Central Valley Corvettes - May 2014 Magazine

O
ne of the great benefits of putting on an
extended run aside from the fun and
adventure, is spending a lot of time with
the various couples that sign on.
Such was the case recently with the Southwest Tour
II trip which comprised 16 days, 10 cities and 3,200
miles. A jammed packed vacation with 13 Corvettes
got rolling as we hit Route 66 from Kingman to Ash
Fork and along the way stopped in Seligman to shop
and have lunch. While there, about 20 Bentley
convertibles, mostly right hand drive with European
license plates came streaming into town. Despite
heavy winds they braved the elements with the top
down. A few hours later our cars descended down
scenic Oak Creek Canyon and we arrived in Sedona
in time to watch the sunset on the mesa at the local
airport. The next day it was a ride on the Broken
Arrow run of the Pink Jeep Tours. Some in our
party were screaming so loudly, it made it
extremely entertaining for the rest of us.
Next was Santa Fe, New Mexico with stops along the
way including Meteor Crater, Winslow, Jack Rabbit
Trading Post, Wig-Wam Village Motel in Holbrook and
finally lunch at the historic El Rancho Hotel in Gallup,
NM. The following morning, we had our own private
historic walking tour of Santa Fe as we learned about
the city’s 400 year history, architecture and the secret
office of Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic
bomb. From there we took a leisurely Corvette cruise
to the New Mexican Village of Chimayo, then to Los
Alamos to see how the bomb was constructed and on
to Bandelier National Monument for a tour of cliff
dwellings before returning to our hotel. Next up was
Albuquerque where we had a private trolley tour and
later visited the famous Kimo Theatre. After an
overnight in Socorro we visited the actual ground
zero where the atomic age was officially born at the
Trinity Bomb site in July of 1945. Yours truly was
interviewed by Canadian TV about our trip and why
we were there. We later checked out the UFO
museum in Roswell. Next was Carlsbad Caverns, the
Clyde Tombaugh Space Museum, the White Sands
Desert and finally we rolled into Tombstone. After
checking out the OK Corral and other sites, we visited
a Titan 2 Missile silo in Green Valley, Az. Leigh Ann
Severance sat in the director’s chair and pushed the
simulated launch of the hydrogen nuclear warhead
capable of hitting a target 6,000 miles away in less
than an hour. Then it was on to Tucson for two days
and visiting the Pima Air and Space Museum, the
Boneyard and Old Tucson studios. While at the
Boneyard, a reporter for local Channel 12 did a story
on us and videoed all the Corvettes heading out on
the road. While in Yuma we took a sunset dinner
cruise on the Colorado River. The following day some
folks went back to Laughlin, others headed for home
and a couple of us continued to San Diego. While in
San Diego we caught a Padres-Tigers game, went to
Balboa Park and saw a 300 year old pirate shipwreck
complete with treasure that was recently discovered,
we toured the aircraft carrier Midway and had dinner
in the Gaslamp District. Those same Bentleys were
staying at our hotel in San Diego. What a
coincidence! There is so much more I could tell you
about, but I think most everyone had a great time.
Perhaps another extended run may be in order in
2016. In closing, don’t forget your 50% deposit
($550) is due next month for the President’s Mystery
Run which is Sept. 29 to Oct 3.
CRAIG