The most fun I've ever had on 4 wheels...
You all know the misadventures of my life...stuff that can go wrong usually does when I am involved in it, so when I heard about this corvette show in Champaign, IL and knowing that I now HAVE a corvette of my own... well the temptation to go was too much for me. First of all, I have only 1/2 the exhaust leak fixed on "Roxanne"..my vette...my friend put the header gaskets on one side the day before and said he would come up to finish it the next day. However I had just found out about this corvette show and I wanted to go... BAD. Tried to contact my friend..no such luck..he was apparently sleeping in that day. No matter, I even thought for a second that I would put the gaskets on the other side myself.. I mean I have the tools..I watched him do it..I can do this right? Then that little voice inside me says "no Sandra.. don't do it.. you know your luck..you'll screw it up... stay away from the tools!" So for once ... I listened to that voice. (When they use your full name Sandra instead of Sandy, you know you better listen.) Instead I thought.. oh who cares.. so I get a little more noise..I'm GOING!
I backed Roxanne out of the garage and wiped all the dust off with a wet shammy. My trusty sidekick (and son) Drew was going to accompany me, so we put the t-tops on her because it looked like rain. I haven't gotten the a/c hooked up yet, but hey we have windows right? Good thing it wasn't 95 degrees..it was actually a nice cool day. My other son Lane decided he wanted to stay home anyway (and play video games all day..sigh) so he took a lot of extra time to tell us goodbye and hug us etc.. I'm thinking he wasn't sure we would be coming back.. Although again with my track record of this car, every time we go somewhere..something breaks. This would be our longest journey yet. I felt pretty confident, after all we had replaced just about everything on that car, what could go wrong?
We headed out and were enjoying our little cruise and by the time we had gotten to I-74 it had started to rain... a lot. Thankfully, Tim had replaced the windshield wipers and so I got to test them out. things were going fine the corvette wipers come up from the middle and go opposite directions and then fold back in together, all was well and then the windshield wipers decided their timing wasn't quite right, and when they started to come back towards the middle, they hit each other.. and got mangled. They were still going, beating the crap out of each other and parts started coming off! I quickly got to the side of the road while trusty sidekick Drew got out of the car to attempt to fix them (in the pouring rain). Cars and trucks were speeding by us, throwing mist all over me and my rolled down window...here we go again. I think I'm cursed.. or my car is.. no I'm sure it's me. So after sitting on the side of the road a bit took the shammy and wiped off the inside of the windshield because again, no a/c and the inside windows were now fogged up, I managed to get going and pulled off in Covington, and stopped at every gas station, grocery, cvs, etc..because every auto parts and mechanics shop was CLOSED on Saturday..to find some rain-x. I knew if I coated the windshield with rain-x I would be okay. No such luck in Covington.. then it hit me... stop at the truck stop at 63 and I-74 surely I can get rain-x there.. AHA! Rain had now stopped and I was happily rain-xing my winshield, and we got back on the road.. so maybe this wasn't really a sign. I was DETERMINED to see these 1,000's of corvettes that had invaded Champaign. It's official, I'm a die hard corvette freak now.
We made it!! As far as your eye could see nothing but corvettes! All years, since the beginning in 1953.. this was truly my kind of heaven! We chatted with some other corvette lovers, went in to shop, picked up some catalogs, cards etc. I didn't buy anything. The funny thing is, people have this misconception that everyone that owns a corvette has money. They apparently never met me. There were dealers there selling corvettes that were priced on SALE at over $90,000...marked down from over $100,000. I took pictures of the stickers for my husband... so he can view them sitting down and not risk a heart attack from the shock! I was starting to think maybe this isn't my crowd after all. I did however get to sit in a brand new 2014 corvette... in the driver's seat. I had Drew get a picture because that is as close as I'll ever get to driving one in my lifetime I'm sure. It had this funny handle between the seats, like a grip for the passenger to hold on to. I can see why that would be necessary... either the speed of the car would scare them..or maybe when you told them what it cost. There were lines of people waiting to get into the drivers seat so I didn't get to stay in it long... didn't get to see all the bells and whistles it had on it. But I guess it's for the best. That car probably only sits about an inch from the ground, it would never make it up my driveway in one piece. Besides I have "Roxanne" my beautiful 1978 corvette the one with the long hood and beautiful curves..that's more my style anyway.
We went back to her and on the way met a Corvette Pal (a facebook group) Tim Fisher and his wife... and he raised his trunk and it had mirrors all over it on the inside of the trunk lid. I asked him if that's so he can look at himself and say "you lucky guy" everytime he got it opened. He laughed and told me it was so his wife could check her hair out lol! There was another one that was too unique for words..other than WOW. It had flames all over it..engine too... it had Lamborghini doors that opened straight UP, mirrors on the inside of the hood, so much chrome it hurt my eyes. I tried not to drool on his car. Still WOW is the only word that came to mind. We got back to Roxanne and she was covered in muddy raindrops dried all over her. OMG! Okay now I know what happened. Someone threw mud all over my car so I would have to go back and buy that dry car wash stuff, spray it on and wipe it off. There had to be a conspiracy here!
We went back to of course the farthest area from where we were parked and bought some of it, and hurried back to spruce her up for the parade at 6pm. That stuff really is magical! Here I was, and Drew polishing my black beauty... oh my, we have turned into those crazy car people who do nothing but polish their cars all day long! We lined up and waited for the parade to start, chatting with other crazy car people too. I found several kindred spirits like myself who got an old corvette, fixed it up and drove it for fun. Got a few tips too and I wish I had gotten some names and numbers, was sure nice to meet these wonderful people. They were all nice... and if you drive a corvette other corvettes WAVE at you.. no matter where you are.. I wonder if that's the meaning of "Save the Wave"... I figured it was the body style of the curves.
Soon the parade started and it took literally 20 or more minutes from the first car to me..and there were at least 3 long lines of corvettes after me. I don't know how many went but last year they set a Guiness book of world records record of 2,223 corvettes in this parade... they wanted to top it but I doubt they did due to the weather. This was no ordinary parade either. Oh no, this parade was about 20 miles long there then you got to come all the way back! We drove to another town, went around their town square and came back to Champaign. They had cops on every intersection, holding up traffic for this massive parade of cars. Here's the best part... This parade was not your typical crawling speed parade..oh no.. There were lines of people along the entire route even out in the country who were waving us on with American flags and checkered flags! They were holding up signs REV IT UP!! How could we disappoint our fans? When we got to slow areas where we were at a crawling pace, I put it in neutral and revved her up! The crowd went nuts! These people were truly crazy car nuts! Even the police who directed us along the route and not only TOLERATED us crazy vetters revving up engines and zipping through the course, but ENCOURAGED and Saluted us! You just gotta love speeding through town, burning tires, showing off and not getting a ticket for it! Also this was at times the fastest parade ever. We had parts where of course you had to keep up with the pack, which meant 90 to 100 mph was not uncommon! Then when we got into more populated areas and more fans, with their signs and flags, we slowed down and waved to everyone.
There were a lot of people, one lady in particular stands out because she ALMOST got in front of my car, grabbed her chest and I could read her lips saying "oh my heart!" she was so in love with my car! Well if that doesn't pump you up and make you feel like a peacock, nothing will! My purple lights under my car were glowing and I heard several people in the crowds comment on it. Love your lights! All I could think of on the way back was wow where have these people been all my life? This is my kind of town and my kind of people! Even better, my kind of cops! We got to speed, run red lights, burn out, show off and all in the name of a parade.. what's not to love about that? Roxanne put her new Holley carburetor to the test, and it did amazing! So amazing that it sucked about 1/2 tank of gas with all that speeding and showing off but I digress.. when I don't put my foot in it.. it does very well on gas. 20 miles of playing in a corvette, each way mind you... Jackrabbit starts, burning tires, ahhh... as if I get to do that any other time without a ticket? It was GREAT! These are my people! I can't WAIT til next year!
https://www.facebook.com/grooomroompetspa/media_set?set=a.10200679705407512.1073741856.1007258161&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200679814810247&set=vb.1007258161&type=2&theater
I backed Roxanne out of the garage and wiped all the dust off with a wet shammy. My trusty sidekick (and son) Drew was going to accompany me, so we put the t-tops on her because it looked like rain. I haven't gotten the a/c hooked up yet, but hey we have windows right? Good thing it wasn't 95 degrees..it was actually a nice cool day. My other son Lane decided he wanted to stay home anyway (and play video games all day..sigh) so he took a lot of extra time to tell us goodbye and hug us etc.. I'm thinking he wasn't sure we would be coming back.. Although again with my track record of this car, every time we go somewhere..something breaks. This would be our longest journey yet. I felt pretty confident, after all we had replaced just about everything on that car, what could go wrong?
We headed out and were enjoying our little cruise and by the time we had gotten to I-74 it had started to rain... a lot. Thankfully, Tim had replaced the windshield wipers and so I got to test them out. things were going fine the corvette wipers come up from the middle and go opposite directions and then fold back in together, all was well and then the windshield wipers decided their timing wasn't quite right, and when they started to come back towards the middle, they hit each other.. and got mangled. They were still going, beating the crap out of each other and parts started coming off! I quickly got to the side of the road while trusty sidekick Drew got out of the car to attempt to fix them (in the pouring rain). Cars and trucks were speeding by us, throwing mist all over me and my rolled down window...here we go again. I think I'm cursed.. or my car is.. no I'm sure it's me. So after sitting on the side of the road a bit took the shammy and wiped off the inside of the windshield because again, no a/c and the inside windows were now fogged up, I managed to get going and pulled off in Covington, and stopped at every gas station, grocery, cvs, etc..because every auto parts and mechanics shop was CLOSED on Saturday..to find some rain-x. I knew if I coated the windshield with rain-x I would be okay. No such luck in Covington.. then it hit me... stop at the truck stop at 63 and I-74 surely I can get rain-x there.. AHA! Rain had now stopped and I was happily rain-xing my winshield, and we got back on the road.. so maybe this wasn't really a sign. I was DETERMINED to see these 1,000's of corvettes that had invaded Champaign. It's official, I'm a die hard corvette freak now.
We made it!! As far as your eye could see nothing but corvettes! All years, since the beginning in 1953.. this was truly my kind of heaven! We chatted with some other corvette lovers, went in to shop, picked up some catalogs, cards etc. I didn't buy anything. The funny thing is, people have this misconception that everyone that owns a corvette has money. They apparently never met me. There were dealers there selling corvettes that were priced on SALE at over $90,000...marked down from over $100,000. I took pictures of the stickers for my husband... so he can view them sitting down and not risk a heart attack from the shock! I was starting to think maybe this isn't my crowd after all. I did however get to sit in a brand new 2014 corvette... in the driver's seat. I had Drew get a picture because that is as close as I'll ever get to driving one in my lifetime I'm sure. It had this funny handle between the seats, like a grip for the passenger to hold on to. I can see why that would be necessary... either the speed of the car would scare them..or maybe when you told them what it cost. There were lines of people waiting to get into the drivers seat so I didn't get to stay in it long... didn't get to see all the bells and whistles it had on it. But I guess it's for the best. That car probably only sits about an inch from the ground, it would never make it up my driveway in one piece. Besides I have "Roxanne" my beautiful 1978 corvette the one with the long hood and beautiful curves..that's more my style anyway.
We went back to her and on the way met a Corvette Pal (a facebook group) Tim Fisher and his wife... and he raised his trunk and it had mirrors all over it on the inside of the trunk lid. I asked him if that's so he can look at himself and say "you lucky guy" everytime he got it opened. He laughed and told me it was so his wife could check her hair out lol! There was another one that was too unique for words..other than WOW. It had flames all over it..engine too... it had Lamborghini doors that opened straight UP, mirrors on the inside of the hood, so much chrome it hurt my eyes. I tried not to drool on his car. Still WOW is the only word that came to mind. We got back to Roxanne and she was covered in muddy raindrops dried all over her. OMG! Okay now I know what happened. Someone threw mud all over my car so I would have to go back and buy that dry car wash stuff, spray it on and wipe it off. There had to be a conspiracy here!
We went back to of course the farthest area from where we were parked and bought some of it, and hurried back to spruce her up for the parade at 6pm. That stuff really is magical! Here I was, and Drew polishing my black beauty... oh my, we have turned into those crazy car people who do nothing but polish their cars all day long! We lined up and waited for the parade to start, chatting with other crazy car people too. I found several kindred spirits like myself who got an old corvette, fixed it up and drove it for fun. Got a few tips too and I wish I had gotten some names and numbers, was sure nice to meet these wonderful people. They were all nice... and if you drive a corvette other corvettes WAVE at you.. no matter where you are.. I wonder if that's the meaning of "Save the Wave"... I figured it was the body style of the curves.
Soon the parade started and it took literally 20 or more minutes from the first car to me..and there were at least 3 long lines of corvettes after me. I don't know how many went but last year they set a Guiness book of world records record of 2,223 corvettes in this parade... they wanted to top it but I doubt they did due to the weather. This was no ordinary parade either. Oh no, this parade was about 20 miles long there then you got to come all the way back! We drove to another town, went around their town square and came back to Champaign. They had cops on every intersection, holding up traffic for this massive parade of cars. Here's the best part... This parade was not your typical crawling speed parade..oh no.. There were lines of people along the entire route even out in the country who were waving us on with American flags and checkered flags! They were holding up signs REV IT UP!! How could we disappoint our fans? When we got to slow areas where we were at a crawling pace, I put it in neutral and revved her up! The crowd went nuts! These people were truly crazy car nuts! Even the police who directed us along the route and not only TOLERATED us crazy vetters revving up engines and zipping through the course, but ENCOURAGED and Saluted us! You just gotta love speeding through town, burning tires, showing off and not getting a ticket for it! Also this was at times the fastest parade ever. We had parts where of course you had to keep up with the pack, which meant 90 to 100 mph was not uncommon! Then when we got into more populated areas and more fans, with their signs and flags, we slowed down and waved to everyone.
There were a lot of people, one lady in particular stands out because she ALMOST got in front of my car, grabbed her chest and I could read her lips saying "oh my heart!" she was so in love with my car! Well if that doesn't pump you up and make you feel like a peacock, nothing will! My purple lights under my car were glowing and I heard several people in the crowds comment on it. Love your lights! All I could think of on the way back was wow where have these people been all my life? This is my kind of town and my kind of people! Even better, my kind of cops! We got to speed, run red lights, burn out, show off and all in the name of a parade.. what's not to love about that? Roxanne put her new Holley carburetor to the test, and it did amazing! So amazing that it sucked about 1/2 tank of gas with all that speeding and showing off but I digress.. when I don't put my foot in it.. it does very well on gas. 20 miles of playing in a corvette, each way mind you... Jackrabbit starts, burning tires, ahhh... as if I get to do that any other time without a ticket? It was GREAT! These are my people! I can't WAIT til next year!
https://www.facebook.com/grooomroompetspa/media_set?set=a.10200679705407512.1073741856.1007258161&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200679814810247&set=vb.1007258161&type=2&theater
