[Blackmore]

What do two recovering audiophiles do on Labor Day weekend?  Road trip up the River Road to Grafton, then head north on back roads and through cornfields, cross the Mississippi at Louisiana, a bit of antique shopping in Clarksville, then eat dinner at McGurk's in O'Fallon.  What a great day for a cruise.



 
'Burd meets Cora (my 2004 Vette) in Louisiana




Our caravan leaders today; Scott and Laura with the beautiful 'Burd.

Lisa and I had such a great time today and we're already looking forward to the next "open air" tour.  Thanks again.

[Scott F.]

It was the perfect day for a top down trip, 80 degrees, sunny, big puffy white clouds and a light breeze. Doesn't get much better

Mark mentioned the 'trip' but it was the best part of 250 miles. Pretty much an all day affair, noon til 9:00, just hanging in the slow lane counting cows, and meeting new friends all along the way. Here's a quick snap of the route.

 

I snapped a few pics along the way with my phone mounted to the dashboard. This one is crossing over into Alton on the 367 bridge.
 

Next one is downtown Alton at the grain elevators. There were a ton of bikers out yesterday.
 

This one is on the way to Grafton on the Great River Road
 

..and this last one is of Cora, Mark and Lisa's Cora-vette....there's a story behind that one
 
...she's one sweet ride  I'm pretty sure after my Mustang is done, my next one will be a newer C7 convertible.


As Mark mentioned, we're 'recovering'. Beside having petrol in my blood (as BISL said a while back), the car culture out there just can't be beat. Everywhere you go, every time you stop, you meet nice people. Whether you are just driving down the road and somebody honks and gives you the thumbs up or you stop for gas and strike up two or three conversations, or you do like we did in Clarksville at the antique mall. I purposely pulled in behind a 65 AC Cobra. When we got done roaming through history, our cars were surrounded by other car guys (and gals). We immediately struck up a conversation about cars and talked for about 20 minutes.

Everybody's car has a story that goes with it and it's great fun to share. If you like people, this is a great way to meet new friends. Come to find out, this guy and several others from his neighborhood all have convertibles (the others were a Camaro and an Audi) and when its nice they all head out for 'convertible days'. They just go out and hit the back roads of our beautiful state. In turn, after we finished our conversation, we all left the antique mall and formed a 'caravan' and carved our way through the incredibly beautiful, pastoral settings of the Missouri countryside. For those of you in the EU or elsewhere, the Missouri countryside is very similar landscape and weather to Germany, hence our large German ancestry in the area.

Anyway, it was a great way to spend the day. It doesn't get much better that that




...oh, I think I got almost 12.5mpg out of the old gurl

[Blackmore]

Hey BISL,

Here's my view from behind the 'Burd. Beautiful!!!  Oh, by the way, this was a T intersection at the junction of W and F.  We weren't lost, but we were starting to wonder WTF will we get back to civilization. 

[JohnH12]

Nice pics and good ending 

[Bob in St. Louis]

ohhh... You guys are making me drool.
One of these days, I'll have my chariot. I've already got 'er picked out. Solid lineage, she is.
Not sure about the convertable thing though. I hate the sun. 

Scott, that's the second time you've talked about purchasing a Chevy.
I'm still skeptical, as I know your disdain.

Looks like an awesome trip. A perfect way to spent a perfect day. Wonderful weather for an even like this!

Mark I didn't know you owned a Vette!?!!? 

[Guy 13]

Hey BISL,

Here's my view from behind the 'Burd. Beautiful!!!  Oh, by the way, this was a T intersection at the junction of W and F.  We weren't lost, but we were starting to wonder WTF will we get back to civilization. 

Hi,
just want to share my opinion about that car.
A notch, a small one, below the Ford Thunderbird 1963
in a beauty contest.
Those were the golden years of beautiful cars era.

Guy 13
on planet Vietnam.

The Thunderbird of the sixties are, to me, even more beautiful
than any Corvette, even the more recent and redesign one.

[Bob in St. Louis]

'65 T-Bird and a '63 split window 'Vette are two of the most iconic American vehicles of all time.
They were two totally different cars, two totally different purposes.
Those cars... no matter what side of the automotive fence you're on.... bring car "rivals" together.
Choosing one seems to me like choosing which of my children I like the most.

That being said, I'm a Chevy man.
But that T-Bird is amazing. Rolling automotive art. Timeless.

[Blackmore]

Isn't 'Burd just a thing of beauty? I'm so impressed with the design and the features they packed into a 1966 car. Lisa and I were looking at small SUV like Honda and VW and we drove home asking ourselves why the two of us needed more room just to take the cats to Springfield MO twice a year for the holidays??? So, one thing led to another and we bought a Vette in Springfield about a month ago. I love that thing and get a smile every time I drive it.  Still have the Jetta diesel for daily use, but Cora gets to play on the weekends.   

[mcgsxr]

My father in law used to restore 65 and 66's so I have heard a lot about that vintage T Bird over the years.  It is one of my personal favorites too, with the very aeronautical guages and swing away steering wheel.

Great condition, and nice to see it out in the world Scott!

I have not driven my 69 T Bird much this season (around 500 miles) as it has been too hot for me most of the summer.  Black vinyl and no AC is a fun mix in daytime 90+!

We are moving into the Fall, my fav time to drive the car.  I LOVE 70-75 degrees with no humidity.

The Vette is a fun ride too, way more sporting.

Eventually I suspect I will go modern Mustang convertible, but for the next 2-3 years the T Bird will hold court in my garage!

[Scott F.]

mcgsxr, you really need to get your TBird out more. They are such fun to drive, and drive is what we do with ours. Unlike so many of the car guys out there that have these great cars that are covered in their garage and only trotted out for car shows, we drive ours. We're out 2-3-4 times a week in it. Heck, if it isn't too hot, I use it to commute to work. Several times a week we take it out for sunset cruises. We just set the compass on West and go.

If it rains on us, oh well, we put the top up. Which reminds me, I need new wiper blades. As I tell everyone, this thing isn't made of sugar, it won't melt if it gets wet. Granted, it's a pain to get all the water spots off that paint but that's part of the fun of being its caretaker. We wear our dead bugs and rock chips with pride as we are true car guys, we drive them. All that typed, She gets put away during the winter. I don't want to add rust from the salt to my list of things to fix.

[mcgsxr]

I know Scott. 

My only excuse is the low mileage and my desire to retain that.  I bought it 5 years ago with 27K original miles.  It now has 32K miles.

It is a smooth cruiser for sure and loves 50-80 mph.  Drinks a little less at those speeds too.

And it is an old man magnet!  Cannot go to the Beer Store or fill up with gas without a conversation.  But I kinda like that about her.  Great road presence, and such a rare bird in these parts.