Thank you USA from a Canadian
08-15-2009, 09:45 PM
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Thank you USA from a Canadian
A month ago myself and 3 other corvettes started on a trek from Calgary Canada to see the assembly plant in Bowling Green. I had never taken such a long distance trip before in a corvette and I knew it was going to be a trip to remember. We slid through Glacier park, popped in to see "Old Faithful", marvelled at Mount Rushmore, thoroughly enjoyed Black Hills national park scenery, and toured a Harley Davidson plant near Kansas City. From there we took in the St. Louis Arch and had a short river tour of the Mississippi. Onto Bowling Green.....a Diamond Cavern tour, of course the NCM. The local corvette club welcomed us to tag along a Saturday morning country cruise and an afternoon lunch. Sunday we drove down to Nashville and took in the Hall of Fame and several bars along Broadway. The next day, "Jackie", a retiree from the assembly plant gladly gave us a plant tour. The tour was not rushed we really appreciated it. My 16yr. old son was even given the opportunity to be the first to start one of the new assembled cars. The smile on his face was priceless. One the way back we went to Mid America motorworks in Effingham Wi. where staff at Mid America welcomed us with open arms. MId America provided refreshments and food to a slightly weary bunch of hard driving Canadians. It was a thrill to see the corvette from the movie "Corvette Summer" in their museum. I can say that the only sour note to my trip was the less than friendly North Dakota state trooper I met. But he reduced my speeding ticket nontheless. I understand that he has a job to do to keep highways safe.
In a nutshell, I want to say what a beautiful country the United States is. Your highways are in excellent shape and the people we met were friendly and hospitable. It was a trip my son and I will never forget. Because of this trip, I have constantly encouraged others in our club to do another trip next year. Thank you.
In a nutshell, I want to say what a beautiful country the United States is. Your highways are in excellent shape and the people we met were friendly and hospitable. It was a trip my son and I will never forget. Because of this trip, I have constantly encouraged others in our club to do another trip next year. Thank you.
08-15-2009, 10:21 PM
#4
Race Director
What a cool story. 
Glad to hear you had such a great time. A lot of American's haven't seen as much of the country as you did on that trip.
Living in Missouri though, I have been to the Gateway Arch. And of course the NCM and assembly plant.
Still need to make it the the HD assembly plant in KC though.
Glad to hear you had such a great time. A lot of American's haven't seen as much of the country as you did on that trip.
Living in Missouri though, I have been to the Gateway Arch. And of course the NCM and assembly plant.
Still need to make it the the HD assembly plant in KC though.
08-16-2009, 08:43 AM
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St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Somewhere about the time you were Vetting the USA, we went to Canada and had just as good a time. The only bad part was Calgary LOL! The first problem was the lack of big signs telling us how to pass through in route to Banff. 
Next the ONE exit that was closed for construction was the one we wanted. 
So we took the next one, and got messed up by the "NE" vs "SW" parts of town. 
Finally found the street we wanted, turned onto it - and saw a whole lot of cars coming right at us 
Yeah, we finally saw the ONE sign which had an arrow pointing straight up (translation - don't turn right) but we're used to "ONE WAY" arrows, red "DO NOT ENTER" signs and the like. My fault, yes, but the one sign they had was easy to miss when you've been lost for a half hour and are trying to read street name signs etc. (Found out the Vette goes just as quick in reverse as it does forward!)
Finally got straightened out and made our way to Banff and Jasper and had a fantastic time - the scenery cannot be described by words or even by pictures - if anybody has the chance to drive that Icefield Parkway between those 2 cities do it, you will not be sorry.
I agree with you - a long road trip in a Vette is a lot of fun. There is so much to see and enjoy out there and it's the best car to so it in. Glad you enjoyed the US as much as we did Canada
Next the ONE exit that was closed for construction was the one we wanted. So we took the next one, and got messed up by the "NE" vs "SW" parts of town. Finally found the street we wanted, turned onto it - and saw a whole lot of cars coming right at us Yeah, we finally saw the ONE sign which had an arrow pointing straight up (translation - don't turn right) but we're used to "ONE WAY" arrows, red "DO NOT ENTER" signs and the like. My fault, yes, but the one sign they had was easy to miss when you've been lost for a half hour and are trying to read street name signs etc. (Found out the Vette goes just as quick in reverse as it does forward!)Finally got straightened out and made our way to Banff and Jasper and had a fantastic time - the scenery cannot be described by words or even by pictures - if anybody has the chance to drive that Icefield Parkway between those 2 cities do it, you will not be sorry.
I agree with you - a long road trip in a Vette is a lot of fun. There is so much to see and enjoy out there and it's the best car to so it in. Glad you enjoyed the US as much as we did Canada
Last edited by Railroadman; 08-16-2009 at 08:48 AM.
08-16-2009, 10:50 AM
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St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Deadwood was great. If you're taking the wife, be prepared, there are about 10,000 shops to see! We are not into casinos but there are a lot of those and they looked pretty neat. The street parking is metered and we did see a parking officer walking up and down writing tickets. The whole Deadwood - Lead - etc area is nice, lots of good Corvette roads. Look for the Needles Highway, south of Mt Rushmore, that will give your steering a workout. I can give you other suggestions if you'd like.
Had to love I-15 from the Canadian border down to Helena. The road is open and mostly straight, no hassle about speed - I put it on cruise at 85 for an hour at a time and never saw a cop. Not saying you can be silly about it, but 85 there was safer than 55 in some other places.
Had to love I-15 from the Canadian border down to Helena. The road is open and mostly straight, no hassle about speed - I put it on cruise at 85 for an hour at a time and never saw a cop. Not saying you can be silly about it, but 85 there was safer than 55 in some other places.
08-16-2009, 11:30 AM
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Deadwood was great. If you're taking the wife, be prepared, there are about 10,000 shops to see! We are not into casinos but there are a lot of those and they looked pretty neat. The street parking is metered and we did see a parking officer walking up and down writing tickets. The whole Deadwood - Lead - etc area is nice, lots of good Corvette roads. Look for the Needles Highway, south of Mt Rushmore, that will give your steering a workout. I can give you other suggestions if you'd like.
Had to love I-15 from the Canadian border down to Helena. The road is open and mostly straight, no hassle about speed - I put it on cruise at 85 for an hour at a time and never saw a cop. Not saying you can be silly about it, but 85 there was safer than 55 in some other places.
Had to love I-15 from the Canadian border down to Helena. The road is open and mostly straight, no hassle about speed - I put it on cruise at 85 for an hour at a time and never saw a cop. Not saying you can be silly about it, but 85 there was safer than 55 in some other places.
Just dreaming of those "pigtails"
Jim
08-17-2009, 02:27 AM
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08-17-2009, 02:31 PM
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Navigating through Calgary for us is just as big a challenge. Our roadway infrastructure is in catch up mode due to the large increase in population over the past 5 years. Im glad the rest of your trip went well. I have yet to be to the icefields and have been in Calgary for 30 years. Still on my bucket list I guess. Thank you for your praise of our country. I think we all at times take for granted what we have.
08-17-2009, 07:21 PM
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St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-‘19-'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
Don't get me wrong - Calgary looked like a fun place and we wished we had time to explore the city. We had looked on the internet before the trip and there were a half dozen good country bars, numerous restaurants and a lot more that called to us. Unfortunately we only had a limited time for the whole trip and the timing was wrong to stay there. And later in the trip we talked to several Canadians who said THEY get lost there as well so no put-down intended.
You really owe it to yourself to make the Banff to Jasper round trip. It's not a real pretzel of a road although there are a few places where you appreciate the Corvette. But as far as beautiful scenery it is just fabulous.
You really owe it to yourself to make the Banff to Jasper round trip. It's not a real pretzel of a road although there are a few places where you appreciate the Corvette. But as far as beautiful scenery it is just fabulous.
08-17-2009, 10:28 PM
#18
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Just watch when you come to Pa. are roads are coming apart big time. You sound like you had one great trip. Most vette owners I found will always help out another owner or stop and talk cars.