Tuesday April 13, 2004: Day 3
Activities Planned
7:30am Drivers meeting
8:00am Depart onto I-40
9:34am Enter Texas. Set clocks ahead 1 hour.
11:36am Lunch stop. Westgate Mall. Amarillo
12:36pm Depart onto I-40
3:30pm Clinton, OK. Tour Rt. 66 museum.
4:15pm Depart onto I-40
5:30pm Mustang, OK. Stop for the evening
As it occured:
4:30am: I couldn't sleep. I got up and got ready for the day. I went out to fill up and get snacks. I can't believe in a town so close to the interstate there was no gas stations open. I finally found one at the edge of town. Maybe it was fate I should find myself inside this particular truck stop. While I was getting snacks I found a seat wedge. It is supposed to help you sit better in the car. Since Jo's back is so bad I knew she had to be hurting so I bought it. Turns out it was a god send. She told me it made a world of difference on her back. I returned to the room after words and just kind of hung around until it was time to leave. I let Elin sleep and I got the car packed.
7:30am: Drivers meeting. Sam set the agenda for the day. I didn't win anything during the raffle. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.
7:45am: Drivers meeting concluded. Can't wait to get on the road again. (Am I starting to sound like Willie Nelson?) I had a driver come up to me and borrow some tools. It seems that one of the drivers has a loose lug nut and because he has different rims he can't get his lug wrench to fit. I loaned him some tools and he told me he would catch up to me in Amarillo and return them. This is what this ride is all about. Helping each other. Man, it just keeps getting better and better.
9:10am: Only a few miles from Texas and it seems there is a change in our agenda. We would not be stopping at the West Gate Mall in Amarillo. The local car club there has made arrangements with John Chandler Ford for us to park at the dealership and get lunch. Amazingly they were having my favorite kind of food. FREE! They were going to clear out their entire front lot so we could park and have a mini show. That was very nice of them. Now we were going to get 2 free meals in 1 day. Cool. We were also going to be treated to free soda at the Rt. 66 museum in Clinton. This day was just getting better all the time. To be honest it's not the free stuff it's the fact that someone out there recognizes the tremendous amount of work that Sam and Tony went through and it's kind of like a reward for all that hard work. It makes it all worth while. We are passing through Bard, N.M. I know there is nothing really great about this place except when I was a kid we passed through here all the time and I remember there were only 2 houses. I couldn't figure of the life of me why New Mexico found a need to name a town that had 2 houses. Well it's good to know some things never change. There is still only 2 houses.
10:20am: Crossed into Texas. We actually passed at 9:20am but with the time change. Well you know
11:25am: We are pulling in to John Chandler Ford. Luckily it was right off the freeway because I actually got to lead the event for a while and had to get the group to the dealership. Sam pulled over to put down the top on his car. Since I have been on this stretch of road many times I knew we were coming up to a stockyard. I cannot recall what happened to Tony but all I knew was I was in front. I took my responsibility very seriously. I made sure everyone was kept abreast of any changes. Until I was leading it was all fun but as soon as I took over all of a sudden I felt responsible for all those people. Wow, what a feeling. Now I know how Sam feels. Well back to the story. We pulled into the lot and parked wherever we could. We met with the staff of John Chandler Ford. Everyone was so nice. That good old southern hospitality. We had a great lunch. They had these 6' subs and chips and soda. We all filled up on some good food. Soon it was time to go. We did have one moment of trepidation. There was this driver with a 1 ton trying to get his 8' wide trailer through a 7'6" hole and it wasn't going to fit but he kept trying. The problem was it was Sam's Roush he was going to hit! He had Sam so hemmed in he couldn't get in the car. We ended up having Sam climb in through the passenger side and when he took the car out of gear we pushed him out of the way. I can't believe the guy couldn't have gone out one of the other 40 ways to get out of the lot. Well, disaster averted.
12:50pm: Back on the road. Had a great stop. Everyone was so nice. We had a police escort on to the interstate. Exhilarating.
2:20pm: Oklahoma state line.
3:15pm: Arrived in Clinton, OK. I am going to fill up first so I will be ready to go when the time comes.
4:15pm: Back on the interstate. We had a tour of the Route 66 Museum. What a blast. It was like going back in time and seeing my past. As I have said before I have been on Rt. 66 plenty of times but seeing it again was awesome. The nice folks there gave us discounts for the tour. It brought back alot of memories to see pictures of some of the places I saw when I was a child. I couldn't believe my eyes. When I came out there were cars in the parking lot completely blocking in my car. I was going to have to wait to get out. I thought by the time I got onto the freeway Sam would be long gone. As it turned out I ended up right behind him before we even got to the on ramp. I still do not know how that happened but all was right with the world. We got a great tour and a free soda.
5:20pm: Arrived in Mustang, OK. We do not have alot of time to get checked in and get to our room to get ready for tonight. As soon as I got our stuff in the room I set about cleaning up the car. I want the car to be as ready as possible. We staged at a local store. We had a Police escort to the Mustang pavilion. We took off and somehow I ended up in front. I forgot Sam was not going to be there and I knew Tony was already gone. I asked if anyone else wanted to lead but I was told I was doing a fine job so I stood. The Camera crew was in front filming the entire parade. Most of the people we passed just sat there while others waved. It was fun. We pulled into the pavilion and there were club members there to help us park. After I was parked I lifted the hood on my baby. It was the first time on the trip I used my display board. I was so proud. We were greeted by several dignitaries to include a senator. Wow, were we getting important? The president of the local Mustang club talked to us about how they planned on starting a Mustang museum there. It sounded like a wonderful idea. "Doc Hall" started to take collections from the group so we could start them on their way. I don't know how much money he collected. We were treated to Tacos and beans. Man were they good. The dessert table was to die for. There were so many good looking desserts I couldn't choose just one so I didn't. Sam and Tony both showed up later that evening. Tony's girlfriend was just as nice as Tony. We had a great time for the rest of the trip. We were treated to a blue grass band that played some pretty lively music. What a great time.
As I was walking around I finally spotted my first 1970 Mustang in the group. There may have been more but up until then I think I was the only one. It was a couple from Texas with a bright red Mach 1. Looked nice. I tried to get them to trade strait across but they wouldn't. I told them I wouldn't mind taking the loss. They still didn't see it my way. I don't know why. We walked around for a while and headed back for the hotel. My back had gone out and was hurting. I tell my back all the time do not go out without me but do you think it listens? No! I fueled up on the way back to the motel and got snacks. We were ready for bed. Another big day ahead of us tomorrow. I had also decided I was going to leave Little Rock early the next day with the rest of the pack that had decided to leave early so I could make the opening ceremony. I slept on my heating pad looking for relief. It looks like Sam will not be with us when we leave tomorrow morning. His car will not be ready by then. Tony will be leading. I am going to show up early and see if he needs help. I hope he starts to depend on me. I want to get involved and give back what I have gotten. |
