It is amazing how much darker it is at 6 a.m. when you are as far east as Clarksburg, WV! We’re all out in the lot in the pitch dark chamoising our cars off (of course!)

We set up again over at Harry Green for the banner signing and check-in of the many people joining us at this location. We even have another couple sign up who had seen the television coverage the night before. They were on their way to Parsippany, NJ to attend Lead East when they stopped for the night and saw the coverage about the caravan. They decided to skip Lead East and join us instead - weird part is - they live in KENTUCKY!!!!!! We also have a newlywed couple - married on Saturday - and joined us in Somerset Tuesday night! And our youngest Caravaners are Abbi (4) and Sam Meshulam (almost 9).

Roc holds a Driver’s Meeting and tells the gang that if anyone really wants to run faster than the main caravan - have at it! Everyone has breakfast which Harry Green Chevrolet provided through McDonald’s on their premises. We are behind schedule - again. Roc’s Vette is still being serviced - we really pushed it hard when we were trying to get back to the front after our ill-fated gas stop Wednesday afternoon. They can’t get her running smoothly, and Roc tells me to take the lead for the morning and he’ll catch up with us at our lunch stop. Scott and I take the Caravan out behind a police escort and we head the herd west. A group of about 45 Vettes blow by us but everyone else seems content to stay behind our lead. The speed limit varies between 60 and 70 on this section, and we stick to it.

Our lunch stop is scheduled for Winchester, KY where we will be paraded through the town and escorted to a park for lunch afterwards. I had to call the parade coordinator, Lynn Witt, to let her know were going to be about 45 minutes later than we planned. She asked me to let her know when we were about 20 minutes away.

Roc called on the cell to say he is about 35 miles behind us - We’ve been using the CB’s and personal radios to keep track of everyone and listening to 19 on occasion to hear what the truckers have to say about us. Most of the chatter is positive - but once in a while they complain that we should be able to go a lot faster so we’re not in their way.

Just outside of Nitro, WV we hear a trucker telling us Co-vettes to “get the hell off the highway”. We didn’t think too much of it - figured he was probably annoyed we were holding him up - but he suddenly repeats - “hey, you Co-vettes, get the hell off the highway - its a parking lot up ahead!!!” Too late - we’ve just passed the exit ramp and as we come around a bend beneath an overpass - we see nothing but brake lights!

Once again - the fates have conspired against us - Route 64 is blocked by a multiple truck accident about 2 miles ahead of us and since it is a construction zone - with those temporary concrete barriers on both sides - it is a tunnel - with no way out! We are at a total stand-still. I call Lynn Witt to let her know we are stopped - and promise to let her know if things improve. They have a caterer at the park with food for 800 people waiting for us to arrive!!!! We get out of our cars and look over the situation. There are six construction workers in the middle. They advise me that the word from their cohorts near the accident site is it will be like this for several hours since three trucks are wedged between the barriers - one of which was loaded with brand new motorcycles - and of course, they are now all over the road. Scott’s and my Vettes are stopped in the passing lane just about 100 feet beyond the end of an on-ramp - - - and I eye it longingly. As soon as I suggest that we go “up the down ramp” I’m greeted with a bunch of “are you crazy’s” - and then a split second later, Jerry Wickersham makes the same suggestion and our eyes meet - and determination takes hold! He and I walk up the ramp - stop quite a few people from joining this miserable situation, and get the Vettes to make a swing around across the slow lane and up the ramp. We send them over the overpass to a Shoney’s we can see and tell them we’ll figure out what to do once we get everyone off that hot miserable highway. We radio to the back of the caravan to go up the exit and those who were beyond the exit to come up the entrance ramp which we have blocked. I think it took about 20 minutes to get about 100 Vettes “up the down” ramp - and a bunch of other cars followed us as well! I later learned that some of the Vettes who had blown by us heard what we were doing, and they drove back to the ramp on the shoulder as well. During that entire time, we never caused any accidents - saved a bunch of folks from getting stuck in that mess, and we never saw any police!!!!!

Everyone was happy to be off the highway (temperature was about 94) - we were now at Shoney’s - had food, bathrooms, and we weren’t burning fuel. After my own pit stop - Scott and I started looking into alternate routes (where have we heard that term before?????) We received info from several people about various ways around this accident - but were advised there were some tricky turns on the detours. A guide was needed!!!! I went back into Shoney’s and started asking if there was someone who would be willing to guide a bunch of Corvettes around the accident and back to 64 West. A woman named Susan Dunlap volunteered - and said she just needed to gas up her white Nissan truck while I got everyone lined up and ready to go again. I went outside to tell the gang we had a new local leader. Someone yelled for everyone to toss in a buck to reward her and the bills started flying at me. I asked Ron and Bryan Rivers to collect it for us and before I knew it - we had $63! When Sue got back from the gas station, I gave her the “tip” which she didn’t want to take. I told her to give it to her Church or a local charity if she didn’t want to keep it, but we had no way to give it back since we didn’t know who gave what - she reluctantly accepted it.

We had been trying to reach Roc on the cell phone from the time we got stopped on the highway. We didn’t want him to pull up to that mess and get stuck, but we were unsuccessful in reaching him.

Sue started leading us on our detour which ran through a construction area and several traffic lights. The radios were a valuable tool, and when we held back from following her, she quickly caught on that we needed to go quite slow to allow those in the back to get through all these obstacles. My cell phone came to life and it was Roc & Nancy and Joe telling us they were off of Route 64 due to an accident. I happened to look to my left and SAW THEM coming toward us! We told them what was happening, they swung around to join us at the front of the caravan and we discovered that Roc had another problem. . . . sounded like a left rear wheel bearing was going. Sue directed him to a Chevrolet dealership that just happened to be about ½ mile away and he again promised to keep in touch and let us know how things were going with him.

While we were pulled over to the side of a road about 2 traffic light farther on - a Coca Cola van pulled up and asked if we needed help getting around the accident - he owns a 98 and wanted to do anything he could to help his fellow Vetters! He and Scott stayed at that location to guide those still stuck in the traffic lights and construction. I went on with the front half of our intrepid band. Sue spent the next 45 minutes very slowly leading us around a 23 mile detour that took us beyond the blockage. When she got us back to Route 64, she pulled off next to the on-ramp. We each rolled down our windows to wave and tooted our thanks as we happily roared up that ramp! I’ve got her address, and we’re sending her a caravan T-shirt and some dash plaques along with a thank you note. Roc saved a copy of the local newspaper, and we will write a letter to the Editor as well.

I’ll bet right now, some of you who were sorry you couldn’t make the trip are more than a little glad you stayed home!!!!!

Roc had started referring to our Caravan as “The Lost Squadron” - I also heard us referred to as “The Blockage Brigade” and “The Jinxed Jersians”.

We rolled onward and I communicated with Lynn Witt several more times. She informed me that Corvettes were arriving in “waves” of 15 to 30 at a time. The police had held the first 3 or 4 groups up and paraded them as a single unit through the town to the delight of the school children who were let out to see them go by. The rest of us just by-passed the parade route and went directly to the park where the caterer had lunch available.

There was entertainment in the form of a bluegrass band for our listening pleasure. We apologized for eating and running - but we were now almost 2 ½ hours behind schedule for the day and we still had to get to Louisville!!!!! I heard from Roc via cell phone again - his car could not be fixed that day, so he and Nancy rented a Blazer and were going to drive directly to Bowling Green to meet us there later that night.

We arrived at the Executive West Hotel in Louisville for the Welcome Reception (despite the directions they had given us) and we signed the huge “Official” banners that were hanging there. All of the NGCA members then took off for Bowling Green - except Jim and I. Our 98 was slated to be on display at the Museum all day Friday - so we were assigned to the very front of the caravan that was to head down Route 65 to Bowling Green in the a.m. We figured, since we’d be at the front, we wouldn’t get stuck sitting on Route 65 for hours (which is what happened in 94), so we may as well enjoy the full experience of the combined caravan! BIG MISTAKE!

Meanwhile - down in Bowling Green - Roc met up with the rest of our gang - and they had a fun-filled dinner together! . . . to be continued . . . if you can stand it!!!!!