SuperG
New Member
I drove from Houston to San Antonio with new aluminum sub-frame bushings (Thanks Bruce!) and plug wires. What a difference! No more clunking on bumps or turns, a little more power from the throttle. After traveling about 220 miles at an average 85 mph (traffic moved that fast on I-10) I got 25 mpg…used to get 19 mpg!
Gathered in the parking lot on Saturday morning are 8 SHO’s and a ’95 T-Bird SC all ready for some fun. As I approach my car to throw some things in, I found Kirby checking his fluids. What a great idea, especially since I never got around to changing my oil. So I added 3 quarts of oil and a little coolant…
So we left for some obscure roads around 10am. Kudos to the folks who picked the route…good asphalt, very few cars, plenty of straight-aways, and gobs of turns!
As we moved along at a pace, which may or may not have exceeded the posted limits, passing a few folks along the way, taking turns faster than I had ever before, I was thinking this is great fun and quite a challenge. After making a brief stop to stretch our legs and refuel, Kerby nonchalantly remarks, “Usually we travel at a bit brisker pace.” So begins the many great quotes of the day…
We saw all kinds of great roads, which challenged the cars and their drivers…especially when there are plenty of loose pebbles on the road to be “tossed” to the car behind…the first reason I decided to take the tail end of the line. The second reason…some drivers had a tendency to use more road than they should have. The 3rd reason…combining the first 2 reasons added to way more pebble tossing! 4th…It made for some great video taping.
In addition to the pebbles clinking the front end, every once in a while a challenging part of the course was the location if those teeny animals…what are they called? Oh yeah…road ****. Anyway, it was very interesting to see how we all were able to dodge the tire-slicking varmints while still avoiding oncoming traffic.
The turns were fast and sharp, testing the limits of our tires…perhaps the courage of some of the drivers, too.
We finally hit some straight-aways where speeds were increased to a tad over the 70 mph posted limit. Thank goodness I changed from “T” to “V” rated tires! Then we stopped in Rock Springs for lunch, gasoline, and to fix Dales shredded fan belt. Wow, those things sure dish out a lot of smoke and stink!
So we headed over to the Vaquero Restaurant. Try the Vaquero Burger Special…1 pound of beef on a bun the size of a dinner plate! I finished ¾ of the burger when I realized my seat belt might be a little uncomfortable…
So while Dale, Mike Murphy, and Tony stayed behind, the 6 remaining vehicles took off for a short loop, which would bring us back to Rock Springs. This was definitely the most fun part of the drive. The twisties were along some pretty steep hills, so it was even more challenging than before. And the straight-aways were really long where we hit our highest speeds of the day…but still only a tad over 70 mph...
It was great…especially when we all noticed the local sheriff watching us drive by! The F250 turned around as we slowed to 80 mph…the poor guy couldn’t catch up, so we slowed even more. The sheriff’s deputy passed me and Andy (T-Bird SC) and we all pulled over. Then behind me came the Sheriff in his F250…then a state trooper showed up in his black and white Crown Vic. After a short consultation, the 3 officers gave us all tickets for speeds UNDER the typical max speed before jail time becomes an issue…whew! When the nice officers left, we suddenly realized we were back in Rock Springs! So there’s a $1000 worth of citations, plus the gas and food we purchased…Rock Springs did well that day!
So we left back for SA via I-10 where Don broke rank and picked up the pace (again). So we ended up racing a little Boxter…that guy’s girlfriend was NOT happy! Otherwise, it was just fun to watch people's expressions as theynoticed all our cars as we passed them by…
I can’t wait until January!
Here are some more memorable quotes of the day:
“Usually we travel at a bit brisker pace,” Kerby to Gary at our first stop after traveling quite quickly in the first place.
“Are you having fun, yet?” Mike Murphy asked everyone.
“What’s that smell?” asked several drivers after taking our first break from the twisties.
“We clocked you going 92 mph and the lead car going 98 mph, but we know you were traveling much faster than that, huh?” said the Sheriff. “Yes sir,” replied the meek little driver who thought he was going to jail…
“Sir, we’re citing you for 92 in a 70.” “Is that ALL?” asked Mike D. “You should have seen us a few minutes ago!”
“Thanks, Dale, for breaking down.” Mike Murphy to Dale after learning that the local police just wrote $1000 in fines to the group that took a quick spin around the hillside.
<small>[ October 22, 2003, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: SuperG ]</small>
Gathered in the parking lot on Saturday morning are 8 SHO’s and a ’95 T-Bird SC all ready for some fun. As I approach my car to throw some things in, I found Kirby checking his fluids. What a great idea, especially since I never got around to changing my oil. So I added 3 quarts of oil and a little coolant…
So we left for some obscure roads around 10am. Kudos to the folks who picked the route…good asphalt, very few cars, plenty of straight-aways, and gobs of turns!
As we moved along at a pace, which may or may not have exceeded the posted limits, passing a few folks along the way, taking turns faster than I had ever before, I was thinking this is great fun and quite a challenge. After making a brief stop to stretch our legs and refuel, Kerby nonchalantly remarks, “Usually we travel at a bit brisker pace.” So begins the many great quotes of the day…
We saw all kinds of great roads, which challenged the cars and their drivers…especially when there are plenty of loose pebbles on the road to be “tossed” to the car behind…the first reason I decided to take the tail end of the line. The second reason…some drivers had a tendency to use more road than they should have. The 3rd reason…combining the first 2 reasons added to way more pebble tossing! 4th…It made for some great video taping.
In addition to the pebbles clinking the front end, every once in a while a challenging part of the course was the location if those teeny animals…what are they called? Oh yeah…road ****. Anyway, it was very interesting to see how we all were able to dodge the tire-slicking varmints while still avoiding oncoming traffic.
The turns were fast and sharp, testing the limits of our tires…perhaps the courage of some of the drivers, too.
We finally hit some straight-aways where speeds were increased to a tad over the 70 mph posted limit. Thank goodness I changed from “T” to “V” rated tires! Then we stopped in Rock Springs for lunch, gasoline, and to fix Dales shredded fan belt. Wow, those things sure dish out a lot of smoke and stink!
So we headed over to the Vaquero Restaurant. Try the Vaquero Burger Special…1 pound of beef on a bun the size of a dinner plate! I finished ¾ of the burger when I realized my seat belt might be a little uncomfortable…
So while Dale, Mike Murphy, and Tony stayed behind, the 6 remaining vehicles took off for a short loop, which would bring us back to Rock Springs. This was definitely the most fun part of the drive. The twisties were along some pretty steep hills, so it was even more challenging than before. And the straight-aways were really long where we hit our highest speeds of the day…but still only a tad over 70 mph...
It was great…especially when we all noticed the local sheriff watching us drive by! The F250 turned around as we slowed to 80 mph…the poor guy couldn’t catch up, so we slowed even more. The sheriff’s deputy passed me and Andy (T-Bird SC) and we all pulled over. Then behind me came the Sheriff in his F250…then a state trooper showed up in his black and white Crown Vic. After a short consultation, the 3 officers gave us all tickets for speeds UNDER the typical max speed before jail time becomes an issue…whew! When the nice officers left, we suddenly realized we were back in Rock Springs! So there’s a $1000 worth of citations, plus the gas and food we purchased…Rock Springs did well that day!
So we left back for SA via I-10 where Don broke rank and picked up the pace (again). So we ended up racing a little Boxter…that guy’s girlfriend was NOT happy! Otherwise, it was just fun to watch people's expressions as theynoticed all our cars as we passed them by…
I can’t wait until January!
Here are some more memorable quotes of the day:
“Usually we travel at a bit brisker pace,” Kerby to Gary at our first stop after traveling quite quickly in the first place.
“Are you having fun, yet?” Mike Murphy asked everyone.
“What’s that smell?” asked several drivers after taking our first break from the twisties.
“We clocked you going 92 mph and the lead car going 98 mph, but we know you were traveling much faster than that, huh?” said the Sheriff. “Yes sir,” replied the meek little driver who thought he was going to jail…
“Sir, we’re citing you for 92 in a 70.” “Is that ALL?” asked Mike D. “You should have seen us a few minutes ago!”
“Thanks, Dale, for breaking down.” Mike Murphy to Dale after learning that the local police just wrote $1000 in fines to the group that took a quick spin around the hillside.
<small>[ October 22, 2003, 02:12 PM: Message edited by: SuperG ]</small>
Jeremy H will be the first to know.... God bless Uncle Sam for providing the military with free garages and lots of tools!
