Why a road trip across the country in a 55 year old car? 56 years old by the time I make the trip in the summer of 2022.
At first I thought it was due to COVID-induced cabin fever. Upon reflection, I’ve been no stranger to travel since March of 2020. In October of 2020 I drove from the Tampa Bay area to northern Michigan to sell my condo on Mackinac Island. 1500 miles each way, three glorious days – and my last as a property owner – on Mackinac Island, then a drive from St. Ignace north to Sault St. Marie – aka the Soo – to sign documents at the title company.
From there over to Paradise and Whitefish Point, introducing my 17-year old son and lady friend to the wild splendor of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a way of life foreign to anyone living in a big city or suburbia. The Whitefish Point museum and the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a stroll on the sandy shore of Lake Superior and gazing out on the sun-drenched waters, east with Canada in view, north and west to the vast beyond across the waters of the lake the Ojibwe called gichi-gami, or Great Sea.
The next day it was over to Tahquamenon Falls, followed by the trip back to metro Detroit to visit the siblings and family, drop off the girlfriend for her flight home, and the long drive down I-75 to Tampa Bay sharing the driving with my son.
In June a few months before I flew from St. Petersburg, FL to Flint, MI, rented a car and drove to St. Ignace and spent nearly two glorious weeks on Mackinac Island. Normally the condo is rented at that time of year, but tourism was not allowed due to the pandemic and only residents were allowed on the island. Being a property owner, I qualified. I would have stayed even longer but I was paying for a rental car to sit in a parking lot and that made no sense.
So a reluctant farewell to that magical island, a drive downstate to visit family and friends before the return flight to Florida.
That fall trip was nearly a year ago. Has the wanderlust bitten so hard in so short a time? It was even less, as for New Year’s I flew to Phoenix where we burned up miles of Arizona highway visiting the Grand Canyon, then the airplane museum in Tuscon, followed by a trip to Sedona. In the next few months a couple of trips to LA.
It couldn’t be lack of travel, I’ve done more travel in the last year and a half than the previous several years combined. It might be cabin fever from working at home, I can’t deny that.
But wait! There’s a fly in the ointment, a monkey wrench in the works.
The plan is to buy a ’66 Mustang, do any necessary improvements in my shop, then it’s On the Road Again. Except the building my shop is in has been sold and I have to move into a new location. Rent another shop? Sell the condo and buy a house with a garage? If you know anything about Florida real estate in 2022, prices have gone through the roof and competition is fierce. If I buy The Road Trip Car, will I have a place to park it?
Instead of shopping for cars, I’m shopping for real estate. I looked at two Mustangs locally, and I didn’t want to drive either one two hundred miles, much less twenty-five hundred! Will I have time to get a shop, move, buy a car and get it ready before I turn 67? Should I do the road trip on Route 66 in a ’66 Mustang at age 67? Or revise the plan?
I revised the plan.
Instead of a ’66 Mustang, I bought a C5 Corvette. 2003. It’s not a ’66 Mustang or ’66 Vette, but it is an American car and it is a Vette. So we’re going to do Route 66 at age 66 in a Corvette. There is something harmonious about doing Route 66 in a Corvette, driving the Mother Road and seeing the sights, a la the TV show. Hopefully not getting into the same kind of trouble!
So here it is: The Road Trip Car, a 2003 C5 Corvette Z06. 405hp, 6-speed trans. It’s a whole lot more civilized that a ’66 Mustang, it’s a helluva lot faster, and it cost a whole lot less. And it’s in my favorite shade of red – bright blue! Here is the actual car, taken at a local car meet.
With the car purchased, it’s time to re-design the website and change the URL for my66roadtrip.com to my66roadtrip.com. Update some content, change the site’s color scheme, and off we go.
It’s not a convertible, but I can still channel Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock as we hit highway west.
I hope you’ll join me on my journey. The car purchase is already complete, it needs a few upgrades, followed by preparing it for the trip, and then the trip itself.
Along the way I’ll add my knowledge of cars, attractions along the way, the anatomy of this car fanatic, and other semi-relevant facts that will hopefully keep a motorhead entertained.
Have fun and don’t miss a shift!