Hot Rod Power Tour, Day 1

Oh. My. Goodness.  I said I was going to blog on the Hot Rod Power Tour.  Really?  What was I thinking?  Between tornadoes (with a daughter still back in Norman), entering the wrong information in the GPS which caused us an extra one hour of travel, having a freakout/breakdown because I didn't get to eat for seven hours, meeting an old friend in the area, and dancing late into the evening, I'm not sure how this blogging is going to go.  Now it is 11:30, we are back in our room and watching the weather summary of the evening.

So, let's dial it back and see if I can recall some of the more pleasant and interesting events of the day.  We left home at 10:00, and again at 10:20.  You know how that goes. I think I left the computer on.  Oh, well, but I think I remembered everything else.  The cool, windy weather felt wonderful in the morning.  I had a flashback to the 60s, taking non-AC vacations.  I don't think I've been on a long trip without AC since then.   Flying down the Interstate, everything was green, the ponds were full, the Oklahoma countryside was beautiful.

Headed north was an amazing RV outfit, a semi-truck, pulling a semi-worth travel trailer.  On the trailer, between the trailer and the truck, was a little Smart Car and all three pieces were painted with a matching paint job.  The car was on top of the flat trailer, not being pulled on the ground.  Wonder how they lifted that car up.   I just googled images of "million dollar RV" and those images were piddly compared to this RV system.  If you're that rich, do you RV around the country?  Apparently.

As we reached the Arbuckles, the sky began to clear.  I think I saw the same dead armadillo, spaced in the exact same 3 foot distance off the road every three miles.  Maybe it's some kind of conspiracy, secret mile markers that only certain people knows about.

On I35, we had nine thumbs-up from people passing us on the Interstate.  I'm going to give a thumb-up count every day, but I will only count thumbs from non-hot rodders.  When we passed through Gainesville, we began to see hot rods headed south.  We were happy to have a 20-something man pull up beside us, roll down his window, and yell, "Moonie Eyes! Are you going to the Hot Rod Power Tour?"

When we stopped in Gainesville, our last opportunity to get ethanol-free gas, we calculated the Buick's mpg at 18.  We may have the highest MPG hot rod on the HRPT.  Jim was very pleased.  He kept the speed at 60-65 mph on the interstate.

Then, at 3:15 PM, the excitement started:  a GPS that doesn't understand that if you enter "The University of Texas of Arlington", you'd like to be headed to Arlington, going east on 635 at 4 miles per hour (when you have no need to travel east), a person in the car who is ravenous and irritable answering warm, fuzzy and frequent texts and phone calls from family, and watching tornado weather where your child is.  Don't ask about this.  Just don't.

By 5:00, we were fed and happy at the hotel, with a room on the 15th floor with good view of the car below.  Jim carefully parked the car beside 40 Ford Coupe.  He trusted that person not to ding his door.  We've had some good conversations with other gearheads and expect more today.  Everyone is very friendly.  About a third of the parking lot is hot rods, from the 40s to new cars.

Hopefully, today will be just as fun at the fun parts of yesterday, without the drama.

Thumbs up count today - 9

HRPT Here We Come!

Only 23 days!

When Jim first presented the idea of going on the Hot Rod Power Tour, he pointed out that, since it was starting in Arlington, we would have an opportunity that would not easily happen again.  The Hot Rod Power Tour begins in the town where it stopped the previous year.  The 2012 tour was from Detroit to Arlington, TX.  This year, it's from Arlington to Charlotte, NC.  We are planning on drive four days from Arlington to Texarkana to Little Rock to Memphis.  If you are a "long-hauler", you continue on through Birmingham, Chattanooga, and, finally, Charlotte, NC.  The 14 year old daughter is anxious to ditch the parents and stay with friends back in Norman, but we aren't anxious to leave her for over a whole week required for the long haul so it's a short haul for us.

Jim's been reading up in the Hot Rod magazine. I've been reading online. Hotel reservations are made. We're staying in the main venue hotels so should be close to the center of the action. There are suggestions to bring extra of everything, fan belts, tool kit, extra thermostat.  We just paid for the tow package on the Buick's insurance.  I should put that number in my phone right now.  Jim pointed out that the car has only been put together for 3 years so we should be good.

I am not the gearhead in the family, obviously.  Jim is happy to take care of the two convertibles by himself.  Usually, he fills the cars with gas, cleans them, and does much of the mechanical work.  I, on the other hand, have a learning disability with maintaining cars.  Jim reminds me what repairs he has completed and I can't remember if the head gasket was replaced in 2006 or a transmission in 2011.  While I'm not a gearhead, I am a good passenger and, since I've had my little laptop, I've learned that I can type and enjoy the scenery at the same time. I'll be typing as we fly down the road, or crawl along in a traffic jam. We've heard there were 1600 cars in last years HRPT.  That will make for some slow exits out of parking lots.

Jim was initially expecting some objections from me about the trip.  He was startled by now quickly I showed interest in the HRPT.  He should have realized that, while I'm not a gearhead, planning adventure is right up my alley and this is adventure.  Say "road trip" and hold the car door open.  I totally enjoy being with my husband and seeing people react to the Buick.  I joined the HRPT forum.  I have decided on wardrobe (just T-shirts, shorts and hats).  We even have Hoffman T-shirts. We need business cards for the new friends we meet.  I've already designed them.  Should they be referred to as calling cards?  Jim bought a car cover, which means that huge trunk is a quarter full.  We've already had a dry-run for luggage in the remaining space in the trunk.  I'm even planning on making a custom trail mix - red and black M&Ms and unsalted cashews.  Jim wants to carry no food in the car, but he'll agree to the trail mix.  I'm planning on sneaking some bottles of water in the trunk.

Another decision made, not by me, was going without air conditioning.  We have all of the parts; they are just not in the car. We'll see how that plays out.  I am determined that my hair will be up, my hat on, and my lips sealed!  After all, what's an adventure without a little bit of adventure!  Only 23 days!

I'm going to blog about our trip. My information will be "I saw a pretty red car today," but hopefully I can diary some of Jim's serious comments for the real gearheads.  Only 23 more days!

Free Associations: My Week

My husband and daughter both drew me up short this week, reminding me that "other people have real problems" and "don't volunteer if you don't want to do something".  I was a bit busy and whiny one night, after going until 9 or 10 each night.  That's unusual for me.  Our lives are calmer than that most of the time.

Thursday, EM, with much excitement, drove to the city to pick up his hot rod.  It has been at the car upholstery shop for over six weeks.  Instead of hotrod, we call the car the convertible around here, but that doesn't convey to other people that it is his hobby car, so I've started calling it the hot rod to other people.  The last "official" work has been done on that car.  I say "official", because he will always be tinkering with it.  He has been almost lost without it in his garage the past few weeks.  The car now has a new convertible top, carpet lining in the inside and trunk, and door panel linings.  He brought it home at 8 in the morning.  It was his plan that I take off from my work in the early morning to bring back the red car.  But, being our CRT week at school (CRT = state standardized testing), I was testing and there was NO flexibility with that schedule.  

So, at 6:20 PM, we arrived at the car upholstery shop, to pick up the red car, which he had left there.  The shop had closed at 5:00.  As we pulled up, to our shock and dismay,   we could see that the red car had been hit and was wrecked badly.  Someone had backed into the car, pushing it about two feet back.  We (translate: EM) love our cars.  Once we owed a Metro for a short time, and EM even fell in love with that car, proudly showed it off, a car that once couldn't pull four people up a hill.  We once literally had to get out so the car could get up hill.

Anyway, EM is a great shade-tree mechanic.  He keeps our cars in pristine shape.  Most dings are repaired.  EM has bonded with the body shop owner and stops by to visit him on a regular basis.  The inside our cars are kept clean.  AT and I try to clutter the inside of the cars, but we manage to keep it to a minimum.  The oil is changed regularly;  the tires are rotated.  Our favorite white van, that was totaled while we were on vacation in Pennsylvania, had 300,000+ miles on it and showed no signs of stopping.  This newly wrecked red car has 150,000 miles on it and we planned to drive it for many miles more.    

But here's the rub.  When you total a well-care-for  and loved car, the insurance company does not love your car like you do.  Chances are very good that the red car will be totaled.  If so, they will write us a check, which is worth much less to us that the red car is worth to us.  We don't know how this is going to play out.  One possibility, if it is totaled, will be that we buy it from the insurance, and repair it ourselves.  We have to wait until Tuesday for the insurance estimate.

AT is trying out to be a cheerleader Saturday.  I am very proud of her.   She had worked hard.  I don't know cheer lingo so I need to study.  She can do a triple back tuck, one of only two girls who can.  Hope that helps.  She has been spent several evenings away from home, practicing.  She also had CRTs this week.  It's been a tough week for her also, and she may have handled it better than I did.  While I'm not really thrilled that she wants to be a cheerleader (would have been more excited about a botball expert), but she has worked very hard on this and I am pleased with her work ethic.  

I can see the end of the year approaching.  I just finished the last of my big evaluations/ paperwork this week.  I will have to schedule a few more meetings, but the most difficult ones are behind me.  I do like my job, but it is very fast paced.  I hit the ground running hard every morning.  This week, a parent asked a paraprofessional if I always moved that fast.  Yes, I do.  My schedule is packed with students and reports.  My organizational style, unfortunately, is to not organize my desk when I have more pressing things to do such as write reports or see children.  I just can't justify making my desk pretty when there are more pressing things to do.  This week, I just may get to clean off that desk!  We're out of school on May 18th.  I already feel relaxed on Sunday evenings, knowing that the more relaxing days are coming soon.  I already have my list of projects.  Whoops!  That doesn't sound relaxing.  Well, I plan to work and relax. 

Oh, and what a treat!  Friday, I raced a tornado.  We were expecting an unsettled weekend, weather-wise, but expected it to start after school.  Friday, the buses were loaded about 15 minutes early, to try to get students home before the tornado hit.  Two years ago, we had a horrible tornado at our school and community (not in Norman proper, where I live).  There was a death, debilitating injuries, and homes blown away.  Our administration building was blown away.  So we're a bit scared from it.  Friday, the buses all left and I left at my regular time.  Apparently, the buses were called back to the school and some people stayed until after five o'clock.  Our area survived the tornado, luckier than some other areas in the state.  

Free associations:  the end.