Be Prepared

Friday night and the cars kept coming in at the VA BBQ cruise. This is a cruise that has been ongoing for many years and the host club, Fredericksburg Classic & Muscle Car Club, has been providing car people with a place that is safe and welcoming in a style that makes one want to return every Friday night! They all pitch in to make others comfortable.. ..Tonight there were two cars missing but the event went on as usual and most people didn’t notice anything different. The General Lee Dodge was special and the brown primered ’57 Chevy sedan delivery was new. Most of the rest of the cars have been seen before but that night they all seemed to come by. In fact there were 6-7 pro streets that cruised through but didn’t stay.. ..Like the real nice black ’72 Mustang that sounded very tough, I hope it stays one Friday! I think there were over 60 cars that stayed.. ..which is a little more than usual. The evening was cool while we cruised home and I didn’t do anything stupid again so the blue lights stayed off! Maybe I learned my lesson? Hmmmm we’ll see.

Sunday we met at Cracker Barrel in Central Park, Fredericksburg, VA for breakfast then on to the show at the Salem VFD near Culpeper, VA. This is the second year for this show and as before the Culpeper Cruisers manage it like a machine. The registration, judging and awards are all done like you would expect an established club to do. Whenever the Culpeper Cruisers are involved with a show you can be assured it will be run fairly, consistently and in a timely manner. Tony’s Body Shop is the sponsor of the event and he and his wife, Beth, displayed two of their red Corvettes.. ..Tony’s ’63 is freshly back from the NSRA event in Richmond where it was on the bricks as a winner. I think I still like the blue blower car better.. ..Which is out of character for me since I like quiet, sedate cars.. ..grin DJ Ron kept us rolling with his music and announcements. He makes the event much more comfortable for all the participants and is figured into our decision of what shows we attend during the year. He also does requests which helped me get out of the dog house with the Princess.. ..I didn’t say that! The Princess is always even tempered and open minded.. ..Like all redheads are!? I took pictures of all the cars that attended the event except the four that didn’t want to pay or support the event and left early. The clean restrooms were inside the fire house and they had a large air conditioned area where the VFD sold food. The Princess reports that their food was great and she really appreciated the donuts, breakfast sandwiches and coffee that they sold for breakfast.. ..I guess the Princess didn’t get enough at Cracker Barrel?

The event had about 130 cars registered and there were many new ones to us. There is a growing trend of couples both driving their own hot rod.. ..I like it! Arnold brought out his red ’64 that I really like and Jerry’s green/black ’41 Willys deservedly won the best of show. I also like the orange with white flames T-Bucket that a lady drove! The black GTX with the 528 KB Hemi was very special. I also liked the red ’32 Ford Vicky and the pair of ’33 Fords that a husband and wife drove. I’m glad I wasn’t judging the cars as the quality of most of them was above average. Ed and The Princess got a top 50 trophy so she will be happy for another week. Dan & Ramona got the special Bob Cornwell Memorial award! The event was over on time as promised and the clouds were starting to get a little darker on the horizon. We all decided to leave and re-gather at Carlos O’ Kelly’s in Stafford for dinner.

On the way home we were reminded why we travel with basic tools, extra water and in groups whenever possible.. ..Special Ed tried to turn his mouse motor from a V-8 into a V-7!? We were stranded on a narrow country road and after we found out what his problem was (broken rocker stud) he called a tow company then we all took out our chairs, opened up the coolers and passed out the water then waited for the roll back. Ramona noticed that the turkey vultures were not flying in circles yet so we were still ok! The farmer whose road side and driveway we were in came out and talked a while and offered to help! Since we didn’t drive through his fence he was a happy camper! We waved to people in the cars as they drove by and with 4 hot rods parked on the side of the road it was kind of like an impromptu roadside car show for them while they drove by! When the roll back arrived they took special care loading Ed’s ’39 then drove off into the sunset! If I ever have a need for that kind of service, L&G Road Service would be one I would call first.