Vacation 2003
Vacation 2003
On June 17, 2003 we left home not knowing what to expect exactly! We had an agenda, but we were also driving a car that has a mind of her own! As we were preparing to leave Brian decided to change his appearance by shaving his mustache off. We left home at about 4:00 AM. We arrived in Bowling Green Kentucky with no problems at all. We found our motel easily.
On June 18 we went to the Corvette Assembly Plant. The tour was very informative. Brian enjoyed watching all of the mechanical things going on. The technology used is pretty amazing! We went over to the Corvette Museum after the tour of the plant. We did not see any sign that said that you could pay more for a guided tour, but as we started in the museum there was a man wearing a Corvette Museum shirt. He started talking to a man and woman and their two teenage kids. We kind of walked with them and pretty soon the guide was making comment to Brian and he answered a question Brian had. As we came out of one room (about 3/4 of the way through the museum) the man looked at the couple and said, " This is the moment you have been waiting for." There was a big sign in front of a brand new 50th Anniversary Edition Corvette that said "Congratulations on the purchase of your new corvette!" A sign hanging on the wall explained that for many years people had requested to pick their car up at the factory, but that this was not practical. Now people are able to take delivery of their new corvette at the Corvette Museum. They get a private tour at the assembly plant as well as a private tour of the museum! We did not realize it at the time, but we joined in on their private tour. They did not seem to mind, and we sure learned a lot from it!
When we left the Corvette Museum there were new vehicles parked out front for you to look at, sit in, and admire. One vehicle was the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Corvette! How do we look?
Our plans for June 19 were changed a bit when we found out that our plan of touring the Holley Carburetor Plant was changed because they do not give tours anymore! We decided to go for a tour of Mammoth Cave. What an awesome site! It is hard to imagine what it would have been like exploring without electric lights! The rest of the day we spent driving to North Carolina. It was a pretty long drive on some winding roads. There were lines of 10 or more semi trucks. We were right in the middle of one line, but they did not seem to mind us being there!
June 20 Brian called some friends of his that moved to Weaverville, North Carolina before Brian and I met. We drove over to Ralph and Jean's house that is nestled next to a big beautiful mountain and had an enjoyable afternoon. We had dinner with them (thanks again!) and then we all drove to a small car show. People were amazed that we had driven our car all the way from Wisconsin.
June 21 we made our way to Bristol, Tennessee. We found our motel room and then spent over 3 hours cleaning the car! That evening we went over to a small town called Elizbethton. There was a cruise in at the shopping center. There were 300-400 cars parked or driving by or through. The place was busy all night long! We talked to lots of people.
June 22 we went to the Super Chevy Show at Bristol Dragway. It was the first drag race I had ever been to. I enjoyed watching all of the cars. Brian enjoyed being able to answer my many questions. He couldn't answer why the female driver beat the male driver in the jet power auto race! We watched a school bus pop a wheelie and still drive 100mph! We spent a majority of the time at the drag races, but did spend time with the car at the car show. We talked to many nice people that day! We attended a church service that the Racers for Christ had organized.
June 23 we headed back to Asheville, NC. On our way out of Bristol we stopped to get gas. This tank of gas caused us some trouble the rest of the day. The temp gauge quit working. The car was very hot. The exhaust smelled like ether. Since the car was so hot, we decided that it would be a good day to go to the Biltmore Estate and just let her be still for a while. We had a very enjoyable day at the Biltmore Estate. The house is an awesome site. It was way ahead of its time. It was beautiful inside and out. We were walking in the gardens and on the trails until after 6:00. When we went to leave the people standing by the driveway up to the house were gone. We wanted so badly to drive the car in front of the house. We saw a man shutting the fountain out front off. Brian asked if we could drive our car up front. The man said it was fine!
June 24 Our conclusion later (after much thought and brainstorming among everyone that had an opinion on the situation) was that the tank of gas had too much methanol or something. The temp gauge and the thermostat had to be changed. Thankfully, Brian had packed all of the tools that were needed. We changed the gauge and the thermostat in the motel parking lot! The maid was really impressed that we were both working on the car. She brought some rags over to us in case we needed them. A bottle of fuel additive and a full tank of premium gas fixed the problem. Perhaps "fixed" is not the appropriate word for me to use. The problem was a little bit harder to "fix" than that. We have ordered a new radiator as the one we had was damaged due to the severe overheating! We then drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway. What a beautiful site! That evening we had dinner with Ralph and Jean again. We said our goodbyes, as we knew we needed to be making our way toward home the next day.
June 25 we were on our way to Nashville. Brian told his dad that if we made it to Nashville with no problems that we would go one to Centerville to visit his aunt and cousin. He said we were about 100 miles from Nashville. I am not sure how he got that from the map we had, but it was a lot more than 100 miles. The car ran great and we did go on in to Centerville.
June 26 we met Brian's Cousin Ron for breakfast in Centerville. We went to his Aunt Maxie's house and spent the afternoon with her. We went to dinner with Ron, Joyce and their daughter-in-law and their 4 grandchildren. We had a great time, but it did make us miss our kids and our granddaughter Destiny!
June 27 we made the long drive home through Illinois! It was so dull and boring compared to the beauty of Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina! We had some trouble when we got near Rockford. There was a back up at the tollgate. We had not planned on stopping for dinner, but did so that we could avoid the car over heating!
Janesville
Relay For Life