And then we turned up the heat a little...
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
2011 brings a whole new power tour
Not sure if anyone even reads this but if so you might be wondering where the exciting posts are from my dad and I cruising the highways on yet another adventurous power tour??? Well this year brings a change to my life that put a stop to the cruise this year. Turns out the due date for my first born child fell right on the start of the 2011 tour. Of course much like his father, my kid is running a little bit behind. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival and I am sure you will see some pictures of the little one when it arrives. But for now I will leave you with some fun shots I took the other day in the shop again with the lovely and talented Roxie Red who no longer has the red hair as you can see...
And then we turned up the heat a little...
And then we turned up the heat a little...
Thursday, June 10, 2010
End of the road for now - Day 6
So the end comes a little earlier for us this year. Dad and I decided to bring the party to a close and head back a day early. We made it Birmingham but we didn't go the distance to Mobile AL. I think Dad was nervous that the farm might be falling apart without him after being gone for almost a week... That and the really long drive from Mobile to MN!
We actually were thinking of skipping Birmingham as well but after a lot of back and forth we got a late start and just took the freeway straight to the next stop. Of course along the way we hit yet another couple of out of the blue rainstorms. I think if there had been an exit right there we might have turned around and headed back. But every time we got to an exit it had already cleared up. When we finally got to the event we parked right next to the guys that we had seen spun out the day before.
After talking with them we found out that they didn't just spin out, they hit the median head on and bounced off. They actually left black tires marks a few feet up the median from the front tires and the front frame rails were all ground down. The engine had been slammed a few inches ahead and the pulleys were actually touching the frame so when they started it to get it off the road sparks flew all over. I guess they were able to get it to the next town and the motor medics got the motor back in place. They were going to keep on going even though the frame was shot. The rest of the car still looked great though so it certainly could have been worse...
After that we ran into Frank and Robert. We had a hotel room next to them back a few nights and had seen them a few times since on the tour. Frank was going to take his car out on the track they had set up but he was having trouble getting it started. There was some interesting adventures with a can of ether but it turned out to be a lack of spark.
After a little hot-wiring they got the car running. His car had a pretty sweet endgate. The glass pulls up into the roof and the tailgate folds down under the car. Anyway, we said goodbye until next year and moved on.
From there dad stopped to look at what appeared to be another twin to the yellow Nova. This one had some trim, a smaller hood scoop and of course smaller tires but it was at least a cousin if not a sister to our Nova ;)
Finally it was time to hit the road for home. Luckily on the way out we drove past our friends from Texas. I jumped out, ran over and we traded badges. They had car problems when they first left texas that caused them to miss the first day. We had punched our badge every day but were not going to make it the rest of the way so we figured if they took our badges they could get into the long hauler awards on Sat. I mean if anyone deserved to be considered a long hauler it should be those guys and even if we didn't get to the end our badges did ;)
We actually were thinking of skipping Birmingham as well but after a lot of back and forth we got a late start and just took the freeway straight to the next stop. Of course along the way we hit yet another couple of out of the blue rainstorms. I think if there had been an exit right there we might have turned around and headed back. But every time we got to an exit it had already cleared up. When we finally got to the event we parked right next to the guys that we had seen spun out the day before.
After talking with them we found out that they didn't just spin out, they hit the median head on and bounced off. They actually left black tires marks a few feet up the median from the front tires and the front frame rails were all ground down. The engine had been slammed a few inches ahead and the pulleys were actually touching the frame so when they started it to get it off the road sparks flew all over. I guess they were able to get it to the next town and the motor medics got the motor back in place. They were going to keep on going even though the frame was shot. The rest of the car still looked great though so it certainly could have been worse...
After that we ran into Frank and Robert. We had a hotel room next to them back a few nights and had seen them a few times since on the tour. Frank was going to take his car out on the track they had set up but he was having trouble getting it started. There was some interesting adventures with a can of ether but it turned out to be a lack of spark.
After a little hot-wiring they got the car running. His car had a pretty sweet endgate. The glass pulls up into the roof and the tailgate folds down under the car. Anyway, we said goodbye until next year and moved on.From there dad stopped to look at what appeared to be another twin to the yellow Nova. This one had some trim, a smaller hood scoop and of course smaller tires but it was at least a cousin if not a sister to our Nova ;)
Finally it was time to hit the road for home. Luckily on the way out we drove past our friends from Texas. I jumped out, ran over and we traded badges. They had car problems when they first left texas that caused them to miss the first day. We had punched our badge every day but were not going to make it the rest of the way so we figured if they took our badges they could get into the long hauler awards on Sat. I mean if anyone deserved to be considered a long hauler it should be those guys and even if we didn't get to the end our badges did ;)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
2010 HRPT Day 5
Today was the wildest day yet on the crazy ride that has been power tour 2010! First we get up and look out the window only to see the rain was still going strong. Nothing too crazy but enough to make for a little slow going. The new tires proved themselves last year but we still only trust them so far. We hit the road right away and Dad was behind the wheel to start out. I was playing around with a few photo ideas which included opening the door and shooting with my camera an inch or two off the highway as we were going like 60 down the highway. Turned out kind of cool...
After that we hit this cool drive in and had a little early lunch. We ordered a couple of burgers and they had them out to us before I could walk across the street to take a picture. They were some tasty burgers too!
At this point we had switched and I was now driving. Of course for some reason whenever I get behind the wheel at least once every power tour it seems like we get hit with a downpour and on the worst roads for it too. We are going up and down these mountains and the roads are curving all over the place. I feel like I am just crawling along because I don't want to loose it on these roads with no shoulder. Then it starts to clear and I think it's going to be good. Oh no, then it starts coming down worse than ever. I can hardly see past the end of the hood. We come up over the hill and I can just barely make out cars going every which way, what looks like a car facing us in the center lane of the freeway and people running towards the median waving their arms. Somehow everyone misses everyone else and I made my way over to the side of the road. Turns out a 32 or so coupe had spun out and killed in the road. I guess the guys got out because they probably thought there was no way they were not get hit. They were able to get it started though and back of the road with really no incident. I certainly made for one wild minute or two.
After that we hit this cool drive in and had a little early lunch. We ordered a couple of burgers and they had them out to us before I could walk across the street to take a picture. They were some tasty burgers too!
At this point we had switched and I was now driving. Of course for some reason whenever I get behind the wheel at least once every power tour it seems like we get hit with a downpour and on the worst roads for it too. We are going up and down these mountains and the roads are curving all over the place. I feel like I am just crawling along because I don't want to loose it on these roads with no shoulder. Then it starts to clear and I think it's going to be good. Oh no, then it starts coming down worse than ever. I can hardly see past the end of the hood. We come up over the hill and I can just barely make out cars going every which way, what looks like a car facing us in the center lane of the freeway and people running towards the median waving their arms. Somehow everyone misses everyone else and I made my way over to the side of the road. Turns out a 32 or so coupe had spun out and killed in the road. I guess the guys got out because they probably thought there was no way they were not get hit. They were able to get it started though and back of the road with really no incident. I certainly made for one wild minute or two.
From there we stopped at the store to get some umbrellas which of course ended the rain instantly. The sun came out when we got to the show and it was hot as can be. We also cut out a little early and headed over to the Coker Tire block party. They had their shops and museums open and the place was amazing. There was a ton of stuff to see and the best part was very few things were roped off. You could walk right up to a car they had on the lift and look at everything they were doing. All their machines were right there with people to answer questions and show you stuff. Every time you thought you got to the end of it you went through a door that led to yet another giant room of something cool. It was certainly a cool block party! The only downside was it looked like a big bad storm was rolling in so we got the heck out of there before we normally would have. 
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
2010 HRPT Day 4
Well, we lived through the night in our questionable motel. We did bring in our sleeping bags and slept on top the covers but it could have been worse. Replenished with our restful nights sleep we headed out down the road. Our directions mentioned a race track we could check out if we wanted. Last year there was a track we stopped at and it was pretty cool so we thought this was worth checking out. We got off the freeway at the listed exit but there were no signs. So we went over to the nearest gas station. The gave us the go that way take your first left then a right at the stop sign and you will see a sign. Well we followed those directions and it took us pretty deep into the country. We did finally see some signs and found the place. This is what the scene looked like...
Yup, not a person in sight. Well there was a caretaker who told us the dragstrip had been closed for some time because the medivac choppers didn't like all the abuse to the track. They did have a circle track there too but it was not open. The guy told us we could go light up our tires on the strip but we declined due to the fact that is something broke I don't think anyone else would have been able to find us! After that we didn't make anymore stops until we arrived at the show. It was there that I captured another one of the rare and elusive shots of dad washing the car as seen here...
It's unbelievable but there you see it for yourself ;) Don't worry after cleaning the wheels things went back to business as usual!
ah if you can give your dad a hard time who can you? Actually, once we got back to the room dad even wanted to wash the car. We should have known that would lead to no good because as soon as we were done it started raining. It was just a little bit though. For the most part it was a pretty calm day and a little rain was kind of a nice ending...
Yup, not a person in sight. Well there was a caretaker who told us the dragstrip had been closed for some time because the medivac choppers didn't like all the abuse to the track. They did have a circle track there too but it was not open. The guy told us we could go light up our tires on the strip but we declined due to the fact that is something broke I don't think anyone else would have been able to find us! After that we didn't make anymore stops until we arrived at the show. It was there that I captured another one of the rare and elusive shots of dad washing the car as seen here...
It's unbelievable but there you see it for yourself ;) Don't worry after cleaning the wheels things went back to business as usual!
ah if you can give your dad a hard time who can you? Actually, once we got back to the room dad even wanted to wash the car. We should have known that would lead to no good because as soon as we were done it started raining. It was just a little bit though. For the most part it was a pretty calm day and a little rain was kind of a nice ending...
Monday, June 7, 2010
2010 HRPT Day 3
The day started out with us over sleeping but we still got going in time. We tend to get up earlier than we have to a lot of the time. Then our parking ticket would not work in the machine but they ended up letting us out for free then. So the morning started out with a roller coaster of emotion. First you think something is bad but it turns out to be good. What would the rest of the day hold???
Well after hitting the road we stopped at MidAmerica Motorworks. Then had a kick-ass lunch with fried chicken and other tasty things. On the way over I was talking to dad about how I had been thinking about that movie "Corvette Summer" and we were trying to remember what the car looked like. Turns out this place had the actual car in their museum! I felt the same as I did when I was a kid when I saw it. It's an interesting car but I would never do that to a corvette...
After seeing that dad needed to take a break so he sat down in front of the gas station for a little break from the excitement!
From there we went on a tour of their upholstery area where they cut the fabric and mold everything for all these interiors of Corvettes and Volkswagen Beetles. I don't know about you but I cannot think of two more polar opposites to service. Once you get past that it is a very interesting place.
After seeing that both dad and the Nova needed a break so they both sat down in front of the gas station for a little break... and then we took of down the road once again!
After that we rolled into DuQuoin which had a really nice old fairgrounds. We found a shaded spot with a nice patch of poison ivy right behind us. I'd have to say the one thing I like the most about the power tour, besides the wild rides, has to be the people. So many of the people are just really fun to talk to. Dad and I were just talking about these guys we saw on the trip last year. When we slept in our car the first night we thought it would have been great to have that nova I posted a picture of last year with the pop up tent. Then today we ran into them and didn't even know it until we started talking for a while. Then when we got back to the hotel I was walking around taking some pictures I ended up talking to all kinds of great people. Everyone is out in the lot talking or helping someone work on their car to get it ready for the miles to come the next day. Of course, if their room smelled half as bad as ours they probably are just doing anything to stay out in the fresh air! Needless to say we are at the other end of the spectrum hotel-wise from last nights place. I guess one of the rooms down the way from us is being refinished because people were renting it by the month and cooking meth. High class rooms tonight!
I'd have to say the best guys we chatted with today though were these guys from Texas. There car was definitely a stand out so I had to stop and talk with them for a while. Turns out they pulled this car from the pasture 3 weeks before the tour and got it all going in time for the show. Drove it all the way from Texas and plan on doing the whole thing. With comfortable seats like this I think it is safe to say this car was made for cruising long distances!
Well after hitting the road we stopped at MidAmerica Motorworks. Then had a kick-ass lunch with fried chicken and other tasty things. On the way over I was talking to dad about how I had been thinking about that movie "Corvette Summer" and we were trying to remember what the car looked like. Turns out this place had the actual car in their museum! I felt the same as I did when I was a kid when I saw it. It's an interesting car but I would never do that to a corvette...
After seeing that dad needed to take a break so he sat down in front of the gas station for a little break from the excitement!
From there we went on a tour of their upholstery area where they cut the fabric and mold everything for all these interiors of Corvettes and Volkswagen Beetles. I don't know about you but I cannot think of two more polar opposites to service. Once you get past that it is a very interesting place.
After seeing that both dad and the Nova needed a break so they both sat down in front of the gas station for a little break... and then we took of down the road once again!
After that we rolled into DuQuoin which had a really nice old fairgrounds. We found a shaded spot with a nice patch of poison ivy right behind us. I'd have to say the one thing I like the most about the power tour, besides the wild rides, has to be the people. So many of the people are just really fun to talk to. Dad and I were just talking about these guys we saw on the trip last year. When we slept in our car the first night we thought it would have been great to have that nova I posted a picture of last year with the pop up tent. Then today we ran into them and didn't even know it until we started talking for a while. Then when we got back to the hotel I was walking around taking some pictures I ended up talking to all kinds of great people. Everyone is out in the lot talking or helping someone work on their car to get it ready for the miles to come the next day. Of course, if their room smelled half as bad as ours they probably are just doing anything to stay out in the fresh air! Needless to say we are at the other end of the spectrum hotel-wise from last nights place. I guess one of the rooms down the way from us is being refinished because people were renting it by the month and cooking meth. High class rooms tonight!
I'd have to say the best guys we chatted with today though were these guys from Texas. There car was definitely a stand out so I had to stop and talk with them for a while. Turns out they pulled this car from the pasture 3 weeks before the tour and got it all going in time for the show. Drove it all the way from Texas and plan on doing the whole thing. With comfortable seats like this I think it is safe to say this car was made for cruising long distances!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
2010 HRPT Day 2
Okay so I don't recommend sleeping in your car for the best resting experience. We did get some sleep but between the trucks and the general poor sleeping environment we were ready for a hotel the next time.
Once on the road it was a smooth and uneventful ride to Springfield. We even could tell how fast we were going finally because Dad brought along a GPS unit. I installed a cigarette lighter attachment while dad went in for breakfast so we would have power. I even found a fancy three slot one with a USB plug as well. Now I can plug the I-Pad in as well. The 69 is sooooo high tech now! As I was installing it I was having that old familiar feeling but we have a lot of Novas that I have installed a lot of things on so i didn't think much. After it was all installed I opened the ash try and there was the factory lighter I installed the year before I think! Oh well, now we can power 4 things at once! This is us powering over a kind of cool bridge on the way to Springfield, I think the GPS might have said we were speeding at the time but it's hard to say...
It was a great town and getting into a parking spot was smooth too. We walked all up and down the streets and saw a lot of unique rides. This guy is prepared for a breakdown so he can still get home on his bicycle!
He almost needed it to because at the end of the night after cranking his radio all day it seemed his battery went dead. Luckily someone came by in a cart, jumped it and he was back in business! One of the best things was our hotel ended up being ground zero for the party long after everything closed down. Not to mention it was one of the nicest rooms we have ever stayed in. So we parked our car out front and just walked around checking things out and visiting with everyone. We even met up with Clarence Barnes from hot rod magazine who said he wanted our nova for christmas. I am pretty sure he's not going find it under his tree this year but it's nice to see he has good taste.
Once on the road it was a smooth and uneventful ride to Springfield. We even could tell how fast we were going finally because Dad brought along a GPS unit. I installed a cigarette lighter attachment while dad went in for breakfast so we would have power. I even found a fancy three slot one with a USB plug as well. Now I can plug the I-Pad in as well. The 69 is sooooo high tech now! As I was installing it I was having that old familiar feeling but we have a lot of Novas that I have installed a lot of things on so i didn't think much. After it was all installed I opened the ash try and there was the factory lighter I installed the year before I think! Oh well, now we can power 4 things at once! This is us powering over a kind of cool bridge on the way to Springfield, I think the GPS might have said we were speeding at the time but it's hard to say...
It was a great town and getting into a parking spot was smooth too. We walked all up and down the streets and saw a lot of unique rides. This guy is prepared for a breakdown so he can still get home on his bicycle!
He almost needed it to because at the end of the night after cranking his radio all day it seemed his battery went dead. Luckily someone came by in a cart, jumped it and he was back in business! One of the best things was our hotel ended up being ground zero for the party long after everything closed down. Not to mention it was one of the nicest rooms we have ever stayed in. So we parked our car out front and just walked around checking things out and visiting with everyone. We even met up with Clarence Barnes from hot rod magazine who said he wanted our nova for christmas. I am pretty sure he's not going find it under his tree this year but it's nice to see he has good taste.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
2010 Power Tour Day 1
Well, another power tour has come and it has been a long day. Dad made it up at like 11 the night before which could be the earliest yet. It was only 4 hours or so to the first stop so we didn't have to get up all that early. I'll come back tomorrow and post more but tonight we pulled the car into a truck stop to catch some zzz's and then head on in the morning... I'll let you know if we make it through the night. Hopefully the I-pad can post this. Fingers crossed...
*Updated*
So the i-pad updated just fine last night. It was giving me a little grief but it did work. I am sure all the followers (aka my wife) Has been wondering what happened because I did not update but when I did final get internet again the blog was down. Seems to be working now so I'll fill in the blanks. When dad pulled in it was obvious he had made a couple of new additions. One was the new hood scoop that he has been talking putting on for some time. It certainly gives the old Nova a little more attitude.
Of course dad still has the same look in his pictures even if the Nova does not. The other change is a little less noticeable but has made quite a difference in the ride. Dad picked up some air ride shocks from ride-tech. We didn't have to drive far to tell they really smoothed things out. Now he is talking about getting some for the front. My guess it will be something he picks up the week before next years cruise ;)
Before heading out I was looking over some of the posts from last year. I was then reminded about all the little things that broke last year and we never fixed. The broken side window handle, the car seats, and a few other little things. The Nova still ran like a champ though and we cruised down to Newton Iowa in no time. There we met up with the infamous Greg Paulsen. After chatting with him for a while we heard there was a storm front moving in with possible tornados. We decided to drive ahead a ways and get away from the storm. We out-ran it for a while but finally it caught up with us. We pulled off and found a little diner to eat as the rain came down pretty heavy. After that we drove until it got dark and then we found a nice little truck stop. We pulled the nova in-between the big trucks and settled in for a good night's sleep…
*Updated*
So the i-pad updated just fine last night. It was giving me a little grief but it did work. I am sure all the followers (aka my wife) Has been wondering what happened because I did not update but when I did final get internet again the blog was down. Seems to be working now so I'll fill in the blanks. When dad pulled in it was obvious he had made a couple of new additions. One was the new hood scoop that he has been talking putting on for some time. It certainly gives the old Nova a little more attitude.
Of course dad still has the same look in his pictures even if the Nova does not. The other change is a little less noticeable but has made quite a difference in the ride. Dad picked up some air ride shocks from ride-tech. We didn't have to drive far to tell they really smoothed things out. Now he is talking about getting some for the front. My guess it will be something he picks up the week before next years cruise ;)
Before heading out I was looking over some of the posts from last year. I was then reminded about all the little things that broke last year and we never fixed. The broken side window handle, the car seats, and a few other little things. The Nova still ran like a champ though and we cruised down to Newton Iowa in no time. There we met up with the infamous Greg Paulsen. After chatting with him for a while we heard there was a storm front moving in with possible tornados. We decided to drive ahead a ways and get away from the storm. We out-ran it for a while but finally it caught up with us. We pulled off and found a little diner to eat as the rain came down pretty heavy. After that we drove until it got dark and then we found a nice little truck stop. We pulled the nova in-between the big trucks and settled in for a good night's sleep…
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