'Ohana or not to 'Ohana

Every time I visit Disney for more than a day I really enjoy visiting the different hotels. My favorite to visit is the Polynesian, which I will never be able to afford to stay at unless there are lottery winnings in my future. It is designed after Hawaii, which I also want to visit but do not want to take the 16 hour plane ride to get to. There is a restaurant there called 'Ohana, which looks to be a lot of fun, and good food too. Every time I log on to the Disney website to check availability it's always booked solid. I was able to find a dinner reservation at 10:30 pm for one night, but that's just too late. Sigh. Maybe next year. (Z, did I tell you we're going next year at Christmas time? Surprise!)

On a happy note, I was able to rebook the trip and save $500!! That will pay for our park tickets! Thanks Mom! It must have been a one day special, because prices are now back up, but that one day worked out perfectly for us to save!

Almost Time for Disney!

And now it's time to start gearing up for trip number two. 97 more days until Disney! We have tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, breakfast reservations at Boma, and lunch reservations at the Crystal Palace and Hollywood & Vine. We will be driving down from Delaware (but not in Snowball), we will be renting a car. We're staying at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort, hopefully in Barbados which is pink & purple!

I started a little countdown at work on my erasable board, and put up my little drawings of Mickey, Minnie, Simba and the four park icons (castle, fantasia hat, tree of life and epcot ball). I'm just waiting to see how long before the sign is edited by my co-workers, who are sick of Mickey already.

I'm ready now, I don't know how I'm going to be able to wait until September!

Third Time the Charm?

After 7 days of car stuff it was time for some flowers. Today we went over to Longwood Gardens in PA. We were there for an hour and a half and I took 150 pictures. If it makes you feel any better I took more than that on the first day of the Power Tour. (Really this is for Z - he gets upset when I take more flower than car pix!)

Z and his dad were coming up with a possible plan today for doing next year's Power Tour. Sigh. So much for never doing this again. With any luck it will start somewhere near here so we won't have the 17 hour ride out again and 17 hour ride back.

After the plans were discussed, we headed over to a local car show, because it had been 24 hours since we last saw a car show. Z was having withdrawal symptoms, it's a long road to recovery. The first step is denial. Guess what we're doing tomorrow! Going to the local track for some racing! Z has already warned me that I will be putting on sunscreen. We'll see!

Good News and Bad News

The good news is that we're back in DE and we're still speaking to each other.

The bad news is as follows:
*We left the hotel at 7:00 this morning after a night of deliberating if the car would make it for the rest of the trip with a failing fuel pump - we decided not to risk it.
*Snowball had a few "fun to shut herself off while driving" moments
*Route 66 headed onto the Beltway in DC was backed up for 5 miles
*The beltway (495) was also backed up for miles. After 2 hours of sitting in traffic Snowball was overheating and Z needed to use two feet to drive. Temp was up to 240 and the car had a very strong fuel smell.
*We got off because Snowball was getting close to a very bad problem and went into Bethesda MD. The overflow from the expressway made that a gridlock as well. We found a gas station and filled up and used the bathroom. I checked Cookie, she found a way back to DE that did not involve the beltway.
*We got back on already on 95, which was slow but moving.
*Cookie told us to take 895 which Z has never heard of thru a different tunnel than he knows, but we tried it. Big mistake. We got to the toll before the tunnel and traffic was stopped. We say there for another 20 minutes before traffic was moving again, no idea of why that was stopped.

But we made it back! Snowball and I made a deal last night - I told her if she got us home she would get a brand new fuel pump, all for herself. Nothing like bribing the car. She did it, we made it back! That's all for now, my eyes are closing...more to come when I'm fully conscious!

Car Guys are Good Guys

Lot to catch up on! Tuesday started out in Marion, IL. We were heading to Bowling Green KY, which is, of course, the home of the Corvette Manufacturing Plant and the Corvette Museum. It was a hike between the two cities, but Z was excited to get over to Corvette World. We had planned to meet a friend of his there. On the road early and made it over to the plant with no issues. Z's friend and daughter met us there. On the road in there were all kinds of signs telling us the rules. No drinks, no cameras, no bags and NO OPEN TOED SHOES. Keep in mind it's 90 degrees out. I have on open toed shoes, as do Z's friend P and daughter B. We head in and keep our fingers crossed that maybe they won't notice. They noticed. P thought we could get away with wrapping duct tape around our feet, but alas, no duct tape could be found. Family dollar, here we come! Shoes purchased we headed over to NAPA to purchase some spark plugs - motor is still missing and we were hoping that would do the trick (it didn't, but more on that later). Since we had missed the 11:00 and 11:30 tours we ate lunch and went back for the 12:45 tour. We raced in with a minute to spare. Then we sat...and sat...and sat. We were group 4, and there was a 15 minute delay in the groups, which started with group 1. We perservered and made it in, with the announcement that we would not be able to see the Paint Section - oh well, not a big deal. We started the tour and watched the corvettes being put together, which was amazing. They were doing all the Vettes, regular, Grand Sport, Z06 and ZR1. We learned the way to identify the four types, which I'm sure Z already knew, and I now have forgotten, but at the time was cool. We also have a souvenir, a bolt which mysteriously made it into our pockets.

After that we went over to the museum, which was also amazing. We saw all kinds of corvettes, which I'm sure Z can also describe in detail. P&B were with us as well. A good time was had by all! The gift shop was on the way out and I used my talent of persuasion to convince Z he needed a corvette T-shirt. I also got one, but mine says "Fast and Sexy"; Z's just has a corvette and the Z06 emblem. Maybe it's just me, but mine seems more fun.

Then it was time to head over to the PT. We walked around for a bit and turned into puddles - 95 degrees and 100% humidity is not a fun time. P&B headed home and we headed to our next hotel to change some spark plugs.

7:00 found us in the parking lot with the hood up and tools out. I was the moral support and sat in the director's chair while Z did all the work. He found the bad plug and changed it out, taped up the plug wire with some fancy black tape and headed out for a test run. Test run started out okay, then uh oh! Problem came back. Luckily there was an Advanced Auto right down the street, so we went to get some new plug wires. Back to the hotel! Plug Wire replaced and another test run, Snowball still having some issues, but seems okay to drive. And at this point, really what choice do we have?

So here we are at Wednesday! Got a late start and headed over to P's house, which is on the way from Bowling Green to our next stop, Chattanooga, TN. We spent a few hours with him drooling over his house, then headed out to our next PT stop. About an hour out from Chattanooga Snowball thought it would be fun to shut off while going 75 down a mountain hill in front of the 18 wheelers. Z was able to get over to the breakdown lane. Up goes the hood. Not really sure what was happening there, but he asked me to turn the starter, and Snowball started right up! Yay Snowball! Back on the road and we made it to the hotel, swearing that "we're never going to do this again". Met up with a very nice man in the parking lot whose family founded Falmouth MA! We WALKED across the street and had dinner. When we got back Snowball and I had a little talk and she's going to get us home safely as long as we replace her fuel pump when we get there. Z's friend L said if it shuts off and won't start we should start banging on the fuel tank, which is where the pump is located. Ahh, modern technology.

And now we're back to planning next year's trip. Snowball will not be asked to repeat her performance. Perhaps Sebastian, who is the red Firehawk, will be the winner.

That Makes Me Wish I Still Had My Old IROC

We started out on the suggested route this morning but decided to follow the GPS instead. I think we saved a lot of time by doing this. We had a scheduled lunch spot at the Mid America Motorworks location in Effington IL. Cookie got us there with no issues. The only time we had a problem was when we decided to follow the group of hot rods in front of us and followed them right into a Bob Evans. Oops! We'll know better next time! Lunch was a pleasant surprise, fried chicken, pulled pork, potato salad and BBQ beans. After that we went into the store and saw some historical corvettes. I'll let Z describe them, whenever he decides to post something.

We made it to the hotel and checked in, then headed over to the afternoon location, the Du Quoin Fairgrounds.

Picture the setting - pulling into a Fair Grounds with hot rods lining both sides of the street. As we drove by one man, we heard him say "That makes me wish I still had my old IROC". There were probably 25 other third gen Camaros there, so there were quite a few more than we expected. Lot more local cars at this one. There was funnel cake, that we did not have (thanks to Z's willpower, it certainly wasn't mine!) Tomorrow is the Bowling Green KY stop, and the Corvette Museum and Manufacturing Plant. Oh boy!

Sweet Home Iowa & Illinois

Drivers meeting first thing this morning at the Iowa Speedway - David Frieburger was the master of ceremonies and had on his normal flip flops while standing on top of the Hot Rod trailer. We learned the rules and what not to do if they pulled up next to us in their Tahoe to take a picture of us. If you ever find yourself in this situation, DO NOT hit the gas or brake, just continue on as if nothing is happening. If we were to see their SUV approaching at 120 in the break down lane we SHOULD NOT BE ALARMED. Ok, can do - didn't see it anyway, nothing to fear.

Z drove the first four hours or so, I took over after that and did the next three. It was 302 miles, but took a really long time. Z drove us until we got off the major highways, then I took over and drove thru Smalltown USA. There were people sitting in most of the parking lots we drove by, in their front yards, everywhere the eye could see there were people. People waving, people handing out free water and "pop", one stand even had hotdogs. We got a lot of attention in one of the towns because there was a girl driving - it was causing quite a stir. There were many requests for burnouts (and other less appropriate things), but I don't really have any idea how to do a burnout so we did not participate in that event. Town after town people were having tailgate parties to watch all the cars go by, there were signs welcoming us and asking for us to come back. Z is already planning next year's trip and what car to bring. And he says an Acura is still not a hotrod. Hmph.

Today's event was in downtown Springfield IL - they closed the streets and all the cars were parking in parking lots, the streets, everywhere they could fit. We bought our first souvenirs! Pink HRPT shirt for me, white one for Z.

The Best Hot Rod Around!

Here is our hot rod, which is now the proud owner of a Power Tour sticker!

Your Name Could be a Sobriety Test in Iowa

We made it over to the Iowa Speedway this morning for registration - we had a tense few minutes when the engine was missing (not missing gone, missing skipping). My thinks was that it was the fuel, purchased at the "Git N Go" - not kidding - Z was concerned when we almost didn't make it up a hill, but we did, and perservered!

When we were checking in Z told the guy he was probably the last name their book, and he was! The gentleman checking us in told Z his name could be a sobriety test in the state of Iowa!

We saw Chip Foose at the Magnaflow booth, which was cool. We also saw (wait a moment for anticipation)..... an ACURA!! Just one, and I couldn't really tell why it was a hotrod, but it was there! We also saw the Duramax Diesel '70 Chevelle that took 250k to build, just hanging out with all the other cool kids.

Day 1 of the Tour we took 245 pictures - my arms were bent holding my camera the whole time and I have a very interesting sunburn because of that. We're now back at the hotel sitting out the severe thunderstorm and tornado warning.

Register for fun

Getting ready to head over to registration at the Iowa Speedway. 30 miles = 1 hour travel time. We are in the middle of nowhere. Driving in last night felt like we were on the set of a movie, like Twister. Green fields as far as the eye can see, narrow paved roads, no lines. We must be in the "big city", there are two restaurants to dine at - either Applebees or Perkins. Must run!

Check your gauges?

I have never before driven a car that I had to make sure my gauges were where they were supposed to be. My car I put my key in, turn it on and put it in drive. That's it. If a light comes on in the dash I know something is wrong. Apparently the IROC has GAUGES that I need to keep my eye on to make sure all is good. They are confusing things like "Battery" and "Oil Pressure" and "Temperature". If the oil pressure goes to 0 we have a problem. My car goes into Honda when I have 10% oil life left, my temp gauge I never look at and I have never had a battery gauge before so I don't know what number is normal. Right before Z takes a nap he says "make sure you keep an eye on the gauges to make sure all is good". Oh boy, the pressure...

Today was the prelude to Z's dream - 12 hours in the car across DE, PA, OH, IA, IL and finally IA, 17 hours total between the two days. We saw 92 double tractor trailers, 72 triple trailers and 123 red barns - yes, red barns only. And that was only before we have up counting. First exciting sighting happened in OH, we saw a red 70 SS Chevelle with NY tags. Mom and two small children, apprently not headed where we are, but it was a good start.

Second sighting was a major one - 3 Chevelles, black Vette, Solstice with a V8 and a new 2010 LPE Trans Am (which was a custom car created from a new Camaro, as far as I understood it); all with MI tags, traveling in a group.

Arrived at our hotel in IA around 8:45, some of us are too tired to see straight, so hope this makes sense!

I Can't Drive 55

Yesterday, day 1, went well! I got to Delaware at 6:30, we (by that I mean Z) loaded up the car, and we got on the road at 7:18. Weather started out good, but sky was looking rather ominous. We stopped at the Texas Roadhouse in Lancaster PA at 8:22. While we were eating there was a huge thunder and lightning and rain storm, but it ended before we came out. Love my luck! Back on the road at 9:17 after a yummy dinner. Plugged in the GPS (named Cookie) and found that we had a 4 1/2 hour drive ahead of us. A few minutes later it was us and the 18 wheelers on the PA T-Pike. Stopped for gas and driver change, Z was tired after a long day at work and I was ready to drive! Was a good thing driving thru Pittsburg, we passed a state trooper and had Z have been driving our pockets might have ended up a little bit lighter. I drove to Cranberry, arrived at 1:30am. Up at 7:00, on the road again this morning at 8:42.

Animal sightings so far: goats, cows, chickens, horses and donkeys

saying for the day: "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

Is an Acura a Hot Rod?

I say yes, Z says no.

A: I would like hood pins
Z: You can't put hood pins on an Acura

A: I would like Rambo brakes
Z: They're not Rambo, they're Brembo

A: I say we'll see an Acura on the HRPT
Z: I don't think so

I think I'm going to expand my Acura sightings to include any Hondas we might see. They are, after all, related. We shall see who wins this bet!