Hey Misfits,
On Saturday, Bill organized and led a Mystery Cruise under perfect mid-summer conditions to parts unknown. A large contingent of Misfits and guests gathered at Pickle Park in anticipation and speculation for the mysterious destination awaiting us in approximately 4 hours down or up the road. With several new people, introductions were widespread so everyone would know everyone but relations were frequently misrepresented leading to cousins marrying cousins. After everyone’s marital status was straightened out, Bill, in his Little Red Corvette and accompanied by Richard, Donna’s brother-in-law, took up the lead spot and was followed by Steve and Rachel, Ed’s neighbors, in a fine looking red Oldsmobile convertible. Larry pulled into the next spot in his pearl wild berry 36 Ford sedan. Carol, in a highly contrasting bright yellow “Tweety”, guided the pick-up into the third position in line. Rick and his dad Elwin fired up next in their red Camaro followed by Mary and Don, piloting Bill’s chocolate-colored Chattanooga Choo Choo El Camino. Ed was in pursuit in the now gleaming white Monte Carlo, accompanied by Donna’s sister Dinah with Audrey and myself directly behind in our TR. Barry and Donna, confident they could make the round trip to somewhere and back in their newly repaired little white MG roadster, made a last minute check on a loose hose clamp in the clutch hydraulic system. A passing roll-back had them remembering the untimely clutch failure of last week. In addition to the new repair parts, Barry is now sporting a shiny new rear bumper. The need for one item out of the parts catalog led to some impulse buying opportunities.
Bob and Ellie pulled in behind the two British cars in their red Corvette convertible with Donna and Tim following in their tracks. Donna, absent from most cruises this season, made a welcome return in her sky blue Corvette convertible. Pat (Fonzi) steered his glowing red Chevy coupe into the next position and Benny and Judy maneuvered their butter yellow, black trimmed Camaro behind. Paul and Ann, in an Mystery Cruise J u l y 3 0 , 2005 almost opposite ended line up, were in the large white Chrysler 300 convertible. Paul, in a rush to get into line from his high wheeling burnout performance at the Charlestown commemoration parade with his Shrine troop , got the clown face and suit off but neglected the high rise blue stripped clown socks. Sandals and stripped nee-highs are a new look for Paul. The long line now complete was tail-gunned by ever steady Jim keeping control of the line from the rear in his ticket-inducing red Corvette convertible.
The cruise line was now fully assembled and moving as Bill steered south toward Charlestown automatically eliminating half of the destination possibilities located to the North. Bill executed a quick right turn onto Lover’s Lane and an equally quick right turn across the river into Vermont. Now any possible easterly routes across New Hampshire were eliminated. At the now-closed Howard Johnson’s intersection, Bill led the long line into a left hand direction south on Rt. 5. A previously provided clue that the tour would wind its way to the mystery objective 4 hours away yet only 1 hour from home had us deducing that it would be an initial southern/western loop winding back into up-state New York state or Vermont. Now the real guessing begins. Conjuring up all the clues we could remember, would it be a car show in Bennington, or a visit to Hemmings? Perhaps there was an event in Manchester or even a pre-hot rod nationals event in Lake George. Might lakes Bomoseen or St. Catherine be the possible target or was there a relevant occasion in the Rutland area? We knew there would be other cars involved and a free barbeque. Other cars was easy but who would provide free food for 28 road-weary and increasingly hungry Misfits.
Continuing south on Rt. 5, we heard a cackling radio broadcast that Skip and Linda were at Basketville in Putney with their low slung black coupe waiting to take up a spot in line. A few minutes down the road and sure enough, there they were at an idle waiting to jump in. It isn’t far from that point to the congestion of the Brattleboro area. With little difficulty, the 17 car line wound it way through the heart of the city and turned to a westerly direction on Rt 9. Now another radio nnouncement that Skip’s coupe was overheating from the slow moving trek through the narrow streets of Brattleboro and that he would exit the cruise and return to the safety of home rather than risk more serious problems further down the road. A few in line speculated that we would most likely see Skip and Linda again before the day was over. Could this be merely a ploy and the unknown destination will turn out to be the Rapp’s in Newfane? We are only one hour into the tour so a three hour drive should answer that question.
Newly rebuilt Rt 9 had us winding our way through the “s” turns up to Wilmington which is Vermont’s own Times Square. There has to be more people per square foot in that one intersection than anywhere else in the state. After negotiation our way through the one light town, the line coasted down the western slopes through Woodford and requests for gas and rest. The nearest convenient gas stop was in Bennington. Barry and Donna were in cell phone contact with their son, Jason, a third year computer engineering student at RPI who is spending his summer in Troy, NY. He happened to be in Hoosick (not me, I’m fine) on his way to Bennington as we rested and fueled. After a round of snack-pack treats and some moose-viewing, Bill and Ed rotated passengers and Bill got the line fired up and proceeded through the crossing of Rts 7 and 9 in downtown. While waiting for the second green light to cycle and under the watchful eyes of a couple of amusingly dressed Moose, Jason passed in the opposite direction. A quick wave and a smile were all that the family could communicate in the crush of tourist traffic. A quickly concocted plan over the phones had Jason joining the line with his Honda Civic but with the fact that another 100 miles remained and the destination still in question, all agree to call it a day, try again at another time and continue on each other’s way.
was now closing and all New York and southernmost Vermont possibilities were now being eliminated. Not long after the turn we followed Bill onto Rt 313 back into Vermont. Manchester Center and Hildene became prime targets however it wasn’t long before we passed by those suspicions and headed up Rt 11 to the Bromley-Straton area. Could there be an event at a ski resort or go possibly go right past them closing the final leg of the loop in Newfane as some were guessing? Carol’s request for gas found us on break in Londonderry and still on Rt 11 - OK, scratch Newfane.
After Bill fired the red Corvette signaling the resumption of the cruise, it became clear that the mystery with the promise of food must be around the Springfield area. Could this be just another ice cream stop at Bill’s? Could it be a barbeque at Gary and Lee’s in Chester or at Don and Mary’s scenic homestead overlooking Rockingham? Donna and Tim had already denied an event at the newly opened Rusty Rooster Country Store. Stoughton Pond? The Boat Landing? How about Skip Nielson hosting a Misfit event? There certainly would be other cars in his stable. Rick and Elwin, Bob and Ellen, Dave and Theresa, Dennis and Teresa, Everett and Michelle, Paul and Ann, Carol? They all have multiple collectable cars at home. The possibilities are many. Might it be at Mark Gomez’s facility? Why would Mark be willing to feed a troop of hungry Misfits? My God, could the kids have flown in from Chicago and its at our house? Audrey, are the breakfast dishes done? Geeze, I should have mowed the lawn yesterday like I was supposed to.
Approaching Springfield there were brake lights starting to flash as we were descending the hill nearing Bellows Road. Bill announced he would pull off and allow the squirrels to clear the line. There are no squirrels in line. I see smoke coming from behind the trees and the unmistakable flashes of the multi-color spectrum of paint applied to custom and classic cars coming through openings in the thick green foliage. We were here. All questions are now answered. The carnival-like crowd already at Mark’s watched us pull in and arrange the cruisers in Mark’s field. It was like Moonlight Madness only with food. Mark and everyone involved had set up a full feed for the masses. There were familiar faces and cars plus several of each we had never seen before. Mark also allowed full access to his display and storage barn. What a collection of a wide variety of classic cars. Mostly Chevys, including Corvettes, Chevelles and Nomads, however we found a couple of British cars, an AMX, a truck, a GTO Judge, a Packard, a motorcycle and even some old springer forked bicycles.
Thank you Bill for organizing and leading a fine mystery cruise and even lending out your truck and taking passengers. Thanks to Paul and Ann for assisting. Thanks to Mark and Jerry and everyone involved and all who contributed and helped to provide a fine barbeque and cruise event. It was obviously a huge effort in planning and execution. Final thanks to everyone who knew the mystery destination and never let on. It added greatly to the speculation and anticipation of the event for two weeks before and entire length of the nearly 5 hour cruise loop. It would be great to get a donation pot going, to take the pressure off of Mark et al, and make this an annual event.
Tom and Audrey
