HRPT 2017- June 11: Day 2- Kansas City, MO to Newton, IA (260 miles)

Today marked the first driving leg of the Power Tour. It seems that everyone planned on leaving at the same time this morning.  It's pretty sweet to hear 50 hot rods, sports cars, and muscle cars all start up at once.  We would have left as planned, but we had to wait a few extra minutes for Scott.  Tara's convinced he likes to make a grand entrance any chance he gets.  We also were joined by our friends Ted and Lori from Texas in their silver Pontiac GTO who we met last year.

Our intrepid band

We hit the road around 7:45 and the morning started off perfectly cool. Our route was really nice.  It was predominantly two lane winding country roads through farm country.  Sunday is Tara's favorite driving day because of all the folks that come out to watch the Power Tour roll through.  The traffic was almost exclusively Power Tour cars. 

Sunday brings out the most roadside observers

Early in the day, we hit one stop sign where everyone had to turn right and traffic stacked up a little, but not bad.  The route took us through Chillicothe, MO, which claims to be the home of sliced bread. 

Best looking traffic

The greatest invention since...

Lori found our lunch stop at a tiny place called Home Town Café in Lineville, IA (guess where it's located?).  It was cafeteria style and seemed most of the town (population 28) ate there.  The fried chicken was REALLY good and the service was great.  The locals were super friendly and asked lots of questions about the Tour and were amazed we drove all the way from Florida.

This place seats the entire town.

The fried chicken was good.  The McRib meat, not so much.

After lunch we made our way to the venue, Iowa Speedway. Our cool morning weather gave way to the heat wave we had heard so much about.  One bank sign we passed said 89 degrees.  That's when it's nice to have A/C.  We rolled up the windows and hit the air and rode the rest of the way in manmade coolness.   Somehow, we timed our arrival at the speedway perfectly.  We drove right into the venue.  Within a few minutes after we arrived though, the traffic coming in was backed up all the way around the track.  After they initially parked us, Tara, Jacob and I promptly drove to find better spots.  There were absolutely no trees, so we found the next best option, a grass spot at the end of a row where we could watch the cars pass by.  It was hot, but there was a strong wind blowing.  Unfortunately, the road and pathways were gravel and dirt and the wind and passing cars whipped it up pretty good. 

King of the Road

King of the Track

The motivator for supercharging my Corvette.  840 HP and it's for sale!!!

Yeah, it's got a HEMI!

Once we were parked, Jacob and I went to get clocked in, pick up our magnets and buy today's "participant" shirts.  I also bought a few of the special edition Hot Rod Power Tour diecast cars (only 768 were made) for my niece and nephew (I also bought one for me too.  There was a vendor selling some cool plasma cut signs and they had an Ace Café one, so I had to buy that.  I also bought a GTX sign for the garage.  Who knows, before the end of the trip, I may have one for each of the cars.  They don't have an Acadian one though, I asked.

Jacob and I went back to the cars and that's when Tara and I got the idea to climb to the top of the grandstands to try and get an overhead photo of the showfield.  There were a steady stream of cars coming and going, yet there were at least a thousand in the parking lot.  The wind up top was so strong, it blew us backward. 

Blown away

The panoramic doesn't show the field as well as this video (mute your sound so you don't hear the wind

We went back to the car and then decided to bail out of the heat, wind and dust.  Jacob Googled a pressure washer car wash and we headed out.  One parking guy threw a couple F-bombs at us for going the "wrong way", but all of the exit signs were pointing in the direction we left.  We got the Acadian cleaned up and headed to the hotel for a shower and dinner.  I got some rock star parking on the side of the building in the shade.

We had dinner at a La Cabana Mexican restaurant. It was really good.  After dinner, we went back to the hotel and spent some time in the parking lot.  Tara had some of Jacob's uncle's homemade moonshine.

Hot rod Buick 8

Gasp, sssmooooth.

The night had cooled down significantly and it was a great evening to be outside.  Tara and I walked across the road to the next hotel over and took in the sights at their lot too.  My favorite was a big Lincoln powered by a  twin turbo LS motor.  Tara liked the Bugeye Sprite.

Twin Turbo LS in a Lincoln!!!!

It's all smiles (and a supercharger)

There's just about one of every car on this tour, including an old Datsun

HRPT 2017- June 10: Day 1- Kansas City, MO to Kansas City, MO (0 miles)

The Power Tour officially started today with absolutely perfect weather.  It was cool in the morning and there was a constant breeze that kept the heat at bay all day.  We all had breakfast at the hotel before heading across the street to the venue at Arrowhead Stadium.  We got there a few minutes before they opened the gates, and waited in a holding parking lot.  The holding lot rivals many car shows I have been to.  There must have been 200-300 cars.  When they opened the gates we all proceeded in a fairly orderly fashion around the stadium to the Power Tour lot.  As soon as Tara, Jacob and I got in the gate, we made a bee line for parking spots along the grass median near a great shade tree.   Others had the same idea and it didn't take long for the lot around us to fill up.  Everyone gets excited for Power Tour.  We passed a little kid in a Ghostbusters pedal car- complete with trapped ghost on the back.

Primo parking!!

Who you gonna call?

Once we were parked, we grabbed our credentials and made our way to the sponsors midway and main stage to get clocked in and pick up the Power Tour freebies.  I had already bought my Kansas City Participant's t-shirt yesterday, so I was able to skip the t-shirt sales trailer.  For the rest of the stuff, it's like automotive trick-or-treating.  Spray wax from Mother's, Magnets from MSD, T-shirts and hats from GM, more hats from Edelbrock, and, of course, the Hot Rod Power 2017 windshield sticker from Painless Wiring.

Not only do we get free stuff, but the sponsors also have some really unique cars parked around them. I was impressed by a Ring Brothers (big time performance car builders) totally custom yellow and black DeTomasso Pantera.   While we were at the Edelbrock trailer, I made sure to thank the Edelbrock guys for convincing me to buy the supercharger for the Corvette (it's been a really fun year with that puppy installed) and we also offered our condolences on Vic Edelbrock, Jr's passing away.  He was a Power Tour staple.  He would long haul his supercharged Corvette and sit for lengths of time signing autographs.  The automotive world will certainly miss him.

Ring Brothers Pantera

Red White and Blue Beauty

After we made our rounds, we checked out some of the cars in the parking lot and then went back to the cars.  Pictures cannot begin to demonstrate the sheer awesomeness of thousands of show cars (and a few "Plan B" normal cars) all gathered in one parking lot. Whatever your fancy, it's probably here somewhere. 

They just kept coming after this was shot too!  We were parked towards the top of the photo

Camaros of all generations were by far the most plentiful.  There are also Vipers, rat rods with wicked turbo engines, we counted at least 4 Mustang IIs. We even saw a 1970's tricked out motor home.  This event is an gearhead's dream.

Oooh shiny!

Once at the car, I added the "2017" to the six previous Power Tour years on the back windshield.  It was a tight fit and I may need to move some of them around when we get home.  To our benefit, not only did our tree provide plenty of shade, it was right by the entrance and exit and proved to be a great spot to watch the cars come and go.  We talked to several long haulers we had met last year in Wichita.  They had a beautiful orange 1969 Satellite.  I didn't get a picture, but I will try and stalk them down at the next stop.  

Tim and his '57

1967 Chevelle Gasser- "Stuck Up"

Blue and white and white and blue

We had lunch via a Kansas City barbecue food truck.  Tara and I split the "fat kid" which was an open faced sandwich loaded with brisket, cole slaw, beans and sauce.  It was really good.  We picked a different route back through the parking lot so that we would be able to see different cars. 

Some of the amazing cars today included a 1971 'Cuda convertible, a Mercury Cougar on a custom car hauler that may once have been a fire truck,

1971 'Cuda Convertible

It doesn't look like much...

but TURBO!!!

For the discerning Corvette owner worried about turbo lag, there's always a blower option!!

We spent as much time at the venue today and took full advantage of the great weather.  There's a heat wave hitting many of our Tour stops this year and who knows how hot it might be tomorrow or the next day.  Tara talked to tons of people about the Acadian.  The car draws more questions than Alex Trebec.

Oh, it's a Canadian car, eh?  You're from where?

How El Caminos are made.

We had dinner and more than a few drinks with our friends at the hotel before heading out to the Acadian to a bit of maintenance before our first driving leg.  We topped off the power steering fluid, checked the oil and, most importantly, re-glued the mirrored centers of the "6" and "o" on Tara's front license plate.  Tomorrow we are off to Newton, IA.

A room with a view

HRPT 2017- June 7-9: Getting There- Orlando, FL to Kansas City, MO (1,246 Miles)

After what felt like an eternity, it was time to head out for the 2017 Power Tour.  At first, I wasn't thrilled when the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m.  I'd say we woke up "bright and early", but there was nothing "bright" about the weather.  We didn't reach dry land until around Macon, GA.  We have made the Florida to wherever, drive enough times, that I could practically predict our gas stops.  The plan was to meet up with our friends Bobby and Sarah in Alpharetta for dinner before continuing on to our hotel in Chattanooga.  Since we had some time to kill before dinner, Tara wanted to wash the car. Only, Alpharetta doesn't have those pressure washer car washes.  The place we stopped had a tunnel, but instead of machines, there was an army of people at different stations who washed, rinsed, and then dried the car.  Tara was nervous, but secretly, I know she enjoyed not having to clean it herself.  After dinner, I continued on the few extra hours to the hotel, while Tara "rested her eyes"in the passenger seat.

Nothing like driving a 50 year old car in torrential rain.

Speedy hand-wash- I had to stop Tara from trying to "help."

Thursday's weather was the opposite of Wednesday and was practically perfect.  It was cool for most of the day.  The drive through the Tennessee mountains is a really nice one.  Early along, we spotted one of those brown roadside attraction signs for "Russell Cave national monument."  We figured: "what the heck" and jumped off the highway to check it out.  We crossed the line into Alabama (one state I didn't expect to go through this year). We missed the park entrance and drove down a two lane farm road that got rougher and narrower as we went. I know those cows have never seen an Acadian.   Once we got to the park, we watched the 7 minute video about all of the prehistoric people who used the cave as a home.  We hiked the boardwalk down to the cave and then went down the nature trail.  It was an unexpected side excursion. 

If only they made an extendable pole to mount the phone for these kind of pictures

Then it was back on track to get to Kansas City.  Tara lamented that we hadn't seen any Power Tour cars.  We then passed a '56 Chevy and a new Mustang on the side of the road.  I said there's some, and as we passed, we realized it was our friends Kym and Fred with a flat tire.  Fortunately, the Mustang was another friend from Orlando, who just happened to pass by.  We were in the left lane and by the time we realized it was Fred and Kym, we were well down the road, plus they looked like they had everything under control. 

We stopped for lunch and an apple dumpling at Honeybakers in Marion, IL.  We found the place on the way home last year and made sure to make it a lunch stop on the way back out.  You really should find some reason to go through Madison just to try the place.

Finally, having crossed 5 different rivers named for states (Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri), we arrived at our destination: Kansas City, KANSAS.  We had to go back to Kansas because we still had a room night credit from a snafu with last year's hotel bookings.  That added an extra 40 minutes to a grueling 10 driving hour day.


Today, we slept in a little.  While we slept, the hotel sprinklers undid all of the good cleaning that the car got in Alpharetta.  Tara cleaned the car for what will be one of hundreds of times.  Then we went to the Overland Park Arboretum.  I'm not a big flowers and trees guy, but it was really an impressive place.  We then met Mark McKee, CEO of Ace Café, for lunch at Joe's Kansas City (closely related to Oklahoma Joe's which Ace is bringing to Orlando- Fall 2017). 

I call this one "My friend Claude."

Tara and Mark McKee at Joe's- Coming soon to an Orlando near you.

Then it was on to pick up our credentials at Arrowhead Stadium.  When we pulled into the parking lot, we ran into a group of buddies from Power Tours past.  We spent some time hanging with them under a shade tree, then got registered.  Tara complained about the "regular" car that went out of its way to park next to the Acadian.  (that "regular car" was a twin turbo AMG Mercedes).  Turns out, it was owned by our friend Jake who knew it would drive Tara nuts if he parked next to her.  We caught up with the rest of our usual crew- Tim and Lori, Tim and Timmy, Jacob, and Ken and Bryson at the registration tent.  It was then when the second tire casualty in our group appeared- Jacob found a screw in his tire- he drove all the way from Orlando with it.

A little early for game day.

Jacob's screwed tire

We all then went to a mini show hosted by Laid Back Garage at "Chux Trux."  They had just laid new blacktop and if you stood in one place too long, you began to sink.  It was the hottest part of the day.  We didn't stay long. 

Laid Back at Chux Trux

which of these things is not like the others?

We followed the local Kansas contingent of our group (Scott and James) back to the hotel where we took advantage of the free happy hour and the cooler weather in the parking lot.  We ran into Mike with the two orange Camaros that got hit with the tent at the end of last year's tour.  Both cars were fixed and gorgeous.  Tomorrow is the official Power Tour kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium.

Anything this yellow ought to have the word Taxi on it!

Car show in the parking lot!

Changing an exhaust manifold gasket in the parking lot at dusk.

Here are some more pictures from today:

'56 Chevy Sedan and Wagon

Yeah, It's got a HEMI!