Dale's road trip

Dale Dean was only four years old when his uncle, Rankin Dean, bought a new 1955 International Harvester R-110.

The popular two-door pickups of the time were powered by a 100 horsepower inline-6 engine, mated to a 3-speed manual transmission and, according to many owners, were "tough as nails."

Now, Dale Dean's son, Adam, is planning a 2,500-mile round trip from Lewistown, Montana to Chicago, Illinois with the pickup. Adam is making the trip to pay homage to his late father and hopes to raise a little money for the Cancer Research Institute along the way.

Dale Dean was born in Ekalaka on March 18, 1951 to Leslie and Nellie (Guyer) Dean. He was raised on the family ranch west of Ekalaka and attended various country schools before graduating from Carter County High School in 1969. Dale battled through three different cancer diagnoses from 2009 to 2019 before succumbing to lung cancer on December 21, 2019.

The pickup itself is full of family history. Adam's uncle, Barnet, bought it from Rankin. Barnet sold it around a year later to Dale who drove it around Circle, Montana in the mid 1970s. Dale sold the pickup in November of 1977 to another Circle resident, Ken Merry, and parked it in a field Merry owned where it sat for the next 41 years. Dale eventually bought the pickup back in November of 2018. At that time, Adam began working on it.

"There was not a single thing that worked on it," Adam Dean said. "The engine and about everything else were rust seized, the mice had eaten about every wire and every piece of cloth and foam. The sun baked every piece of rubber and the BB guns had every piece of glass cracked or broken out of it except the windshield. The parts harvester had taken the grill, emblems, tail lights and headlight bezels."

Dean says that he regrets not keeping track of the time he has invested into working on the pickup, but has kept track of receipts for the project. To date, he has spent nearly $4,000 to overhaul and rework almost everything on it.

"It was a wreck," Dean told the Eagle. "It probably should have gone to the dump. Dad would tell me that I was spending way too much time on it. I would jokingly tell him that he could drive it to Chicago for a hot dog when I was done with it."

Dean overhauled or reworked the engine, transmission, rear differential, drive line, brakes and brake lines, front axle, starter, generator, radiator, water pump, heater ducts, fuel system and pull cables. He has touched every gauge, bulb, light, switch, wire, window and piece of weatherstripping on the pickup.

"There is not a bolt that didn't get touched," he said.

Dean spent most of his weekends and evenings working on the pickup. He said that he really picked up his pace when he knew that his father's cancer was getting bad.

"I was adamant that he was going to be able to drive this pickup, and he did," Dean said.

The pickup was "reborn" in June of 2019, and Dale was able to drive it just a few months later in August. It was the last vehicle he ever drove. After Dale could no longer drive, he continued to take several rides in it as his son continued working on the project.

After Dale's passing, Adam was telling his sister, April Haugrose, about "ribbing" their father that the pickup could be driven to Chicago for a hot dog. Haugrose told him he should do it. So he is.

In September, Dean will embark on a nine-day trip from Lewistown to George's Hot Dogs in downtown Chicago, Illinois and back. He has marked out his journey and plans to drive on two-lane highways as much as possible. He estimates that for most of the trip he will only be able to drive 40 or 45 miles per hour due to the 5.13 gear ratio, possibly 50 mph with a good tail wind.

The first day of the journey will cover 293 miles from Dean's home in Lewistown to Baker. Day two will be from Baker to Watertown, South Dakota; day three from Watertown to Cresco, Iowa; day four from Cresco to Crystal Lake, Illinois; and day five will cover the final 52 miles to George's Hot Dogs in Chicago.

Dean is quite sure that when he arrives he is going to eat what will be the best hot dog of his life. The final four days of the trip will be spent heading home on the same route.

Dean has no plans of ever letting the pickup leave the family again. He says that his daughter has already said she would love to have her Papa's pickup someday. It will just have a few more miles on it. At least 2,536 of them.

Dean has set up a facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/Dales-Road-Trip-to-DRIVE-OUT-Cancer-106323288057626/, with more information so that people can follow his journey. There is also information on the Cancer Research Institute website at https://fundraise.cancerresearch.org/fundraiser/3089021. Additionally, donations can be made online directly to the Cancer Research Institute in Dale's name.

T-shirts and decals for Dale's International Road Trip are also available. All proceeds from sales will go directly to the Cancer Research Institute to help find a cure.