Power Tour in 2017 Corvette

(Sometimes I wish I had taken more photos but it might have "watered down" the experiences I was having if I would have been concentrating on snapping photos.  This blog is my journal which I use to jog my memory and to share with anyone who wishes to read it.)

Gary and I went on the Power Tour for a week in June.  This is put on by Hot Rod magazine and this was the 23^rd year it has run.  This was quite an event and words can hardly do it justice, but here's an overview.   “Seven Cities in Seven Days” is the theme.  

Now…..before I tell you more I want you to know that there were 6,000 to 8,000 cars participating in this!  It can be any car, not just sports cars.  Gary drove his 2017 long-beach-red Corvette and we traveled quite comfortably in it.  Getting in and out gave our muscles a good work-out.

A course is laid out and it stays off the interstates so we see the local scenery.  People

were lined up in their front yards with their coolers and cheering us on.  It was a blast!!!  Sometimes our group would just stop and watch the cars go by for a while.  It was noisy what with all the spin-outs and burning rubber take-offs.   6,000 is a LOT of cars!!!!!!

Naturally, the motels were filled with Power Tour people so it was like a mini-car show every evening.  We walked around, talked to people, and just hung out.

There were 8 of us from the Harrisonburg area.  We ate breakfast together at the motel, had fast food together for lunch, and went out for dinner.  That lent itself to getting to know each other and we have made some new fun-loving friends including Orden and Reba Harman, Galen and Suzie Shank, Gary and Mary.  Not pictured are Wilmer and Shirley Shank.  A Singers Glen guy and his wife, L.F. and Debbie Miller, joined us for a couple of days.

This is at the National Corvette Museum and assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The tour of the plant assembly portion is mind-boggling to say the least.  I didn't realize that there is no other place in the world where they make Corvettes.   

  
The Corvette Museum is where, in 2014, a sinkhole opened up in the middle of the room and 8 Corvettes feel into the bottom of the DEEP hole.  Fortunately, no people were hurt as it was about 5:30 a.m. but the security cameras caught it all.  7 of the cars were restored but this one they left for all to see.

In Kansas City, Missouri we toured the Arabia Steamboat Museum and it was a highlight of our trip.  The Missouri is the longest river in the US and has claimed nearly 400 other steamboats over its 2,500 mile course.  In 1856, the Arabia was carrying over 200 tons of cargo intended for general stores in 16 mid-western frontier towns.  The steamer was still fully loaded when it hit a tree snag and sank just 6 miles west of Kansas City. 

Due to erosion, the Missouri River changed course over time, and the Arabia was buried underground for over a century – along with all of its precious cargo. Lying 45-feet deep beneath a Kansas cornfield, the Arabia’s payload was protected from light and oxygen and was thus remarkably well preserved.

From fine China to carpentry tools to children’s toys to the world’s oldest pickles—the Arabia’s artifacts are astounding.  Plus, the family who took on the project in 1988 has cleaned and displayed these items impeccably well.

Every afternoon, there was a venue in each of our tour cities.  There were lots of accessories, etc. for the cars, as well as shirts and food.  I felt sorry for the workers because they had to pack up their wares and hightail it to the next stop every day. It was like a county fair for cars each day.  That's where we went to get our badges validated.  

We have figured out that the Harrisonburg area wouldn't be large enough for the Power Tour because there wouldn't be enough motels and even the fairgrounds wouldn't furnish enough parking for the 6,000 - 8,000 cars, vendors, and other workers.

 
Gary and I completed all 7 cities in 7 days so we won our “Long Haulers” metal plaque!
 

 OUR ROUTE:  We started in Kansas City, MO;  then Newton, IA;  Davenport, IA;  Champaign, IL; Madison, IL; Indianapolis, IN;  and ended up in Bowling Green, KY.
     

This shows you some of the boxes that were filled with plaques.

Another one of our adventures happened the last day of the tour.  We got on the elevator to go down to breakfast and the ELEVATOR GOT STUCK!!!   We were in there about 45 minutes and, even when they did open the door, it was between floors so we had to crawl out.  It was a dramatic ending to a Power Week of fun!

My hero, Gary Lee Suter, with his jazzy shirt and hat. 
 We covered 3,153 miles in that fast-paced week!   

Would we like to go again?  Sure thing!

People at the Party or Party People

Click on each photo for an enlargement.

p.s.  I am not accurate......the main host was Gary Suter.

My brother 

and sister-in-law, 

Maribeth and Philip May, 

the hosts.

My sister, Anita May Krull

and her 

long-time friend,

Donna Sampson

Anita with her adopted mom, Thelma Hollar

Mary, Anita, Phil, and niece, Ellen Krull

Nephew Levi May and Alyssa ?


My first cousin, Stashia May Kline

Krista Suter, Gary's daughter

Hunter Hollar and Phil May

Susan Huffman, Carole Mishler, Gayle Davis

Cousin Jim Bowman

 Bernie Rinard, Jackie and Ed Strunk

Gary Suter, my wonderful boyfriend!
Thank you for the party and for being you!

Well, I'm going to have to give up.  

This blogger program is not putting my pictures in the way I want them......

it's just putting them any old where.  

At least you can see them, I hope.

Surprise for 70

  First of all, a special thanks goes out to Robert Mishler for two big reasons.

One is thanks for taking all these photos at my party.
The second thanks is for introducing Gary and Mary to each other.

The BIGGEST thank you of all is to Gary Lee Suter, my boyfriend who gave the party.  
I understand he'd been working on it for months. 
He is THE dearest man in the whole wide world!!!!!!!

It was Sunday, June 4, 2017.  Gary wanted to go over to West Virginia and invited me along for a Sunday afternoon drive.

It was about 4:20 and we were almost back to my house when he suddenly turned into Phil (my brother) and Maribeth's driveway.

As we drew closer, I saw people..... lots of people!
I'm not sure when my feeble brain figured out that all those people

 were singing happy birthday to me! 

There were 53 people there!

The biggest surprise of all was my sister, Anita May Krull!!!!  
I remember saying,  "Anita, what are YOU doing here?!!!"

 What a joy!  Anita lives in Dayton, Ohio.

MaryMay, Anita May Krull, Philip May, Niece Ellen Krull

Appetizers

Gary even had a caterer!

Great deck space on Phil and Maribeth's house.

Perfect weather!

And stupendous views in every direction!

When I say I live on the next hill from my brother, I'm not kidding!

People, people everywhere.  
That's Maribeth in the lower right-hand corner.

Cousin Stashia May Kline and Krista Suter (Gary's daughter).

Plus, Kelly May Brown and Randy Baker entertained us.

 Really?

Cousin Jim Bowman appears to be saying,  "Is that so?" or "No way!" or some other such remark.  Boy, I do wonder what they were talking about.

What a guy!!!!!!!!

(Click on any photo for an enlargement.)

p.s.  All these pictures and nary a one of Robert Mishler.  We'll get you later, my friend!

Cyberknife for the Monster in My Face

The exasperating saga of my Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) continues.  Trigeminal Neuralgia is called "The Suicide Disease"  because the intensity of pain has caused some people to commit suicide or at least consider it.

The microvascular decompression surgery I had at the University of Virginia on September 28, 2016 seemed helpful at first but my pain returned full blast.

I was hospitalized twice during the winter of 2017 in Florida due to unbearable pain.

In April, 2017, I had the cyberknife treatment, which is a radiation procedure.  First I went to have a mask made that fit my face. The day of the procedure, I laid down on a cot like for an MRI. 

They put my mask precisely over my face and NAILED IT DOWN to the cot!!  This is NOT for anyone with claustrophobia!!  I will admit that I had to scold myself several times in order to remain calm. I was in the tube for an hour and twenty minutes.

I am sad to report that it didn’t help so I continued with various combinations of medications.  The side effects are numerous but at least I could function.

It feels like an electrical wire being rammed into my face ......Over and over and over.......

It feels like my cheek is pierced with a knife that is connected to an electrical outlet.


The human body can withstand 45 Del Units of pain before collapsing.  During childbirth, 67 Del Units is suffered.  That's like 20 bones being broken at once.  Trigeminal Neuralgia will inflict up to 90 Del Units of pain during an attack.  This is why it's called The Most Painful Condition Known to Mankind.

Valentine's 2017

We have an elegant dinner dance for all the couples who celebrate their 50th anniversary during that year here in my retirement community called Savanna Club.


There were 12 couples in 2017.  In this day and age, 50 years is really commendable.  There were about 300 people at the party.  

I also helped with the refreshments for the honorees backstage. 

I am on the Social Committee and helped with the flowers.  Working with gorgeous roses and with good friends was a delight. 

Each couple is interviewed and a slide show is prepared with photos depicting special and funny memories from their years together.  The story of how they met is often amusing and they are always asked what advice they would give to others. 

 

Gary surprised me with a dozen red roses.  What a marvelous man he is!

 

Valentine's Day is soooo much better when there is a "special someone" in your life.  Gary Suter surely is  special and it is an unexpected surprise to share a special relationship with him. 

Hello 2017 with My BOYFRIEND!

The reference to "my BOYFRIEND" came about when I was first seeing Gary.  

My nephew, Levi May, was razzing me with,  "Hey, Aunt Mary, how's your BOYFRIEND?"  

I kept answering,  "Oh, you mean my FRIEND who's a BOY?  He's fine."  This went on and on!!

Not long after that I got a text from Gary and he referred to me as his girlfriend.  I was thrilled!!!!

MY BOYFRIEND, Gary Suter surprised me with an invitation to fly me to Virginia to bring in the new year!

Phil and Maribeth May, my brother and sister-in-law, were having a big party and Gary and his daughter, Krista, were invited.  The plan was that I would show up at their party as a surprise.  Things got complicated when Gary got a call that they were sick so the party was postponed.  We stopped over there anyway.

The party did come off a few days later.  In the meantime, Gary and I had a great week.  On New Year's Eve, we went to Harrisonburg for their First Night celebration.  That was even better than expected in spite of the bitter cold.

Gary Suter and Mary May Angelil

Here's a photo taken by Robert Mishler.  
Robert introduced us!!  Thank you, thank you, Robert!!!

Christmas Brunch 2016

Christmas 2016 was a time that I was able to "pay it forward"  There have been so many folks who have helped me along the way in my grief process so it was gratifying to be able to help someone else.  A gal named Flo Hedges sat with me some in church.  I knew she had lost her husband fairly recently and this would be her first Christmas alone.  

I am sooo glad I asked her what she was doing on Christmas Day.  Her plan was to probably go out to eat by herself.   There was NO way I was going to let that happen!  I invited my neighbors, Gene and Jane Pinson from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and Flo for a Christmas brunch. 

We sat in my Florida Room with the windows open.  The weather was perfect and there was a gentle breeze.  The four of us had a wonderful meal, filled with laughter and good conversation.

It was a privilege to help someone through a difficult time after all the times my family, friends, and others have helped me.