by Scott Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:49 pmI picked up the car from Avis last Friday; they set me up with a Toyota 4runner. I thought they were going to set me up with a Chevy Trailblazer, which could have been a problem. I did a little research before I went to pick it up and noticed the spare was under a hatch in the back, I don’t think that hatch would support the weight of an engine. If that’s what I ended up with I would have had to buy some thick plywood to cover it. But I did want to check out the new inline 6 Chevy puts in those things. Might be a cool fuel injected engine to drop into an old van, and it would be equipped to handle the modern features, like AC, Alternator, a Power-Steering Pump, and did I mention Fuel Injection?
Anyway, back to the trip..
At 3am the next morning I left out for Durant Oklahoma where my brothers live. I got there about 5am and picked up one brother. The second brother had to stay home because the family dog was in his final hours. From Durant we headed directly east to Hot Springs. About ten minutes from Durant, in Bokchito, I was pulled over for doing 45 in a 35. I was a little nervous because it was the first time I have been stopped while carrying my pistol. I checked before I left to be sure that Oklahoma recognized my Texas Concealed Handgun License, but I didn’t know how the officer would react. I gave the officer both my Drivers and CHL licenses, he went back to run my information. My brother just kept telling me that I there was no doubt I would get a ticket, that nobody gets stopped in that town without getting one. I guess there’s a first time for everything, the officer came back and said he was letting me off with a warning, and made no mention of the CHL.
About a half hour later I almost nailed a huge raccoon, really don’t know how he escaped the wheel of death, I didn’t even see him till he was disappearing in front of the SUV, we figured he might be clinging to the grill, but we never heard the dreaded thump, and never saw him on the road, so I guess he made it. By Hot Springs we saw a few dead dear, several dead Armadillos’, and a Skunk that jumped from the grass and ran along the shoulder.
Coming into Memphis..
Not much happened from there, the farther east we went the prettier it got, I really liked the way the roads curve through the tree covered hills of Tennessee. We got into Bristol Virginia about 9pm, dumped our stuff at the hotel and went out for dinner. After a drive like that we deserved something besides fast food for dinner. We ended up at Outback, not the best, but it beats Subway and McDonalds.
The next morning we headed to the store for some tarps and rope, tarps to keep the rental from getting ruined, and rope in case something had to go on top. We were still running early so we ate some breakfast, and ran over to check out the Bristol Speedway. We made it over to my friend’s house to pick up the engine and everything else about noon. Some of you may remember him, he used to be a Vanner on this site, and on VCVC2, his name is Quentin, but he was known as Bullet. I also bought a set of TransAm brackets from him a while back. Bullet is a real nice guy, and it looks like he keeps busy with a couple of projects he’s working on now, and a few more waiting outside. If I ever get out that way again I will definitely look up him up.
While there I also planned on scoring other parts, just depended on how much I could fit. Engine first, then a rear axle, two panel doors, steering column, upper and lower radiator brackets, surge tank, swaybar, floor cutout with the brake pedal, and another with the clutch pedal, four core radiator that needs a new core, two core aluminum radiator that will probably be needed to cool the new engine, then little stuff. Dash cluster, headlight rings, good defrost vent, hinges, glove box door, and Chevy Van Emblems.
The back was pretty packed, especially since we also had a cooler, couple of duffle bags, and a toolbox. The packed picture is on my brother’s camera; I’ll have to track that one down.
We left Bullet’s place in Bristol Tennessee about 2:30pm on Saturday and made our way to meet Nightmoves / Moe at Cracker Barrel in Nashville. Timing worked out pretty good, can’t remember when we got there now, but it was about dinnertime. My brother was pretty out of it, but Moe and I kept the conversation going. He’s another person I would give a call if I were in the area again, I enjoyed meeting him, hearing about the area, and his vans. He even explained why there’s a Cracker Barrel at about every exit in Tennessee. Don’t know why we didn’t get a picture together..?
After dinner we headed to Jackson for the night. We got to our hotel about 11 or 12 to find a small crowd forming outside because the lady working the desk had walked outside and the door locked behind her. As we were trying to break in, someone inside happened to come down to the lobby for a midnight snack and opened the door for us. Here's a picture of the SUV loaded, it's not sitting low at all, I was impressed with how well it drove with all the weight. Really couldn't tell a difference in how it drove loaded or unloaded.
We slept in the next morning (Monday) and didn’t get on the road till about 11. Using my TomTom it said we would get back to my brothers house about 8pm. That put me on schedule for a two hour drive from Durant to my house, an hour to unload, and get the car back to Avis by Midnight so I didn’t have to pay for an extra day. The TomTom wanted us to stay on the Interstate’s most of the way, but my brothers being Truck drivers knew a shortcut. About the time we got to Hot Springs we broke from the TomTom and started down highways. It was the same way we left, but I didn’t pay attention to it on the way out. Well, about forty minutes into the shortcut it had added about 75 minutes to our trip, I was pretty angry but kept my mouth shut. It’s a good thing I kept quiet too, as we got closer the time started coming down, we ended up getting there about 7:20pm, so their shortcut did save about 40 minutes.
I made it back home about 9:45pm, unloaded it and ran back to Avis, I turned it back in at 12:05.
Kind of funny though, they guy that checked the car back in had a problem and asked that I go to the inside desk, he said my contract had been voided. I was afraid they were pulling something because of the 2200 miles I put on in three days. Once inside the manager just quietly tapped away at the computer and took care of it. He later explained that the lady that helped me check out the car had accidently canceled my contract; the car I had was listed as missing. I don’t know how long they wait to report missing cars, but if they had reported it the cop in Oklahoma would have grabbed it.
Would have been a real short trip huh?
Anyway, back to the trip..
At 3am the next morning I left out for Durant Oklahoma where my brothers live. I got there about 5am and picked up one brother. The second brother had to stay home because the family dog was in his final hours. From Durant we headed directly east to Hot Springs. About ten minutes from Durant, in Bokchito, I was pulled over for doing 45 in a 35. I was a little nervous because it was the first time I have been stopped while carrying my pistol. I checked before I left to be sure that Oklahoma recognized my Texas Concealed Handgun License, but I didn’t know how the officer would react. I gave the officer both my Drivers and CHL licenses, he went back to run my information. My brother just kept telling me that I there was no doubt I would get a ticket, that nobody gets stopped in that town without getting one. I guess there’s a first time for everything, the officer came back and said he was letting me off with a warning, and made no mention of the CHL.
About a half hour later I almost nailed a huge raccoon, really don’t know how he escaped the wheel of death, I didn’t even see him till he was disappearing in front of the SUV, we figured he might be clinging to the grill, but we never heard the dreaded thump, and never saw him on the road, so I guess he made it. By Hot Springs we saw a few dead dear, several dead Armadillos’, and a Skunk that jumped from the grass and ran along the shoulder.
Coming into Memphis..
Not much happened from there, the farther east we went the prettier it got, I really liked the way the roads curve through the tree covered hills of Tennessee. We got into Bristol Virginia about 9pm, dumped our stuff at the hotel and went out for dinner. After a drive like that we deserved something besides fast food for dinner. We ended up at Outback, not the best, but it beats Subway and McDonalds.
The next morning we headed to the store for some tarps and rope, tarps to keep the rental from getting ruined, and rope in case something had to go on top. We were still running early so we ate some breakfast, and ran over to check out the Bristol Speedway. We made it over to my friend’s house to pick up the engine and everything else about noon. Some of you may remember him, he used to be a Vanner on this site, and on VCVC2, his name is Quentin, but he was known as Bullet. I also bought a set of TransAm brackets from him a while back. Bullet is a real nice guy, and it looks like he keeps busy with a couple of projects he’s working on now, and a few more waiting outside. If I ever get out that way again I will definitely look up him up.
While there I also planned on scoring other parts, just depended on how much I could fit. Engine first, then a rear axle, two panel doors, steering column, upper and lower radiator brackets, surge tank, swaybar, floor cutout with the brake pedal, and another with the clutch pedal, four core radiator that needs a new core, two core aluminum radiator that will probably be needed to cool the new engine, then little stuff. Dash cluster, headlight rings, good defrost vent, hinges, glove box door, and Chevy Van Emblems.
The back was pretty packed, especially since we also had a cooler, couple of duffle bags, and a toolbox. The packed picture is on my brother’s camera; I’ll have to track that one down.
We left Bullet’s place in Bristol Tennessee about 2:30pm on Saturday and made our way to meet Nightmoves / Moe at Cracker Barrel in Nashville. Timing worked out pretty good, can’t remember when we got there now, but it was about dinnertime. My brother was pretty out of it, but Moe and I kept the conversation going. He’s another person I would give a call if I were in the area again, I enjoyed meeting him, hearing about the area, and his vans. He even explained why there’s a Cracker Barrel at about every exit in Tennessee. Don’t know why we didn’t get a picture together..?
After dinner we headed to Jackson for the night. We got to our hotel about 11 or 12 to find a small crowd forming outside because the lady working the desk had walked outside and the door locked behind her. As we were trying to break in, someone inside happened to come down to the lobby for a midnight snack and opened the door for us. Here's a picture of the SUV loaded, it's not sitting low at all, I was impressed with how well it drove with all the weight. Really couldn't tell a difference in how it drove loaded or unloaded.
We slept in the next morning (Monday) and didn’t get on the road till about 11. Using my TomTom it said we would get back to my brothers house about 8pm. That put me on schedule for a two hour drive from Durant to my house, an hour to unload, and get the car back to Avis by Midnight so I didn’t have to pay for an extra day. The TomTom wanted us to stay on the Interstate’s most of the way, but my brothers being Truck drivers knew a shortcut. About the time we got to Hot Springs we broke from the TomTom and started down highways. It was the same way we left, but I didn’t pay attention to it on the way out. Well, about forty minutes into the shortcut it had added about 75 minutes to our trip, I was pretty angry but kept my mouth shut. It’s a good thing I kept quiet too, as we got closer the time started coming down, we ended up getting there about 7:20pm, so their shortcut did save about 40 minutes.
I made it back home about 9:45pm, unloaded it and ran back to Avis, I turned it back in at 12:05.
Kind of funny though, they guy that checked the car back in had a problem and asked that I go to the inside desk, he said my contract had been voided. I was afraid they were pulling something because of the 2200 miles I put on in three days. Once inside the manager just quietly tapped away at the computer and took care of it. He later explained that the lady that helped me check out the car had accidently canceled my contract; the car I had was listed as missing. I don’t know how long they wait to report missing cars, but if they had reported it the cop in Oklahoma would have grabbed it.
Would have been a real short trip huh?
Last edited by Scott on Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:17 am; edited 3 times in total
