Monday, June 29, 2009

A wild and crazy weekend

Friday night and the cars cruised into VA BBQ in Fredericksburg, VA. The weather guessers said to expect rain, maybe! The first vehicle I looked at was Stuart’s blue ’63 PU, Tom and the guys at Pro Truck added some bling bling to the engine, looks nice! And the Willys Gasser PU was nice too as was the ’39 Rolls, the all aluminum one! The ’52 brown/cream MG TD was new to me and nicely done, I think it won ‘people’s choice’ later in the evening. The blue ’62 Pontiac Safari wagon was outstanding and unique. We kept checking the weather and it looked like it was going to the north AND south but not where we were. But about 8PM we saw some lightning in the distance and JV jumped in his T-Bucket and was history! We waited another ½ hour before the lightning started getting closer and then we decided to call it a night. About 9 miles into our 15 mile trip home a massive lightning strike lit up the road ahead of me for about ¼ of a mile. I could see the road ahead was covered with water and a “fog” was hanging on the road, it was rain! Not just a little sprinkle or shower. Not just your run of the mill thunderstorm but a hideous non-stop lightning strike, instantaneous thunder clap storm of Biblical strength! It was like driving with bombs going off all around us while we tried to pick our way home through the rain. And me with a non-working windshield wiper! Fun Fun Fun I picked out a large pickup truck and followed him in the rain, I was fixated on the red taillights and was hoping he stayed on the road! Near the end of our trip the truck turned left and I turned right, but I thought we would be ok because we were close to home, on a narrow country road, with new tires, and the interior of the windshield was fogging up and the Princess yelling at me over the walkie talkie that her windshield wiper worked ok but she was fogging up inside too (I wonder why she just didn’t turn on her A/C?) Then a fire truck started coming at us from the opposite direction with all the lights blinking and siren going and me not being able to tell where the edge of the road was because of all the glare from the lights from the fire truck I grabbed the steering wheel so tight I think the leather was oozing out between my fingers and I tried to remember where we were on the road and if I had enough room before the asphalt disappeared into the drainage ditch on the edge. But I puckered real good till the fire truck passed, Whew When we got home I opened the Princess’s side of the garage with a remote door opener but my side doesn’t have one so I waited for her to shut down her car and open my side. Meanwhile started to hear the tink tink tink of hail! Rain is not good for the coupes but hail is really bad! Up went my door and I drove up the ramps and out of the hail! No hail damage but I found out the windshield rubber has shrunk a little which allowed my left foot to get wet! Wow that was an intense 5 mile ride! We wiped down the exterior and took everything out of the inside and left the doors, trunks and hoods open with the shop fan running all night! And now I get to clean underneath both cars!

Since we had to do some “home work” on Saturday we decided that we would only go to a cruise close by in the evening. The Bruster’s Ice Cream cruise is about 2 miles away so we chose it for the night. We had been pestering our neighbor, Dwayne, to take his survivor ’75 Olds to a cruise with us but he always had an excuse..So the Princess embarrassed him in to going tonight! We hadn’t been to that cruise all year so we were looking forward to the experience and to see some old friends that don’t drive as much as we do. We got there about 4:30 and 15 cars were already there! Al brought out his precious dreamsicle ’55 Chevy that looks like the deer never hit him last year! And Richard’s beautiful blue/white ’60 is always nice to see. There were many cars that we see a lot but some that were new to us too, check out the pictures! I love the “Chevy Repair Tool” in the back seat of one of the cars. The Princess won a people’s choice plaque so she thought the cruise was very special too, that always helps, grin. That evening the cruise was raising money for a family that had a small child dealing with cancer and needed some help. Rick was giving people who donated to the cause, rides on his ’37 Chevy Fire truck, what a neat deal. Ron and Gary were minding the music and announcements all night and near the end Ron auctioned off some donations from 610 Pawn to help with the cause. There were about 80 cars that cruised in for the evening, a very nice turn out! This cruise is every Saturday from 4-9 and Ron and Gary usually have something “special” set up for each week, if you are near Stafford on Saturday evening check it out!

Sunday we met at Mike’s Diner for breakfast then cruised to Occoquan, VA and the Prince William Cruisers annual Good Ol’ Days Car Show at Occoquan Regional Park. We had attended last year and were determined that we would attend again this year. We were driving up I95 to Occoquan and I noticed a small blue dot in the mirror behind our last car. We were traveling the speed limit, 60mph, but the blue dot kept getting bigger! Finally I could make out what/who the blue dot was.. .. ..It was Pop’s from Fredericksburg Classic and Muscle Car Club in his little Baja Bug! And the RedRat was purring along and I couldn’t get the song about the Nash Rambler out of my head every time I looked back at Pop and his VW. chuckle

We arrived and 25 cars were already parked and more cars kept coming in. The venue is perfect for a car show, please check out the pictures. The variety of the cars was amazing from traditional hot rods, lowriders, 2009 cars, street rods, customs and everything in between! I was especially happy to see the Individuals Car Club and their lowriders. That is a car discipline we seldom see around here and it is refreshing. The PW Cruisers always attract a large percentage of hot rods/street rods of the below 1960 variety. The “muscle cars” were well represented too. The Prince William Cruisers run a show like a machine; they started judging as soon as you had your car set up! Everyone had their job to contribute to the whole deal and it worked like usual. They had some canopies set up for the participants to use which helped during the rain. The rain? Yes it rained during the show, not bad, just a little one hour shower. The Princess does not like to get wet, Dan gave her his umbrella so she would quit whining about the rain. She also made us eat more “good food” instead of junk food. But what was she eating in the rain? She says she is just looking out for Dan and me to make sure we don’t eat something we shouldn’t? After it quit raining we dried the cars and by the time the show was over the ground was dry, and now clean! There was a live band, Rt. 66, which sounded great, you couldn’t tell if the songs were tape or live! They were that good! There were more vendors than last year and the Wounded Warrior Project race car was present with Ray & Terry sharing the mission of WWP with anyone that would ask. Most of the established shows run well around here, the clubs have done many shows before and know what it takes to make the show run well and be easy for the participants. There were so many nice cars and I did not envy Steve’s job of judging over 200 cars! The award ceremony moves fast because they plan everything out. The Princess won a top 40 trophy so she will be happy till the next time. Arnold won best engine with his orange Camaro and the yellow flamed ’37 Ford with the blue top won best graphics. The Best of Show was won by Jerry and his black/green ’41 Willys, the car is drop dead gorgeous and perfect.. ..I cannot take pictures that do it justice; you just have to see it! This show just gets better every year and I’m sure next year will be no exception; you must attend this show if you are close to Woodbridge, VA in late June. You have a year to plan hehehe.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Another busy weekend.

Goochland? I usually don’t find humor in the name of a town.. ..But Goochland? I was born in a little town outside of Bloomington, Ill Called.. ..Normal!!!! The Princess says that I am far from Normal? I think she means that we live way far away in Virginia? Anyway I saw a car show flyer for Goochland and knew we had to go, just to say we had been to Goochland, VA.

During breakfast we discussed the forecasted rain for the day, it was supposed to be severe where we live in Stafford and some places south but we thought we would be ok at least getting to the show. So after we had breakfast at County Fare we headed south.. ..Way south from Stafford, VA. We ran I95 for a few miles to Thornburg and took Rt. 606 to Rt. 208 to Rt. 522S. We had five cars in the group and about half way there the Princess began whining for a potty break so we made one pit stop along the way and it still took us about two hours to make the 83 mile trip. Taking a trip through the Virginia countryside in hot rods while giving people something to wave at was time well spent. Driving the hot rods instead of dragging them around in a white box behind a pickup is what we are about.. ..It’s the trip.. ..Not just the destination.

When we arrived at the show we were immediately directed to a nice corner of the lot. The lot was about half gravel and half grass. The gravel was #57 stone so it didn’t make dust but it was really difficult to drive in the canopy spikes.. ..At least so says the Princess, she said the spike was already bent? We set up the cars then registered and sat back to talk about how hot it was. Andrew and Ron had weather programs on their phones so they were tracking the storms to the North and West. Where we started in the morning was getting hammered with severe storms but we had nothing but heat in Goochland. The organizers of the show were very helpful and courteous. The clean restrooms were in a large air conditioned building like a community center that one could escape to if it got too hot. The Princess made a lot of potty calls but she said she didn’t mind the heat? The food was very good and reasonably priced. The event only had 25 cars but they were varied and nicely done. The “modified lawnmower” was .. .. ..Different! The Fox bodied Mustang with a very large Motown Chevy Big block was neat as a pin and sounded ready to chase the space shuttle. The blue “Farm Use” Ford PU was special, and the motor was the perfect choice for a farm truck.. ..hehehehe The little Triumph TR was cool too with the door tops so close to the ground! Three pickups came in late and appeared to be the same year, just different colors.. ..Black, blue and yellow. The host group judged the cars and decided to close the show a little early because of the threat of rain. Fred & Debie, Dale & Gaye, Andrew, The Princess and I won a 1st place in our respective classes. Ron and his ’28 Dodge won Best of Show! Way to go Ron! So we found out Goochland was a real place that had nice people who liked cars.. ..Sounds normal to me?

A few of the hardier cruisers (or is it that we just don't have a life?) decided to go to the monthly Orange, VA Burger King cruise since we were so close, about 50 miles of more country roads, and since we hadn’t been there yet this year. So Andrew, The Princess and I blasted off for Orange.

After we set up at Orange BK we were told by DJ Ron that they had rain a few hours before we got there but the ground/road was dry now? And the rain kept many away from the cruise since they sometimes have in excess of 200 cars! That night it looked like somewhere between 60-90.. ..Still not bad. There was a blue 40-41 Buick with a history with President Eisenhower.. ..I’ll have to find out more about it next time. And Camaros-A-Plenty! I think there were about 15 Camaros.. ..Including Tom’s trick Maroon one with the mile long Lenco trans, grin A nicely done dark purple ’66 Chevy II, nothing too radical, just nice. The BK manager picked the red ’56 T-Bird and the very special green 40’s Chevy Pickup for and award and since the Princess didn’t win she said it was time to go and she didn’t like her hamburger anyway and she wanted to park in the front of BK, by the front door next time! So we cruised back home and ended a 180 mile day. And about 20 min after the hot rods were put to bed.. ..It rained! Someone was watching out for us that day!

Sunday morning we left Bob Evans in Stafford, VA around 8 and met T-Bucket John at Fast Mart on Rt1.. ..He had a “new” way to take us to Rt 3 and then on to Colonial Beach and the 3rd Annual Fathers Day Classic Car Show. I think John uses that route a lot, there were many law enforcement officers along the way, waiting to ruin someone’s day.. ..I don’t think I’ll go that way much, grin. I shot a short video clip of John on the way to the show, check it out at; youtube.com/user/502SizeMatters About half way to the show a deer ran out on the road.. ..between the first car, John’s T-Bucket and the second car, Dan & Ramona’s ’55! It happened so quick that no one reacted much except for looking to the left to see if more were coming.. ..And we were going 55mph.. ..It would have been a mess.. ..Someone was watching out for us again!

We arrived at the show site and because of the rain the day before some of the field was not usable so we parked on a little hill and set up the cars. The sky was very dark and the wind was gusting to 35kts! We knew a storm was just across the Potomac River from us and heading our way! I hurried around and took my pictures quickly to beat the rain.. ..When I was finished and sat down the clouds disappeared and the wind died down.. ..It turned into a Picture Postcard Perfect day! The venue is near the shore of the Potomac River as is most of Colonial Beach and it lends a certain ambiance to the event. The food vendor was OK and the porta potties were usually kept clean but as this event grows the organizers need to furnish more restroom facilities.. ..Remember the demographics of us hot rodders, clean restrooms are much appreciated by ladies. There were over 80 cars and many of them were ones I had not seen like the Hudson Hornet that was just too cool and what looked like a Meyers Manx dune buggy, these were all the rage when we lived in Riverside, CA in the early 70’s but you don’t see many anymore. The black chopped & tubbed 40’s Chevy sedan with the big block was very sinister looking! And this show had more mannequins than I’ve ever seen at a car show.. ..I wonder if the car owners are having a hard time finding girl friends? I guess they don’t know that chicks dig hot rods, don’t ask how I know.. ..Hehehehe Ford retractables.. ..You rarely see one at a show but here there were two! A black ’59 and a red/white ’57.. ..WOW There were many other nice cars that were new to us but the nicest vehicle at the show was the green ’37 Chevy PU, it deservedly won the Best of Show! Please check out the pictures even though they don’t do the truck justice. Dan & Ramona won the Best Chevy trophy and the Princess didn’t win.. ..Thanks a lot guys, it only cost me $60 at the Happy Clam restaurant to make her forget your oversight. She says it’s so unfair? And since there was another “Princess” at the show in a blue Vette, The real Princess had to whine a lot more than usual.. ..It’s going to be a long week. chuckle One of the neat things about being in Colonial Beach is the plethora of eating establishments.. ..Pretty much whatever your taste buds crave can be satisfied here! We all liked the show and thanks to the Colonial Beach Chamber of Commerce and Westmoreland Farm Bureau on a job well done.. ..Try to make this show next year, you will like it.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

On the road again....

Friday evening and the rain is staying away from North Fredericksburg so we cruise to Virginia Barbeque on Rt. 1. I guess a lot of people thought they would get wet if they came out because this cruise usually has 50+ cars and tonight it had 28 cars! But as always something interesting rolls in and tonight it is a hotrod Crosley!? HUH The Crosley was made from 1939 to 1952. The little Crosley was a unique car with the first mass-produced single overhead cam engine; they were also the first to have 4 wheel disc brakes! And it did all that while getting 50 mpg fuel mileage! Their motors were made of sheet metal during WWII and used as APU’s in PT boats and B-17 Bombers. We had two of these funny little cars when we lived in Florida in the early 50’s. They were a sturdy little car for in town but I wouldn’t want to go cross country in one. The one tonight had Chevette running gear, very different, hot rodding gone mad! Hehehe The dark grey Chevelle with the tidy engine compartment, not too much shinny and a little more use of color coordination. There was a black ’55 Ford T-Bird that came in late and a nice purple Dart that we have seen before. Ron called the cruise around 9PM so we left and cruised to the Stangs and Fangs cruise in Central Park. Since we got there late most of the cars had left but there were still 11 cars there, then on home to put the rodents to bed.

Saturday we met up with Dale at the WAWA and decided to scrap the cruise to Bert’s in MD because the night before Dan told me that the 301 bridge would be cut to one lane for maintenance! So not wanting to sit in traffic for hours we decided to go to Colonial Beach for lunch. Little did we know that they were having a “Festival” in Colonial Beach.. ..With little Shriners cars, clowns, parades and Police everywhere. Dale figured out how to go around all the “Festival” festivities and get to the Happy Clam restaurant, whew. This is the first time we have eaten at this restaurant since the hurricane blew it away a few years ago.. ..The food is great and the service is quick and attentive, we’ll go back! After eating too much I had to fold up to get into the RedRat what a deal!

We cruised to Foster’s Grille in Stafford and the monthly cruise hosted by Virginia Stockers Car Club. As I’ve said before most cruises and shows develop a “personality” over time. People and cars can come and go but an underlining personality develops. At Foster’s it seems that all the ladies sit in their chairs in a circle in the grass and talk. Now the Princess can talk! Some of them are crocheting some just talking.. ..All laughing a lot and enjoying the time together. Now the guys roam around looking at the cars.. ..Nodding in approval or shaking their head in disapproval. Then as the evening progresses they start grouping in little pods of 5-6 guys. Anyway, on with the cars. There were 31 cars present, which is good for this new cruise, it will get better. Two of my favorite cars were there, the black ’60 Starliner and the black ’57 Ford and there was a nice red ’63 Vette with red line tires! That brought back some memories. Stuarts GT-40 is always fun to look at.. ..He keeps making modifications for more HP! I guess one can’t have too much HP? The most unusual piece was the red ’51 Ford PU. It is a movie truck, having been used in the Buddy Holly Story and another one that I forgot the name of. It was originally black but the new owner painted it red. Paul and Willey kept everyone on their toes and laughing.. ..This is a neat cruise, it’s the second Saturday so don’t miss it next month.

I came down with the flu and had to stay in bed from Sat night to Tue morning! I missed the show at Orange airport. I am going to interview the Princess and Dan to see if they have enough information and pictures to post a report. The Princess says that she won a trophy and that is all I need to know about the show!?

Monday, June 8, 2009

The Princesses revenge....

Saturday we met at County Fare, a local restaurant in Stafford, VA, and had breakfast before cruising to the show in Wilderness, VA. Jim & Linda met and ate with us but they were going to a “Corvette” show in Mechanicsville, VA instead of running with us.. ..birds of a feather and all that. grin The rest of the group; Ron, Dan & Ramona, Andrew and the Princess & I had an uneventful pleasant trip to the show after we had a great breakfast at Country Fare. If you haven't been to this eatery you need to try it, just take it easy on the owner, he's a little bashful! grin

The show at Wilderness Resorts is a new one, last year was the first time for them and it was not attended very well, I think they had 12 cars.. ..This is why when scheduling a show it is so important to consider other scheduled shows. The bad thing about their first show is that the Wilderness people did consider the schedule but another show was scheduled over them and most people chose to go to that show instead of the Wilderness one. This year there was a minor conflict with the AACA show in downtown Fredericksburg, VA but the cars in the both shows were very different and did not compete with each other! Since it had rained for 3 days prior to Saturday, I had called to confirm that the show was still on and that they had provisions for the cars to have alternative parking, they did. The parking was on rolled 21A gravel and it drained very well so it was very firm when we got there. It was adjacent to the grass field we would have used had we not had the rains. They had a very good food vendor and the DJ, First Choice Entertainment, was on top of things with their good music and minimal announcements. The restrooms were nice, clean and permanent. The goody bags were terrific, filled with things we could and would actually use! I have to tell you that we were apprehensive about attending this show but we attended anyway because of the reason they were putting it on, raising money and awareness for Wounded Warrior Project. This is the charity that the Princess and I support.. ..in fact we try to include them in all the events that we have anything to do with just to raise the awareness of WWP and how important they are to our wounded Veterans.

The show had 51 entrants and they were very diverse.. ..from Pete’s white Ford Mustang 428R and a black ’09 Challenger to a green ’31 Ford 5w coupe and Ron’s gunmetal ’28 Dodge sedan. Some cars were old friends we see at most local shows and cruises but there were a few new ones too. The red 50’s Plymouth coupe was very different as was the blue ’37 Ford coupe. The silver Factory Five Cobra was slick and had a story on the build that was interesting. One of my favorites was the orange '67 Nova, I really like that car. The black and purple ’36 Chevy sedan was clean and unusual and the orange & champagne 50’s Ford PU with the cosmic hood hinges is always a crowd pleaser. There was a red ’57 Chevy golf cart with horns loud enough to be heard in Richmond! Cool deal.. .. The white 60’s T-Bird was like new and the engine was chromed out to the max! We got a lot of non-car people traffic which is ok with us.. ..we got to share our hobby with many people that day, which is why we like this hobby so much. We got to see some old friends; Vicky from over 15 years ago and Allen from more than 15 years ago and Joe from not long enough ago. There was a roving clown that visited with all the cars but he spent a lot of time with the Princess so I had to take their picture with her car, the Jim shoes were a nice touch! What’s up with the hand kissing? Everyone in our group won a trophy.. ..except the Princess and me. I got my award of much encouragement to make the RedRat growl on the road as I left.. ..so.. ..I did an OK imitation of an AA/FA launching as soon as I got into 2nd, I hope my ankle heals soon so I can shift better. .hehehehe The Princess said that I may have to come back next year by myself, this is the second show in a row that she hasn’t won anything, she is getting so twitchy. The weather cooperated just fine and Kindra and Laura from Wilderness made sure everything ran well. The only thing that would have made it better for the show was to have been on grass but other than that it was a terrific show and one you must attend next year.

After the show a few of us cruised to A-1 Speed Shop and parked in the lot where the cruise was going to be later that afternoon. We decided to try the seafood restaurant across the street from A-1, Steamers Seafood Bar & Grill. We have been going to the A-1 cruise for a couple of years and never tried it so tonight was the night. The food was really good and the service was quick and attentive too. The prices are in line with other seafood restaurants around here so all was good.. ..now we have another choice of dining and since the Princess likes seafood she started to forget that she was such a looser earlier at the show! It’s all good. Then Jim and Linda stopped by and joined us for dinner on their way back from Mechanicsville and their show. Linda was quick to point out that she won a second place trophy at their show, number 2 out of 170 cars, not bad! And that the trophy was real nice.. ..Then the Princess started mumbling something about that it was getting hot in there and she was full and she was tired of sitting and that it was too noisy and and the sun was in her eyes and that she wanted to leave and and and and .. .. she so hates to loose.. ..I’m glad I couldn’t hear what she was saying under her breath while we walked back to the cruise at A-1.. ..grin!

The A-1 cruise had a couple of red Fords from the AACA show earlier in Fredericksburg, VA.. ..a ’60 and a ’64. They were very nice and it’s neat to see the old cars in stock condition. When someone mentions AACA I always think of pre 40’s cars, I forget newer ones are included too! The lot began filling up at A-1 with a nice purple Ford Pickup and then Mark’s orange Camaro that has a shine that looks wet and about 15 more cars. The A-1 cruise never has a lot of cars and I don’t know why. The music is great, the location is centralized and the sponsor is very accommodating.. ..maybe we just need to get the word out better.. ..we’ll see. Anyway one of the reasons we attend this cruise is the valve cover races. Over the past year or so the owner of the track who is also the owner of the Cruise has won all the races with his Rebel Flyer racer. Many have challenged him but none have bested the Rebel Flyer.. ..till tonight! There was a new challenger, Dan’s super secret “YO MATEY” racer. It is a dark horse with three wheels..it looked bad in a sinister way with the large wheels in back and the single one in front. Hmmmm The first few runs it went straight and fast but then it crashed in the overrun area. After that it went wild.. ..it hooked to the right, it hooked to the left, it tried to run over the guard rails, it tried to crash other racers and it finally came at me on two wheels! I had to jump back from the stop barrier! I think it’s possessed or something.. ..like the red ’58 Plymouth, Christine! Dan tried to make adjustments but no luck.. ..the YO MATEY would just have to sit out this race and go back to the frame shop. The Princess made some test & tune runs, her racer was hooking to the left a little, that’s OK, I knew how to fix it but we would wait for the eliminations to do that! Can you say sandbagger? Finally around 8:30PM Dave called for the eliminations to begin. There was only two real racers left from the test & tune runs, it was between the Rebel Flyer and the Princess Express. I had adjusted the tracking of the Express and it was running straighter now! The first run and the Flyer barely won but the Princess, being The Princess, started to whine about her lane choice and that Dave had a better lane and the light was bad in her lane and there was debris in her lane from another racer? So in an attempt to not look like he was picking on a Princess, Dave agreed that they would have another race and The Princess could use the left lane.. .. Round two and the Princess barely won the race! Now they both had a win so the Princess said it should be the best 2 out of 3 runs!? So they flipped a coin for lane choice and The Princess won the left lane then proceeded to barely beat the Rebel Flyer again! It was close but the Princess Express won by about 2” both times. Dave said something about using nuclear radiation to polish his ceramic bearings next time? HUH? ? I think Dave should quit using those Ford bearings and try some bowtie bearings? So the Princess came home with a win.. ..she was happy with her racer builder so life is good for me.. ..but.. ..then she asked me what was I going to do to make sure Dave doesn’t beat her next month? Hmmmm hey Jim, how do I make a little miniature flux capacitor? It never ends. Be sure to check out the movie of the races on;
http://www.youtube.com/user/502SizeMatters

Monday, June 1, 2009

Adaptability

Life has a way of testing us all....

Brent started planning this years Stafford Classics show at Mt. Ararat last year on June 14....during the last Mt. Ararat show! The venue is as perfect as you could ask for with the grass and trees....the relaxed atmosphere was appealing to all that attended and Brent wanted to duplicate that ambiance again this year. But as luck would have it the guy that was in charge of the rain took a vacation to Pango Pango last week and the deluge on Friday changed everything. Adapt or fail! Brent met with his key volunteers Friday night and decided that the grass area was gong to be muddy and sloppy, not a good place for very special cars to be! So they decided to organize the show on the parking lots of the church. This is where the first show had been held so they knew it would work....it just wasn't the first choice with the ongoing construction work at the church.

The Princess and I arrived at 6AM and many of the volunteers were already on scene and working setting things up! They are as great a group of volunteers that anyone could ask for! It took about an hour for most everything to get set up and the first attendees arrived about 7:30. I could tell Brent was stressing a little with all the questions and decisions that he had to make since everything changed. But he did have help from the Mr. Congeniality award winner, Dom. Brent could not have done it without Dom, just ask Dom....grin Brent runs a show like a machine....everything is executed in a very effective manner....he always has an answer for any question no matter how harried he appears, that is the mark of a good organizer.

Anyway enough of this gushy stuff....the show was attended by around 205 cars and over 250 spectators, spectators that were not attached to a show car! That is what made the show so interesting, the spectators that just dropped in to see what was going on! The Princess, Ramona, Bob and I worked the registration table and it was the fastest 5 hours I think I have ever spent doing something. When things slowed down a little I looked at my clock and it was noon! WOW So I got to see everyone that registered a car and our team enjoyed ourselves while we did our part to help the event unfold. I took some pictures after the registration was closed but like last year I was too tired to take a lot of individual vehicle pictures so I focused on overall pictures, please check them out, http://rides.webshots.com/album/572728281fmqCBF
There were many local clubs represented, Culpeper Cruisers, Prince William Cruisers, Stangs & Fangs, Fredericksburg Classic and Muscle Car Club and others. We appreciate their support of the Stafford Classics show. There was a wide variety of cars from Dom's Model T to a couple of new 2010 Camaros to a bunch of race cars to four Smart Cars! The Smart Cars were neat, all four of them only took up two parking places, hehehe
The judging was an ongoing effort that began when the car registration was posted in the windshield and was complete around 2PM. Brent promptly began the award program around 3pm. The award plaques were made by students at NSHS in the Skills program under the direction of Susan Caldwell and the trophies were done by Crown Trophy in Stafford. All in all the show was as expected.... GREAT! Next year Brent needs to focus on the no-rain guy hehehe

After the show seven of us met at the WAWA and took off to do some cruising. We went to the All American Street Rods cruise in Gainesville first. Since I didn't know where it was I called the owner to ask for directions....we went to the appointed location and found....nothing! We drove around a little and decided it was a lost cause and left for the BK in Manassas by the airport. We knew we could depend on it being in session as advertised. http://rides.webshots.com/album/572718422ydWjtu
When we arrived the lot was almost full....we had to park on the grass strip next to the road, which is fun trying to miss the water valve boxes and the dips in the sod! Anyway we set up our stuff and walked around talking to people and admiring the cars. As always there are a lot of nice cars at BK and they had over 150 coming in and out as well as parking for a while. Bull Run Street Rods has been hosting this cruise a long time and it is the best cruise in the area. The '57 Chevy towing the little travel trailer was interesting and the blue light circle thingies around the headlights of the C-300 was cool. There were 4 T-buckets in attendance, more than I have ever seen at a cruise at one time. The yellow 5 window had to bring extra parts? Was that so he could make it back home? Hmmmm There was an original '28 Ford Pickup, very nice. And I got to look closely at Nick's red Galaxie 500XL....I wonder if that is his engine size, 500....XL? Naw, it's more like 500-2XL hehehe A couple of nice '55 Nomads, I like the black/silver one. But the most interesting car for me was the yellow '59 Corvette. It had the period correct panel paint job....that style is thankfully not seen much anymore. It was a style that adorned everything from race cars to hot rods to customs to vans in the 60's....it's part of our hot rod heritage and I hope all that saw it appreciated it....it was far out man! Ed got to practice his Col. Clink butt chewing chat on a couple of teenagers that were playing with silly string around the cars and got it all over Jim & Linda's Corvette....sometimes kids just don't think. Just be careful Ed, they may be running the nursing home you end up in someday, grin! It was a busy day that ended up with a nice cool ride back to Stafford....what's not to like!

Sunday the Crazy Cruisers met at WAWA for their cruise to Tapahanock and Lowry's for a late lunch....or early dinner....or supper....or lunchdiner....I don't know what it should be called but we did it! On the way back the RedRat started pulling toward Fredericksburg and it wouldn't stop till we got to Carl's....it knows! It's a nice drive in the country with food as a destination while giving people something to wave at and putting miles on the hot rods. What cars are supposed to do! I have to change the rear tires on the RedRat, I have the pressure up to 15 lbs trying to get the last few miles out of the center but they sure do break loose easier....hehehe