Day 13: Shipping the Cars
I got up early the next morning to adjust the valves before sending the car off. Brent and I took off with Tony trailing us in the Phaeton. We were making good time until my engine started to get hot about a half hour out. An inspection stop didn't produce any obvious reason for this so we proceeded at a slower pace. The lower speeds didn't make much difference but then it hit me like a rock. Stupid!! When I was working on the car I had moved the body to engine rubber boot to give me access to the fan and make it easier to turn the engine over. A quick stop on the freeway to set things straight and we were back in business. From there on out we were cruising at 75...but still getting passed by every car on the New Jersey turnpike whose driver's all seemed to be pissed that we were going so slow. The slower pace earlier took its toll on our plans as when we got to the docks it was going on lunch time, which is almost 2 hours. We went to customs first and finally got that paperwork completed after a long wait. With time on our hands now we took some pics of the cars for documentation and went to lunch at the only place within miles. It was housed in a house trailer but the food was pretty fair. When we got back to the shipping office they still weren't open...so we took some more pics. Finally we got inside the gate and went through the final steps in dropping the cars off. By the time we got out of there it was 3pm and we headed off in the Phaeton to catch up with the rest of the cruisers who were being led once again by Steve and Deanna. They had stopped for lunch at YBH in Edgemont, PA which I heard later was a great stop.
Day 14: D.C. and Harleys
Saturday was a big day in Washington, D.C. With it being Memorial Day weekend we had found while booking our rooms that there was a huge Thunder Rolling motorcycle convention that weekend. We stopped a few miles before the city at a rest stop to regroup and perform some engine maintenance for one of our new cruisers. I also took this opportunity to take a picture of our newlyweds. As I no longer had wheels I was bringing up the rear with Rachel in her single cab. We did well keeping in contact with everyone until we got down near the capitol grounds. We regrouped a bit as we headed across the Potomac and made our way to Manassas, VA where lunch was waiting at Browns VW. With time to kill after lunch I found a UPS store to mail back some extra stuff that was too hard to take back on the plane and then headed over to the hotel. For dinner we had heard from a local about an unusually good all-you-can-eat joint. They gave us great treatment and the food was good, especially the secret dish on the menu of a baked sweet potato. We all took a turn at telling of our most memorable moments on the trip as we ate our last supper. The strangest part of the dinner was that I, as leader of the cruise, sat at the head with 12 others around the table.
Day 15: The End of the Road - Manassas
Another great Ghia showing turned out for the Manassas show. There were people there from all over the East Coast and I was happy to meet another one of our KG list regulars Jim Geddings from South Carolina whom I caught up with talking Ghias with Bill Smith. In addition to the car show and swap meet there was a short drag strip in the corner. Later on we said our good byes and Dave, Scott, Jack, and I got a ride over to our hotel out by Dulles Airport. We had dinner across the street and Dave had an allergic reaction to the sesame oil so we had to cut our evening short. After we got back Dave came up with a song I had been looking forward to hearing the whole trip. He had half a dozen CDs along with a wide range of rock and roll that he had recorded and the last song on the last CD was the full version of Inagodadavida. With headphones this is the greatest song of all time. The next morning the shuttle to the airport was late but we both made our flights and it was back to the daily grind for a month while anticipating the next half of the trip. This trip took a lot out of me with all of the planning and leadership worries but I wouldn't trade all the good times...and bad...for anything.
