Licensed to Drive

August 21, the Dodge was officially road worthy and we were on our way to the Hot August Nights cruise and car show in Lewiston - with an 8 hour layover in Moscow to work.

Then, on down the hill with some of our car club buddies!  Andy really enjoyed being one of the hot rods instead of the big ol' boat the brought up the rear.

That night was the cruise, with the show the next morning, and there was a bit of a windstorm blowing up dust at the gas station when we got to the bottom of the hill.  Aaron's carburetor stacks were collecting it, so he ran into the store and bought some socks to cover them with!  It looks hilarious...

The cruise was an adventure in itself.  The Dodge was having some trouble starting after our brief stop at Don and Faith's and Andy was worried it wasn't charging.  Well, not long into the cruise he was proved right and we were stuck with a dead battery and a malfunctioning generator.  Now, if this wasn't a traditional hot rod it might have had an alternator, but they just didn't have those back in the good ol' days!  So, Andy bummed a ride to the parts store to buy a spare battery to get us through the evening.  Good times.
The next morning, we met up with Aaron and Forrest to drive into the show together.  Pretty sweet rides, wouldn't you say?

The show kept us entertained with a new low rider truck club that made Andy reminiscent of his first truck project...

...an immaculate car owned by one of our friends since he was a teenager.  He just finished street rodding it, and it's a beauty!  Unfortunately, uber-shiny cars do not photograph well in dappled shade...

...strange vehicles that called for a closer look...

...other means of mobility...

..and a rather familiar looking car....

This is where I turn the storytelling over to Andy!

Dad and I were walking down the line of cars as dad asked me if I had seen the old Camaro at all.  Just about that same time we look across the street and there sits a convertible, first generation Camaro.  I quickly run over the name tag and it has the name of the guy who I was told bought the car from Bob Kemp (That is the person dad sold the car to originally).  So to make a long story shorter, we talked with the new owner and told him a lot about the history of the car.  He did not know much of the history so he was quite excited to hear all we knew.  It was really fun and brought back a lot of good memories from when I was young.  I don't really know what started this whole car thing of mine but some of my earliest memories are of this exact car. 

 

Speaking of the yonger years.  Here I am standing by the car when it was still in the family.  I have to say I like the old color of the car better but that is probably because I only knew it that way.

 

Here Dad and I are standing next to the camaro in all its glory.  This was the debut car show for it since the complete restoration.  The car has been tore apart for close to 8 years and had two different owners since Dad sold it.  The new owner did restore it to look close to original as you look at it from a glance, but once you start looking at it close, he added a lot of his personal touches to it and spared no expense doing so.  He put in a 572 cubic inch chevrolet motor, new leather interior, large wheels and tires, and replaced every little piece with new or reconditioned original.  After looking at this car for a few minutes, there was one thought that came to mind.  "Well there goes the dream of owning this car in my lifetime."  The car was now built way out of my budget!   Ryan still thinks he wants it so if you want to donate, I am sure he will pass around a hat for collection money ;)  And just for the record, the owner told us we would have first option to buy the car back when he sells it.  Keeps me dreaming at least!

 

So here I am sitting in the car which is probably as close to driving it as I will ever get.  It was still cool to sit in the car I grew up with, but never got to drive.

 

Here is a good side profile of the car sitting at the car show.

 

After we talked with the owner  for a while, we realized that Ryan would be coming into town in a just a few weeks and we needed to take him to see the Camaro.  He has way more memories of the car than I do since he got to drive it.  For some reason, Dad sold it just before I got my drivers' license.  Looking back on it, that was probably for the better and I have a much cleaner driving record to show.  So anyway, Ryan came to town and we set up a surprise visit so Ryan could see the Camaro.  He was pretty excited and kept telling Aimee how they needed to save for this car.  It was fun to get to see the car again since I have been on a mission to find it ever since I found out that it was still in the area.  And now the long lost Camaro has been found.  Everyone reading this knows our address, so if you want to donate to the cause, feel free ;)