Montgomery AL to Nashville TN - breakfast at Shoney's - our favorite on the road breakfast. The plan was to stop at friend P's house in Franklin TN - we're driving through the Smokey Mountain range again, so there are a lot of hills. Poor Snowball was running hot again. We made it to P's house with no issues, and saw his project car. I know it's a T-Bird, but that's about it. Z could tell you more.
The five of us went to lunch, and then started heading over to the venue, LP field. P brought his Hot Rod too! We made it about half way over, then he started having an issue. We pulled off but they weren't able to get the car running again. He told us to get going, so we went to sit in downtown Nashville traffic. As soon as we left, P got his car running. Figures!
Z and L dropped D and myself off at our hotel and headed over to LP field. We don't need any more heat exhaustion or worse. That's where the boys are right now, in the 92 degree heat.
It was an adventure getting to the hotel. I don't see any future plans of staying here again. It sounds like the CMAs will be tomorrow night and that could be part of the problem.
D and I have big plans to suggest the HRPT be held in October, not the beginning of summer. It's just way too hot. I don't even have a lot of car pictures to post yet. Thursday and Friday in Michigan are supposed to be low 70s and rainy, and we're actually looking forward to that!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Power Tour - Day 3
Adel GA to Montgomery AL - another long day in the car. We went to another speedway, where it was really, really hot. One of us, me, had heat exhaustion and almost passed out. We didn't stay long at all. Poor Snowball, he was overheating too. We needed to stop at an auto supply store to buy a new battery for L's car. Happily, they had air conditioning in the building.
Once we made it to the hotel and cooled down, dinner was at Carrabbas - yummy!
Once we made it to the hotel and cooled down, dinner was at Carrabbas - yummy!
Power Tour - Day 2
Aah, day 2 - the day started out over at the Kennedy Space Center. When we bought the tickets the NASA man told us to get there at 7:00am, that's when the gate opened for us. There were two lots, one for the people who did sign up and the other for the people who didn't. We arrived a little after 7:00 and found we were a bit early. Like two and a half hours early. That was okay, we walked around and did some shopping. The other guys had their driver meeting at 7:45. At around 9:30 the Hot Rod lead guy, we'll call him Flip-Flops, arrived and started the meeting. First he spoke for a while, then handed the mic over to one of the FL Congressmen, who is also a car guy. After he spoke, an Astronaut spoke to us. That was pretty cool. I have to admit, I was ignorant to all the technologies that NASA has brought about. GPS, credit cards, cell phones, all kinds of things. While I get that the government needs to save money, I don't think that NASA is the right place to cut it. Maybe we should cut government pensions? Hmmm. Okay, I'll step off my soapbox.
After our drivers meeting, we headed back to the cars and drove towards the KSC. It is in the middle of nowhere! We took a driving tour around the area, even into some restricted areas. It was pretty cool! We could see the next launch craft WAY in the distance. Guess I should say last, not next.
Once we got through the tour we headed to our next stop, Adel, GA; Southern GA Motorsports Park. As it turns out, this part of the country is having a massive heat wave. It was 98 degrees. It was just too hot. We didn't stay very long, needless to say. Long enough for me to get more sun, which was not a good thing!
When we started heading to the hotel, it was feeling like we were on the set of the movie Deliverance. No one else on the roads, woods all around us, no houses. We were a bit dubious as to where we were actually going. Luckily, we did find our hotel and there was an Applebees to eat at right across the parking lot.
They were huge busy and had 5 servers working - apparently they were not made aware there were 3000 people coming to town. Whoops. Once we were seated we started checking out the drink menu - you know, the DRINK menu. Our server came over and busted our bubbles, Georgia does not serve alcohol on Sundays. WTH?!
After our drivers meeting, we headed back to the cars and drove towards the KSC. It is in the middle of nowhere! We took a driving tour around the area, even into some restricted areas. It was pretty cool! We could see the next launch craft WAY in the distance. Guess I should say last, not next.
Once we got through the tour we headed to our next stop, Adel, GA; Southern GA Motorsports Park. As it turns out, this part of the country is having a massive heat wave. It was 98 degrees. It was just too hot. We didn't stay very long, needless to say. Long enough for me to get more sun, which was not a good thing!
When we started heading to the hotel, it was feeling like we were on the set of the movie Deliverance. No one else on the roads, woods all around us, no houses. We were a bit dubious as to where we were actually going. Luckily, we did find our hotel and there was an Applebees to eat at right across the parking lot.
They were huge busy and had 5 servers working - apparently they were not made aware there were 3000 people coming to town. Whoops. Once we were seated we started checking out the drink menu - you know, the DRINK menu. Our server came over and busted our bubbles, Georgia does not serve alcohol on Sundays. WTH?!
Epilogue
So I forgot to mention the other day - we're driving down Route 95 and the radio is rattling in the metal holder - Z pulls out his tools, removes part of the dashboard and fixes the rattle. Keep in mind that this is all going on at 70 MPH driving down the highway. I was driving, though, so that's a good thing.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Check Your Gauges 2011
This year's Power Tour started out with a small issue, no big shocker there. We got on the road at 2:00am. Snowball was very happy, all the way to South Carolina, where Z realized the temperature was around 230. Perhaps it had been there for a while, I'm not really sure since I didn't look at the gauges at all, and I had been driving. We picked our brains to try and figure out the issue; Z was thinking about the pulleys he had put on to slow down the accessories and increase horsepower, he thought about turning on the heat, also about what else it could be. I thought about how little I actually know about motors. Then he figured out that it was 96 degrees outside and poor Snowball had a right to be too hot. We slowed down a little and made sure plenty of air got to the motor, and Snowball was a happy car.
We made it to our hotel around 7:00pm. Showers and dinner, then we drive around a little bit and checked out some of the other cars. BTW, IHOP has really yummy potato soup.
This morning, Saturday, was the first official day of the Power Tour. We headed over to Cape Canaveral and checked in. We also signed up for a drive around tour through the Kennedy Space Center. Sounds like that will be really fun, the shuttle is on deck (or whatever the term is), and we will get a tour of the restricted access areas. Well, some of them.
We headed back to the hotel to wait for the rest of our party to arrive: Z's parents and friends L&D. Then we headed back over, where we stayed for a few hours. The good news is: I no longer have a farmers tan! The bad news is: I'm now a bit crispy.
We saw a lot of great cars! I'm on a Challenger kick right now, so I paid a lot of attention to those. One of my downfalls taking car pictures is I only take what I like, and I don't really care for cars that were made before 1970. I have a hard time even appreciating them. I'm just letting you know ahead of time that you probably will not be seeing a lot of older cars from me. A lot of Camaros, Mustangs and Challengers, but very few others.
After the Kennedy Space Center tour, we'll be heading up to Valdosta GA. Sounds like a 4.5 hour trip, eeks!
I'm going to see if I can convince Z to post something, that will make sense to the car folks out there. Pictures to follow via Facebook.
TTFN!
We made it to our hotel around 7:00pm. Showers and dinner, then we drive around a little bit and checked out some of the other cars. BTW, IHOP has really yummy potato soup.
This morning, Saturday, was the first official day of the Power Tour. We headed over to Cape Canaveral and checked in. We also signed up for a drive around tour through the Kennedy Space Center. Sounds like that will be really fun, the shuttle is on deck (or whatever the term is), and we will get a tour of the restricted access areas. Well, some of them.
We headed back to the hotel to wait for the rest of our party to arrive: Z's parents and friends L&D. Then we headed back over, where we stayed for a few hours. The good news is: I no longer have a farmers tan! The bad news is: I'm now a bit crispy.
We saw a lot of great cars! I'm on a Challenger kick right now, so I paid a lot of attention to those. One of my downfalls taking car pictures is I only take what I like, and I don't really care for cars that were made before 1970. I have a hard time even appreciating them. I'm just letting you know ahead of time that you probably will not be seeing a lot of older cars from me. A lot of Camaros, Mustangs and Challengers, but very few others.
After the Kennedy Space Center tour, we'll be heading up to Valdosta GA. Sounds like a 4.5 hour trip, eeks!
I'm going to see if I can convince Z to post something, that will make sense to the car folks out there. Pictures to follow via Facebook.
TTFN!
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