Thanks, I had a great time at the Jalopy Showdown. It was worth every mile driven from Texas to get there. It met my expectations and more, if you are thinking of going DO IT!!!!! Special thanks to the So What crew, Pak Rats, Deuchbags, Fatty Patty, and everyone else in the campgrounds who showed me and MarkX so much hospitality. Our trip up was mostly uneventful; - we found some Country Hooters and saw lots of mile markers. - And of course my fearless sidekick was always ready to take the wheel at a moments notice. We did meet a local PA representative when I got pulled over for a license plate issue. Apparently my FLT BLK vanity plate that I let expire when I went to Antique plates now belongs to someone else. Good thing I had the new plate in the car with me
When we did finally arrive we were greeted by Lullabelle who directed us to a place to camp and offered us a cold beer. Shortly after the rest of the crew began to file in. - I knew it was going to be trouble when Bob K marched in with his baton. - Larry is hard to Miss
Friday evening we got our first look at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing ( www.emmr.org ) ..Holy ****ing Offenhauser motors Batman. I cant give you a good tour with my pictures, but you can see a lot of It on Mad Fabricator Society Vol. 3. we went back again on Sat and found more stuff we missed on the first go around. Lynn Paxton and the rest of the Volunteer staff have put together a great museum Check out Tonys pictures for a sample of the campground mayhem Friday night.
Saturday started off really slow because I couldnt find any coffee. We moved the truck to the fairgrounds and watched as the coolness drove in. This is why I like to go out of state for shows because 95% of the cars in attendance I had never seen before. The quality of cars varied but the Jalopy theme was alive and well. Now the fun begins MUD .. After some pump issues the water truck started making laps to wet down the track .. to keep the dust down of course. I made the first laps getting a good bit sideways but barley clipping the mud puddles. MarkX had to take the wheel to show me how its done. My second set of laps went much better. This is what I came for and was not disappointed.
The show day ended with a special Spike pick home made award that came out of nowhere. Thanks Spike. Then it was off to the campground for more excitement.
The trip home was great. Larry and Kim invited us over to see their warehome (As seen on HGTV) what a great place. They have all kinds of cool stuff from pinball machines to the Roth painted Berry Wagon I didn’t take any good pictures so trust me when I say it’s cool. We had lunch then headed out. Somewhere along the way we were looking at the map and Mark says, Isn’t Honest Charley speed shop in Chattanooga, we can make that part of our route home. A couple Text Messages and Hellbound Hooch was texting us directions and we had a new route. We just wanted to look at the show room and buy a couple t-shirts but got more than we bargained for. Did you know Coker Tire is next door, and owns 2/3 of the speed shop. We walked in and were immediately greeted with smiles when they saw the truck and heard we were from Texas and rolled in just to see them. We got a tour of the complete speed shop and 4 different buildings owned by Coker Tire. The warehouses were huge and full of tires of all sizes and shapes. We got to see Corky Cokers personal collection of cl***ic cars and motorcycles. My favorite was the machine shop where they do some restoration as well as specialty stuff. I had Mark stand next to the lathe to give a perspective on size. They also had a home made machine where they were forming a flat sheet of steel into 20+” rims for a Br*** era car. I don’t know what this motor was, but it sure was impressive. Edit: I forgot about the guy from VA with his buddy from Finland we met in the showroom. He looked at me and asked if I had been to Latimore, a couple of his buddies were headed up there. Apparently he knows Paxton and figured that's where the mud came from....it;s a small world.
This is the lobby at Coker, the Firestone sign was taken off the garage at Indy. We left with a few items we purchased and a **** load of swag, they gave us for free. Corky Coker walked through and was outside looking at my truck but I didnt get the opportunity to introduce myself.
We left Chattanooga without seeing a single Choo-Choo. We did p*** a friend from Oklahoma in his late model, somewhere in Mississippi. As we got close to Texas Mark had a hankering for some shrimp and steak. Naturally we stopped at the Horseshoe Casino in Bosier City LA. The Buffet was big We both lost money in the casino. We are not allowed to talk about anything else that happened there The End. TZ
Hey man, GREAT to meet you guys! I have the connection for the coffee thing man.. I LIVE off the stuff Hahaha... There's a rest stop about 3 miles down on 15 headed south..they have COFFEE! Did you remember that dude talkin about Kevin Spacey??!! man what a hoot!! Glad your trip went well..looking forward to you being there next year! Tony
Glad to hear you and Mark made it back to TX safely. It was wonderful to see you both again. I've seen you two more already this year then most local car buds and really looking forward to the next time. xoxox
Geez Tyler, when are you going to stop babying that damn trailer queen truck of yours?! Looks like a helluva a trip. When are you going to be in our neck of the woods again?
Tony, I'll keep that in mind. I saw you walk up with the tray of Coffee Sat night and almost tried to steal one. Now I know where it came from... That drunk guy with the lowrider wagon was a trip, there's one in every crowd. Big A, I'm coming soon, be there 6/5 - 6/15 When is Dixifried again?? Denise, Johnny, Rudy, good to see you , thanks for making the trip worth it. Time to go add up those gas recipts.
Hey Tyler and Mark! Glad you guys made it home safe! RULERS! See ya next time around..maybe I'll get to Texas for the Round Up next year.. Spike
We need to take more pics and make more stops like that along the way next time........... The ride is what YOU make it!....................
We'll bring the mud back next year. My math shows 2679 miles and 169gal = 15.85mpg That mileage seems a bit low and my spedometer is kinda slow so who really knows???
Hey Tyler: Glad you guys made it home in one piece, you took the senic route, I made it quick in the I roads so that I could get started on the repairs. Did you say that you had a Center bar and upper frame for my car? I repaired them but they will have to be replaced. BB
Bob, Mark has the Chevy stuff. I could hook you up with some Studebaker engine parts though. It was good to see the Chevy on the track, even if it was slow and cautious keeping it away from the mud and slime. You're a good little gnome Bob.
Next year I will have coffee on site if anybody needs any. I'm a serious addict and was feelin' the pain......or was that cause I didn't have a car there.....both will change next year....
The Jalopy Journal
