Tuesday June 4: I took the day off from work to get the truck loaded and basically get ready to go. Bob (Barista) and I plan to caravan down to Kansas City in the afternoon so we can hook up with folks from Kansas, Missouri, Colorado and Oklahoma to caravan to Nashville. We've all decided a 7am departure from KC is good so getting to KC the night before seems more prudent than leaving home at 3am to get to the meeting place in time.
The Drury Inn in KC across from the Truman Sports Complex is home for the night. The Denny's next door is the launch pad for the caravan in the morning so we are set. It begins to rain as we reach town but the rain is fairly mild. Myself, my wife and Bob and his wife get settled into our rooms by about 9pm and decide to stay local and eat at the Denny's next door. The hotel has free breakfast so we are covered there.
At Denny's we knew we were in trouble when it took at least 15 minutes to get seated. The waitress we drew was, well, maybe she was just new. She was blonde, that's a fact. We started off with drinks, an easy way to begin. I had lemonade, Nat had tea and Bob and Rhonda ordered Sprite. On top of that we all wanted water. When the water order came up, she commented it was getting complicated and pulled out her note pad. Bob noticed she wrote the order as:
Lemonade
Tea
Sprite
Sprite
Water
Water
Water
Water
Oh man, we're in trouble now. After a bit she showed up with a big glass of lemonade for me. The glass was about and inch and a half short of full; I guess I look too young to be ready for a full big-boy glass. Maybe I should have ordered it in a sippy-cup. A minute or two later she arrived with my water. Just one glass. While she set down the water she checked her note pad intently. She came back a bit later with a large Sprite for Bob. Yup, an inch or so from full. No offense but Bob DOES look old enough to drink from a full big-boy glass. In another little while she brought Rhonda's Sprite and as she set it down she scrutinized her note pad intently. After a pause she let go of the glass and left and returned with Nat's tea. Three more individual trips to our table and we all had our drinks and our water. Eight trips back and forth, this poor girl must be pooped! We saw other wait staff using a new invention called a "tray" but maybe she hadn't yet graduated to using them.
We placed our food order and that seemed to go fairly well. After she consulted the computer to input our order she returned at least 4 times to verify what vegetables each person wanted. When she was all done she returned with the computer print out of the order and all seemed in order until she reached mine, and I quote, "Oh, I seem to have hit a wrong button. Somehow I got a bacon double cheeseburger on here instead." Then I got a completely expectant look as if she expected me to change my order to match what she entered. I politely stated I'd still kind of like to get the chicken fried steak I had ordered and she looked sad and confused. "Okay, I'll talk to the manager and get that fixed." Maybe I should have taken the burger so we could eat some time before the caravan pulls out.
After Bob got us silverware so we could actually eat if and when the food arrives she returns with one of those little stands they place the tray (yes a tray!) on when they bring the food. Making progress. She gets the stand caught in her apron string but gets untangled all by herself with no injuries to anyone. She returns with one plate, my order. And it's what I ordered! She hasn't used the tray stand yet. After the drink thing maybe it's only purpose is to let us know the food is on it's way. Then she returns with a large tray loaded with everyone else's food! It's like seeing your first born take their first step. And yeah!, we can eat. Of course Bob did have to get up and run behind the counter to get us refills of our drinks but we got out alive and our bill actually matched what we ate. The burger was on the ticket but was deducted at the end. We did leave her a pity tip, I just hope it doesn't encourage her too much.
Wednesday June 5: I got up early. I'm eager to get rolling. It rained overnight so I break out the towels and dry off the car. I still wound up with time to spare so I dry off Bob's car too. No leak in my trunk this year though. A good sign. Too bad the lack of rain in the morning was not as good a sign.
We meet up with Dean and many members of the local club, BC from Colorado and Dale's son driving the Great Pumpkin from Oklahoma. After a bit of bench racing we pull out of Denny's at about 7:20am. Bob and I are in contact via some walkie-talkies I bought for the trip. We chat a bit but a few of the caravanners have CB's to use to stay in touch. We get strung out here and there but mostly stick together. The fuel stops are more than adequate to keep my '69 C10 well fed. Dean should probably drink less coffee, but at least I can keep the tank far from running dry.
The caravan gets broken up for a while when the teal green '66 2-door post in the group has to pull off in the rain. Oh, did I mention rain? It started to rain outside KC and pretty much rained the entire way. It was light, misty, heavy and moderate at times but didn't seem to slow us down much. I did slow down a few times in the heavy rain and the caravan got strung out because of it. The guys driving their cars had much less trouble than those of us towing. Rain, wide tires, 6000+ pounds behind me and 70mph in combination tend to make me nervous and I'll not say here what it does to the wife sitting in the seat next to me. After last year's hydroplaning/jacknifing incident I'd rather be left behind than jackknife onto the shoulder.
The teal '66 had a wiper problem and pulled off. I ran back and checked on them and he said his wiper blade was working loose. I offered one from my car since it was being trailered but he got it fixed and away we went. This was the only mechanical problem for the whole caravan of 3 driven cars and 5 trailered cars. Not bad.
The rain just wouldn't leave us alone. I'm beginning to believe I'm a rain god when I have my car outdoors, this thing's a rain magnet. Got a drought? Plan a car show and invite me.
We took a bit of a new route through Goodlettsville which ended up being a whole lot more direct than we took last year, but when we lost sight of our caravan leader in a residential area with no clue where we were I got concerned. When I-65 showed itself I knew we were close to Chevelle Mecca. After a bit of time stuck in a traffic jam just two exits from our destination we all split and went our separate ways to our various hotels.
When we first pulled into town I couldn't find the Holiday Inn Express sign. All I knew was it was close to the Shoney's. My wife just loves how I plan these things out in such detail. We didn't find any familiar faces in the Shoney's lot (maybe because it was raining) and since we had missed the goody bag stuffing party Nat went next door to the drugstore to find some sinus medicine. I stepped into the Shoney's office and asked the young lady if she could direct me to the Holiday Inn. She blinked once or twice and then the manager behind her piped in and said, "Why don't you just stay with us?" in a happy tone.
"Well, I'll
bet you don't have any rooms available for the next 4 days."
"Sure we do! We have plenty!"
"Well, since you screwed me around at the last minute last
year I think I'll be happy to stay at the Holiday Inn. Can you
please tell me how to find it?"
They gave me the directions I needed and it was just up the road about 2 blocks. Everyone remained polite and I left to get Nat and find the hotel. The Holiday Inn's big sign had been taken down due to road construction I guess but it was real close. Bob and Rhonda checked into the Comfort Inn next door. It was still raining.
I had asked for a room on the first floor facing the parking lot (a down and out in hotel lingo) and that's what we got. It was right up front and there were open parking spots for the trailer and truck right outside our door. All good things. I get the trailer parked without dropping it off the edge of the lot or injuring anyone. I get the truck parked right in front of the room and begin to unload. Of course it is still raining. I pretty much get drenched unloading but when everything is unloaded I check the car. No leak in the trunk. I remain optimistic. The rain breaks just as I take the last item into the room. Absolutely no kidding, it was like turning off a tap.
In the lot I meet JodySS396 and Daytona Jeff. Other Chevellers are milling about and we chat a bit. One guy has a solid '65 Malibu SS convertible. I had no idea it was another L79 car at the time. It began to rain again before long and we decided to grab dinner. The whole crowd minus the Colorado and Oklahoma folks gathered again later for dinner. Our waitress actually knew what she was doing this time. Well sort of. At least I got what I ordered without any fuss, some of the others weren't so lucky.Even though we got rained on much of the way, the rain wasn't done with us yet. It rained most of the night. Still no water in the trunk. I remained optimistic for the week ahead.
After eating we returned and it had stopped raining so I decided to wipe down the car. It was dark out and kind of peaceful. Someone pulled in and told me it was futile, it was just going to rain again (was that you Jody?) and that finally made sense so I just went inside and went to bed.
Thursday June 6: Now, I thought I was eager to get up and get going but Bob's enthusiasm had me beat. My plan was to get to the park and get unloaded by 8am. After working out the day's details with the wife off I go. I pull in about 8am and I have the car off the trailer by about a quarter after. I spend a bit of time finding a place for the trailer. Last year I had a bit of fun getting to my trailer due to wet grass so I pick a flat spot right off the road. Bob shows up and it turns out he had been there since before 7am! It's his first CB so I guess this makes sense. While ditching the trailer we encounter another Cheveller who is stuck on the wet grass after dropping his trailer (see!) so Bob hooks up and pulls him clear without a problem. I drop the truck off and go back for the Chevelle. I drive it around to the registration in a few sprinkles to find that registration won't open until about 10am! D'oh! Bob and I decide to just hang out and meet a few folks. It begins to rain so we make our way toward the banquet tent. Throughout the morning it shifted from raining to pouring. At one point we had to shout to hear each other to talk the rain was so loud on the tent.
During a brief respite, Gene Chas, 427L88, tracked us down at Bob's car. Before long we all got chased back to the tent by the rain and we just gabbed about TC, Chevelles and such. When the rain broke for a bit we dashed off and were some of the first to register along with our caravan buddies. After inspection I was pointed toward the '65 stock section. I mentioned I had an L79 and asked if I should be in the spotlight area. Chuck came over and said there were complaints in years past that the spotlight cars didn't get their fair share of votes in the judging since they were not posed with their class on judging day (Friday). That was fine by me. Besides, by the end of the day the ENTIRE '65 stock class was L79 cars anyway! A few more stock non-L79 cars showed up the next day to round out a nice large '65 field of stock and modifieds. I think this was the largest '65 showing yet.
I had planned to meet with Nat around 11am back at the hotel so I leave the car in the rain and return to the hotel. After lunch she decides to return to the park with me since the weather seems to be changing. It sprinkles a bit but begins to clear. We run into a few familiar faces, mostly from our local club and the '65 crowd that has returned from last year.
Eventually around 2-3pm the weather breaks for good. The ground is a soggy mess so cleaning up the car is a practice in balance at times to avoid becoming soaked. My feet are mushy wet and I hate that feeling but I'm having fun. As I'm working on the grill, the sun is blocked by a large body. I'm now being informed that the SS should have a silver grill and body color on the rear cove. I play Mr. Polite and explain that the SS has a mostly black grill and a black rear cove as part of the package. When I actually look up I see a poop-eating grin and a large hand is thrust my way, "Hi, I'm Mark502." Man, I was totally suckered in! Mark and I have had this long running razzing of each other over black vs. silver grills on '65 Super Sports on TC. Most folks think we are going after each other but it's such a long running joke we don't bother explaining it anymore. He totally sucked me in, I feel like such a dolt! Mark couldn't stay too long but I shake his hand again for making me take his line so completely.
At mid-afternoon cars are lining up for a cruise to the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Neither my car nor Bob's will be going in the cruise so we decide to tag along in Bob's truck. My car has untrustworthy but original-looking tires and Bob's car is primed for racing Friday night with slicks and front runners. We completely lose the caravan but get directions and make our own way to the museum. After one slight detour, a missed exit due to road construction, we make it to the museum and we've beat the entire cruise to that destination! Before long the Chevelles arrive and the CB02 crowd descends on the museum. They typically close at 5pm but is held open specifically for our group.
Chuck gets us all to gather outside with Chevelles in the circle drive and takes a few pictures. His enthusiasm for this event is invigorating. The ride back is uneventful and we break up and make for our respective Chevelles to primp them a bit more before Friday's judging.
About this time a long time friend who I haven't seen in ages shows up. It's Lyle, the previous owner of my car. Lyle got the car in late 1965. The car was ordered new in December 1964. After only owning it a few months the first owner was drafted and put the car on consignment at the local dealer. Lyle saw the car and coveted it but with a new family in the works it didn't seem practical. Lucky for me, he finally broke down and bought it in the fall of 1965. The first owner had bought it for drag racing so it may just have been saved through this turn of events. The first owner came back from Vietnam in one piece but has since passed away from illness.
I hadn't seen Lyle since about 1990. We had lost touch years ago when he moved out of state for a job. Earlier this year he caught up with me after seeing the article on the car in Super Chevy. We talked a lot and he said he planned to visit Nashville to see the car. This guy is completely in love with this car to this day and it's been mine since 1981. His favorite joke all week was, "I'm the one who got to put all the miles on it (138,000+) and he (me) is the one who got to spend all the money on it!" I can't argue with that.
Lyle brought me a present of all his old photos of the car and some books and magazines relating to the car. It's great stuff and I was thrilled to learn he found his slides of the car following the wreck. He gave me all the stuff and only asked that I return the slides after I have copies made. What a great surprise! Just take a look at what I started with back in 1981. Other than crash damage the car was spotless and exceptionally well maintained.
Lyle not only brought his wife along, but he found some old pictures of the car. I had seen pictures of the car when it was wrecked but I never had copies made. I've no idea why I didn't take pictures of it in this condition when I got it but I had no evidence of it's previous condition to show folks. Maybe I just didn't want to think of it this way.
We pretty much hung out all day grabbed some dinner late with Bob and his wife. We met plenty of new folks and many TCers and old friends from past shows. The '65 L79 bunch were great guys and we had a blast comparing cars, details, information and stories of our cars.
Friday June 7: The sun was out for good at this point. The morning sun showed it was going to be hot and muggy but I'll take that over rain at a car show any day. I had left the car at the park so after peeling back the dew soaked cover we cleaned it up a bit and set up for the show. Lyle and Deb showed up and pretty much hung out all day. Lyle walked with me while I filled in my ballot for the judging. This took a while but we got to see all the cars. I think Lyle had a great time. Nat and Rhonda had left for the day to go to Mammoth Cave. Lyle's wife was asked if she wanted to go along but chose to stay and look at the cars.
We ran into more friends new and old. I finally caught up with my friend Brian who brought his stunning '67 L79 which had been tucked away since 1997. It was good to see Brian and his car. He also dragged along his big block '67 El Camino.
The plan had been to go to dinner early with Lyle, Deb, Bob and Rhonda, but when the cruise to the drags came up Bob was off and Lyle decided to go on to the drags as well. I had agreed with Nat that I'd be there when she got back so I just hung out at the park and gawked at all the fine cars and made more new friends and caught up with old ones.
Toward the end of the day I found myself in a quandary. I planned to take the car back to the hotel but this would leave the truck at the park. Oh well, I packed what I could in the car and headed for the hotel. I stopped in the room to cool off a bit and Nat still wasn't around so I tried to decide what to do. I searched the lot of the hotel and decided to walk down the hill with a new L79 buddy. He hooked up with friends and they were making plans to hit the town on a run so I continued on the Shoney's. I didn't find anyone around I knew to bum a ride from so I decided to hoof it to the park. It's only about a mile or so. Before I got too far someone came to the curb asking if I needed a ride to the show. They saw my Chevelle shirt and figured I belonged at the park not walking the street. It was only as they dropped me off that I realized they had nothing to do with the show, they just were being friendly helpful local folks. At least I didn't get kidnapped!
Once back at the park there is no sign of Bob, Rhonda, Nat, Lyle or Deb. On my own I guess. Now I wish I'd gone to the drags myself. Maybe next year. With the car!
When I got back with the truck Nat showed up from her outing. We then proceeded to have our required vacation spat. I'm not sure what exactly I had done wrong since I was where I said I'd be when I said I'd be there and everyone else had gone on to do fun things they wanted to do. (Well, I had been having fun too of course.) After we got that situation settled we tried to figure out what the plans were to be. We contacted Rhonda and she planned to just wait for Bob to return from racing. Shortly after that Lyle and Deb called and we made plans to go to dinner with them. It seemed pretty simple at the time and we were all starved. Too bad we wouldn't get to eat for hours and hours.
Lyle and Deb showed up a the hotel. It was then I realized we were stuck a bit for riding to a place to eat. Lyle had brought his Corvette and the truck certainly isn't a 4-seater. Well, duh, since the Chevelle is a perfectly good car and can seat 4 people we planned to take it. We made it about three blocks before it completely died rolling through an intersection. It wouldn't start or even pop. I had my suspicions but we had a more immediate problem: we had to get the car out of the road. There was a well lit Texaco station about a block and a half away so I put Nat in to steer and myself, Deb and Lyle began to push. Before long some firemen pulled up behind and put on their emergency lights so we didn't get creamed in traffic. Two of them jumped out and helped push. Do you know how long a block and a half is when you are pushing nearly 2 tons? Without America's finest we would have never made it. And just like Batman, they were gone before we could properly say thanks.
Once under the hood I knew exactly what was wrong. It had happened once before. The pin upon which the float pivots in the rear fuel bowl had come loose again causing the needle valve to remain full open. This causes lots of fuel to go in the engine and flood it out. The only solution was to pull off that fuel bowl and re-attach the pin. Too bad I had left the tools back at the hotel.
About this time one of the Colorado caravaners saw us stranded and offered to run and get his tools. As Lyle and I dug into the engine compartment I apologized for all the trouble. He just grinned and said he had been there done that many times before. The car had stranded him a few times back in the day with the same exact problem. I think it was just nostalgia for him and he was soaking it up. Before the tools arrived I was able to get the fuel bowl off with the screw driver on my pocket knife. Just call me McGiver. Luckily all the screws came out with gaskets intact and the bowl peeled off clean too. We didn't even lose the o-ring for the fuel cross-over tube. Once we tapped the pin back in place (it had fallen out just as I had suspected) we buttoned it up and got it running again and we headed right back for the hotel. Our Colorado friend made sure we made it back without a hitch. I don't think I said thank you enough.
But good ole reliable Chevy's weren't done with us yet, not by a long shot. Back at the hotel we decide going to dinner in a 37 year old show car might not be a good idea. Nat and I will take the truck and Lyle and Deb will take their Vette. Except the Vette's alarm system goes off and the headlights won't come up. We had originally decided to sideline the Corvette since it was already having overheating problems earlier in the day but now it was really down for the count. Nat is getting a little tired of all the delays and I'm getting mighty hungry myself. After poking and prodding we finally figure out the Corvette's problem (we had to close the hood before starting it) and off we go. We had to manually raise the headlights but at least it was functional.
At the bar & grill we chat and eat. I heard many great stories about the Chevelle like how Lyle almost plowed it into a train across the road while going 90mph while racing a Gran Sport one summer night. I've no idea how this car survived in such fine shape with the way he used and abused it! The rest of the evening was uneventful except that the waitress assumed the $11.00 in change I had coming was to be her tip. I left a nice tip, but it sure wasn't $11.00 in the end. She made me feel like a jerk for having to ask for my change back but the service certainly wasn't worth a 35% tip!
Amazingly the truck and the Corvette started up and got us back without any problems. In fact, the truck was the shining example of reliability all week. It ran flawlessly all the way down and back. Not bad for a tired looking old '69 C10. Makes me proud that the drive train I built myself has been and continues to be bulletproof and reliable.
Saturday June 8: Since I had the car back at the hotel now it was a simple matter to drive it to the park. This also left the truck available to Nat so she can sleep in and come out to the park when she felt like it. She and Rhonda made plans to visit the Hermitage (Andrew Jackson's home) to fill her day. Saturday is the focus day and with L79's to be in the spotlight I was extra special eager to get there. I was still tentative about driving the car to the park and hoped to avoid a re-enactment of the night before so I asked Jody to follow me to the park in the event anything happened.
The car ran like a top but traffic at the park was already hopping. A number of L79 cars had beaten me to the park but Chuck was there directing the L79s to their special area and I got a spot between Brian's maroon '67 L79 Malibu and Jon's dark green '65 L79 Malibu convertible. The line up included one '68 300 Deluxe chassis, one '67 Malibu and eight '65 Chevelles. The '65s consisted of two Super Sport convertibles, three Super Sport coupes, a Malibu coupe, a Malibu convertible and a 300 4-door. There was a two-door sedan L79 clone around but it was not in with this bunch today.
The group started off with seven '65 L79s but the eighth showed up in the late morning. It was a decent looking Glacier Gray convertible SS. As always happens our little L79 crowd gravitated to the new arrival to check it out. After a short while it became clear the husband and wife owners weren't exactly interested in sharing their interest or knowledge with the rest of us so they were pretty much left to themselves. I don't think I saw either one of them stray more than 5 feet from their car. The rest of us were pouring over each other's cars, sharing information and trading contact information. L79s are a fairly rare breed so we need to keep in touch with other owners when the opportunity arises. A couple of the cars in the bunch were survivors and one of those was brought by the original owner. This is a wealth of information that rarely presents itself so we all made use of the opportunity. Well, most of us did.
When Chuck was trying to arrange the cars for a cover photo, I jogged down to tell the gray car's owner that Chuck wanted him to move his car in with the pack. His less than friendly response was that he had already changed the battery from his working battery to his non-functioning tar-top show battery. I felt like telling him he could simply leave his car where it was and stay out of the picture. Instead I just shrugged and moved back to move my own car. After a bit of shuffling of cars and people we managed to get the cars into an arrangement that pleased Chuck and we spent a while taking pictures. Chuck got some photos of the owners with their cars, the cars by themselves and then with a portion of the CB02 crowd with the cars. It was great fun.
Once the photo shoot broke up we returned the cars to their show spots and most of the L79 owners continued swapping info and stories. Of course the gray car pair were left to themselves though the car did get some attention. After the man had chastised my friend Jon for actually touching something on the spare tire of his car we made a serious effort to ignore them both altogether. The restoration of his was fairly well done, but I know the rest of us could have been a wealth of information so he could have made it even that much better. The amount of updates and improvements I was able to make to my car from things I learned at CB01 was quite noticeable, he could have benefited in the same way if he had cared to.
In fact, I had with me a few small parts I would have GIVEN to another L79 owner if they had asked which the gray car could have used to look that much more correct. These are '65 L79 only parts that are only available from a vintage L79 and not available in reproductions. His loss I guess. Some folks just don't get the whole point of an event like CB02.
As early afternoon approached an old friend I've known since I was six showed up. Al lives in Huntsville so it is just a couple hour drive but I felt bad because the banquet was about to start in 45 minutes or so. We chatted a while and I told him we could hook up later and maybe do dinner but he said he and his daughters needed to get back home. It was great to see yet another old friend. This trip was just packed full of friendships new and old.
The wives hadn't returned yet so Bob and I camped out at the edge of the banquet tent so we could flag them down when they drove in so they'd know where to find us. We waited a while for the line to draw down before getting food. It was a blessing in disguise to sit on the edge of the tent where a breeze could catch us now and then. Shortly before the festivities began Lyle had returned. He had spent most of the day so far getting his Corvette fixed before his continued journey to Atlanta. He wandered around the show field during the dinner portion of the event. The wives showed up as Chuck's presentation began.
When the '65 stock Top Three were announced I was of course thrilled to hear my name and receive an award. What made that experience even better was Lyle waiting at the edge of the tent to congratulate me on doing such a fine job restoring 'his' car! We got a great picture together and I honestly feel the award is as much his for preserving this old beast long and well enough for me to come along and save it after the wreck.
The show proceeded and other friends received awards and deservedly so. Bob's '70 didn't bring home any hardware but I know he had a blast regardless. I think the time at the track was reward enough considering his time slips were his best yet. He's already talking about things he can work on to improve the car's top end even more. Typical car guy, always looking for ways to improve his ride!
After the banquet we said our goodbyes to Lyle and Deb and many other friends. We couldn't decide what to do for our last evening in town so I decided I'd get my car loaded up and ready to roll. Bob followed suit a bit later. It took a bit longer than expected even though we waited a while to hit the trailer area. By the time all was said and done it was too late to catch a movie as we had discussed earlier. We dragged back to our hotels and got cleaned up a bit. Nat was ready for a totally car-free evening. Bob suggested we attend the last big cruise of the week to Rivergate but I suggested the long ride home might be easier if we treated the wives to something other than car activities.
Nat found a high end restaurant/jazz club on the south side of Nashville in our tourist guide. We compared notes with Bob & Rhonda and it was a go. The food and service was outstanding. The jazz was good but rather predictable. Really good jazz should surprise or at the very least grab your attention. It didn't matter, we were still on vacation and treating ourselves to a grand pleasure: a great meal and great conversation with good friends. The bill was outrageous but it didn't seem to matter. And I highly recommend F. Scotts if you want to really treat yourself to an outstanding meal.
Sunday June 9: I was up early to get the truck packed and get on down the road. We had planned to leave by 7am and with clear skies the trip looked promising. We managed to pull out at 7:20 so we were doing well considering. I wanted to top off the tank. As we pulled into the station another '65 SS pulled up and the driver informed me the trunk of my car was not latched! One last friendly experience before leaving town.
The drive itself was pretty much uneventful but at the first stop we discovered one of Bob's tie-down straps had come apart. We found a way to make use of what was left but the cheap straps and but the rigged up set up we now had on Bob's car made me nervous. For the next leg of the journey I followed Bob to keep and eye on those straps. Everything held up well so I began to relax and get into my driving-long-distance mode. We had both been concerned about hitting Kansas City at rush hour and it was an hour or so into the trip before we realized it was Sunday: there would be no rush hour. A new problem reared it's head though. Bob caught on the radio that the Cardinals were playing the Royals in KC and if the game went long we'd hit town about the time the traffic was pouring out of the stadium. Luckily the Royals smacked a homer in the bottom of the ninth of a tied game when were were about and hour and a half out. We seemed to be blessed but before we could enjoy that feeling too much it began to rain again.
The rain lasted pretty much to, through and a little beyond Kansas City but the traffic at least was fairly reasonable. A ways past KC we pulled into the Squaw Creek Plaza at Mound City determined to gas up one more time before getting home. All was well as we pulled in but that feeling was shattered as I felt the truck shudder. Someone had backed into the back of the trailer! As I ran to the back I saw a Chrysler 300M pulling forward. The old bat who was driving got out and said something unintelligible. She got back in her car and started backing up again! I shouted for her to stop the car and she popped out again. A quick look showed she apparently hadn't actually hit the Chevelle. Given the configuration of the back of the 300M, the trailer and how the Chevelle was loaded I've no idea how how she managed to miss the car. I checked again and again but there wasn't even a disturbance in the dirt on the back of the car. I could see the black mark from the tail of the trailer on the bottom edge of her car below the bumper so I know she hit the trailer squarely and she even left some paint on the trailer. No harm no fowl but it would have at least been nice if she had apologized. I did manage to delay her long enough to get her insurance information and license number. The witch took off while I was talking to Bob about the incident. No one else at the place seemed overly concerned about the incident either. Even though no one or nothing was harmed, the whole incident left me ticked.
The last couple of hours drive home helped calm me down. It was great to once again see familiar countryside but a feeling of mild sadness overcame me as I realized one of the great times of our lives was coming to a close. Tomorrow I'd have to be back to work too. Oh well, CB03 is only a year away!
Note: I no longer have any affiliation with the Heartland Chevelle Club.