Monday, October 7, 2013

I'm STILL hot.....

Friday we cruised to VA BBQ in Fredericksburg, VA to attend the weekly Friday night gathering managed by Fredericksburg Classic and Muscle Car Club.  It was a “normal” cruise of about 50 cars....but although the weather was clear with fluffy clouds….it was hot….very hot.  All of the cars were the usual suspects….nothing new tonight!

Saturday we decided to visit the Mopar show at Chrysler of Culpeper, near Culpeper, VA.  Tony and his crew put on a well run event.  The owner of the dealership, Wade Schick, hosts the yearly event to showcase….what else….Mopars!  This show is usually heavily attended by very nice late model types and the muscle cars of the 60’s & 70’s but what the early years may lack in numbers they make up in awesomeness!  The other thing is that since Mopar absorbed Jeep and AMC years ago, you get to see some strange stable mates at Mopar events now….the silver ’73 AMX Javelin is a good example.
There were over 70 cars in attendance including the sea foam green ’40 DeSoto that was just perfect and the grey ’47 Plymouth which was a rare piece too.  My favorite was the brown/tan ’41 Plymouth Pickup.  I have never seen one in any condition and the workmanship done to put this truck back on the road was impeccable.  The detail is so cool….take your time looking at the pictures of it.  The Princess passed out our flyers for the Over the River cruise in November and the Toys For Tots in December while I captured images of all the vehicles and the event in general. 
We left the Mopar show in Culpeper and cruised to Manassas and the weekly cruise at Burger King by the airport.  The Bull Run Street Rods manage the event which entails them sitting in chairs at the corner of the entrance near their hot rods and waving to the cruisers as they come into the lot or as they leave!  No music….no 50/50….no trophies….  Just good food, good restrooms, good friends and a never ending display of special vehicles.  People cruise in, park….visit then cruise out on their way to somewhere else.  That’s how cruisin is done!  Oh yeah….they have ice cream there too….
Of the 80-90 vehicles that cruised in I think the rowdiest was the black ’31 Plymouth with the mega cube Hemi….a car just on the edge of streetability.  I don’t normally notice the Vipers but there was a gun metal grey one with black stripes that caught my attention while I roamed around.  One of the neat cars I had seen before but didn’t really look at it closely was the brown ’71 Ford Torino/500 Halo….yeah a “Halo”.  They were built for only two months, Feb & March, of 1971….a very rare find.  Thankfully the owner accommodated all my questions then showed me all the documentation he had accumulated….a neat guy with a neat car!  Here is more about him and his car;  http://www.vernparker.com/home/2013/5/17/1971-ford-torino-halo.html
Dan & Ramona joined us with their ’55 and we all had lunch at BK.  Later Dan passed out flyers for our events then we all had ice cream before we cruised home just as the sun began to set.  Yes we saw deer on the country roads we use….yup!
Sunday we decided to attend the sixth annual Hayfield HS event in Alexandria, VA.  The event is in the shopping center next to the HS and is managed by the auto shop teacher and his students.  There are a couple restaurants close by and Giant food allows us to use the restrooms inside.  This show is open to all kinds of vehicles but not many late models attend.  There were a couple newer ones but most were 60’s-70’s muscle cars or older hot rods.  I really liked the Lt. Green ’32 highboy tub….driven by a lady!
The event is on asphalt which usually isn’t a problem….but Sunday the temps got up to about 458 degrees!  I thought Al Gore fixed this?  I had sweat dripping off me in places that I can’t talk about and the Princess was doing a slow, sweaty burn under the umbrella….  The sun’s thermonuclear radiation was beaming directly at us and when we tried to escape the direct assault….it would bounce off the parking lot and assail what was left of our pitiful selves.  I think my feet were sticking in the asphalt as I walked around….  I knew we couldn’t endure the heat very much longer!   When I got back to the truck from taking pictures of the 80+ vehicles I found the Princess sitting under her umbrella, chugging down water, glaring at me with that “Princesses do NOT like to sweat like this” look.  I knew it was time to leave! 
We left about 1PM and decided to cruise some of the areas in NoVa I had worked in years ago….so much has changed.  We worked our way to Rt. 29 and cruised it to Opal.  A friend had shared with us that there was a restaurant in Opal called Barbeque Country, near the truck stop, that served the best BBQ around!  Truck stops are not usually our first choice in cuisine but after surviving being nearly incinerated by the sun earlier we must have thought we were bulletproof….we decided to give it a try.  We had been driving by this place for 30+ years, never stopping because of the way it “looked”.  Not real inviting.  And it was a truck stop….what is wrong with that picture?  So we pulled up our sweaty big peoples pants and trudged into the bowels of the “best BBQ around” restaurant. 
The place is clean, open and inviting inside.  The décor is what you would expect at a truck stop, functional, simple and clean like an old time diner.  The staff was friendly and helpful.  When you order your food they take out your choice of meat from the oven and chop it up in front of you like the best Japanese steak house would….chop chop chop.  The portions are large and the taste is very enjoyable as are the prices!  The Princess gives Barbeque Country four stars!  Whatever that means?
So we were about finished when a couple we knew came in….and said Hi Chuck & Linda!  It was Bill & Linda….a couple fellow sojourners on the hot rod runs we do.  They were going home from PA and saw our truck in the parking lot.  Bill thought we might be broken down so they stopped to check.  Bill was sitting with us at the cruise last week when Doug mentioned the restaurant and he had not stopped either….because it looked uninviting!  So we all moved to an area where we could talk and Bill & Linda could try the food.  After about an hour and a half of talking and laughing we said our goodbyes and went on our separate ways.  Is this a neat hobby or what….yup…. 


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