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Ottawa to Calgary |
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For LOTS of pictures from Scott's Picasa Web Albums of the happenings while on tour - please click the Picasa Web Album logo below and then... enjoy.
Scott's Birthday Picture... yes folks, the needle is buried at 140 - that's 140km/h or 85 miles an hour - I am sure he was doing more than that and probably did so for a few minutes out there in "Big Sky Country". What a great way for Scott to celebrate his birthday on June 29th. He was on US Highway 87 in Montana with lots of open spaces around and apparently no Highway Patrol in the vicinity.
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After experiencing a hair raising brake failure in Albert Lea, Minnesota, Scott and Ab sought out help and received exceptional treatment and service from a General Motors dealership there called Flaherty Chevrolet. Sean Flaherty himself helped Scott and Ab and made sure that they got back on the road. He took care of all their needs and reminded us that extending our hands and helping fellow humans is what gives us real reward in life. From all the fellow members of the Capital Corvette Club - we would like to express a heartfelt "thanks Sean" for taking care of our members when they were in need.
Click HERE to see the letter that Ab wrote to Albert Lea Tribune, and.. click HERE to see a copy of the letter that Scott sent to General Motors. Well done boys. |
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An Entry From Scott:
After 4,398 kms we have made Calgary, perhaps a day later than we wanted but safe, sound and still having a blast together.
Dad and I left Greely at 8:10 a.m. on June 26th and made our way along the 401 and 402 highways in Ontario to Sarnia. (In retrospect now that was some of the worst driving for congestion we've made all trip, even Chicago wasn't as busy as those highways.) We crossed at Sarnia Port Huron and made our way towards Chicago. After 12 hours on the road we called it a night in Michigan City, Illinois.
The next morning we were up early and on our way to St. Charles, Illinois to take part in the 37th Annual Bloomington Gold Corvette event. I have never done Carlisle so this was my first ever Corvette function on a large scale...and I do mean large scale. I overheard some one say there were more than 8,000 Corvettes registered for the event and more "drop ins" were coming. It was held on the grounds of a golf course so the parking for Corvettes was really great, and what a wonderful setting it was. There were literally thousands of Corvettes, and some of the nicest ones were those that were up for judging. I have never seen so many pristine C1's in my life and one of them was VIN #44. I could go on forever about this event, let's just say I'd definitely go back.
We hit the road and made our way west on I-90 around Chicago and up into Wisconsin. The weather I will say was magnificent the whole way, sunny and really hot...boy do I wish my air conditioning worked!! At Tomah I-94 and I-90 split and we were now truly heading west continuing on I-90, the sun was coming down in front of us, and I love the sensation of this kind of driving. We drove through Wisconsin that day and were in Minnesota by early evening. Around 6:00 p.m. I was driving and we decided we'd stop for some supper...it was now Saturday the 27th. We slowed down to take the off ramp into Albert Lea, Minnesota when I panicked...no brakes...the pedal went right to the floor. I quickly down shifted into 2nd gear all the while pumping the crap out of the brakes, and then down into first. Thank all the right gods there was no one in front of us!
We pulled over and checked things out. No leaks, the master cylinder was full, but no pressure at the pedal. A quick call to Ron Rail's Repair Palace back home and the verdict was the master cylinder was shot...not a big deal it should be a $20 part. OK, so we headed into town...it was then 6:30 p.m. and Albert Lea was small town America...nothing was open but we did come upon Flaherty Chevrolet...a dealership. So out came the Blackberry and I started looking for auto repair and auto parts stores. On a Saturday night in Albert Lea, when a yellow Corvette is sitting out in front of the only Chevy dealer in town people notice. And sure enough the gods were shining on us again when a woman happened to drive by and Dad hails her. It turned out she was the owner's wife and in a few minutes we met our next new best friend...Sean Flaherty. Turns out Sean was not only the owner but also a mechanic...and as it turned out, one of those rare people who will do anything for anyone at any time.
He
got on the phone and called around to the auto parts places that
were open and found us a rebuilt master cylinder...sure enough
it's $24. It was Saturday night, he told us he would do the work
in the morning and get this, gave us a loner vehicle so we could
get to a local hotel. The guy was amazing. Next morning, we got
the part, Sean spent about three hours taking the old one off,
the new one went on, we bled the brakes and were good to go. Now
here's the best part...Sean would not take any form of payment.
He told us he had been in that same situation twice before. One
time nobody helped him and the other time someone did...he knows
how it felt. He just wanted to see us back on the road and
having a good vacation. That was truly one of those rare moments
in life when you find out who your friends are. Sean, we will
never forget you. The only payment he finally would take from us
after much discussion was the six Coors Light we had. We were
really blessed to meet this guy. Next time something like this
happens to any of you reading this who ever get a chance to help
someone, do it! |
