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.