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.
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