Colder than a ......?

Friday evening and we congregate at VA BBQ in Fredericksburg, VA for the weekly cruise. The usual suspects are in attendance and a guy etching glass is plying his trade. Wesley and Ken tried him out on their car; Wesley had a pair of dice done on his vent window and Ken had “55” put on his ’55 Chevy….what a concept! It looks cool but I don’t have enough glass surfaces on the RedRat…. maybe…. we’ll see. We haven’t seen Steve and his rowdy blue supercharged Maverick for a while and the yellow gigandious Dodge PU with more chrome than a parking lot of Harleys was there. Claude’s noisy very dark blue ’34 Chevy coupe came to sit a spell and we were treated to a twofer rarity! You don’t often see a ’35 Chevy 4 dr. sedan….but two on the same night, at a little local cruise? Paul drives Anita’s red & black ’35 and he visits often but the other mauve & dark purple one was special too. Gary called the evening around 9PM and we cruised home, another fun & restful cruise at VA BBQ.

Saturday we wanted to go on a nice leisurely cruise for lunch and end up at the Foster’s cruise in S. Stafford. It was cold and very windy but we knew it would be a nice adventure. We left at noon and headed for Lowrys seafood restaurant in Tappahannock, VA. It’s about 70 miles to the restaurant from Stafford, VA and it’s a nice easy cruise through the flat lands near the Rappahannock river. We usually take Rt. 17 down and back but today someone thought it would be more fun to go home a different route! So after eating enough food to feed the crowds at a Beach Boys concert we left for home….by a different route. Sometimes I ask if someone else will lead our little excursions and allow me to relax a little and not have to deal with the stress of keeping everyone together (like herding cats!) and navigating for the group. It also gives me the opportunity to try to take some pictures from the back of the group while we are cruising. I asked Fred to lead and as usual he stepped up to help. Fred drives a red & white ’57 Dodge so challenges are no stranger to him. hehehehe And I think during one of his trips in the mother ship Fred had a GPS implanted somewhere on/in his body….you’ll have to ask Debie where it is!? After an inauspicious start when half our group went straight instead of following Fred at a critical intersection we got back together (cat herding) and headed home via Rt. 3. This road is smaller than Rt. 17 but it gives us a different look to our trip. Did I mention it was windy? I think it was blowing about 117 mph and gusting up to Cat5 hurricane strength! We had been meandering up Rt. 3 for about 25 miles when we spotted some smoke over the road! After stopping and evaluating the situation we realized that the wind had blown a very large tree into a power line and set the woods on fire! At first we didn’t realize how dangerous it was where we stopped or how long it would take to clear the problem. During a conversation with the firemen they told us it would be a while before we could pass through so we decided to turn around and seek another way home. Fred talked to the firemen and got instructions on how to go around the area without going back to Tappahannock so off we went. Now this part of Virginia is very rural and sparsely populated….as the roads get narrower and the side lines go away then the center line disappears it starts to feel….different. We now have to put our faith in Fred and his biological GPS and hope he remembered what the fireman told him! The Princess was getting low on fuel and I had less than ½ a tank. The trees started growing over the road like a tunnel and the road got narrower…. I thought I heard banjo music…. This is not the way I wanted to remember our 45th wedding anniversary! After many turns and watching the sun change directions way too many times we popped out on Rt. 3 again! Whew….now I wouldn’t have to hear any squealing piggy noises…. Fred found some fuel for us and we cruised on to Foster’s cruise….uneventfully! By the time we got there the cruise was in progress but only about 15 cars showed up! I’m sure the cold and wind had a lot to do with people’s decision to stay home. I guess some people just can’t take it….sitting outside in lawn chairs, in 45-50 degree weather, with a wind chill of -87 degrees….can you say don't be a sissy!? We stayed about 2 hours and then headed home. The Princess was just a little cranky because as I mentioned earlier it was our 45th wedding anniversary on Saturday and she was still not understanding our card exchange earlier in the day. You all know I'm retired and like to save a penny when I can....I bought her a nice Mother's Day card and wrote something gushy & sensitive inside and thought since our anniversary was the day before Mother's Day why buy two cards? I mean I could buy a gallon of gas for the price of another card! So I wrote a nice verse inside the Mother's Day card wishing her a happy anniversary and told her she got a twofer card! I thought it was funny....the Princess says she wants to see the report card from that sensitivity training class I have been taking? She says I need to be retrained? I guess it didn't help much when I told her that when she talks to me through her clinched teeth it makes the lines on her face appear deeper....I'm not sure what she said after that, she was muttering and stuttering as she walked away....I hope her birthday goes better!? The Princess and I had to spend 3 hrs getting the coupes ready for the show on Sunday when we got home but we were glad to be back home with our dignity intact, thanks Fred!

Sunday and we left the Bob Evans in Stafford, VA at 8AM. It was very cold and the wind was still blowing briskly. One of the cars that was going up with us was JV & CJ….in a T-Bucket! When I saw them come in it reminded me of our years on the Harley. They looked way too cold to be having much fun. At 8:10 our little convoy of 4 cars headed up I-95 for the 30 mile trip to the Mothers Day show at the Coast Guard Station in Alexandria, VA. This show is 33 years old and the club that hosts it, Cruisin Company, is 33 years old too!? We have never been to this deal because on Mother’s Day we always go to the show in Fredericksburg at the Walker Grant School and have been more than happy with it. But since some of our friends have been talking about the Coast Guard show for a while we decided to try it this year.

The show is on rolling grass and under mature trees….a perfect venue. The bathrooms are permanent and were easily accessible from where we parked. The cost of the event was $20 but included a very tasty lunch, something other clubs might want to consider. I think Dan had 19 hot dogs! I’m told that the show is something of a reunion for a lot of folks; in fact Steve told me that some of the cars only come out for this event!

There were about 195 cars in attendance and many very nice examples of Virginia craftsmanship. The first thing I saw was a black ’37 Chevy built like a gasser of the late 50’s. You do remember that the vehicle of choice back then was the 36-39 Chevy and the 33-34 Fords…. Right? These Chevys were the scourge of the ¼ mile till I think ’62 when guys started using the Willys more. The Willys was lighter and could go faster with the engines of the time, Caddie & Olds. There were a few vehicles that were there to increase the awareness of POW/MIA issues, which is always a good thing. There were vehicles of every type from antique, custom, low-rider, hot rod, traditional hot rod, street rod, new stock, pick up, race car, motorcycle, muscle car, super car and heavily weighted in the pre-60’s genre. The Princess liked the 58-59 Corvettes; she says if she ever gives up her coupe it will be for one of those Corvettes! Another thing I liked was that almost all the vehicles were drivers, bugs in the radiator and chips in the paint drivers. You all know how I feel about trailered hot rods. I think that if they are “special” enough to come in a trailer to play they should be “special” enough to be classed separately and judged separately. I liked the orange & black ’64, 454 Chevy PU and the black ’32 high boy with flames and zoomies.

The above mentioned “free lunch” was a really welcome thing since no food vendors were present at the event. Sometimes the event food vendors are terrible because they have you trapped and they know you have few other choices except their food and they don’t care about the quality of their food. This was the case here as far as being trapped but the food was very good, if fact the line for food stretched from the concession area to the restrooms….about 75 yds! And I think Dan went back so many times they began telling him he couldn’t have any more food….it’s so sad to watch Dan pout…. so we had to promise him we would go to dinner later after the show…. Dan was happy again! I liked the band too….they played music I knew and I saw a lot of foot taping and head nodding while the music was being played so I knew others liked it too! Please check out the pictures I took this weekend at; http://community.webshots.com/user/33coupe

As with most established shows this one ran like a machine and ended on time. You could tell the club members knew what each one had to do and they executed like they had done it many times before. The Cruisin Company was helpful and assisted the participants when needed. This is one of the best shows we have attended in the last 6 years….you need to put it on your calendar for next year….Mothers Day 2011….be there or be square!