ROAD TRIP! 3642 Miles, family, friends, fast food, Spring Carlisle!

Ok gang, here's the road trip novel. Lots of pics, so may take forever to load.

As usual, I ramble. Skip along and hopefully you'll enjoy the ride as much as we did.

Thursday April 26th - Round Rock Texas to Kodak Tennessee (east of Knoxville)

Dad, Eddie and I piled into Misty's Denali at 4:20am, tow dolly on the back, and did not stop until midnight, 1052 miles later. This day is a bit of a blur. Stopped for gas and payed the lowest price of the trip at $3.05 at H.E.B in Round Rock. I was at work until 11pm the night before, and only got about 3hrs sleep. We stopped at the in-laws house in Dallas to drop off some wheels, then I slept while Dad drove from Big D to Texarkana. I drove through Little Rock and into Memphis, crossing the Mississippi River, and we stopped at a truck stop between Memphis and Jackson and snapped this pic:


We drove on through Tennessee, hitting Nashville just after dark and running through the mountains in the dark. Dad figures out the CD changer and we listen to Elton John, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, America, and his "Hits of 1961" CD. You have not lived until you've sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" with your father and son while passing the Oak Ridge Nuclear Power Plant..hahaha.

I spend most of this day wondering if something was going to fail on the new-to-us 120K mile Denali (remember the fuel pump died on the only only out-of-town trip I'd used it for), if we'd have enough gas money for this adventure (Denali was averaging only 13mpg, gas in Arkansas was $3.19 and in Tennessee was $3.31, and my paycheck had not hit the bank yet) and if the Camaro and Blazer were going to be worth all this. I had not seen either in YEARS and Ben basically gave them to us...

We crossed Knoxville around 11:30pm and went a bit further, and finally stopped at a cheap motel in Kodak Tennessee, and crashed, exhausted.

 

Friday April 27th - Kodak Tn to Elizabethtown PA

Got up and on the road at 8:30am. My paycheck hit and I was trilled to see the bonus I'd been counting on hit too, so the gas money/breakdown chance was no longer such a scary thought. Got on the road in a much better mood than the day before. Eastern Tennessee and Virginia are gorgeous states. Bright clear day, little traffic, and gas in Virginia was back down to $3.19. Denali running like a watch. Excited to get to PA. Great drive today, lots of singing along to the radio and enjoying the sites.

In Northern Virginia I got a call from Tim saying her was just a few miles ahead of us. We came over a rise and saw a familier wood-covered shape in the distance (and I need to point out that this was the FIRST GM wagon we'd seen on this trip...well over 1000 miles...scary and kinda sad).

Tim was pulled over at an on-ramp, and not only did he catch us in a flash, he BLEW by us, and that Roady of his makes some of the sweetest exhaust music I've ever heard!





We followed Tim for a few miles but had to make a gas stop and agreed to meet up the next day. Bye Tim!


We got to Harrisburg that evening and made our way across the river and town and then south to Elizabethtown, where my good friend Scott lives. Scott went to see Fleetwood Mac in Pittsburgh that night and actually got to go on stage and meet Mick Fleetwood in person! How cool is that!


Scott offered up his house, even though he wasn't there. Big thanks to him, and very sorry we didn't get to hang out! He has a GORGEOUS Shelby GT500 Mustang and it took all my effort not to back it out of the garage....but I was good. He has a really nice, and really CLEAN, house. Eddie told me he was scared of Scott's house because it was so clean and "fragile". Ha! Check out the gorgeous tree in the back yard. What color!



We explored around Elizabethtown a bit that evening. Small streets and tall skinny houses. Eddie was fascinated...so different from Texas.


Went to a big sprawling resteraunt called TJ Rockwells. Good Stuff. Got back around 9 and crashed out. I made a mistake....I let Eddie stay in the "man cave" Scott has behind the house, and I think he stayed up all night watching Scott's big screen. I woke up in the morning and Eddie would not get up, and he was a total crab all the next day.

 

Saturday April 27th - Elizabethtown, CARLISLE, and Annandale NJ.

We got up the next morning and walked out, and Dad laughed... "It smells like chocolate here!" he said. Then Eddie walked out the front door and said "why does it smell like cookies??". Turn out Scott's house is really near the Marrs Chocolate factory. Ha! I can't imagine smelling that every day. HEAVEN!

So the plan today was to first go see Three Mile Island, and then meet up with Tim and hit Carlisle, and head for Jersey that evening. To get off school and come on this trip, Eddie had to do a report on Three Mile Island.

BUT before we did anything I had to find a car wash and get the road bugs off the Denali. Can't visit friends in a dirty vehicle. Happily there was a good do-it-yourself place right in downtown Elizabethtown.


Once the needful was done, we put Three Mile Island in the GPS and found out it was RIGHT THERE. I mean CLOSE. Driving toward it is somewhat odd. There are all these nice houses, rolling green hills and fields, dairy farms, and then huge cooling towers in the distance. Spooky!




For those that don't remember, the towers on the left were the ones that had the accident all those years ago and are shut down forever now. The ones on the right are still running full speed.


I just can't imagine how scared these people must have been. The plant and river is lined with nice homes that were there then. This is view coming up on the plant.


There is an observation area right across from the plant, and we stopped here for pics. In this pic you can see the power lines from the factory coming over our heads.

 

Here are the forever-closed down cooling towers. Dirty and neglected now


And this is the containment dome that everyone thought had the radioactive bubble in it that would explode and posion the entire region


And the clean and still-active towers


Eddie and I across from the plant






While we were there my friend Erik called to tell us his mother-in-law had bailed on him so sadly he could not make Carlisle, he had Dad-duty, but he was close by and out in his super-sharp 6-spd 1010 Charger SRT-8 and wanted to see us. He told us to wait right there and he'd drive over. Erik is a great guy, a Texas Aggie, who moved from Austin to Hershey for Dell years back. I miss this guy a lot. Have some great Texas hill-country motorcycle ride memories with him. It was the first time I'd seen his Challenger, and it looks/sounds awesome. He of couse had his Aggie sticker in the rear window.




After saying goodbye to Erik we headed across the river to Tim's house. Tim is a SUPER NICE GUY and has a gorgeous home in a beautuful area. His wife was really friendly, and his Impala SS and Roady wagon are both awesome....as is his garage lift.....holy cow how jealous I am of that thing! I just can't say how nice and welcoming Tim was.

 

Now for some wagon porn

 

But the real treat was when Tim handed me the keys and let me drive his 6-spd beauty all the way to Carlisle....on winding hilly country roads. Man that was a FUN drive...even though I chattered the clutch once and stalled the car backing it up...DOH! I SO WANT A 6-SPD WAGON NOW! So much fun!



Sadly at this point my son Eddie was being a total pill. As mentioned I think he stayed up all night in Scott's man-cave. Tim was good about it and did what he could to try to get Eddie to warm up to him. Eddie rode with us in the wagon to the show, Dad following in the Denali.
Got to Carlisle and parked next to a clean old Custom Cruiser. Good start!

 

Now for the Spring Carlisle pics. There are a LOT. Hope they load for you!
Looking up at all the cars for sale

Gorgeous Poncho



Chevelle

Where were you in '62?

Clean '71 Cutlass

My Dad LOVED this '67 Camaro


'69 Cutlass

Red 442

Nova Ragtop. Another favorite of my Dad. He has a '63 Nova SS and my Mom had a '62 Nova ragtop. He loves these.

First Roady of the show. Seller from New York. Fairly clean '96 Limited. Some cancer, but not too bad.

 

Modern Camaro/TAs




Me looking fat checking out a gorgeous '58
'
Pretty but odd colored '60

Clean '77 Cutlass...I know, but I LIKE these!


Hurst Lightning Rods....only $650!! YIKES!

Olds Heaven

Umm...the flames are backwards?

I wish this pic included sound.....

 

Car nut heaven!


Pontiac Rally I's

HOLY GTO CONSOLES BATMAN!

It's the Bandit!

Look there....a Corvair

Ahh Crap...


You never know what will be at Carlisle





How about a near-mint GREEN Cutlass G-wagon?

 

Smooth

Another clean G-body wagon. This car was a factory manual trans car too! Rare!

Iroc-Z

Judge clone


Here's an oddball. Buick Turbo V6 LeSabre Sport Coupe. Clean!


Ford Wagon


MEAN Mustang

Riv Ragtop

A Lemans El Camino? Huh?

Evil Knevil's Caddy

Drool....'68 442 ragtop

Rare '86 Grand Prix 2+2

How about an as-new Cavalier Z-24 ragtop? Ha!

Gorgeous '69 Camaro

2nd Roady of the show. Bit of an oddball...had Limited emblems but standard seats. Filler in the 1/4s. Presentable car and cheap for an LT1.

 

Pace Car T/A

Monza Mirage Hot Rod

Clean little Skylark. Aluminum V8 power

'71 Cutlass

Wild Wagon!

Sharp '70 Cutlass Supreme

Clean Clamshell...but $10K??

Very pretty TBI Roady sedan.

'64 Goat Ragtop with dog-dish caps

Can you hear it begging to be saved??

The Cadillac of Cavaliers! Hahaha!

 

MEAN C-10

Nice unrestored T/A

And a restored T/A. All this work and they put the B-piller bird emblems too high...DOH. It's the little things that bother me!

'65 Goat

Lt1 Caprice wagon. Owner said he'd visit the forum

GORGEOUS low-mile Iroc Ragtop

6cyl Firebird ragtop. Swoopy last-years 3rd-gen body flares

Clean '83 Z-28. My Dad looked long and hard at this. Had yet to see "his" Z28 yet. No t-tops and base interior, but CLEAN!

Gotta love 2nd-gen F-bodies!

Fast Times at Ridgemont High-era Z-28

One of the few Impalas....where have they all gone?

Reminds me of the car chase in The Seven-Ups

 

Pretty little Firebird Esprit

Monte SS Eliminator Edition

Wild Olds

Clean Fleetwood

Hey I like Bonnys!

This poor Hurst was neglected, worn, and full of rust. Sad.

Gorgeous '79 Bonneville Brougham Coupe. Sadly 301-powered...


'66 Caprice....flat cool

Bozo's Bug?

Awesome show

 

This was in one of the parking areas on the way out. CLEAN! Love the colors!


Shook hands with Tim as we got ready to head for New Jersey. Again big thanks for the hospitality and putting up with my grouchy son and my car-madness!


We loaded up and headed for New Jersey next. My father did not like living in New Jersey and had vowed never to go back, and his mood blackened the closer we got to the Delaware water gap. Dad's an Arkansas/Texas guy, and he got stuck in NJ from 1985-1997. Was only supposed to be there two years, but his job changed, and not in a positive way. He finally retired and moved down to Austin. The house my parents had there in NJ had a gravel driveway, and the day they were leaving to move back to Texas, my then 50's-aged Dad did a full handstand on those rocks in that driveway. Mom has the pic...ahahaha!

Anyway we got almost to the PA border and the highway was shut down to one-lane. It took a full hour to go the last few miles. Did not help my Dad's mood. Happily once we crossed into the state the road opened up, and Ben's condo was not too far in. My Dad loves Ben, and not just because Ben is giving him a Camaro. I've known Ben since we were kids, so Dad has known him for years too. Ben is a car nut, and also rides motorcycles, and my Dad, Ben and I have ridden the Texas hill country and in Arkansas. We always have a good time, and Dad's mood brightened when we got to Ben's. Ben showed us his new condo, very nice and casual/comfy, and introduced us to his two cats...both Dad and Eddie love cats, and by now the mood was much better.

Ben has a gorgeous 14K-mile '06 Pontiac GTO, Spice Red with the 6-spd, and he took Dad, Eddie and I to dinner in it at Five Guys Burgers in Flemington. Ben opened the GTO up a few times and really romped on it, and had us all smiling and laughing out loud. Good time, good dinner, good friends. Dad and I were both amazed at how much Flemington and that entire area of Jersey have grown. That was "the country"when we lived there, and now it's all resteraunts and strip malls and such.
Visited with Ben for a few hours that night and then sacked out.

 

Ok, now lets get to the real reason for this trip.

Sunday April 28th. Chatham NJ - Buchanan Virginia

Got up at Ben's at 8:30 Sunday morning, packed up, had some GOOD coffee, and headed for his parents house about 20-miles away in Chatham. Ben handed me the GTO keys and Dad followed Ben, Eddie and I in the Denali. Say what you will about the styling, the '04-06 GTO FLAT RUN and are a ball to drive! Big thanks to Ben for letting me play a bit. Between Tim's wagon and Ben's GTO, I am totally wanting a 6-spd car now!

Dad and I were both nervous. Neither of us had seen the Z28 or Blazer in years. Happily, what we found was better than we both expected.

First, the Blazer was outside. Eddie was so excited he about broke the GTO seat trying to get out.


The Blazer was dirty and needed a bath and a wax, had been sitting outside there since Christmas and looked it, and the battery was dead. Eddie could care less, he was all smiles.


I gave it a once-over with Ben. The tires are new Michelins, nubbins still on them. The body is very solid. A few small rust bubbles above one front fender and on one section of the roof, a small dent in the tailgate. Front bumper slightly askew. The inside is actually really clean. Seats not ripped, carpet nice. Needs a headliner and a dash cap. Other than that, a lot better than I imagined.






We popped the hood and put the battery on the charger. I was pleased to see a new water pump, new belts, and new hoses. The coolant was nice and green and the tranny fluid was bright red. Heh-Heh! Put the battery charger to START and sent Eddie to turn the key. The 350 fired right up, no smoke, no knock, OK THEN! Eddie is now happier than I've seen him in ages.


I put Eddie to work changing the oil. I did look under the Blazer, and it's pretty crusty. Will have to look closer down here later.

Éddie got his first rust-in-the-eyeballs changing the oil. He's been spoiled with Texas cars....