Just Horsin' Around
CORSA International Convention
June 14-18, 2004
Part 2: Shiny Cars
Wednesday morning I got up bright and early to get my Corsa cleaned up for the car display. I keep thinking I should enter it in the Concours, but I usually don't have the time to do the kind of cleaning necessary to be competitive. At least, that's what I tell myself.
Anyway, I was out at the parking lot at 6:30 a.m. wiping the previous night's rain off the car (I left Joy and the kids sleeping in the hotel room), and next to me was Chuck Armer and Darth Vair. I know everyone has seen the pictures but it really is a beautiful car.
It's easy and pleasant to pass time with Chuck. He has plenty of stories and is a real down to earth guy. In no time at all the cars were clean and it was time to go to the lot where the Car Display and Concours were taking place. I had installed vent tubes in my carbs the week before and had done something wrong on the left-side carbs. The car seemed to not make much power from that bank, so that it appeared to be running lean on the left. But it would make an embarrassingly large cloud of smoke from that side until it was warm, and reeked of gasoline even though none seemed to be leaking anywhere. It also idled roughly. Once the cars were clean, Chuck fired up Darth Vair, and I chugged along behind him, mosquito fogger in full operation.
I took a bunch of pictures at the Concours and Car Display. Here are some of the highlights:
Here we have the extremely rare '65 Trailer Dropping Mosquito Fogger.
John Tyger's Cameo Beige/red '65 Monza was entered in the Concours; it's not a color combo that screams at you. I thought the car was very attractive:
The judges evaluate Robert Nicholson's very clean '60 sedan:
I don't recall the name of the owner of this van, but the '60s hippy motif was carried out impeccably. I loved it:
About halfway through the morning I remembered to call my wife on the cell phone and wish her happy anniversary. Fifteen years! Jake later came down and joined me in checking out the cars.
After lunch I headed down to the pool with the kids, where Joy had spent most of her morning. I told Joy to go up to the room and take a break. While hanging with the wet 'n' wild crowd, I got a call on my cell phone from WMCC member Ryan Counterman, inviting us to dinner with a group of other West Michigan members. I said that sounded just fine. When I called Joy she reminded me of our dinner plans to go out together alone to celebrate our anniversary.
Oops.
Classic guy blunder. She was a good sport about it, which turned out to be a good thing.
We went to dinner at a local pizza joint early enough that I could make the Virtual Vairs meeting after dinner. Our group of diners included Steve Ridderman, Dave Ziebarth, Ryan Counterman, and John and Cathy Koning, plus our gang of six. Dinner passed pleasantly. After eating we were sitting and chatting when my heart began pounding like a trip hammer. I knew what this was: a reaction to a medication I was on that had put me in the ER in Lansing the previous Sunday. When the racing did not stop, we called 911 and in virtually no time an ambulance was there. John and Cathy graciously offered to take our kids to their camper and watch them while Joy and I went to the hospital.
Do I know how to plan a romantic anniversary dinner, or what?
In the ambulance I was given a drug that slowed my heart rate from 210 beats per minute to around 40. Nevertheless, it was off to the hospital, and that was it for the Virtual Vairs meeting. We got back to the hotel around 11:40 by which time the fun was over. I called John and Cathy and they brought the kids back.
As an unexpected bonus, John and Cathy offered to take two of our kids with them on the rally the next day, so that we would not have to go in the Suburban (that old six people in the Corsa thing). What a wonderful offer! We accepted.