Day 9: June 22, 2003 Out of California

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What the locals call "June Gloom" was much in evidence as cars congregated at the California Speedway in Fontana. There were pampered old 'Vettes, working old 'Vettes, and faux old 'Vettes.

Captains Hib & Paul pass on some last minute details that included word that the weather would keep the Goodyear blimp grounded. But, while the sky remained completely gray, apparently winds dropped sufficiently to permit the big balloon to fly. "irthda" is from the blimp's light board as it presented a nice happy birthday message. I think the final count at Fontana was 188 Corvettes plus a few assorted other vehicles. Among these "others" were a couple of trailered Corvettes and a Hummer being towed by a mobile self-propelled mansion.

The non-Corvette contingent also included several rental vehicles carrying some 25 Australian Corvette owners. Those of us traveling solo offered our open seat to the visitors and Gary, from Brisbane, joined me for the first day's run. Back in Brisbane, Gary drives a 1987 C4 and turned out to be great company throughout the day. The Aussies come from throughout the country and, by coincidence, Gary was the only one who knew Australians Sue & Colin who I had met in McLean, TX just a few days ago.

As it had been in 1999, the lunch stop was in Kingman and once again, the Powerhouse seemed a bit unprepared by the crowd. But, unlike 1999, the one gal taking orders and one guy filling them handled things without adding errors and confusion to the mix. With occasional help from another server, they both soldiered on and fed the group as quickly as could be expected.

Although I had been here only two days before, I couldn't resist stopping in Seligman once again. Gary was treated to the ice & cream & cone routine, the "half off today" cone offer, and some mustard. He really enjoyed the place (How could you not?) and got along splendidly with Juan.

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