Page # 6: SEEING THE U.S.A. IN YOUR BLOWN CHEVROLET... ,"LOVE IS BLUE" '66 Corvette, THAT IS!

ADDITIONAL PAGE CONTENTS:
Page#2: Construction Of 'Love Is Blue'
Page#3: Interior & Sound
Page#4: Parts Fabrication & Installation - HARD PARTS
Page#5: The Early Years Of My 1966 Corvette
Page#6: Trips & Journey Taken In 'Love'
Page#7: Other Corvettes I've Built Over The Years
Page#8: Cheesecake Photos w/ 'Love Is Blue'
Page#9: Construction of 1/25th tribute scale model of 'Love Is Blue' by: Ron Drechsler

Guiness Book World Record: 305 Vettes & Jets on the deck of the Lex in Tex. Sept. 15, 2007!

Sunrise aboard the 'Blue Ghost', the USS Lexington CV-16 in Corpus Christi, Texas, Sept. 15, 2007. We had to be there @ 5AM for them to load all those Vettes aboard!!

 

Here is LOVE sitting on the flight deck along with 304 other Vettes from every year made except three!

 

Leaving the deck of the Lexington. Asked to 'light um up' for the crowd by the event staff.

 

Still Gettin' My Kicks In MY '66, in 2006!
HOT ROD POWER TOUR 2006!! Orlando Convention Center, Florida Leaving home on the first day of HRPT 2006!

My wife Kat & I pulling out on the 2006 Hot Rod Power Tour. (photo courtesy of Mother's Wax)

 

Doing The 'LONG HAUL" on the HOT ROD MAGAZINE POWER TOUR 2004 !!
A very long bridge on Rt. 20 leading into Texas. "WELCOME TO TEXAS", It's hard to make out the sign due to the pre dawn darkness as I arrived in the Lone Star State.

 

Day One: Springfield, Texas (Dallas-Ft.Worth area.) Over 4,000 hot rodders registered for the tour that year!

Load and unload our belongings. Every morning and evening we tried to pack two weeks worth of 'stuff' into those small vette storage compartments. Fun, Fun, Fun. That's my buddy Mike Dean who drove his '87 vette, along with me in my '66. The entire trip he was always there when I needed help and I was for him too when he broke down too.

 

A "Long Haul" member with a sense of humor! I wonder if he got pulled over for speeding? Wouldn't this make a great CannonBall car?

Day Two: Tulsa, OK. City Plex Towers. Man were these beautiful. The gold glass panes reflected the setting sun and the field of Hot Rods parked in the lot.

Day Five: Arlington Heights, IL., at the Arlington Park Horse Track.

 

John Jahnke, (below, center w/ hands on hips, His wife Jackie and daughter Amy to the right). This guy was a Godsend running with us, lending assistance when needed and showing us the best places to go in the towns we visited. He's done quite a few of these over the years in that red '61 vette of his.

Day Six: Green Bay, WI., Lambeau Field. Last day of the tour. I made it...Now I'm an official Long Haul Gang member.

 

Photo (L) is at the end of the tour in Green Bay Wisconsin. Yep, it was raining there too. That chopped up car belongs to Dale Kopidlansky, and is a Chevy Caprice! He drove the whole distance like a mad man possesed, but was always there when you needed help. His co-pilot, Jim Brooks, even put us up in his home in Green Bay, the last day of the tour. A favor I tried to return in 2006 when the tour began here in Kissimmi, Florida. The photo (R) is of an AFX Mopar. I fell in love with!! This thing "THUMPED" and he drove it the entire route as far as I could tell. Altered wheelbase and all....too cool. Shades of 1960's.

 

The last gathering of us for the LONG HAUL PHOTO that appeared in Hot Rod Magazine, October 2004.

 

After the HRPT '04 I drove around the Eastern U.S. Here I'm entering the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. That is a 'vette road if ever one exsists!

 

View thru the w/s past the blower. This is MY view as I drove the parkway...great!

 

Mountain Pig (ex- police officer- lives on a mountain- Get it?) on the Blue Ridge mountains, very lovely.

 

On the road again! Here (L) I'm heading towards Washington, D.C. Check out the legal speed limit (R) on my speedo.

 

My '66 vette on another section of Rt.66 (L) as we headed into D.C once again. Parked my '66 Vette (R) in the same apartment complex in Suitland, Maryland for another photo in the same spot where we started 38 years ago!

 

Visiting Ron Drechsler, the guy who was with me back in 1967 when I totaled my vette. He & his wife Sherrie now live in Pasadena, Md. Glad we got to grow old together and you're still here, Ron. Sorry for the bad back!

Finally home in Edgewater, Fl after 4,679 miles, and boy is my car DIRTY!! Check the dirt and brake dust on those 15" Convo Pros. It took three days of light sanding with 2000 grit wet/dry and lots of Wenol Polish to bring them back to the show finish they usually have.

 

Here's Jerry, as always, helping. This time sanding the rims to a glass finish to show off those NEW Hoosier Radial Pro Street Tires. Man, are those nice on the street. That was the first thing I did the next day after I got home from the Hot Rod Power Tour '04...I got off those bias ply Mickey Thompson's!! One spin in the rain was all it took to convince me to buy new tires with a better wet pattern on the tread!

 

Hot Rod Power Tour 2004 "LONG HAUL GANG" I finished my personal trip (on the HRPT '04, and my return travels to Florida) with a total of 4,679 miles, getting between 10 to 12 MPG and MOST of the tour in steady rain without any windshield wiper motor, only Rain-X to keep the water off the screen, a simple canvas top, not to mention those very wide Mickey Thompson Pro Street bias ply tires!! A very interesting time.

A CAPITOL VETTE!! 1987: The 20th Anniversary Tour ( 20 years of owning my 1966 Corvette!)

This is a photo (taken back in 1987) that can't be dupicated today; post 9-11. You no longer can park this close to the Capitol building.

Photo (L) shows view through the windshield as you approach the statue of peace on Penn. Avenue, in front of the Nation's Capitol.

 

This is another photo that can't be duplicated today; post 9-11. You no longer can park this close to the most famous address in the world; 1600 Penn. Avenue, The White House, but we did back in 1987. That's my wife Kathy peakin' over the passenger door (L).

 

Probably one of the most unique 'roads' you could ever drive over. This is in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C., just a couple of miles away from the heart of our nation's capitol. You actually drive on a paved road that the river flows over most all the time.

 

Leaving, back up to the main road running thru Rock Creek Park.

 

Besides being unique, it is also beautiful.

 

To get to this beauty, we left Daytona Beach, Fl., and headed to St Augustine, up A1A, and then onto Route 301. No super slabs for us, we want to see the beauty of this great country...with the TOP DOWN! Next, we ran on up 301 to the South Carolina border.

 

Just HAD to do the 'South Of The Border' thing. Then we hit the Virginia state line (R), and on into Washington, D.C.

 

Once into Washington, D.C., after visiting all the monuments, I just had to go by my old apartment building where I lived when I first bought my vette and take another picture in the same spot where I had taken one 20 years ago. That's my son, on our old 305 Honda Dream. He is now 43. Time sure flys! (Yes, that front end on my '66 Vette is a '67. Had it updated after I wrecked it the second time!)

 

Now I returned yet once again, 38 years later, with the same vette (slighly modified and me, a lot older) in front of the same apartments. Parked in front of 4728 Huron Ave, Suitland, Maryland,... once again!

 

Shenandoah National State Park, and the enterance to Sky Line Drive. Here we are entering the Skyline Drive. What a beautiful section of the Virgina area.

 

How old is that rock? This is called the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Virginia and runs on through North Carolina.

 

Stone Mountain

 

Chief BigMeat, Honest Injun!

More fun!! These are the roads you can twist through in 'the smokies'.

 

Some of the local rustic color. Cleanin' up in the afternoon after a long run through the dusty back roads in the mountains, before turning in for the evening.

 

A quick jog across the corner of Georgia on Route 411 into Alabama and Route 431.

 

Military might is big in the south at welcome centers.

 

The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown CV-10, is located in Charlestown, South Carolina. Sister ship to the USS Wasp CV-18 I served on years ago.

 

A BIG welcome into Panama City, Fl. This jet(R)is located as you enter Panama City, Fl.

 

No matter where you park,(L) a crowd gathers to check you out. Isn't it wonderful! Gulf Of Mexico on right.

 

And finally we arrive home. Total mileage in a week, 3,530 miles...and NO RAIN!

 

Starting them off young. My granddaughter Leah, gets her first ride in Grandpa's monster in 2004!

New Smyrna Airport and the Direct TV Blimp after the Daytona 500, 2008

 

Roadtrip to Clearwater area. Causes a bit of a traffic jam with people running alongside taking photos on their cell phones.

 

Returning to Time Machines in Hudson, Fl to show them their handywork now finished.

Love attracting a crowd @ The Daytona International Speedway

Just a little street action...

ADDITIONAL PAGE CONTENTS:
Page#2: Construction Of 'Love Is Blue'
Page#3: Interior & Sound
Page#4: Parts Fabrication & Installation - HARD PARTS
Page#5: The Early Years Of My 1966 Corvette
Page#6: Trips & Journey Taken In 'Love'
Page#7: Other Corvettes I've Built Over The Years
Page#8: Cheesecake Photos w/ 'Love Is Blue'
Page#9: Construction of 1/25th tribute scale model of 'Love Is Blue' by: Ron Drechsler