Yes it does. The vent is worth more today than what I paid for the car 40 years ago.....and the car was in about the same condition then but with 45,000 less on the speedo. A picture of the car that was taken at the 10th Aniversary Meet can be seen in 60/75 Years Of Chevrolet (the 1939 Master Deluxe Town Sedan rear quarter picture.)
Today started with breakfast and an 8:00am start. I was without Jane & Abby this morning, as they spent the day "getting their feeding & sleep schedules back in order". I think that's longhand for "shopping"! They're plotting against my chrome budget! I left the back window zipped up since I wouldn't have to worry about the truck behind me today. There was an optional Canal Side Tour that added 14 miles to the planned tour this morning, and we opted for it. It was nice to see about 25 of the cars did so. We headed out on nicely paved backroads that soon ran beside the original Erie Canal System. The traffic was light, and we were able to keep all 25 cars together. It was a nice little parade! At a rest stop, John Palmer gave a great history talk on the Erie Canal, and his own raising in the immediate area. I could listen to that guy all day! The folks that dressed in 1850's period clothing posed for a picture as well…
Last edited by brewster; 09/10/1409:37 PM.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
Our next stop was at Chittenango Landing Canal museum. It was built on the old canal system in a location that originally had dry docks for repairing river barges. We toured a reproduction river barge, and all of the stables and blacksmith shops that went along with supporting the canal. We learnt how the canal was instrumental in the building of America during it's expansion westward. The museum also hosted us for lunch.
I took few pictures of the museum, but did get some early car shots just for Jim…
Last edited by brewster; 09/10/1409:46 PM.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
After lunch it was time to get the tops down on the convertibles! I picked up a passenger for the rest of the day, as Kate Sullivan joined me for the ride home. As she put it, she "dumped Dave Minor for a man with a convertible!" Our ride together was great. She's been having a blast trying out all of the cars, and getting a whole bunch of stories about our club and touring. Yesterday she was even in Tony & Pat's rumble seat for part of the day.
Our next stop was at a local wind mill cooperative. The local farmers lease out their land for a wind farm. One of the farmers was there to give a talk on wind power, and what it is doing to stimulate the economy. He was very interesting and informative. The windmills were huge! We posed for a group photo against one blade.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
Our final stop was at the dump. I didn't dump Kate off!!! We had a tour through a modern recycling centre, and learned how the county is doing it's best to reduce, reuse, and recycle as it manages it's waste. I made a purchase of a "vintage" Thermos from the Re-use store. I also managed to hold up a busload of tourists while I inspected a 5-drawer Craftsman tool box that someone had thrown out. From the bus it looked good, but up close it was rusted out, and one of the drawers was rusted open. Oh well, it was worth a shot! Our cars were on display out front for the public to view, and I believe John Pritchard even got us a new member!
After the tour, we headed for ice-cream, then went for dinner at the sports bar down the road. At 730pm we met in the hospitality room at the hotel to see a slide show of the work that Greg Hudson does at his restoration shop. We've all been drooling over his 1937 truck this week, and his 1962 Impala, and 1965 Chevelle in the photos are also real nice!
Last edited by brewster; 09/11/1406:24 AM.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
As Brewster mentioned, he was the lucky guy who got to drive Kate Sullivan, the G&D editor, around in his car yesterday afternoon. Below is a photo of Kate & Bruce.
Dale Carter VCCA #8661 1948 Fleetmaster Convertible 1948 RHD Stylemaster Sedan Delivery 1948 1-Ton Tow Truck 1967 Camaro Coupe
This morning we woke up to… rain! It's going to be a top up cruising day! Last night before I turned in, I witnessed a meeting in the hotel lobby between our tour organizing group. It was tense, and of concern because one of the stops on todays tour called them at the last minute, and changed a bunch of their scheduling. As bleak as it sounded, they were up working the phones and getting it sorted out to the best of their abilities. At the morning drivers meeting Ray Rice was issuing apologies for how mis-organized he thought todays tour was going to be. Apparently he was wrong! Everything seemed to come together, and we got 6 groups of 20 people through three stops at the former Griffiss Airforce Base in Rome NY. As difficult as the sites made it, our group organizers really came through!
We started by meeting at the front of the airport by a retired B-52H Stratofortress bomber. A welcome and an interesting history lesson was given by a former Crew Chief for this exact aircraft. We also observed a moments silence for the victims of 9/11, as it is Sept. 11th today.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
Our next stop was the home of Midair. They do maintenance of large commercial airliners. We got to tour through a Boeing airliner that was in for service from Russia. It seems a lot like auto mechanics, but everything (including cost) is on a larger scale.
Next we shuffled over to Premier Aviation. They do the same thing, but on an even larger scale! They have three huge hangers and a large paint shop. We were not allowed to photograph there, as they do work on Airforce C5 Galaxies as well. I saw this nice 1936 Chevrolet out front though...
Finally it was a quick trip through the Mohawk Valley Community College's aviation school. They train students to become licensed aircraft mechanics. They had a neat collection of aircraft that are never going to see the light of day again as well! Paul found this 1/2 scale Navy biplane…
Last edited by brewster; 01/15/1512:56 AM.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
Hey!!! What are you all doing with OUR rain??? Here in Seattle, we've now had 40 days with temperatures over 80 degrees -- and 4 or 5 more forecast for the next week.
We loved the photo of everyone next to the windmill blade.
And -- all I can say about Kate... is.... well, she's going to have to come to Seattle to ride in my topless Corvette!!!
Next, it was a fast stop for lunch, then on to Fort Stanwix in downtown Rome. We were late for lunch… and another fight between Paul & his Garmin didn't help! We got to see a lot of Rome though!
We were given a tour of the re-created Fort Stanwix by a gentleman dressed in period clothing. It was a bit rainy, so we kind of rushed through. It was interesting though.
Then it was back to the hotel to get all gussied up for tonight's big banquet! Our banquets are always fun! They are a chance to visit, reminisce, laugh, and say thanks. There were lots of prizes, and a silent auction as well. We also really witnessed the generosity of our VCCA family! At the auction was a beautifully refinished children's sled. John Palmer painted and varnished it up, then topped it off with decals for this year's tour. What a perfect keepsake for our daughter's first tour! I decided I was going to bid all of our remaining US dollars on the sled… and rounded up $29. I wrote Abby's name on the bid sheet. That wasn't going to do it, as the bidding quickly passed that. Our VCCA president saw this happen, and told me to get up there and bid again. I explained to him that it was all of my US $, and I was out of the running. Five minutes later when I went and looked at the sheet, "$35 - Uncle Dave for Abigail Pearce" was written down!! Now, Dave's a fairly smart man. He saw that a member from New Jersey had bid above mine, so he went to a table of New Yorkers and asked them if they were going to let a Jersey person take a sled from a kid?? He got them to pitch in a couple bucks each, and the bidding war was on! I think his own Ohio crowd also tried to squeeze a few more dollars out of him as well! In the end, my girl is going home with the nicest sled in all of New York, and her Mommy & Daddy are genuinely touched by the generosity of the folks of the VCCA once again. I want to also thank ALL of the Grandpa's and Grandma's (& Uncle Dave) that took a few minutes over the course of the week and held, cuddled, played with, sung too, complimented, or did anything else with our daughter. Abby really enjoyed the week too, and we really appreciated that you all enjoyed having her along as well. Congratulations goes out to our friends Barry & Pat Staples on winning the VCCA Touring Spirit award. You are very deserving of the award, and it was great seeing you win it. A big thank you to our hosts this year for putting on another phenomenal tour! John Palmer, John Pritchard, Ray & Eileen Rice, and Al & Maryann Gerisch worked really hard to pull together a great tour! We really enjoyed ourselves!
Last edited by brewster; 10/29/1411:12 PM.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
Bruce- great photos and journal as always. Thanks for sharing the fun of these tours with us who couldn't get there. Safe travels and we'll have to join up one of these years!
-Daryl Scott #45848 • 1947 Chevrolet Fleetline Sportmaster Sedan • 1976 Chevrolet C20 Fleetside
Paul is all about making time back up, so we blew through the two planned rest/fuel stops that were full of the early departures,
In my defence the "rest/fuel stops" were only 20 minutes after leaving the hotel and anyone requiring a rest/fuel stop that soon into a tour is never going to make it through an entire day.
Paul If it isn't broken, fiddle with it anyway so you have something to repair. 1931 Deluxe Sport Roadster 1953 BelAir 4 dr. Sedan 1965 Chevy II Nova SS
It's always kind of sad getting up Friday morning. Most of the local people head home in the evening after the banquet, and the far away people head out nice and early to get a jump on the day. We came down for breakfast around 8am, and there were maybe 20 old cars left in the lot. I still had no trouble handing Abby off as I got my own breakfast!
I had loaded the car after the banquet (Thanks for the help, Nick Matlaga) the previous night, so we only had to load the small house worth of stuff that we brought for Abby, and our own suitcases. Don't forget Abby's new sled!
We pulled out of the hotel around 9:30am, and headed by backroads to the border area. A few stops to eat, and a couple Paul-turns, and we were in Lewiston by 430pm. We said goodbye to Paul & Maggie, who continued on, while our family did some shopping. The highlight for me was a couple repro tin signs from the Hobby Lobby. Abby takes after her Mom and went with all clothes. The border area was a breeze. It was the first time I've ever driven right up to the customs officer without having to wait in a line! We hit the Ontario freeways, 405,QEW, 407, and were home in Bolton by 8:30pm The truck ran great once again. I didn't write the gas milage down for the ride there, but the ride home was 317 miles, 24.7 gallons used for a 13mpg haul.
Last edited by brewster; 09/13/1409:37 PM.
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
Chip… I know a couple of guys from N. Carolina that really need to join us on one of these soon. In a completely unrelated vein… there were two cars broken down on the tour this year… both 1941's!! (and a 1948 that went home on a flatbed before even arriving… but I don't think Dale wants to talk about that…)
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4
Two years later, and I was doing a review of some past tours. I found this fantastic video put together by Laquinta Hotel management as part of their Public Engagement Highlights, to show their head office what they are doing with the public on special days of the year.
Of course, we were there on Sept. 11th... 9/11. They asked us questions about what 9/11 meant to us, and where we were, etc. It was a very moving half hour we spent with the videographer, and very emotional as folks recalled that dark day.
Out in the parking lot they gathered up the tour drivers, and offered the hotel staff some rides around the block while they filmed it...
Here's the link...
Those accustomed to the finest...find it in Chevrolet. 1953 Belair Convertible 1951 2dr Deluxe Sedan 2015 GMC SLE 4X4