One Hot Lap Around the USA: Corvette Museum/factory

[Wake Bandits]

Today it's: The National Corvette Museum
We're in Bowling Green Kentucky.
Home of the Chevy Corvette Factory and National Corvette Museum.

Alice gave me a Z06 for a fathers day present. We'll order it when we return home.
So, she surprise detoured the trip to visit the National Corvette Museum here in Bowling Green.

We'll decide if we want to take factory delivery, or ship it.
The Corvette museum is open most every day at 8 AM.
Amazingly popular place to visit. Some friends from our local Corvette & Harley clubs were there too.



Our 7 year old lifts a z06 chassis at the Corvette museum.

Some of the Klantucky Roads are under repair for 10 mile stretches, rocks and debris flying everyplace. We'll have the car shipped and avoid the rock and stone damage.

In route here, Illinois roads are excellent, Indiana and Kentucky Roads pretty bad.
Missouri and Illinois are beautiful from the highway. The farms are storybook Micky Rooney & Judy Garland old movie classic.


We tried to see the St. Louis Arch, but the town is tourist un-approachable.
$25 parking because of close by Busch Stadium, and near impossible to navigate anyway.

Soon as we crossed the Mississippi Eastbound, the whole scene changed for the better.
Illinois highways like the German autobahn.

Lots of Amish at the stops. Some of the young men Brad Pitt handsome, the young women homely and primm. Lots of happy kids.

We toured 'Vette City as the locals call it this evening.
Met locals and learned about the '08 Vette.
Chevy brought back Honolulu Blue, but with a different name, and they added an additional red, and more leather interior options.
Factory 427 emblems will appear on the hood of the z06 for those who want them.
Yea,, it's a 427.

The 'Vette museum opens 8am Sunday, and most everyday.

The Corvette factory is a HUGE a BFD to the economy of the region. If it folded, sad times for sure for a very large area.

One can still tour the Corvette plant, but you can no longer watch your own Corvette being built -we're told.
"Too much interferance from the customers" we're told. "They'd have fits anytime something had to be re-done,, even simple things that didn't pass inspection and we're being replaced.
"Kicking the car off the line" was too dramatic for the buyer.
"Time was they'd just let the car continue on down the line, defects and all Harley Davidson style" we're told.
Damfino, this is all new to us.

Alice and I were on a vacation cruise once and met a group of the Corvette factory employees.
we've kept in touch.
We hooked up with them on this trip.
Very genuine, bible belt, home spun kinda people. The kind ya want building your car.
They felt fortunate and were very happy to have their jobs.
------------------

Alice tried out the Bose' headphones in the truck.
She put them on me and they are something else. So quiet & clear + they cancil out all roadnoise & your voice as you wear them and talk.

A steamy 80 degrees, a few brutal storms passed us by. I could easily live here in the South, lake and rivers everywhere.
We'll be heading to Disneyworld, the the Tige' Factory on our way back to Cali.

[dogbert]

Must me nice, being you Sounds like a fun trip!

[G-MONEY]

Nice What color are you going to get??? ........I'm sure doms and Tige MD will chime in soon about their Z's

[Timmy!]

That's AWESOME! The new Z06's are bad azz! We have a brick (on the ground) there at the museum. It is for my mom who passed away shortly after getting her dream car (1996 Corvette Grand Sport #5). The Corvette Museum and Factory are so cool and they make you feel like you are part of their family there, of course with 6 Corvettes in the family we kind of are!

[Wake Bandits]

We passed what looked like a Tige' dealer rolling into Gettysburg PA.

Taverns everywhere, a big difference after driving through places like Kansas where you can forget buying a beer & a steak sandwitch someplace.

Ain't cheap, but a good Philly steak sandwitch and local brew'd, draft Yung Ling beer is hard to find in LA, easy in PA,,, and good.

Took the kids to a lot of Historical Civil War places in route to Dizzyworld.
Campgrounds full of slender, attractive girls.

Had to branish the Glock in Culpepper Va. Some of the "Rader Nation" decided to attempt to enter our RV uninvited.

I suggest packing on any roadtrip.


C & O canal in Maryland an awesome place for those that love American Landscape. A must see IMHO.
It is one of the Crown Jewels of American National Parks.
Killer landscape.

OK, onto Typhoon Lagoon and Ft Wilderness campground Disneyworld, then on to take delivery of our second new Tige'.

Durango and Silverton Steam RailRoad Colo.

[Domsz06]

YOU WILL LOVE YOUR NEW Z!! The only thing I wish I could have done is take museum delivery. They will let you drive your z off the line, and I wish I Had done that. I hear from everyone it's so worth it! So what color are you getting? When are you getting it? just take it easy, this is a beast!!! remember, keep the rubber side down!!!

[Wake Bandits]

In route to Flordia, we stopped at several Civil War Battlefields.
This one is Peterburg, where USA soldiers that were miners as civilians dug under the Confederate lines and placed explosives.
This is the entrance to the mine, and the resulting crater from the explosion is still visible about 100 yds away.

If you're a Civil War buff, this place is a BFD.
Very well laid out, most the battle works still in place, excellent self guided tour too.

[Wake Bandits]

YOU WILL LOVE YOUR NEW Z!! The only thing I wish I could have done is take museum delivery. They will let you drive your z off the line, and I wish I Had done that. I hear from everyone it's so worth it! So what color are you getting? When are you getting it? just take it easy, this is a beast!!! remember, keep the rubber side down!!!

You can drive it off the line!!!!
Oh brother that's for us.

We return from this trip the 17th, then the dealer says the car will be ready in 6 to 8 weeks.

[Wake Bandits]

South Carolina Night,,, James Island.

Sitting outside our rig with 7 year old Maynard, it's just like the Blue Bayou restaurant at Disneyland.
A beautiful nite-time sky, a few lightning bugs gently bouncing around, the scores of mellow sounds in all the tropical trees, a Volkswagen size cloud quickly buzzes by overhead illuminated by the moon and stars.
Temp in the steamy 90's.

Tomorrow it's to the the Hundly Civil War Submarine restoration center.
When I was a kid, the Ronald Reagan General Electric Theater TV show did a drama with Jackie Cooper as the commander of the Hundly Confederate Civil War Sub.

It was recently discovered off the waters just off the coast of our campsite, recovered a few years back, and is still undergoing restoration.
--------------------
But back to the campsite:
Many of the Carolina campgrounds run by the Counties have waterparks in addition to their pools.
And very good, well run waterparks at that.

Slides, lazy rivers ect.
Every two hours the pools are cleared and the lifeguards go through a 7 minute rescue drill.
State safety mandate.

Maynard has been having a blast. Nice campgrounds. You'd never get this in Los Angeles.

--------------------------------

Even though we have a nice kitchen in the RV, we sometimes stop for local food traveling around the USA.

Barbeque places with names like "Chubbys",, "Kissie's" ect are locations one must see and taste.

Haven't been let down yet.
Something else ya don't get in LA.

The Carolinas have regional barbeque flavors.
Western side of South Carolina seems to be a wet sweet mustard flavor, then more vinegar red sauce down south, with dry rubs in the North.
Some prices seem like free it's so cheap.

Fast foods we've hit are mostly the normal dull stuff with Whites Castle the worst. Real garbage compaired to when the old man ran it.

The best, and really good is the new Bojangles chain poping up along Southern highways.
Great, fresh food, excellent cheap prices, and instant service.
Massive parking at most locations.
If you're considering opening a franchise,, definately consider a Bojangles.

Unless they do Like Stuart Andersons did. Open with good cuts of meat, then 6 months later switch to the low grade cuts broken down in vinegar.

----------
Looking forward to The Hundly, then onto Disneyworld for a week.

4.266 miles into the trip so far.
Pictures just refuse to load with the Verizon/Mac set up, but we keep trying.

Stand in 4 states at once on the Navajo reservation.
Good food and cheap gas there too.

Octanes on the road are from 85 to 100, and usually about 2.80 a gal.

[Wake Bandits]

it was So. Carolina yesterday and a visit to the Hunley Civil War submarine restoration project.

If you're a civil war fan, this is the place for you.
Very well run and interesting exhibit.
No photography by the way.

So. Carolina is full of beautiful women, seemingly everyplace.
Boats seem to all favor the Big Honda outboards.
Must be a factory close-by.

Then we dropped down into Florida.
Ya know you're here because the highways open up to nice landscaping.
Ya feel like you need it more than it needs you.
Nice place Florida.

Friendly, Old geesers that work at our campground came by earlier and spray'd the fire ant mound next to our rig.
Then, a jeep passed by with a big noisy blower spraying for mosquitos.

Power has been out all nite, the local electric company is on the street replacing the main transformer to the park that caught fire, then single phazing.

In the southwest, a trailer is a trailer, a motorhome a MoHo, here in the south, they're a "camper".

Of about 300 rigs in this tropical setting campground, it's about 90% campers, 10% MOHO's.
The power has been out most the nite and we & the MoHo's have been on our generators with the 92 degree heat 99% humidity, the "campers" sweating it out with no generators.

But dam,, it's beautiful to walk around in the steamy jungle setting.

It'll be a 1 and a half hour run to Dizzyworld this afternoon, for a full week.
We bought the meal package, so no more RV cookin' for a week, and we'll be in one nice spot too.

Our 7 year old Maynard hooked up with the Johnson triplets.
"Ya'll never hear of the Johnson triplets?" "Where ya'll been?" - we're told.

Locally known for being triplettes it seems, famous for simply being famous.
They are his age, brutal good looks, and they all look alike so it's the Johnson quads for now.
Parents pass-ed out drunk unconcience, so the kids hung out together, with pizza and games n A/C at our "camper" after the pool closed.

We had tripletts on our Little League team last year too.
The parents were tragically, unapproachably hip because of it.
All the attention I guess. They just couldn't get over themselves.
May be the same in this case too.

Walked around the corner to get Pizza, and some other supplies at the local businesses.
Everyone working is mean, rude and lazy. Thick New York City accents may be the clue.
A real eye opener. It isn't us, the neighbors all say the same about St Augustine.

Walking back, a taxi pulled up to the campground with 3 girls that took up the Romeo Riders. The Romeo Riders are three really drunk guys that were earlier walking around the park looking for girls to ride their Road Kings with them. They got stopped at one of the many DUI check points about a block from here.

Not like word didn't pass through the park and they knew they may get stopped.

Ya just drive down any of several steamy narrow St Augustine streets, then under a weeping willow may be a DUI checkpoint.
Cops sitting in the shade on beachchairs with dopedogs, breathalizers, and attack dogs if things get ugly with the (many) groups.

I think the single phazing of the parks electrical may have toasted our A/C compressor, it's real unhappy about rolling over so Monday may be me replacing the roof unit.

Oh hell, we wanted the bigger BTU unit anyway, so it's all good.

That's it for now, off to Typhoon Lagoon.

------------------

Crater from mine dug by Union troops under confederate lines.
Explosives set off, created this crater.
The local Southern Battlefield Guide, pointed out how the "Northern Aggressors" approached from the area in the backround.
The opposing Union and Confederate troops were less than 500 yds apart.

[Wake Bandits]

Disneyworld Florida, Ft Wilderness Campground:

We passed a huge Tige' dealer between Daytona and Orlando.
They had a huge cabin cruiser mounted on billboard poles in back.
Looked cool.

We pulled in the WDW about noon, and check-in was a snap.
The Disney Wilderness RV Resort in the only 5 star rated camping resort last I read the major guidebooks.
It is very nice, though dated.

The neat waterpark "River Country" is closed for good.
Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon have eclipsed it.
Disney has found dealing with employee staffing issues can be solved with a bulldozer, like in this case.

The campsites were designed back when people tow'd up to about 24 ft travel trailers and motorhomes that averaged 28 to 30 ft max.
Today 45 ft is not unusual.
So,,, backing into most camping spots is work for just about any set-up. It's tight.

Golf carts galore, and you can rent them at the Wilderness Lodge.

Some campers we talk to just come for the camping, they never visit the Disney parks. Yeah, it's that nice here.
Ya get the crusty East coasters with attractive Cuban wives, and the usual drunk illiterate rednecks who's wives do their thinking for them, and lots of friendly foreigners in rented Motorhomes.

First day visit was to Disneyquest on Pleasure island.
We were tipped off in advance from friends. and travel forums that Pleasure Island is poorly laid out and hard to navigate.
That's true.
The directories don't have the "You are here" marker, nor do they list the landmarks about you to get ones bearings. Maps are worthless with the tall buildings, and no landmarks.
Pretty bad.

About a 3 mile walk to the Disney transportation, so drive to Disneyquest with your own vehicle if you can. Plus the busses are crowded, and very, very slow.
Expect a two hour standing journey to anyplace within WDW.

Golf Carts not permitted out of the Campground.

Disney Quest was like a giant inneractive video game arcade.
7 Year old Maynard and I spent a few hours and it was different.

We lunched at Planet Hollywood.
Normally i don't like that kinda campy stuff, but the food is good, the service terriffic, and we got a 20% off coupon with our check-in.
But, the prices are very high.
I don't mind paying for something if it's good, and the food is excellent, the service was fast & good.

We have noticed that when we encounter Disney employees from New York, it's like they have a big, thick, string tie'd around their finger to remind them to not be rude and get fired.

They start to take a cheap shot, then catch themself in a false start conversation, gain their composure, get a hold of themself, and try speaking again.
Funny, it's like a choker chain on a dog. Yipe, yipe yipe,,

Like airlines have to conform to overbooking rules, resorts like WDW should too.
If they are so crowded visitors can't enjoy what they paid for,, places like WDW should have to reconsile.

We have it all down with what rides and attractions to see at a certain times and work fast passes into the routine in the meantime so we pretty much dodge the crowd issues.

Alice and I went for a long walk through the campground last nite, and it was fun.
Everything open late.
We discovered "Crocketts Tavern" and a wilderness store, places only accessable by golfcart or on foot.
Restaurants packed until midnite.

Be back with some pix.

[Domsz06]

You can drive it off the line!!!!
Oh brother that's for us.

We return from this trip the 17th, then the dealer says the car will be ready in 6 to 8 weeks.

yeah! get on one of the forums, z06vette.com or corvetteforum.com and people there tell you how to sign up and get it all done. If I ever get another one I will do it that way!!

[Timmy!]

When I toured the museum we saw someone that was doing that. If I ever get a brand new one, that is what I am going to do! It would be so cool to be the first one to ever start and drive the car!

[Wake Bandits]

My mom was a technical writer during World War Two.
She lived in England and worked for Disney.
Disney made wartime technical films for the British Military, and my mom was a big part of it.

After the war, the British Gov't wouldn't allow money to leave the country, so Disney made the film Treasure Island, and brought the film out instead.

My mom worked for Disney on that film, and having married my American Bomber pilot dad, moved to the US and had a 37 year career with Disney.

A lot of the employees here have a story how they got connected with Disney too.
Some very interesting.
We heard many today while we bar hopped.
Hells Angel Steve and some of his local H.A. member friends showed up, and we went on a Disney bar hopping run.

My wife is in cancer treatment at a front line top shelf Cancer Hospital. If you are ever stricken with the super deadly kind, a good chance you'll cross paths with her with your treatment too.
She's conscience, kind, her heart really into you getting better, and renoun in her field.

Seems everywhere we go, someone that reconizes her from their severe cancer treatment sends us drinks. 'Vegas, Hawaii ect.

Today in Florida was no different, we all got lots of free rounds from appreciative folks. No cheap feat with $6.00 drafts, and Steve and his group of 81's along for the ride.

Really fun day.
Last nite, the RV suddenly dropped about 3 inches,,, then slowly dropped a few more.
One of the welds on one of the wheels broke, then the air slowly left the tire.
Steve and his friends had juice in Orlando, and a local tire dealer came out, replaced the tire and wheel,, no sweat.
$45.
It's been a good day.

[Wake Bandits]

West across Florida to the Gulf Beaches.

We're heading out from Walt Disney World to the Florida Gulf Coast for 3 days camping on the beach.

We learned alot about Disneyworld.

With out a doubt, the best RV camping we've found anyplace.
Nothing even comes close.
We can see why the camping alone without even visiting the theme parks is big to East Coasters.
Many have their Golf Carts, and RV's custom painted in Disney Characters, and this kinda trip is their lifes passion. An annual, standing WDW reservation is their familys annual vacation.

The way to see the theme parks is in the morning at opening, then collect fast passes, hit the waterparks through the afternoon, then take advantage of the late magic hours and re-visit the parks.

The Disney bars were something else. I've met and hung with some characters in my lifetime, and the Disney bars are excellent for unique people, in good moods out having fun.

The beach bar at Typhoon Lagoon is dripping with beautiful girls of all cultures, from all over the planet.
Brits, Cubans, Southern Girls, French, Canadians, they all hang out there, and they are all chatty, most seemingly want to connect with someone for the nite.

String bikinis are here to stay. Other swim suit styles come and go, but butt floss, like Levi jeans, will always be in style too.

I had several blisters on my right foot one day, so avoiding walking, i spent my fair share of time there with the wife who was tired of walking and turned the kids loose.

Excellent tropical drinks.

We met one guy and his awesome wife at the bar that had every Disney Character tattoo'd someplace on their bodies. Ya name the character, she'd point to it. Very well done too I might add.

We met a group of airline & corporate pilots that stay at the resort often. They spend their off days meeting girls at the bars. The Typhoon Lagoon bar they say is the best daytime bar in all WDW. It' the place from January through October.

The chix way out-number the guys and that's always good. The single moms have sitters already lined up for the evening.
Then the late nite hook-ups made at the bar, will carry over to Pleasure Island which is full of bars and nitelife.
The single life is alive and thriving at WDW. It's on fire.

Food at WDW is vastly improved over our last visits.
The Bomma Buffet dinner at the Animal Kingdom resort was recomended to us here in Tige' owners, and it's excellent.
Different food from the norm, and they really pull it off well. Kids loved it too.

A duck dinner, that is,, ya duck in then ya duck out and that's nice after a long theme park day.

Absolutely have your reservation conformation numbers along with you at WDW. Line 'um up and print them and have them in hand when you arrive at the restaurant.
No clue why they loose the reservations, but they do.
Your conformation number will be essential in that case.

When you're sit waiting to be called, if you don't have the pager, other groups without reservations will hustle in and answer to your name to steal your table, so beware of that too. Expect it.

It's usually a New York City family with 6 O'clock Mugs for faces, dads with names like Jules or Duncan or Herme.

The pre-paid meal plan is excellent. It's good at all 135 restaurant at WDW.
The snacks can be those big, giantic candied apples, seemed all the treats were included,,, and all gratituities too.

Alice and I thought the MGM theme part sucked, but the kids loved it.
The Prime Time Diner is fun, but dinner there is 2 plus hours easily, the food bland. Very bland. 5 star WDW chefs seem to struggle when it comes to burn't meatloaf and mashed potatos.

Gasoline and diesel is 50 cents a gallon cheaper on WDW property than minutes away in Orlando.

Got a call from our Tige' dealer today. Our new Tige is in, rigged and ready for delivery next week.

That's it for now, if any tips and tales pop up on this leg, we'll check back in.