Note: Names changed to protect the innocent.
Wednesday June the 9th is a day I will not soon forget. It starts off with an air of excitement as it is the day that I am going to meet up with the Hot Rod Power Tour for the first time! I leave my house and drive to a nearby town to pick up my "unnamed traveling companion", who will go by the name of "Bob" for this story.
Though it is slightly wet from the on and off showers, everything goes smoothly for the first hour or so of the trip. Unfortunately, I would not be writing this tale if everything had gone according the the plans that had so firmly etched themselves in my mind. I am the kind of person who likes to plan ahead so things will all work out the way I want them. So it makes sense that I had painstakingly planned out the route for our little road trip to arrive at the destination at the perfect time, not get bored from interstate driving, and not waste gas driving out of the way. Well, that would have been all fine and dandy, IF I had known that the lovely little shortcut of a road happened to go right through the middle of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and was therefore: "Closed to through traffic". Drat! Of course, me being who I am, I figured "that just means that they don't want a bunch of extra traffic, but it is still a open road". WRONG!!! At the security office I was informed that I would have to turn my cool old car around and go a different way. On the bright side... They liked my car.
Oh well... We are still ahead of schedule so no big deal.Time for plan B! By this time, I am really close to my school, so I can stop there and look up another route. That goes well until I go up the apparently quite slick on-ramp. The back end of my "Powerful American Musclecar" starts sliding sideways like a penguin in a toboggan race, through no prodding of my own! Luckily, I have done this before (Professional driver on a closed course, Don't try this at home kids) and know how to drive with it, until it catches again. It is worth noting that as we were drifting gracefully up the on-ramp at full opposite lock, "Bob" was sitting stock still staring straight ahead. That is, until I get it straightened out and continue merging with traffic. He then lets out something vaguely reminiscent of a rebel yell and shouts "WOW! That was AWESOME!"
For those of you that don't know, driving an old car is always an adventure because of what some may call Quirks. On my particular car, the seals that keep water from leaking in where the windshield wipers are only last 7-12 years, which would make mine about 20 years past due for replacement. However, I haven't been especially eager about tackling this particular project because it requires taking out the whole heat/AC unit. Yes, you guessed it, mine leak a little. Well, maybe a "little" would not the the word to use when driving through a mini tsunami from the sky! Torrents of water are pouring down onto the feet of the hapless chap(s) who happened to have their feet where they go... on the floor, under the dash. This is not a problem for "Bob" who proceeds to use his empty water bottle as a tool to "bail out" the water. Problem solved!
As the downpour subsides, I start to notice some cool cars here and there, and as another "Powerful American Musclecar" whooshes by with a window banner that says something to the effect of "Hot Rod Power Tour 2010", I know: We have caught up with the tour! From that point until about 6:00PM, I bask in the aura that is created when you mix high compression, large displacement engines with crafty nut-balls called "hot rodders!" Just for the record, there were supposed to be "over 2000 registered participants with that number again expected to join through the tour" and I would say that was a conservative estimate. Wow! Amazing experience and a blast to meet a bunch of people that I have heard about and check out their amazing rides!
About 6:00 ,however, people start leaving at an alarming rate! The party couldn't be over yet! Or could it? What a relief it is when I find out that everyone is just going downtown to the cruise-in that Coker Tire had set up. So grab a map and lets roll! We then cruise through beautiful downtown Chattanooga with the rumbles of yesteryear radiating through the dusk air. Coker Tire is nice enough to open up their museum, store and showroom to all the participants of Powertour. Amazing!
By about 8:45 the dark clouds are looming closer and closer and the wind is picking up... Signaling me that it is time to go! Driving out of Chattanooga is relatively uneventful, other than a slight mis-communication with Bob who was handling the navigation duties.
"turn RIGHT here"
"there is no RIGHT here, this is a bridge"
"Hmmm"
I soon take over the navigation duties as well as the driving. We are rolling along with traffic when suddenly I hear a strange thumping sound. Thumping is never good. When the left rear tire seems to sink into the pavement and the thumping gets louder at a somewhat alarming rate, my suspicions are confirmed: we have experienced a blowout. Blowout sales are good, tire blowouts are not. Oh look! That is the entrance to the college where everyone met! Lets turn in there! Great idea! Except that with the blown tire, I can't stop extremely quickly and miss the treadle. After the third light change, with no sign of getting a turn signal any time in the near future, I decide to just go for it... into the entrance, to the side of the road, Perfect! As many of you are probably thinking by now, that was too easy! Well, you are right. It seems in my haste to get ready to go, I neglected to include a spare tire in my car, as well as a jack. I do have a lug-wrench, though! 1 out of 3 isn't bad, right?
Luckily, my "network" is far reaching. I have a friend who lives really close. We will call her "Wonder Woman" or "Jane". Whip out the phone... Perfect, she has a jack! While we are waiting for "Wonder Woman" to swoop in, "Bob" has a great idea! He says THOSE words!!!! "Well, at least it can't get much worse" NOOO!!!! The pain, the agony!... The sky opens up and it starts to rain. Perfect!
"Jane" pulls up and I discover that her jack is one of those lovely little ones that raises the height of two small ants for every ten turns. Always the optimist, I decide to go for it. Just then, one of "Jane"'s friends shows up. He will go as "Smith". Now, lest you think that these friends are just hanging around to watch me slide across the wet ground and contort myself into strange positions trying to get the jack to work under the car, let me set the record straight! " Wonder woman", "Bob", and "Smith" spring into action trying to find a tire shop that is still open. Current time: 9:12pm. If you have never watched, from inches off the wet pavement, three people standing by the side of the road in the pouring rain with their cell phones, calling someone with a phone book, typing the numbers into a text screen, and calling the shops, respectively; let me tell you! It is an amazing feat of teamwork! I have some awesome friends! Guess what?! All the shops close at 9:00pm.
The last valiant effort on our part is a quick trip back downtown to Coker Tire where the cruise in was, maybe someone that can help will still be there! Nope. The soonest we can get a tire is 7:00am. Did I mention that we are 3.5 hours from home and "Bob" has to be at work at 8:00 am? Nuts! It was at this time that "Jane"'s family is kind enough to offer their couch and sofa bed to us for the night! "Bob" calls his boss and explains the situation. Verdict: Get there as soon as you can.
Well, after Pizza at midnight, a somewhat restless night, and a wonderful breakfast we have a new chauffeur, "Joe", who takes us to a tire shop where I proceed to stand with a flat tire in my hand for like 15 minutes, while the people rush back and forth doing other things... "oh, I didn't know you needed help.. I thought someone else was working with you". Wow. New tire on and a relatively un-eventful trip back home, during which I ask "Bob",
"So, will you ever go any where with me again?"
"Yes... ... Fishing."
As we are driving back, "Bob" decides to take a nap... Leaving me alone with my thoughts, and the wonderful lope of an American made V8 covering ground at a steady clip. Well, that and the other traffic which honks, beeps, waves, gives thumbs up and shouts, "I like your car!" Which reminds me why I like driving these "old cars". They have character, and are just plane cool!
Well, the good news is that "Bob" got to work and I got home and nobody got hurt. What a Day! Er... Two?
