Yo chaps!
Thursday morning brought the end of the V8 meet in Sebring. Got up early and
packed,then went outside to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch.
Although we were miles away, the vapour plume and a very small silver speck
would be seen with the naked eye. Quite a sight. Picked up a copy of the
Tamba Bay area newspaper (had a colour photo of some of the MGs on the street
in Sebring), said our goodbyes, and some of us (Dave Deerson, Ian Pender,
Gene and Donna Fox, Jim Brucato, and myself) left for breakfast at a local
diner. Jim departed the group here, the remainder of us off to Orlando to
spend the day at Universal Studios. Quite a tourist trap...we did find
"nourishment" at a nice Irish pub...and watch an impressive Mardi Gras style
parade early in the evening. Ian, Dave, and I all did a double-take at the
same time when who appeared to be Jim Brucato walked past us without
speaking....must have been his evil twin!
Friday morning, I left the group (who were heading over to Bob "I'll
whupyourass" McClain's hous for breakfast) and headed solo towards home. I
tried to find the Museum of Drag Racing a little down the road on I-75, but
signage was terrible...I gave up. It was close to lunchtime, so I pulled off
near Gainesville at a small cafe I had passed on the trip down. The waitress
must have been in a hurry to get to work as she was not wearing a stitch of
clothing. I developed a strange craving for "eggs over-easy". Yes, it was the
"We bare all cafe."...six bikers, a couple of truckers, the waitress, and
myself. After a brief stop here, I continued north on I-75, reaching Atlanta
about 3:30pm....and miracle of miracles, NO TRAFFIC PROBLEMS! (Mr.McCalin,
did we have a bet here?...If so, you lose!) On north to Chatanooga, some fun
in the hills straigtening the curves, and then on to Nashville, but not
before a stop in Murphfreesboro at Corky's BBQ for supper. There was no
problem with traffic in Nashville; I continued my trek home through Tennessee
and Kentucky on I-24. I was making great time, the MGC running perfectly...I
decided to drive home in one shot. Picked up I-57 about 30 miles into
Illinois and took it to Champaign. A short drive on I-74 to Exit 192 and I
would be home......But wait! Remember last Saturday morning....being pulled
over by the State Police while still in the village limits? I'm positive
that Marc Richards was sitting in his squad car in the median near milepost
187 ... I waved as I sped past him. (By the way, Marc...you lose our original
bet as well....the MGC did NOT break down, o ye of little faith!) I called
Jean and had her open the garage door and "put the horse in the barn" at
12:40am CST. Today's journey was a little over 18 trouble free and memorable
hours.
I racked up almost 2400 miles on the MGC this week...without so much as even
the points closing up! (OK...so the tachometer did decide to quit working on
Friday morning as I left the diner.) Several unforgetable experiences ( the
track, the shuttle launch, the drive to and from Sebring) will make this trip
a conversation piece for a long time.
Hope that you've enjoyed these updates...I enjoyed hearing comments from some
of you throughout the past week.
See you on the road!
Regards...
rick ingram
1969 MGC
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