Wrapping It Up: PACIFIC NW 2014 NCM CARAVAN SYNOPIS

This is from Robin Forrer, 2014 Pacific NW area Caravan Captain

Pre-day 1:
Sandy, OR. Bill and Robin arrived at Suburban Chevrolet store and saw that the Caravan Banner had been put up in front of the store. We quickly took a picture of it with our car under it.

We then went over the hotel, and patiently awaited the participant’s arrival. These particular people were from Northern California (Chico, etc), Medford, Eugene, Salem, and SW WA. After waiting for approximately 1-1/2 hours, and Bill kidding that it would be a “caravan of 1”, we greeted people as they arrived.

Later we joined many for a pre-caravan celebration dinner at the Tollgate Inn.

Day 1:
Seattle Area: Lee Johnson Chevrolet hosted a pancake breakfast for the 62 car, 125 people. Steve Yabroff held a drivers meeting and then led the cars afterwards with other members of Corvette Marque Corvette Club to our Lunch spot in Pasco.

Sandy Area: Suburban Chevrolet hosted a full breakfast for the 85 car, and 175 people who were present. Pictures were taken from the rooftop and after a drivers meeting by Captain Robin, we were off over the Mt Hood highway and onto Hood River and Lunch in Pasco. Our first breakdown occurred at our first rest stop with the car being towed to The Dalles, and the people renting a car to go back home in Eugene.

Lunch in Pasco was sponsored by McCurley Auto Dealerships and was a sandwich bar. There were long lines, but everyone was happy to have the Caravan underway.

Worley, ID was the site of the Coeur D’Alene Resort and Casino Welcome Caravan Reception. The participants enjoyed appetizers and enjoyed the Raffle and Auction items that were provided by the Pacific NW Caravan.. A donation will be made to the NCM from the Raffle/Auction proceeds, in the amount nearing $3,000.00

Boise Area; Larry Brown led his group to Idaho Falls, where a catered dinner by Famous Dave’s that was sponsored by the Pacific NW Caravan.. It took place at a nearby park.

Day 2:
Worley, ID departed after a Drivers Meeting. As we traveled shortly through ID and into Montana, with our first destination of Missoula at Karl Tyler Chevrolet, the weather started to change from sunny, to rainy/stormy weather. As we arrived in Missoula, everyone parked in the provided front end of the lot and went into the dealership for Subway sandwiches. Afterwards, we all departed for Bozeman, MT (actually Four Corners, MT) to Mr. Dave Ressler’s private ranch where the weather storm continued.

The Boise/Idaho Falls group experienced rain and lightening thu their travel up to Bozeman, MT. When people arrived, they were directed to the perimeter of the race track on the property. Mr. Ressler was all over the grounds, and ended up in the building that housed the most prized of his collection, the Vin #003, 1953 Corvette (the oldest Corvette), and his Vin #001 C6 ZR1. The TV was set with the recording of his winning bids for these cars.

Mr. Ressler greeted everyone and was very hospitable. Lunch (pulled Pork sandwiches and water) was also provided compliments of Mr. Ressler. He commented to me that he was amazed at the dedication of the Corvette and that many had still “weathered” the storm to come to his ranch. Some didn’t as the weather was just much for them.

Mr. Ressler was very pleased that so many attended. I told him that many had paid the NCM registration fee, but were just going this far as their schedules, etc was only as far as they wanted to go, and he was quite surprised. I’m sure many enjoyed his collection. Many went onto Billings, MT for the evening stay, or elsewhere if they were not continuing onward to Bowling Green. The Western Canada Caravan headed by Gary Stephen and Graham Borley joined us in Bozeman and the remainder of the trip.

Day 3:
Billings, MT/Casper, WY/Cheyenne, WY; After a drivers meeting in the Breakfast room of our Hotel, (Mostly all in 1 hotel in Billings), we departed for Casper for lunch at Eastridge Mall. Only 3 speeding tickets were given (80mph is the speed limit with 0% tolerance in WY). Lynn McBride, the WY Captain had arranged for Famous Dave’s to cater the lunch in the parking lot. The City Manager spoke over the mega phone, congratulating Lynn and the NCM Caravan for stopping in Casper. It was windy and a bit cold, and jackets were worn by many. It was great to see that the remaining caravan stayed around 225+ cars. We then headed for Cheyenne, were Tyrell/Doyle Chevrolet hosted a Spagetti Fest. In spite of being under construction, he still managed to service 4 cars that needed assistance. I heard that they didn’t charge the participants, but the participants still paid with a donation to their charity. Some chose to go see the historic Cheyenne Depot Museum, which was a true architectural wonder. The No Cal/No Nev/No Utah Caravan joined us in Cheyenne.

Day 4:
Cheyenne, WY/Lincoln, NE; After a drivers meet in the main hotel, we headed east toward Lincoln, NE. Weather was horrendous again, and there were reports of people have a difficult drive. North Platte (our suggested lunch stop) came upon us quickly and we personally decided not to stop. We had plans to visit the Great Platte River Road Archway Museum in Kearney, NE. Some visited the Classic Car Collection also in Kearney, or just traveled onto Lincoln, NE for the evening. The Arch museum is a fantastic Museum, covering the travels and hardships of the wagon trains across the Great Plains. Lincoln provided a downtown look at the redevelopment of the area and their improvements. Robin and Bill hosted a dinner for our local leaders who had helped us with preparing for this journey over the past 4 years. A big lightning and thunder storm hit us overnight that lit up the sky. I had decided to provide security for the parking lot, and worked with the hotel management to obtain the desired security services. I had overheard some concerned participants for our parking arrangements, which prompted this. No incidents were reported.

Day 5:
Lincoln, NE/Columbia, MO; After our Drivers meet (which was in 2 meeting times due to the number of people we had to fit in our meeting room). Much anticipation remained about our invitation by the NE Captain Bruce Younglove to visit the Museum of American Speed. People did not know what to expect. The Museums parking lot quickly filled with the many (close to 300-400 now with Colorado and Nebraska caravans joining in), which was a beautiful site. It was hot and humid, but with no rain. The late owner of the Museum (had had passed just a few shorts weeks prior to our arrival), was represented by his son. We were greeted and welcomed by all. This Museum quickly surprised many and became one of the top highlights of our trip. Many artifacts were displayed beautifully and is remain a place for people to return and see more. The display was only 1 of 3 that is in this collection, and plans were to purchase more buildings to showcase the entire collection.

After visiting the Museum of American Speed, people traveled around Kansas City, through a less traveled, more rural route. It was a pleasure to see the local residences, and small cities along this route.

We arrived in Columbia, MO staying in as many as 3 to 4 hotels. Many attended the planned dinner at the Missouri Auto Auction yard. The Mid Missouri Corvette club had worked with the KS/MO Caravan Captain, and Robin to organize this dinner. Many had their cars washed by the Auction yard employees and the monies paid went to the local Make A Wish foundation. It was estimated that around $2,000.00 was raised. It was extremely hot and humid, but most weathered the conditions.

Day 6:
Columbia, MO to BOWLING GREEN; We assembled back at the Missouri Auto Auction yard and held a drivers meeting. All was not completely clear of our “Morgantown” destination for our meet up with KY State Police and escort into Bowling Green. Needless to say, many traveled to Morgantown, and met in groups and lead us to Bowling Green. Many were not clear about the whereabouts in Morgantown to meet up, our NCM destination, or where to park near the NCM. In the end, people either arrived at the Museum, or nearby at the Motor Sports Park where shuttles back and forth to the Museum and back were provided by the NCM.

Days Following our Arrival to Bowling Green;
Many visited the Museum, and were anxious to see the infamous “Sink Hole and Great 8” cars that had fallen into the sink hole. Saturday, August 30, brought an announcement that the Museum and the Board has decided to “fill in” the sinkhole, fix 3 of least damaged cars, and have the remaining 5 cars left as a permanent display at the Museum.

Personally we attended the Captains meeting on Thursday. I was awarded a trophy for being one of the top 3 Captains (a contest had been going on amongst the Captains by the National Chair the past 2 years), and both Bill and I received a plaque for being a Captain and Co-Captain of the 2014 NCM Caravan. Also at the Ambassadors Breakfast, I was awarded for the 2 nd time, to be one of the 30 or so Master Ambassadors to the Museum.

Many people were able to visit the Assembly plant with pre-arranged tours. The Motor Sports park had it’s grand opening on Thursday, August 28, and the Budwiser Clydesdales were present along with Holly car parts and accessories, Michelin Tires, the Corvette Racing team and others. We visited the park later that day and witnessed the #4 Corvette Race car starting up right in front of me and headed out for run around the track. It was truly one of my highlights of the trip. Many tried to get a picture of the car racing by, and I have to admit I was only able to get a picture of the very tip of the nose of the car, coming down the straight away, and then the entire car on the upper turn/hill.

Some visited the nearby distilleries, Mammoth Caves (which all of Bowling Green is built on top of), Nashville for the Grand Ol’ Oprey, Seminars that the Museum presented, or other activities that were planned or visited.

Mainly on Sunday, people departed for roads beyond the US, North, South, East and West.

I hope that many had a wonderful time on this adventure and all had fun with being part of the Pacific NW 2014 NCM Caravan!


Cheryl’s September 2, 2014 Report

Saturday we did a road tour that was put together by the museum and it went past some caves. One we stopped at was Hidden Cave. Then we went past Wigwam Village. It was pretty cool. They rent out the teepees for $62.00 a night.

We also went to The birthplace of Lincoln. It’s a National Park out in the middle of nowhere. The cabin inside is thought to be the original cabin that Lincoln was born in. When it was dismantled and reconstructed inside the huge Memorial building, too much chalking material was used between the logs. It is way taller than any log cabin that anybody had seen.

Then we saw the Kentucky Stonehenge. A guy hunted high and low for stones and put them together in the field next to his house. Now he’s on the tour map.

 


August 30, 2014

I took some pictures outside of the plant but no cameras were allowed in there. It’s so humid here we’re wringing wet. We took a little ride out in the country to Mammoth Cave. It’s huge. The tours going into the cave are pretty well sold out at least the ones that we could walk. And you had to wait over two hours to even get on one. But we had lunch at the hotel and we’ll take our time driving back and then we’ll go to the Hall of Fame Dinner Tonight.

Tomorrow we have a road tour that supposedly goes out past Lincoln’s birth place and a few other historic sites.


August 29, 2014

Two galleries to post today: 1) Road & Track; 2) The Sinkhole.


 

August 27, 2014

These photos came from the Museum of Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska. This one guy had 150,000 sq feet of everything he collected. It was unbelievable that he could have as much stuff as we saw and it was still only about a 1/3 of his collection!

We are in Columbia MO tonight and leave at 7:30 in the morning for Evansville IN. Then on to Bowling green and plan to arrive in the afternoon. It was 98-degrees this afternoon, then it started lightening and thundering and pouring rain. I knew there was a good reason we didn’t have the top down (other than it took a shoe horn to get the bags in and not a whole lot of room to put them in with the top down).

Tomorrow, if it is sunny, I’ll try to put the top down for our grand entrance into town. Those of you have done the Caravan in past years know, we are scheduled to have a Kentucky Highway patrol escort into Bowling Green, all 5,000-8,000 cars, and they drive Corvettes!!!


 

August 25, 2014

Photo courtesy of National Corvette CaravanGood Day Everyone, Sunday August, 24th 2014

I thought I’d write a few lines and update everybody on our travels.

Don and Megan and Dyarle and myself are the only ones headed all the way to Bowling Green, KY. Jim and Betty Bates and Doug and LaDonna Slack were with us as far as Bozeman, MT. As they wanted to go to the Ressler Family Car Collection, then they were heading thru Yellowstone and back to Kalama. But I’m not sure if they did actually make it thru the car collection. The last we saw of them was in the parking lot of the Tyler Chevy Dealership in Missoula with Jim’s hood up and Doug working hard trying to figure out why Jim and Betty’s 93 Vette wouldn’t go into 1st gear. We never saw them arrive at the car collection before we left. But I hope they got it fixed and were able to make it because that was the whole reason they wanted to go on part of the caravan in the first place.

About 80 cars of various years left Portland bright and early Friday morning heading up past Mt Hood and down thru Hood River to Hwy 84. We passed the runners heading down the mountain that were doing the Hood to Coast Event. And there were many many of them!!!

We regrouped and added the Seattle Caravaners at the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser, WA before being led by the local 3 Rivers Corvette Club into Pasco and a Great lunch put on by McCurley Car Dealerships. By this time we have added way more cars. So we probably have at least 200. After lunch we headed to Worley ID and the Coeur D Alene Resort Hotel and Casino. This place was huge! The Spokane Corvette Club had a huge raffle and we even won 2 $20 bills. Not bad for my $20 worth of raffle tickets. They served some heated finger food that was tasty and filling and work for dinner.

We had a long day Saturday but we got to see the oldest Corvette, The ZR1 that was auctioned off for 1 million dollars plus many others from the private collection of the Ressler family. They served pulled pork and shuttled us to the car garages. Before we arrived at the Ressler Ranch. Lunch was in Missoula, MT hosted by Karl Tyler Chevrolet with help from the Hellgate Corvette Club. After viewing the car collection then it was on to Billings and finally done for the night.

This morning we were up at 4:45 that was AM believe it or not, and dressed and down to breakfast which we were told last night started at 5:00 only to find out it was 5:45 so back upstairs and finished packing and even made a trip to shoehorn everything back into the car, then eat and driver’s meeting at 7:15 and on the road again by 7:30.

We stopprd in Casper Wy for lunch hosted by the local Corvette Club and catered by Famous Dave’s. It was real cool they had it outside at the local mall and directed cars into the parking lot which looked like there must have been at least 300.

Now we’re headed to Cheyenne for the night. The Highway reader boards keep saying strong winds at least 35 MPH. Ha Ha We’ve been poured on for the passed couple of days and its been cold. Finally the rain quits and the sun in trying to come out the temp is 82 degrees but now the winds Blow!!!! But we hear we’re headed into the hot weather. Good thing cause I sure don’t have any cold weather clothes with me.

That’s all for now!!!
Cheryl


 

August 23, 2014

Cheryl & Dyarle Sharkey are on their way to Bowling Green! Here are some of the photos they’ve sent back to share with you.

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