enjoyed music and food. 

    We drove about 200 miles in our T’s and much of the tour was over dirt roads. Socorro is close to Albuquerque and offers many attractions. We appreciated the planning and participation in the tour by local Tin Lizzies including Frank & Susan Lewark, Leonard & Johnel Scarborough and John & Carol Burnett. Additional tour coordination for this tour involved Paul & Marilyn Duncan and Dave Ferro who have worked together to organize Tin Lizzie Fall Tours for 6 of the past 7 years.