Wednesday April 14, 2004: Day 4
Activities planned
7:30am Drivers meeting
8:00am Depart onto I-40
11:00am Lunch stop Sallisaw, OK.
12:30pm Depart Sallisaw, OK.
3:23pm Little Rock, AK Stop for the evening
4:30pm Old HQ parking lot Stage for Parade
5:00pm Parade to North Point Ford
As the day occured:
3:30am: Woke up with a back ache. I did some stretching exercises and put on a Thermal wrap I bought just for this trip. I don't care if I have to crawl I am going to finish this run. I hope it holds out. Jo got up early as well so we went over to Denny's to eat breakfast. We can always use the snacks later. Jo ordered a Belgian waffle but the machine was broke so she ended up with pancakes. When we paid the cashier took Jo's meal off the ticket because she didn't get what she ordered. I though that was really nice of them to do that. We made our way to the staging area to warm up the car and get ready. The mornings have been a little chilly but I am not going to wear anything but shorts. By mid day it is beautiful. I can take it. I'm macho. (At least that's what I tell myself)
7:30am: Drivers meeting. Tony ran the meeting as planned. Great job except I still didn't win anything. Boy out of about 300 cars you would think my chances were pretty good. Maybe they a prejudiced against 1970 Mustangs, huh? Just kidding. I was having too much fun to care. We took a little longer in the meeting than usual because of the number of new registrants. I didn't care because Nikki had come to me and asked me to drive at the rear of the pack so they could do some more filming. Since I was not planning on checking into the motel that evening I figured I could afford to lay back. I was with another guy who had a Stage 3 Roush. I think they paired us up so they could give the Roush some class. You think?
On the road. We are running behind the pack and the film crew is doing their thing. Again, I am told not to look at the camera and to just drive as if they weren't there. It was not easy (especially for a ham such as myself) but I managed. It was totally awesome. I was following the Roush and the camera crew as they pulled into a little gas station. It seemed they were filming the guys as if they were taking a break from the drive. I was told I was done for the day. We took a potty break and headed out again. I decided not to try and catch the rest of the group as they were too far ahead. I would catch them in Sallisaw, OK. for lunch. I kept the "Cruise" (my foot) on 80 but did manage to "open it up" a couple of times. For my car "open" is a little over 100 MPH. It felt real good. I probably could have gone a little faster but I didn't want to take a chance and besides I am representing MAA and do not want to do anything to get us in trouble. I guess I am lucky I don't have a Cobra or I would probably have a collection of citations from each state. I eventually started to catch the group. It was kind of cool as I passed them. We waved and said hidey ho neighbor as we passed.
11:30pm: Arrived in Sallisaw, OK. I almost caught up with Tony. We stopped and got gas first and then pulled into the Wal Mart parking lot. I met up with the folks from Texas (again, I cannot recall their names. I feel terrible) and we decided to eat at Braums. It is a restaurant local to the southwest area. Tony and his girlfriend Cathy joined us and we had a great lunch. It was there that I learned about Tony's 65 Shelby GT350 and how it was featured in the Mustang Milestones magazine. I had the magazine in my car and after lunch I had him autograph it for me. Now I can say I know someone famous! We made our way back to the Wal Mart parking lot and prepared to leave. As we were pulling into the parking lot Low and behold Sam pulls in. I loaned him some Windex and paper towels and helped him clean the car and get it ready to go. After all he was our show piece and had to look his best.
12:30pm: Back on the road. Some cars took off early but I have decided to stay behind the pace car.
12:54pm: Passed in to Arkansas. The car is running smooth. We are just having a blast.
3:30pm: Arrived at the La Quinta. Even though we are not staying we need to go to the bathroom. While we are waiting for the others I am cleaning the car. Alot of bug guts on the front of the car. We are as clean as we are going to get and are heading for the staging area about a mile down the road.
4:50pm: We cruised down to North Point Ford, with a police escort, where we arrived on live TV. We are going to stage a mini car show and get some more free food. The folks that set up each of these gatherings deserve a tremendous pat on the back. This whole trip would not have been as much fun without their hard work and effort. They each deserve a big Thank You! The entertainment for the evening consisted of a Willie Nelson look a like singing on the road again with a Mustang theme. Very funny.
7:25pm: We are leaving the convoy to go to Jackson, TN. We want to arrive in time for the opening ceremonies. I feel like such a heel right now because I am leaving the group. I have since found out I will be traveling with quite a cast of characters. We have dubbed ourselves the six pac and came up with a motto "We're all here cause we aint all there". My new fellow travelers are Charlie McCleese (Big Mac), Julie McCleese (Eagle One), and their son Aaron, Derick Brammer (Bam Bam), Hector Brignoni (Hector), Dale Eisenbeisz (Coasty), and of course Jo and I (Big Daddy). We decided to make up a T shirt to commemorate the occasion. If I had to leave the MAA group I sure am glad it was this group who I left with. They are the nicest folks and we had such a good time I quickly got over my sadness at leaving the MAA group. I wish everyone decided to leave early but then I don't think I would have had as much fun as I did.
Richard Liverani and a small group left the MAA drive and went ahead to Nashville to attend the opening ceremonies....
9:25pm: Stopped for fuel and drinks Checked in with the hotel to make sure the reservations were still good. They were. I had my second mechanical failure. My right brake light was out. I bought a bulb and presto like magic I am back in the groove.
9:40pm: Back on the road.
11:00pm: We are crossing the mighty Mississippi into Tennessee. Even in the dark this is one beautiful river. There is a pyramid building to our left. It looks like the Luxor in Las Vegas. I wonder what it is. We came to the conclusion the building is some kind of convention center. We are so close to Nashville I can begin to taste it. The excitement is mounting for our arrival tomorrow morning.
Our excitement quickly turned into sheer panic as we entered a construction zone. Traffic was merging and I am not sure what the car order was but I know that Eagle 1, Coasty and Hector were ahead of me and Big Mac and Bam Bam were behind me. As I was pulling into the center lane behind Hector I heard Bam Bam say to watch behind me because there was an RV coming fast. I looked in my rear view and saw a huge (Class A) RV coming fast. I was directly behind Hector and to my right cars were coming. I had no where to go. The RV still had not seen me. I though we were goners. All of a sudden I heard brakes squealing and the bus went sideways. As the RV approached all I could see was the side of the bus. I really thought I was going to get hit. Just at the last moment I guess the bus let off the brakes and went around me. The bus could not have been more than 2 or 3 feet away from me when it passed. I was sitting there and could not move for a few seconds. I was in shock. I can't believe how close Jo and I came to dying right there. Someone upstairs was looking out for us. It seems that when the bus began its sideways journey it threw diesel fuel from its gas tank. This excess of fuel was unkindly deposited on Bam Bam's and Big Mac's cars. Eagle 1 was frantic wondering how Big Mac was. After assurances Big Mac was OK I discovered Big Mac had his vert's top down. Needless to say he was a little more than upset. The RV continued on with its journey as if nothing happened. Well we weren't going to take this. The six pack (well 5 pack and me) took off after him. Since my car is not quite as fast as all the rest I decided I would bring up the rear. The pack caught up with the RV and got the Plate # and description of the RV and called it in to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. They said they had a car on the way but it never showed. The RV finally turned off I 40 and we decided to let it go but what an experience! I don't think I will ever forget that night.
11:22pm: We have arrived at the hotel in Jackson, TN. I decided to fill up and get snacks so we will be ready in the morning. The hotel was nice but what a mess. It appears the only reservation that was confirmed was mine. I called the hotel direct while the others made reservations through the national number. Big Mac is upset and I think someone is going to get a call soon! We had to do some rearranging because it seems we had the only lower floor with a smoking room and 2 beds. Bam Bam needed that room for him and his father. I didn't think they wanted to sleep in t he same bed so I gladly gave up the room and went to a non smoking room. I knew Jo wouldn't mind especially since we were going strait to bed. Other than that little mishap we had a good nights sleep. My back was still bothering me but not as bad. The thermal wraps were working beautifully. I decided I would keep wearing them until we arrived in Nashville and I would take it from there. |
