2004 Hot Rod Power Tour, Page 3
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  The Trip, Continued

I was up at the crack of dawn from the sound of Hot Rods outside our window and i jumped in the shower.  I got dressed and then rushed down stairs to get my car ready.  The parking lot was full of cool cars, it was a sight to see.  I helped a fellow Hot Rodder by tweaking his ignition timing and carb in the parking lot, it was a nice yellow rag top '68 Camaro and he was from New Mexico.  Sorry, but I can't recall his name.  I talked to Wilbert about his Earnhardt IROC Camaro replica car and he let me use his RainX, thanks Dude!!!.  Oh yea, I discovered at this time that my windshield wipers were not working!  It was trying to rain that morning.  I don't normally drive my Chevelle in the rain, so go figure.  Dave and Jim washed thier cars, we got some gas and hit the road to make Springfield in good time.

The trip to Springfield was great!  The route took back roads mostly, through the country side.  We even did some time through Kansas, and that was a surprise.  We saw a very laid back farmer on a tractor, he was very funny.  He gave us an oh so casual wave with his fingers on the steering wheel of his Ford tractor.  We saw three guys at a small factory up to their armpits in what looked like coal dust, we exchanged waves.  It was cool.  Along this stretch of road we drove through many small towns and were greeted with many friendly waves from the locals. We pulled into Springfield and the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds.  We thought "Way Too Cool Man"!  The Long Haulers parking was a great grassy field under a grove of giant oak trees, Ah shaded parking!  It was very beautiful.

   
   
   

We parked and stretched.  About this time I discovered my right leg was going numb.  The heavy double spring on my Holley carb was taking it's toll.  Jim's left leg was giving out too from the Muncie 4-speed and a tight clutch.  We  walked to the venue and took a  more than welcomed pee break.  Phew!  We soon discovered homemade root beer and root beer floats.  They were the best!  We got our free stuff,  our credentials signed and took in the sights.  I took another bunch of great pics, the turn out at this venue was amazing.  The girls went back to the hotel early to rest and we stayed behind to check out the great cars, again and again.  We saw a "double throw down wicked" Chevelle doing duty on the chassis dyno.  Ah, the smell of race gas in the afternoon!   I wanted to try my Chevelle on the Dyno but they were charging $50 bucks for two runs, pricey!

   
   
   
   
   

We met the girls for dinner at the hotel and drove to Lambert's just east of Springfield on US-60.  We pulled into the Lambert's parking lot and it was full of about 300 Hot Rods.  Lambert's is cool, it is "Home of the Thrown Rolls" and it was!  And yes they are hot.  They served  our dinner in skillets and it was very, very good.  They had what was the best Chicken Fried Steak I have ever eaten (and I thought Texas had the best.)  The group surprised me that night with a surprise birthday party.  They gave me a card, a present and sang happy birthday to me.  I was pleasantly surprised and had a ton of fun.  A young man came to our table to ask about our cars.  We dropped his jaw when we told him about our rides.  It was fun and cool.  At the cash register, Lambert's has a whole wall dedicated to Lynyrd Skynyrd.  Many of the pictures are autographed by the band, they like the food too!  Again we ate too much and had to get back to the hotel. 

I ended up talking to some guys from Wisconsin until way too late in the parking lot.  One of the guys had blown up the transmission in his SS Monte Carlo, bummer (carnage of the "Thermal Nuclear Meldown".)  Another was cruising the Power Tour in his cool chevy truck and yet another was into RC cars.  He had a very neat '70 El Camino with a blower sticking through the hood.  The father of the bunch had a street rod complete with a trailer.  They were a whole family of car nuts!
  
    

Up early again for the trip to Osage Beach, Lake of the Ozarks.  I talked to two guys that morning about their way sweet '66 Vette with flames.  They were just a couple of good 'ole boys having a great time on the Power Tour.  We gassed up and hit the road.  

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