(22) N2K9 Days 1 & 2

Ahhh... Now to enjoy my vacation. It all started Wednesday morning...

I was awoken by a nice thunderstorm about 5:30am, a good hour before the alarm was set to go off. I opened the blind on the bedroom window to expose a good lightning storm and solid rain. I just knew I should have followed my instict last night to go ahead and put the Neon on the tow dolly and hook it up to the Subaru, all ready to pull out of the driveway. I decided to wait until morning since I don't like leaving the race car outside the security of the garage unsupervised. This came at a price this time, as I was looking at a good soaking while I hook up the rig. I jumped on the computer to check out the weather forecast, and noticed a predicted lull in the the rain for a 30 minute window between 6:30 and 7:00 am. I woke up Amber and had her get ready to help me load everything up while the rain was stopped or died down. We managed to get it done with minimal saturation.

At 0800 hours we were set to meet up with a fellow Neon enthusiast from Greenwood to start our convoy to Belvidere Illinois for Neon Bash 2009. The rain was intense for the first half hour of driving, but then progressively lightened up and finally stopped at the north side of Indianapolis. It was smooth sailing after that. The Subaru was doing a great job pulling the Neon, but I was taking my time and being cautious the entire trip. We met up another couple of Neon enthusiasts in Lafayette, a husband and wife both in flame red coupes like mine. We convoyed with the Subaru leading and 4 Neons behind all the way to Belvidere. It took just over 5 hours start to finish with 2 bathroom stops along the way. We arrived at the America's Best Value Inn and checked in about 1:30pm. I unloaded the Neon from the trailer and noticed that my driver side rear wheel had been knocked out of alignment by the horrendous toll roads through Chicago. Not only did it cost me $15 in tolls to drive across Chicago, but it also cost me my custom racing alignment. There were a couple Neons in the parking lot when we got there, but most were out scavenging the local junkyards. We stayed at the hotel. Slowly but surely more and more Neons started rolling in, and we spent most of the day chatting with fellow Neon owners and watching repairs and upgrades taking place right in the parking lot. Us Indiana folk grilled out bratwurst for dinner.

Thursday was scheduled for a cookout at the park along with a swap meet. We woke up about 8:30am and got showered and ready to hit the day. We met up with the Indiana crew and headed for the local McDonalds for some good breakfast, as the continental breakfast just wasn't going to cut it. After breakfast we had some time to burn so we stopped at the local Chevrolet dealership to get a glimpse of the new 2010 Camaro, but there were none in stock. We decided to head back to the hotel. More people were up and milling around again in the parking lot, so we did some more socializing in the parking lot for a bit, then headed to the park for the cookout and swap meet. There were probably 30-35 cars that showed up with parts to sell or donate to other needy Neon owners. The cookout started off a little rocky, as there was only 1 package of hot dog buns, and no hamburger buns. We had already pitched in 4 bags of Doritos, but we made a quick trip in the Neon to Aldi's to pick up buns and condiments. Another Neon guy footed the bill, I just did the driving.

After a while we decided we'd go back to the hotel and find something to do in Rockford. We were getting a little burnt out on standing in parking lots. Amber and I jumped in the Subaru, cranked on the air conditioning, and headed for Rockford to scope out things to do. We found the 'Anderson Japanese Gardens', which is an authentic Japanese pond-strolling garden with a Sukiya guest house, tea house, waterfalls, and more. We caught them 15 minutes before they close, so we're going to make a full tour tomorrow. We're also planning tomorrow's breakfast at the Rockford Harley-Davidson dealership that has a cool diner right in the dealership! Definately will have pictures later on for that. After we got done with the Rockford recon, we headed back to the hotel and linked up with the other Indiana folk to grab some dinner at a BBQ joint down the street. It was packed when we got there, and for good reason. The food was incredible! Best pork & beans I think I've ever had. Now we're back at the hotel and winding down for the evening. Can't wait for tomorrow's breakfast, Japanese garden, and car show!

Until Next Time...