Friday

After getting out of bed Friday morning I went outside to the “General Lee” to assess the situation. It became clear to me that the door lock was stuck, there was something wrong inside of the door, and the only way to figure out what the problem was would be by getting the driver’s side door panel off. With the door being locked shut this was going to be a major challenge. The bottom of the door panel was blocked by the driver’s seat, the top front of the panel was blocked by the curved dash, and the rear of the panel was under the T-top pillar.

I began by taking the arm rest off, the door panel screws out, and the inside door handle cover out. The trim inside of the T-top frame was removed to allow access to the top screw on the door panel. At this point I could see down into the lock mechanism from the top of the window, but it was still real tight. Kevin came out to offer his superior mechanical assistance. We were working with a limited supply of tools that I had brought. We had screwdrivers, a flashlight, a door panel removal tool, a hammer, and a few adjustable wrenches. By the end of the repair we had used a spatula, wooden spoon, weenie roaster, and a coat hanger. Can you say “MacGyver”?

After poking around in there from the top of the door for a bit we decided to go ahead and take the passenger’s side door panel off so that we could see what it was we were actually working with. Once the passenger side panel was removed it was pretty clear what was wrong. The plunger for the outside door handle was stuck in the release position thereby preventing the door lock from disengaging.

After 30 minutes of wrestling with the driver’s side door panel we finally got it off of the door. Now that we had clear access to the internal workings of the lock mechanism we were able to reach the plunger assembly for the outside door handle. The wooden spoon turned out to be the magic tool. After applying pressure to the plunger, it released and we were able to unlock the door! What a relief!

Kevin sprayed the inside of the lock mechanism down good with a little WD-40. Everything seemed to working normal again, but at this time it was decided that I should probably not lock the door again for the rest of the weekend. I had our valuables locked up in the cabin, I still had my T-Top locks, and I really didn't want to go back to climbing over the console to get into the car. (Note: Upon returning to Kansas the culprit was determined to be a broken door handle spring).

As I stood back and looked at my mud coated car with the all of the door panels off I was pretty sure that I would not put it into the car show this year. It was in pretty bad shape and I was feeling really discouraged. It was time to get the car put back together, get a shower, and head into Eureka Springs…

Mechanical Issue Number 2...

We were staying at the Best Western In of The Ozarks on this night, so we loaded the cars up with the essentials and headed off for Eureka. We rolled into the parking a lot around 10:00 AM and went in to see if our rooms for the night might be ready. Alas they were not, so we decided to head downtown to check out the shopping scene. One of the things that the guys in our group do on the ESCW trip is bypass the “Econo-run” on Friday mornings in favor of hanging out downtown so that our wives may do a little shopping. This keeps the girls happy, and it gives us a chance to look around and snap a few photos. Heck I even enjoy hitting the “Silly Chile” to stock up on my barbecuing supplies for the coming year. With gas prices being as high as they are, I do not need to burn a tank of premium to find out that our car doesn’t get good gas mileage.

Pulling out of the motel’s parking lot we started to hear a strange sound coming out of the back end of the car. My first thoughts were that I had a sticking brake caliper (unlikely since they were just replaced), or perhaps some other problem in the braking system. After we turned down Main Street and drove next to the retaining walls, the sound in the rear end got progressively worse. The sound was not altering in pitch or changing in any way when I applied the brakes. By the time we pulled into the parking lot people had begun to stare. At this point in time I am thinking there might possibly be a bearing problem, or perhaps the u-joints were going bad. Here we go again. Argh…

Understand at this point I am really starting to get frustrated. The once a year trip that I so look forward to, alone with Janet and away from the kids, was turning into a total nightmare (in my book anyway). I was getting reassurance from everyone that I just need to “chill out”, and that we were still going to have a good time. We headed up to the stores where Kevin and I decided that it was probably the best thing to find someone locally to look at the car to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong with it. It was obvious that we are going to have to get the car up in the air to see what was going on with the rear end. We decided that it was going to have to be done on that Friday afternoon as opposed to finding someone to look at it on a Saturday. After asking a few of the locals it was suggested to us to try the Davis-Barr Chevrolet dealership in Berryville, Arkansas. After we found out exactly where that was we made plans to head out to Berryville after lunch.

Lunch is Served...

As is customary we headed to the "Balcony Bar and Restaurant" at the Basin Park Motel for our Friday lunch. We love setting out on the balcony to check out the cars as they come rolling into town. There were not a lot of people in the restaurant so we had our choice of seating. The service and food were really good as usual. The only irritating thing about this experience was the trio of musicians that were jamming to some "dueling banjos" type of blue grass music. I am all about ambience, but the music was just a tad too loud for my rock and roll ears J. It was during this time that we witnessed the C6 “abduction” detailed elsewhere on this web page. We were laughing so hard that we could hardly keep the cameras steady. It took me back in time to when I was in high school and we used to cram 3 or 4 people into my friend’s 1977 Corvette.

Check In, Then Off to Berryville...

After lunch it was time to round everyone up and get checked into the motel. We were starting to become concerned with the time, and I really wanted to get some kind of answer on the car before the cruise began. We headed back to the Best Western and got checked in. Afterwards I followed Kevin out east on 62 towards Berryville. It was a gorgeous afternoon and I had the T-tops off. I had never been more than a few miles east of Eureka on 62, and it was a wonderful drive. I was pleasantly surprised by the town of Berryville as I had a mental picture of a really small town with a small town Chevy dealership. As I drove through town I noted that our car was still making the weird sound out of the rear end.

Thanks to Tim Poynter and Anthony...

Pulling in to the Davis-Barr dealership we found the service entrance and spoke to the service manager Tim Poynter. I could tell from the number of cars and the number of people standing around that he was having a very busy afternoon. I explained our situation to him and he lent a sympathetic ear. He told me he would do his best to try and get our car in as soon as he could. It wasn't long before Tim was driving the car through the shop for their service tech Anthony to have a look at it. The first concern they had was if they were going to be able to get the car up in the air. After a little experimentation they got the lift under the car and it was soon on its way up. Anthony checked underneath the car, checked the wheel bearings, and all of the other visual items. He did note that the parking brake line had shifted awfully close to the brake disc, and then moved it out of the way. He also made mention that he had seen before where rocks had become lodged in the brake discs and created weird sounding noises. (I suddenly remembered driving the Corvette down the 1/4 mile chat covered road to the cabin). Unable to find anything visually wrong they decided that I should take Anthony on a road test. They lowered the car down, and away Anthony an I went for a test drive. Of course you know what happened...the noise could not be recreated. Now I was starting to feel pretty bad for bothering these guys with a problem that turned out to be pretty trivial. In addition to that, Tim refused to charge me anything for the hour or so they spent working on the car. At about this time they were also bringing in a black "TVS" C5 that had some serious problems (from the sound of it)...I was feeling pretty guilty for even bringing mine in. Let me just state here and now my extreme gratitude for all of the personnel at Davis-Barr, and especially to Tim Poynter for taking care of me on that day. After I get both of my kids through college I plan on buying my brand new C8 from them!

To the Car Wash to Get Ready for Friday Night...

We headed back to the motel room to tell the girls the good news on the car. I was once again feeling better about our car...but after arriving back at the motel we made an executive decision. I still did not want to enter the car in the car show, and it was at this time we decided that we would watch the moonlight cruise instead of participate in it. Part of this decision was made after experiencing last years stop and go, 5 MPH cruise through the boonies outside of Eureka Springs (the two new couples we had brought down for the weekend last year were not impressed). It was at this time on Friday in years past that we would usually head down to Pine Mountain Village to register for the event. This year we decided we would save the registration money and watch from the sidelines. In the previous three years it appeared to us that the people lining the streets of the cruise route where having just as much fun as those of us in the cars (if not more). Since this entire trip was unfolding so much differently than it had in past years, we decided we would stay with that trend and experience it from the other side.

With a few hours to kill before dinner we decided we would take the convertible to the car wash to get it cleaned up. There were a bunch of dirty Corvettes there, but we were able to get in the one open stall left. We saw a lot of interesting things while we were at the car wash (like big hats and a big 383 "stroker" motor). Afterwards we headed back to the motel to dry the car off and to do the detail work. I took this opportunity to clean up our 82 as well. There were several other people in the motel parking lot working on their cars in preparation for the cruise. It was soon time to start thinking about where to eat dinner. On Friday nights we traditionally go out as a group to find a restaurant that we have never been to before.

Dinner at Sparky's, and a Chance Meeting...

One of the places that we have always wanted to try was Ermilio’s Italian Restaurant. I have been around this town long enough to know that you need to get to Emilio’s early in the evening or you will not find a place to park. Even if you should find a place to park you are then going to be waiting in a long line. It was already getting late and my confidence was not very high on getting in to Ermilio’s. The girls really wanted to try it, so we headed on up to check out the scene. As expected the parking lot was already full, the street was packed with Corvettes for several blocks in all directions, and there were a lot of people waiting to get inside. We headed on past Ermilio’s towards the Crescent Hotel to decide what restaurant we would try next.

Through the years we had visited the "Brews Brothers" on our trips to Eureka Springs. While in the parking lot of the Brews Brothers I had always taken note of the establishment across the way called Sparky's. I chuckled to myself on the restaurant's name because I have a brother in law named Doug who at one time had tried to blow himself up lighting a gas stove. From that point on Doug had been renamed "Sparky" within the ranks of my family. From the outside I had pre-judged Sparky's as a sports bar, geared more to the burger and beer crowd looking for a quick lunch rather than a good dinner. As we set in the parking lot of the Crescent Hotel trying to determine where to go, Sparky's came in to my mind. Our crew decided that we would go ahead and give it a try. As we pulled in to Sparky's full front parking lot I noted the "more parking in rear" sign. As we drove towards the rear of Sparky's my mind shifted towards the safety of our cars. It was a dirt lot with no marked parking stalls. It was very dark and secluded, and at this point I still had no idea what kind of clientele Sparky's had. We went ahead and backed the car in with the comfort of Kevin on one side of me, and a well placed Buick Grand National on the other side. As Janet and I got out of the car my instincts took over. Out of habit I hit the door lock switch, forgetting about the problems we had the day before. I immediately reached down to unlock the door and was very relieved when it worked flawlessly. This would be the the last time that was the case.

We went ahead and went on in to Sparky's. There was a waiting list to get seated for food, so the hostess took our name and shuttled us to the front of the building to wait at the bar. We found a table and ordered pre-dinner refreshments. The girls were having some fun teasing the nice waiter that was serving us our drinks. They had nick named this guy the "Cabana Boy" which must have got him a little flustered. Before long he was dropping beer bottles on the floor. It was at this time that I noticed the very nice red C6 convertible parked in the front of the building with the weirdest looking bra I had ever seen. As we were waiting to be seated for dinner I looked across the room and recognized a familiar face. Talk about your "it is a small world" stories, there sat a high school friend of mine that I had known since the 3rd grade. I went over to say hello and found out that he was in the Eureka Springs area with friends on a golfing vacation.

After about 30 minutes of waiting in the bar area we were then seated for dinner. I was really impressed with the food and the atmosphere of Sparky's (although the salad was a little weird). It exceeded my expectations in every way and taught me a valuable lesson about Eureka Springs. You can not judge an establishment by the look of the outside of the building. We returned to our cars in the parking lot behind the restaurant to find them in good shape, albeit just a little bit dusty. After an after dinner cruise up and down Highway 62 it was time to head back to the motel to plan our strategy for watching the moonlight cruise.

Walking into our motel room after returning from dinner, I was immediately hit with the pungent aroma of what could only be described as gasoline. I transport my car cleaning supplies around in a semi-soft cooler for ease of use. What happened was that a can of bug and tar remover was left in the cooler without the cap on it. Before we left we inadvertently set something on the cooler which caused the contents of the bug and tar cleaner to disperse into a roll of paper towels inside of the cooler. We had both doors of the motel room open for an hour or so trying to get the fumes out of there.

Inadvertent Moonlight Cruise, A.K.A. "The Active Handling Incident"...

We had discussed two plans for watching the Moonlight Cruise. We could either hope that the parade came down in front of our motel as it had in years past, or we could load up the cars and try to find a place to park in the Pine Mountain Village area. With a couple of hours before the cruise started we decided to scope out the area in front of the motel for a place to set and watch the cars. In the mean time there was a lot of traffic flowing at the three way intersection in front of the motel. There was a non stop flow of Corvettes and motorcycles already on the streets, and we soon found ourselves just setting on the steps watching the people go by (and Coni yelling "who-hoo" at the ones she liked). Before we knew it was already 10:30 PM. Kevin was really itching to get down to the Pine Mountain Village area so that we would not miss any of the action. I was more content staying at the motel because I really didn’t want to take my car out again or deal with the hassle of trying to find a place to park in that congested area down there. 10:45 came and I thought to myself that if the parade was going to come our way, then we should start to see some of the volunteers that control the turns arrive at the three way intersection (they did not). Kevin was still pressing me to load up and head to the Pine Mountain Village area, and by this time the girls stated that they were going to be content staying at the motel either way. My wife suggested that Kevin and I take the convertible and just go on, but I was still holding out. It was at about 11:15 when we heard what can only be described as a Pro Stock motor ripping through a burnout. Kevin and I immediately looked at each other, said goodbye to the girls, and sprinted to the convertible…

Heading south now on 62 we wondered exactly where we would go. We decided we would just continue on and drive past Pine Mountain Village and see what was going on. As we approached Main Street we saw the later part of the car parade turning towards the downtown area. Right as we approached the intersection at 62 and Main there was a huge gap in the line of cars. In a split second decision Kevin veered left, and before we new it we were inadvertently in the 2^nd half of the moonlight cruise. Please note that it was never our intention to not register and crash the parade, it just sort of a happened that way. With Kevin at the wheel and me hanging out the window blasting away with the camera, off into the night we went.

Let me just say that this year the ESCW people got it right. The cruise was through the fun part of town…short, sweet, and to the point. No more trips out into the middle of nowhere, and no more “Chinese fire drills” to amuse ourselves like we were doing last year. As the parade of cars returned back to the Pine Mountain Village area we were content and ready to head back to the motel. In the long line of cars ahead we could still see that there were a lot of people still lining the streets egging on the passing cars to get crazy. On several occasions we had people jump out in front of our car to get us to stop so that we might show them the horsepower of our mighty steed. The convertible is a six speed car that runs real well. It has a Corsica exhaust that sounds nice and mellow during its day to day driving activities, but when you “get on it” this car lets everyone know that you are coming with a ton of raw Chevy horsepower. As the next set of teenagers jumped out in front of us to get us to stop, Kevin and I just kind of looked at each other and smiled. With our lovely wives (read "voices of reason") safe and sound back at the motel and Chief Earl no where in sight, Kevin decided to let loose a little bit. When he rapped it out and dumped the clutch we shot forward in a hurry. DOH! We had forgotten to turn off the traction control system, and now the crowd was laughing at us. After he recovered and pushed the magic button we let loose a real sweet 1^st and 2^nd gear, rear tire "barbecue". We both decided that we would be doing the "moonlight cruises" in years to come. After that we cleared the crowd and headed back to the motel for a nightcap...we were expecting visitors.

Back At The Motel Later Friday, Another Couple Joins The Fun...

The plan after the cruise usually consists of setting outside the motel rooms to watch the cars come rolling in, and this year would be no different. One of the funny things that we saw was this newer, oversized van that looked like the owner forgot to check the clearance to their garage before they tried to pull it inside...whoops. Kevin and I commented to each other that things seemed a little slower around the motel this year. It was at about that time that this elderly gentleman came smoking into the parking lot in a monster Buick (what else...sorry mom!), hesitated about 5 seconds, and then parked within 2 feet of that pretty silver 76 (I think) seen above. The whole parking lot was practically empty and this guy was clueless enough to park so close to a classic car. I would have taken a picture of it, however I was not wanting to send a flash into this guy's room. Before long Kevin and I were raiding our toll booth money to hit the snack machines. It was a pretty calm night by most standards.

We were expecting Janet's brother Mike from Kansas City at the motel that evening. Mike and a friend were coming to Eureka Springs to get a way for a while, and to check out the Corvette action. They were to arrive late and then hang with us the rest of the weekend. Our job was to give Mike "Corvette Fever", and I think we succeeded. After Mike and Chastity arrived we told a few stories and then went to bed at about 1:30 AM.