Multi-State Group Cruise to FFR Open House on June 11th - Who's IN?

[Dave Smith]

Ralph,

Shoot! I thought all was good with your wife. All our thoughts and prayers are with you man. Take care.

[R. Button]

Sorry all... we were loaded up, car all prepped - new tires, new older style soft top installed, improved lighting, even the traveling foods were in place! All I had to do was start it up, roll out of here at 5am, after the wife - who had already spent a few days at the hospital - said she was fine and to get out of the house for a road trip... when at 3'ish in the morning Jake has a seizure brought on by a temp of 106. Wife is a light sleeper, heard it and went to work on Jake, ambulance was called, Jake got an ambulance ride to the hospital where he still is now as they figure out what is the problem. I will not be at the Open House after all!

[Joe]

Ralph, sorry to hear the news. I hope everything turns out okay. Prayers from Harrisburg, PA.

Joe --

The only GPS track I have is the current one to the ER at the medical center started at 3:30AM as I followed the ambulance.

[LuckyWinner]

In the picture taken in the parking lot, whos silver gray Roadster is up front with the 15" wheels?

[Dave Smith]

No worries Ralph on this end, just thoughts and prayers for you guys and especially for Jake. We will think of you tomorrow and you'll be with us in spirit. Its been a long road we've traveled together and there are many miles ahead, just not this time. Take it easy and let us know how things are going.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Thoughts and prayers are with Jake for a quick recovery and speedy return to home.

Don't worry Ralph, although Joe is trying hard to catch you on miles I think you're still safely in the lead!

All my best,
Jeff

[Joe]

The Texas / Missouri / Alabama group finally made up to Mass! Here are a few photos from along the way.



Al Jurgeans cruising in his recently finished MK4 (drove up from Mobile, AL.)



Wayne and Sandy Covey living large up the FFR soft top. They were secretly hoping that it would rain.... on the non-soft top cars... or maybe just ME!



The group took a lunch break at my Mom's house in Friendly, W.V. Burgers, spareribs, baked beans, potato salad, etc.. Thanks for everything Mom! It was greatly appreciated. The "Reptile Pit Stop" signs at the street was a nice touch!



One of the Kentucky Cobra Club members owns one of the nicest Coupes I have ever seen. SPECTACULAR doesn't do it justice.

[Joe]

The group unwinding after a great day of driving. My cousin Chris from Washinton D.C. surprised me by tracking us down on the highway. An hour out of Harrisburg he texted me, "look behind you!" That Google Latitude map works pretty good!



Wayne and Patty in their MK2 from Missouri putting some miles down. They joined the group in Louisville, KY.



Some of the Open House Group with some of the Kentucky Cobra Club members that met us at the hotel in Harrisburg, PA. They rolled out the carpet for us and took us to a great burger restaurant. Afterwards the treated us to a social hour in the parking lot of the hotel. Thanks Juan and everyone else!



Mike Covey recovering after a long hot day in the car. They got caught in a long 2-3 hour traffic jam prior to meeting up with the Open House Group..

[Joe]

My car cooling down next to Wayne65's car.

[Joe]

I thought this was kind of cool. Links to some more photos.

http://www.kentuckycobraclub.com/node/1323

[Joe]

In the picture taken in the parking lot, whos silver gray Roadster is up front with the 15" wheels?

Sorry, exactly which photo are you talking about?

[timdks]

So Joe, who are the people in the picture from where do they hale, other than the waitress?

[Joe]

So Joe, who are the people in the picture from where do they hale, other than the waitress?

Closest to the camera is mike covey (Rockport, TX.), and then around to the right is his wife Sandy, then Al Jurgeans (Mobile, AL) in blue shirt, then Wayne65 (Missouri) and his wife Patty and the person on the left side of Mike Covey is my cousin Chris who came to Harrisburg, PA. and met us. He lives near Washington D.C.

[Joe]

Rain, rain go AWAY! We had a great time at the Open House. I got to put some faces to some names on here. It was great meeting everyone. NOW, if the rain would just go away. I was suppose to already be in New Hampshire and was wanting to be driving into Canada today. It looks like the rain is lighter in VT. and the western part of Maine, so I may give that a try. Oh well, time for another cup of coffee. I'll have to think about this for a little bit before heading out today.

[Joe]

Despite the cold weather and rain, I made it up to Rockland, ME. today. Even with the bad weather, I still had a great time. I saw some beautiful places along the way. The NH/ME coastline is is a place everyone should see at least once.

[Dave Smith]

Meeting you guys was such an honor. I'll post some photos tomorrow. HARDCORE you guys are. Huge Congrats and sorry about the weather, 14 years and this was the first truly wet open house event.

[Joe]

Thanks Dave. I very much enjoyed meeting you and would have loved to sit around and talk cars with you for a few hours. Unfortunately you were literally being pulled a hundred different directions during the Open House. Thanks to you and your brother I was given the chance to realize my CRAZZY dream a few years ago. Time to get the car uncovered and push on to Halifax now. Looks like the weather is going to be a little better today!

[timdks]

Despite the cold weather and rain, I made it up to Rockland, ME. today. Even with the bad weather, I still had a great time. I saw some beautiful places along the way. The NH/ME coastline is is a place everyone should see at least once.

Outstanding pictures Joe. Hope the weather improves for the rest of your adventure.

[vnmsss]

Joe,

Congratulations on a great run! Been following this thread since you posted back in February, and hat's off to you and everyone that took this great adventure. Perhaps you've discovered, as we have, that taking a real road trip (sun, wind, rain, road construction, and yes, all those friendly waves and thumbs up in every town you pass through), in these great cars is rewarding in countless ways; From the time you turn the key, to the time you close the garage door.

Love the pictures, and I'm sure you have so many great memories from the trip (and are still building more as you continue the journey). I wish you safe travels and hope to meet up with you guys on a road trip one day in the future. There's simply no better way to see our great Country and meet some great folks along the way! Kudos to all!

Ralph...Best wishes for your family. You are the Road Warrior King, and we bow to your spirit of adventure (and your odometer!)....Wow!!! Did I mention, You're the King! ;.)

Karen

[Dave Smith]

Epic Adventure! Another FFR story that is better than fiction.

[Joe]

Yesterday I fought the rain, cold, mist and fog all the way to Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

While I was in Saint John I couldn't but help notice an interesting menu offering at Micky D's.. I give it mixed reviews.



I originally wanted to go all the way to Halifax, Nova Scotia, but it was still 5 more hours down the road. I decided that I had enough of the bad weather, especially since the forecast showed that it wasn't going to get any better for 3-4 more days, so I turned around. I spent last night in Bangor, ME. Unfortunately the weather doesn't look good in just about any direction I go right now..

So here I sit in Bangor, ME. right now. Time to figure out a route for the day, make hotel reservations, get the car cleaned up a little and hit the road.

Until next time............

Joe - -

[Joe]

So I last left off in Bangor, ME. and was trying to decide where to go next. After taking my time in Bangor, ME. I checked the weather again and noticed that areas to the west appeared to be clearing and the forecast was for WARMER weather! That was all I needed to see. I decided to take the scenic, slow route to Burlington, VT. heading down Hwy. 2.



I took in all the landscape had to offer through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. I expecially liked passing through all of the little towns along the way.

Montpelier, VT.



I was really impressed with how patriotic some of the towns along the way were.





About 7 hours later I arrived in Burlington, VT. and took a quick whirlwind tour of downtown Burlington which is right next to Lake Champlain. There were lots of open air seating restaurants/bars and the downtown area had a really nice vibe. I then decided to keep on driving and decided to drive to Utica, NY. It was already late afternoon, so I knew it was going to be a late arrival into Utica, but I really wanted to take advantage of the good weather.

I then booked a cheap motel in Utica, NY. using Priceline.com and then headed south on Hwy. 8 for five more hours of driving. The first part of the drive was along the eastern shores of Lake Champlain. Once it was time to cross over into New York I found the bridge was under construction. There was a free ferry that took me across to New York.



I never thought my Cobra would arrive in New York via water.

I got to witness a wonderful sunset looking west over the moutains in New York.

[Joe]

I got a late start from Utica, NY yesterday because I decided to get the oil changed and wash and vacuum the car. While cleaning the car up I noticed that my rear tires were looking so good. I knew I was going to buy new tires soon, but I had no idea they would wear down so much during the past 4000 miles of this trip.

I then decided to limp the car to my Mom's house in Friendly, WV and get some new rear tires ordered from TireRack and have them delivered there. I drove through Buffalo, NY. and then headed south to Friendly, WV. I hated not taking the time to see Niagra Falls, but decided that I will take a 600 mile day trip from my Mom's to see the falls once I get the new tires installed.

Anyone in West Virginia interested in making a short little day trip to Buffalo / Niagra Falls during the middle of next week?

I arrived at my Mom's house around 8:30 PM. Tires have been ordered, trunk and cockpit floors have been dried. I will hopefully get some time to start detailing the car tomorrow. For some reason I only needed to order rear tires..?? As you can see, I ran them over-inflated for the first 5-10K miles, so the center is now getting pretty thin. I got 19,000 miles out of this rear set of tires. The fronts are still going strong.



I was planning to upgrade to some Kumhos, but instead decided to save some money and just order some more rear Sumitomos. Maybe once I wear out this rear set of Sumi's, it'll be time to replace the entire set. I'll then upgrade to the Kumhos then. Hopefully I catch them on sale between now and then.

[Joe]

Well, the last couple of days have been crazy to say the least. You just never know what life has in store for you, do you? Yesterday I was helping out around my Mom's house trying to help out with some things that have been needing to get done before leaving for LCS on Thursday. One of the honey-do's was to remove an old satellite dish mounted up high on the side of her house. I was on the ladder at about 5 feet when I lost my balance. I fell and tried landing on my feet, but didn't land on solid ground. As a result I severely rolled my ankle and went to the local ER at the hospital. They don't think it's broken, but they couldn't tell for sure due to the swelling. At this point I don't know if I'm going to be able to drive before Thursday. Even if I could drive I'm not sure how much fun I would have at LCS, if I can't walk. So anyway here I sit with my foot up in the air, along with the rest of my trip.

Here's a photo of the ankle.

This is a warning, don't scroll down if your squeamish about a photo of an injured swollen ankle..

[timdks]

Enjoyed following your exploits so far, but this last one isn't pretty. Good thing is you get more time with mom.

[Joe]

Enjoyed following your exploits so far, but this last one isn't pretty. Good thing is you get more time with mom.

Well if see a red Roadster coming down IH-35 southbound through KS. later this week and you see crutches sticking up on the passenger side, you'll know it's me!

[David Hodgkins]

Ouch!

Great story so far, but that's definitely a bump in the road. Here's hoping it's not broken! That sucker's gotta hurt...

[Joe]

Oh yeah, good news! UPS delivered my tires today!!! Unfortunately it's pretty much impossible for me to get them installed at this point.. Hopefully the ankle will start feeling a little better in the coming days.

[Dave Smith]

Joe,

ARRRGHH!!! I have a surprise for you if I see you at London!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Dang Joe. Sorry to see this. As someone who can roll a trick ankle walking across a billiard table smooth parking lot I've looked down at that sight more times than I can count. I got one word for you my friend...ICE! Lots of it in a bucket with water for a minimum of 20 minutes every couple of hours. Then wrap it with an Ace bandage till the next round. This is what works for me; as you prep your bucket of ice drop a couple bottles of beer in there---when you stick your foot in pull the first one out and drink it. Then drink the second one. When it is gone you can remove your foot from the bucket. That doesn't mean you can't drink more beers though.

Hurry up and get well so we can see you in London!

Jeff

[Joe]

Joe,

ARRRGHH!!! I have a surprise for you if I see you at London!

I can see it already. The official Factory Five Crooked Ankle Award..

Jeff, I'm going to try your therapy with some local Yuengling brew..

[Rscocca]

Joe-- sorry about the bad ankle, but those slicks you where showing have plenty of meat on em, te he.
Pleasure meeting you at the open house feel better soon.

[Joe]

I managed to hobble around long enough to get the wheels off, get new tires installed and get back to my Mom's place.



I'm headed to LCS in the morning. I'm going to stop on the way at a Walmart and buy me a folding chair. I think I'm going to be doing a lot of sitting at LCS. If you see some guy always sitting, come by and say hello! Todd, Jerry, Terry, Jeff, Bill or whoever, please don't be offended if I walk up to say HI and plop down a chair and stay awhile!

BTW, Jeff, I found something called Flying Dog, Gonzo Imperial Porter, 9.2% ALC/VOL.. Pretty tasty stuff..

[Joe]

I made it to LCS! I'm at the Super 8, on the east side of the building facing the Holiday Inn and Cracker Barrel.

[David Hodgkins]

That's so cool! Have fun, and take a ton of pics for us losers who didn't make it...

[Someday I Suppose]

Joe, awesome adventure for sure, no fun on the ankle, but great to see you made it to LCS, enjoy!!

[Joe]

Host hotel parking lot starting to fill up!

[riptide motorsport]

Joe: you have personally made this an excelent thread!!!!!!

[vnmsss]

Joe....Congrats on your arrival at LCS! You 'da man!!! Talk about the iron warrior award! As others have mentioned, we will need lots of pics!! Have fun!

Karen
PS....We've got a spot for you on our 25 Hour team!! You've got the right stuff!!!

[Joe]

Look what rolled into the hotel parking lot.. It's the real one!