Velocity Vettes

Part of our group met at Prescott Wal-Mart at 7:30 on Saturday morning.  We had 17 Corvettes ready to roll…  We headed out at 8am heading down Prescott Lakes Parkway and turning right onto Hwy 89, heading north.  We arrived in Chino Valley and pulled into the Safeway parking lot to pick up 4 more cars, including Cal and Patti’s SSR.  Also waiting was Gene, co-pilot for one vehicle.  Our group pulled out of Safeway continuing to head north where we intersected with I-40.  There we picked up Margo and Dennis and the newest addition to Velocity Vettes… Jim and Rosel in their 2 day old Velocity Yellow ZR1!!!  Beautiful car…!  

After we reached I-40 we headed west and picked up the Phoenix group of 4 Corvettes waiting for us at I-40 and Hwy 93.  They all met in Wickenberg and drove over on Hwy 93 to meet up with us.  A few miles further we also picked up John and Suzanne waiting patiently for us to drive by with our long line of Corvettes and of course the SSR.  We numbered 28 Corvettes...  oops and the SSR, but it DOES have a Corvette engine!  We continued on I-40 to the Oatman Rd exit, which is actually Old Route 66.  It is pretty straight for several miles;  what a beautiful drive to Oatman from this point on.  Lots of twists and turns and beautiful scenery.  The road narrows for about 8 miles prior to Oatman and the views are absolutely amazing!  Everyone should drive this just once in their lives!!!  

Once arriving into the town of Oatman around 11am, everyone found parking spots and we all met up at the Oatman Hotel for our lunch.  What an interesting interior they have created over the years.  Dollar bills hanging EVERYWHERE from the walls and ceiling.  We had a great lunch served by C.J. and her staff.  The Pulled Pork Sandwich’s were by far the most popular!  We pretty much filled up the restaurant with our 55 people.  It was so nice of the Oatman Hotel to have entertainment for us!  The star of the Dad, Mom and daughter trio was the little girl of about 8, with a great voice!

The Oatman Hotel is the spot where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their honeymoon after being married in Kingman.  Their private getaway was the Oatman Hotel with its solitude and peacefulness.  Clark was known to spend many a night playing poker with the miners in his day. This is no private getaway any longer!  Lots of activity abounds!!!  

After lunch, everyone walked around town which is known for the wild burros. They live in the surrounding Black Hills and are left over from the miners and their “strike it rich” days in the late 1800’s.  The burros meander all over town and even poke their heads into doorways to see what is happening on the inside.  Burros seem very tame and follow the tourists all over town, especially when you feed them carrots!  They also like to nuzzle you thinking there is food in your pockets.  At night, they head back to the hills to sleep.  In the morning they are back in town to do it all over again.

Our group was witness to a Gun Fight right in the center of town, stopping all traffic.  A little while later we all got to watch and listen in on a wedding performed by an authentic preacher in a top hat and tails!  Once again the traffic was stopped while this 15 minute ceremony was performed.  Not a problem because the traffic through town is stopped every few minutes for the burros that seem to own the town.

Before we left, we ran into several of the Sin City Vette Club members and also the Area 51 Corvette Club who had a Driveout to Oatman.  This town was so full of Corvettes it was amazing.  There were also other classic cars and motorcycle Clubs there at the same time we were there.  It was a VERY busy place!  Everyone headed their separate ways back home.  Several Corvettes headed the short distance to Laughlin, Nevada to spend a night or two before returning home.  Steve and I stayed at the Aquarius in Laughlin on Saturday and Sunday nights, returning home on Monday evening.  Our 38^th anniversary was Friday, so we thought we would make a weekend of it in Laughlin… 

It was a GREAT Driveout with awesome weather... close to 80* and no wind!  Everyone enjoyed this perfect day!

See you on the road,

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Map

Lyn’s slide show  (click) for additional photos... too many to post below!  

Mike Peterson’s slide show (click) for additional photos with lots of Corvettes!

Meeting up at Wal-Mart at 7:30am                                               Heading north on Hwy 89

Jim's new Velocity Yellow ZR1... 3 days old!                                  28 Corvettes in both directions...

Turning on to Oatman Rd (old Route 66)                                        Hair pin turns where you HAD to go slow!

Spactacular vistas                                                                      Jumped out of our car for this shot of Corvettes

Burros and tourists both use the walk ways                                   The lunch begins

Our vocal entertainment... Dad, Mom and daughter!                         Dollar bills on every inch of wall (and ceiling) space

Begging for carrots!                                                                    Paydirt!  She had carrots!

We had 15 Corvettes show up at Costco in Prescott at 11am on this beautiful sunny Saturday morning.  We met here for our drive down to Mayer and to go to lunch at Chuckwagon Steakhouse and Grill.  As we headed south on Hwy 69 we picked up one more Corvette, with Pat and Joanne Dwyer waiting for us in Dewey.  We had Craig and Laura Kerezman from Phoenix and Dave and Selma Wicks from Casa Grande come up to meet up with us at Costco for the drive (back down for them) to Mayer.  Instead of just stopping in Mayer, they thought it would be more fun to drive up to Prescott to meet us and all drive to Mayer together. 

I (Lyn) made a discovery on this trip!  Steve was unable to make it today so I was driving myself, which normally would not be a problem.  I learned to multitask very quickly with driving (a manual), talking on the phone to Ed (at the head of the line to make sure everyone was together), then Karen at the restaurant to let her know we were on our way, then being photographer taking photos along the way!  Oh yeah, and remembering to shift gears…!  I did it all without rear ending Mike and Patti…!  So, now I have decided that Steve can get his own Corvette and let me drive mine!  I usually let him do the driving and take care of business while heading to our destination on our Driveouts.  Sorry Stevie Boy… you better find your own corvette now!!! 

Well, we arrived in Mayer a little after noon, Corvettes being all of the traffic parading through that little town!  We pulled onto the street in front of Chuckwagon Steakhouse and Grill taking up both sides of the street.  Karen, who owns this restaurant, had one end of the street blocked off with her Number "03" Dale Earnhardt Signature Series Monte Carlo SS, and the other end was roped off so there would be no thru traffic to interrupt our little Car Show.

Karen had everything set up for all 29 of us as we walked in to find our seating in her restaurant.  She closed it to the public and reserved it for our group only… not that anyone else could find a seat for eating!  As we took over the entire place, it got quite lively with all of the chit chatting going on.  Karen and her staff took our orders and it wasn’t long before the food was coming out.  Everything they cook is done on BBQ grills outside in the back of the kitchen… and this kitchen is VERY small, but they pump out a lot of food in no time!  Many good comments on how great the food was, from BBQ’ed Ribs, Salmon, Steaks, Burgers, Chicken sandwiches, etc.  And the prices were SO reasonable!  The Phoenix Corvettes said they would definitely make the trip back up just to eat there again! 

About a half hour after we were inside… Ed announced that the rain clouds were moving in!!!  The Corvette owners that had Verts were getting mighty nervous when the sun disappeared.  When everyone had finished their lunch, the Vert owners were the first to head through the door around 1:30pm, like someone had announced “FIRE” in a crowded building!!!  Nary a drop found its way onto our fiberglass wonders on the trip home…  It was just not meant to be!  The only messy Vette was the Kosch's!  They hit a swarm of BIG bugs that covered their front end and windshield.  Hmmmm... how come nobody else hit any bugs???  And they were in the middle of the pack!  Don't forget to take those wheels off when you wash the car, Steve!

Thanks to everyone who joined us for this short Driveout.  It turned out to be another great day!

See you on the road,

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Chuckwagon Steakhouse and Grill – 928-460-0763 - 12751 Main Street, Mayer, Az

Map

Blue Skies at Costco                                                                    On the road to Mayer with 16 Vettes

Entering downtown Mayer                                                           Our line of Corvettes at Chuckwagon Steakhouse

Karen's Monte Carlo being a road block on one end                            Corvettes on our blocked off street 

Diana (with that beautiful smile) and Harry                                    Mike (great shirt), John, Suzanne, Patti

Chuck, Lucy (Cottonwood), Margo, Dennis (Sedona)                            Rick and Tony (guys day out)

Rachael, Lou, Warren, Tom (kids are allowed)                                   Darla, John, Steve, Kathy (Pinion Oak crowd)

Joanne and Pat (heads above us all)                                               Dave, Laura, Craig, Selma (the Valley folks)

Riordan Mansion Driveout - Completed!  8/22/09

Walnut Canyon Driveout – Completed!  7/18/09

It was an early morning start for ALL of us!  The Prescott group of 11 Corvettes met at Costco at 7am.  We left so early that… Craig Wolfson arrived still dragging his IV from the coffee pot!  Bill Terry was able to make it all by himself without K.T. to get him up and going!  We did a “crumb” check on Steve and Kathy Kosch’s Corvette from those huge donuts they ate IN THE CORVETTE…  he will be hosing the interior out along with taking those wheels off when he washes his car. 

There were 4 Corvettes from the Valley… Butch Montgomery was up and ready to roll at 1:30am!!!  Nice of him to let Julie sleep in until 5:30, since they were coming from Casa Grande.  Tom Pfeifer used his internal alarm clock to wake up since his alarm clock was actually set for 5:30… PM!!!  Does daughter Liz, who was Tom's co-pilot, have the same instincts??? 

We all left Costco at 7:15am and headed East on Hwy 69, taking Hwy 169 to I-17 North where the 4 Valley Corvettes were waiting for us to pass by.  They filed into line as planned.  It was amazing at how much traffic there was on I-17 at that time of morning.  We did pretty well all staying together as a group with 15 Corvettes.  There was one weird white Honda Accord driver that thought he could merge into the fast lane in between Corvette drivers Tom Pfeifer and Lyn DeLano with about a 5 foot gap between our Corvettes!!!  This guy was a maniac and finally decided to blow on ahead in the slow lane to merge into the fast lane further ahead.  

We then took I-40 East for about 7 miles towards Walnut Canyon and took Exit 204 to Walnut Canyon Rd.  We headed into the park.  With limited parking in their lot, we managed to get all of our Corvettes into the parking area pretty much filling it up.  This was a “free” day for National Parks so we entered free of charge.  Once we were out of our cars, everyone hit the needed potty stop and then scattered like Quail.  Every one did their own thing and hiked the trails they wanted, also viewing that great air conditioned Interpretive Center.

What a fascinating area Walnut Canyon is!  Walking down the trails you can see that the dwellings are sheltered by overhanging cliffs.  These cliff dwellings were built between 1125 and 1250 and were occupied for 100 years by the Sinagua people.  Archeologists believe that these dwellings were built by the women who also carried up the water from the bottom of the canyon.  Pam Gibson mentioned that she would have been burned at the stake in those days, because that would have never have happend... she would have made Dave do it!!!    To build walls, they gathered limestone rocks and cemented them together with clay.  Wooden beams were used to reinforce doorways.  They also plastered the walls with clay, inside and out.  Must have been very livable in those days...

Everyone decided that they had enough of hiking and heat… it was 92* in Flagstaff… we met up at 10:30am.  We all got back on I-40 heading West to Exit 198.  The Country Host restaurant was ready for our group!  They set us up in a different room because of an unplanned A/C problem!  We were sure glad to be in that room rather than the regular restaurant, which was really HOT!  We arrived at 11:10 and our 29 people were being served at 11:45.  Some had breakfast and some had lunch.  You had a choice of breakfast, lunch or dinner including specials.  We all had great service and our three young ladies that were our servers were awesome!  Everyone enjoyed the great food that was offered and we sure didn’t go away hungry!  The prices were unbeatable too!

After our breakfast/lunch everyone decided to go their separate ways.  Several of us headed South taking 89A through Sedona and up over Jerome.  Traffic was very light going down Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona and many people were enjoying the water on this sweltering day.  As we drove through Cottonwood to head up to Jerome our car temp read 110*!!!  Yikes that sounds like Valley temperatures…!  Everyone had a great time and we made it without any thunderstorms or rain!  Hope everyone enjoyed themselves and had a good time.

See you on the road!

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Wow… Did we have a great day today!  We all met at Prescott Costco at 8:30am.  We were joined by 10 Corvettes, led by Larry Dahl, from the Fast Glass Corvette Club in Phoenix and 1 new couple that just joined Velocity Vettes last month... Craig and Laura Kerezman from Glendale. The Valley people had to leave at 6:45am to meet up with us at Costco for our departing time of 9am.  A surprise for everyone was that Sean and Cynthia Thompson brought their brand new “baby”… a one week old beautiful Black ZR1!!!!!!!  Everyone took lots of time checking THIS Corvette out!  It is a beautiful ride!  Funny thing… Sean said this is the first manual he has had so he is a little iffy on the hills!    For some reason nobody wanted to drive behind him!!!    We were also joined by Ruben who was taking a break from his duties serving in the US Marine Corp in Tucson to drive his 2009 Limited Edition Mitsubishi Lancer EVO Twin Turbo All Wheel Drive.  No problem for him to keep up with the Corvettes!

Everyone headed out at 9am heading east on Hwy 69 and making a left on Glassford Hill.  All drivers were cautioned to drive the speed limit on Glassford… major Photo Radar on that road!  We were all good and headed to Jerome on Hwy 89A.  As we passed by the Yavapai Fairgrounds, Pat and Joanne Dwyer were waiting for us and joined into the line making us 26 cars and 48 people.  When you are at the end of the line, it makes for a perfect Corvette line of cars twisting and turning up those really tight turns going into Jerome.  

We arrived at Tuzigoot National Monument in Clarkdale a little after 10am where our entry fee was “free”.  We were met by a very informative Park Ranger who gave us a demo of how Yucca is used to make ropes.  These plants were used in the everyday lives of the Sinagua Indians who lived in this area between 1125 and 1400.  The original pueblo was two stories high and had 110 rooms.  This is an unusual village because it had few exterior doors.  Entry was made by way of ladders through the openings in the roofs.  This village started with about 50 people.  Then in the 1200’s the population doubled and then doubled again as refugee farmers, fleeing drought in the outlying areas, settled here. 

The Interpretive Center has many interesting artifacts to view.  You can really get an idea of how these people lived and survived in this area.  They cleared a large area looking north to plant corn, beans, cotton, etc.  To the south, you will see the Verde River.  This seemed to be a perfect place to live.  There is a beautiful 360* view from the top of the ruins.  A family living here 1000 years ago might view this landscape as an area with limitless boundaries and resources, supplying all their needs.  Life was good for many generations.  No one knows why the Sinagua abandoned their pueblos by the early 1400s.  Possible explanations include over population, depletion of natural resources, disease, weather patterns… it is anyone’s guess.

After touring the Ruins, we all met back at our Corvettes where we took over the entire lower parking lot with our 26 cars.  Lots of photo ops before heading out to Su Casa for lunch.  When we arrived, Teresa, the manager, had our room all set up and the buffet was ready to be enjoyed by everyone.  We had much more food than we could have imagined…  Tamales, Chili Rellenos, Enchiladas, Albondigas soup, rice, beans, Taco bar!  Boy were we full walking out of that restaurant!!!  The food was excellent along with the service by the staff.  Teresa did an excellent job of taking care of all details.

By 12:30 everyone was free to head their own homeward bound direction from Su Casa.  I think everyone enjoyed their day and the best part is that we didn’t have any rain!  A few sprinkles at Tuzigoot for about 5 minutes but that was all!    Thanks to everyone who joined us for this run!

See you on the road,

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frais

Velocity Vettes

Map  Costco to Tuzigoot Driveout

Tuzigoot National Monument 100 Main St, Clarkdale, Az.

Su Casa Mexican Restaurant 1000 Main St, Clarkdale, Az - 928-634-2771

  Meeting at Costco                                                                   Sean and Cynthia's new ZR1

  It's a beauty!                                                                        On the road to Jerome

  Learning how to make a rope out of Yucca                            Taking over the parking lot at Tuzigoot

  Trail to the top of the ruins                                                  The natives were restless

  You can see many rooms in the ruins                                      Quite a view looking East

  A parking lot full of Vettes                                                    Getting ready to eat

  Our private room full of hungry people                                   Lined up to eat some great Mexican food

Devil’s Highway Driveout – Completed! 6/12-14, 2009

Written by Julie and Butch Montgomery

We started Friday morning at 5:15am with a dead Corvette battery after leaving the accessory button on!  After a jump, we were on the way to meet the rest of the group coming from all over the Phoenix area. We were 7 Corvettes and 1 Viper. 

On Hwy 60 to Globe we made a pit stop at a McDonald’s.  When we pulled in we saw almost 20 Porsche’s in the parking lot.  After talking with them, they were also heading to Alpine, staying overnight and doing Devil’s Highway on Saturday.  After we left Globe, we saw a small forest fire in the woods.  We drove through Salt River Canyon, which is very scenic, and headed towards Show Low for another pit stop.  We saw the Prescott group drive by, so Melanie got in touch with them.  Now we were all together with 12 corvettes and 1 Viper... 28 people for our trip.  We all traveled to Pinetop for lunch at Mama Bear’s Restaurant where the group ate last time.  We again had our private “Glass Room” all to ourselves. The food and service was very good with our large crowd.  After lunch, we got back onto the road for a gas stop in Eager. We made another stop in Alpine at a Lollipop shop for fudge and taffy before arriving at Hannagan Meadow Lodge.

We arrived at Hannagan Meadow Lodge in the late afternoon.  Some couldn’t wait until Saturday to check out Devil’s Highway, so they took a short trip while everyone else got settled into their cabins or rooms.

Wild Bill (Manager) was our chef for the evening.  We had grilled steaks and chicken as the main course.  Bill also fixed Dutch potatoes outside.  Inside the dining room we had Cowboy beans, biscuits & salad.  Nevin (guitar player and singer), Leah (guitar, fiddle and singer) and Clark (guitar and singer) entertained us while we ate. They are all wait staff also. In the evening they had some audience participation.  Malcolm Johnson played bongos on stage to the tune of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.  Several songs later, Malcolm Dickey got up on stage and helped sing “Elvira”.  It was a "Malcolm night" at Hannagan Meadow Lodge!  After it got dark we really got a treat when the entertainers sang “Ghost rider in the Night” and we saw an actual Ghost rider show up outside the window.  The Ghost rider did come inside the Dining Room, but was scared and left.  We were thoroughly entertained that evening with not only the entertainment but also with our own Malcolm Johnson.  We were all laughing back in the corner listening to his stories.  Everyone then called it an evening and headed back to their room/cabin for the evening.

Saturday morning most people got up early with not a lot of sleep the night before. Butch woke up early in the morning and went for a walk.  Hanna (resident cat) kept him company by walking behind him on the trip out and in front of him on the way back. 

The elevation at Hannagan Meadow Lodge is 9,100 ft.  Leah our server at breakfast Saturday morning said taking Benadryl or an antihistamine would help with the altitude if you have a problem. 

Some people did their own thing Saturday morning while others did the Devil’s Highway. 

There were 9 Corvettes that headed out to do Devil’s Highway.  We were in the back of the pack as the front runner’s drove on past Blue Vista Overlook where we stopped.  We got split up and became two groups.  When we looked down, we saw them from the Overlook traveling on Devil’s Highway.  The scenery was spectacular and it was a fast trip.  Eric loaned us his Walkie Talkie so we could keep in touch with everyone.  We were able to reach Dale (in Viper) and he let us know that everyone else that drove the Devil’s Highway were at a gas station in Clifton.  From there we took Hwy 78 to New Mexico over to Hwy 180 back North towards Glenwood over to Alpine.  Some stopped in Alpine (and got hailed on!) for a light snack, while others headed back to Hannagan Meadow Lodge and only got rain. 

When we got back to Hannagan Meadow Lodge we ate a late lunch. Our chef for the evening was their gourmet chef, Nevin, who spent 11 hours grilling our ribs.  Along with the ribs we had potatoes, corn, and salad. Dessert was homemade peach cobbler.  While we were eating, once again we had the staff entertain us with music.  Leah did a rendition of Bette Midler’s “The Rose” and it was very, very good.   Tonight it was “Bob night” as Bob Allyn took the stage and helped sing “Barbara Ann”.  He didn’t need any help as he was singing the song by himself!

When it got closer to sunset, a group of us went up to Blue Vista to watch the sunset in the Mountains. It was really neat as the clouds in the sky were really spectacular.  We also saw some lightning in the skies.  On the way back to Hannagan Meadow Lodge, we got “mooned” by a non-corvette driver!!!  I did not have my camera ready as we weren’t expecting anything like this!

Sunday morning we sat outside early and talked to the staff at Hannagan Meadow Lodge. Wild Bill told us stories all weekend long.  He told us that Hanna (cat) always goes walking with everyone staying at Hannagan Meadow Lodge.  She walks behind you on your way out and walks in front of you on the way back.  Bill doesn’t know how many people Hanna has actually brought back that may have been lost.  Butch said that was true because Hanna walked with him Saturday morning just as Bill had told his story.

It was nice outside listening to the peacefulness and the breeze through the trees. Some of our group started heading for home early, while others stayed around. The staff came out and thanked us all for coming. They hated to see us leave! Bill was saying that sometimes they can’t wait for people to leave…  I asked him if we were one of those groups.  He said “NO!!!  They had a meeting and it was unanimous that we weren’t allowed to leave!  They had soooo much fun with us and we fit right in with all of them”.  Ghost rider even came back to see us off.  We said good-bye to them and Ghost rider and then headed out for what was SUPPOSED to have been a leisurely drive on Devil’s Highway, but didn’t turn out that way.  We did stop at some scenic areas along the way.  We came back through Safford and ate lunch there.  It was a FAST trip getting there.

Going through Globe we saw that the forest fire had gotten MUCH larger than it was Friday.  We stopped in Superior for a break and said good-bye to everyone as this was the last stop before returning home for everyone.

The total mileage for our entire trip was 785 miles and a LOT of “exercise” for the corvette. 

The staff at Hannagan Meadow Lodge was great at taking care of us.  When the band took a break from music, they were helping take our orders, serving food, etc.  They were just fantastic!  They made us feel very comfortable and were so friendly to us.  Every meal was excellent.

This was Hannagan Meadow Lodge’s biggest weekend to date.

We had a great time the entire weekend…!  We enjoyed meeting and talking to the staff at Hannagan Meadow Lodge and everyone from Velocity Vettes, including the lone Viper (Dale and Christine).  Butch said he even made friends with some Viper people!

A Thank You to Eric for letting us borrow one of his walkie-talkies on Saturday.

A Big THANK YOU to the staff at Hannagan Meadow Lodge for everything they did for our group to make it a fun weekend.

A Huge THANK YOU to Nathaniel & Melanie Volz for organizing another great trip.  The Volz’s website can be located at www.azcorvette.com

For those of you that couldn’t make it, you missed a super weekend.  As most of you know in talking with us that we do a lot of traveling in our corvette and this was by far one of the better corvette trips we’ve had.  This was also our first big road trip with Velocity Vettes and I can assure you it won’t be the last.

"True Story"

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

SLIDESHOW  #1 - Devil’s Hwy Driveout (awesome photos Melanie!)

SLIDESHOW #2 - Devil's Hwy Driveout (more great photos from Rich)

Map

Fletcher’s – Papa’s Place Driveout – Completed! 5/23/09

Our group met at Fletcher’s Auto and Tire in Prescott Valley at 10:30am on Saturday, May 23.  We had a total of 26 people, 8 Corvettes and 5 “other” cars and SUV’s.  Since it rained all night and until about 7am, some Corvette owners were a little skeptical of the weather.  As it turned out, by the time we had to be at Fletcher’s, the roads dried up and the skies began to clear.  No worries because the weather is not usually a factor for our Velocity Vette Group!  We have lucked out on our last two Driveouts with not a drop falling from the sky (for most of us that is)!

Richard, Manager of Fletcher’s and his staff did a great job of showing all of our group around their facility.  Richard gave us a demo on his Touchless Tire mounting machine.  It is specifically designed to be used for mounting Runflat Tires on Chrome rims up to 22 inches.  We had a chance to go down into the lube pit to see the underside of a car.  John gave everyone a tour of the underneath side of Chip Creech’s 2009 Corvette.  This is a completely different perspective when looking up from underneath your car!

Richard was very generous in offering us a drawing for Free Oil Change cards… there were lots of winners so lots of us should be seeing Fletcher’s for an oil change in the near future!

At 11:30, we drove south on Hwy 69 for a half hour drive to Papa’s Place in Cordes Junction.  We were met by Lucy, the owner, who had our section all set up and waiting for us.  We were met at Papa’s by our 9^th Corvette owner Larry, who drove up from Scottsdale to join us for lunch.  That made a total of 9 Corvettes, 5 other cars and 27 people!  Quite a group for being the Saturday on Memorial Day Weekend…

With the hard rain from the night before, it made a mess of the gravel/dirt parking lot which was really a “mud fest”!  There was a little pavement to drive in on but the mud did a nice job of sticking to big fat Corvette tires… arrrrgh!  Normally this isn't an issue because the parking lot is compacted and good surface to drive on.  Mother Nature just did not cooperate for us!

Once again we were able to order off the menu for a large group.  Lucy wanted us to go with a limited menu, but everyone seems to be happier ordering what they like off of the regular menu.  We do have to wait a little longer for our meals, but this is our visiting time and well worth the wait. It was a rather short wait this time. Everyone enjoyed their meals and visiting with our group.  The ribs and burgers and sandwiches all looked very good.  And the spicy FRIES were great!  We all wondered off in our respective directions towards home after lunch.

We did have six people not show up and normally this would not be an issue with the exception of the restaurant.  They plan on a certain number of people for their set up and it is sometimes an imposition for our group to show up with a different number than they expect. The restaurant is always called prior to our arriving to give them a heads up as to when we will arrive.  If you have signed up for a Driveout and find that you are not able to make it, we would appreciate an e-mail or a cell phone call to let us know that you will not be there… even if it is at the last moments notice.

See you on the road,

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Map  Papa’s Place 928-632-7775

Fletcher’s Tire & Auto Service Center, 5514 Hwy 69, Prescott Valley, 445-8622

  Corvettes fit nicely in Fletcher's service Bays.                       The skies cleared nicely for our group.

  Learning about the Touchless Tire Mounting machine.             Heading out from Fletcher's to Hwy 69.

  The sun was shining for us!                                                     Our own private room for lunch at Papa's Place.

  Checking out the menu items... lots to choose from!                   A happy crowd of Corvette drivers.

  Papa's muddy parking lot!                                                        Ahhhhhhhhhh... Asphalt!

Black Canyon City Parade - Completed!  4/4/09

We were all wondering Friday, the night before the parade, if it would even happen!!!  With winds clocked at 91mph near Flagstaff and 60mph at our house in Prescott, we were hoping this storm would blow through in time for the parade!  Miracles do happen!!!  Saturday morning was sunny and perfectly clear with a little breeze left over from the previous night.

Cottonwood was our destination on a cool partly cloudy morning.  Our group met at Prescott Costco at 10am.  The sun came and went as we waited for everyone to show up before our departure time of 10:30am.  There were a total of 17 cars and 32 people ready to head south on Hwy 69 to Glassford Hill Rd.  At that point, we took a left and drove to the on ramp of Hwy 89A and headed north for Jerome.  The sky looked iffy at best in the direction we were headed!  Rain clouds ahead!!!   We had 4 optimistic convertibles along with tops down…  The only rain we hit was a slight mist on the windshield and then we were home free as we took the twisty Mingus Mountain road up to Jerome.    The sun was shining and it warmed up nicely.  We made it without having to stop for “tops up” time for our Corvette convertibles.  

Some of our group was wondering why Steve and Lyn DeLano cross over the yellow line at times…  If you ever see this happening, this only happens when it is safe and is solely for photo ops!  So in the future if you see us driving on the wrong side of the road, it is momentary and when we have no oncoming traffic!  We are not daredevils!!!  Ed Frias is the Leader of the pack and we are always at the rear keeping everyone inbetween us within sight.

As we drove through Jerome, all of the Saturday tourists were turning their heads to check out our nice line of Corvettes, and yes… a Mini Cooper at the end of our line!  We don’t discriminate, and anyone is welcome on our Driveouts!    It turns out that John and Darla Criddle’s Corvette was down in the valley, so this was the next best choice on another great Northern Arizona Corvette road.  We drove through Jerome and headed down the hill to the little town of Clarkdale.  We continued on and drove through “Old Town” Cottonwood.  We approached Jerona Java Café a few minutes late and filled their parking lot.  Waiting for us, were David and Ellen Weinroth, which increased our group to 34 people and 18 cars.

As we entered Jerona Java Café, owner Mary, had our tables all set up and ready for us.  She even treated us to a “help yourself” table of Coffee, Mango tea and water.  We all helped ourselves and then studied the menu with the many choices of Sandwiches, Wraps, Salads, Quesadillas and Soups.  The fruit smoothies were a real treat… and the Desserts…  If you missed out, you had better go back again and treat yourself.  Mary was a one woman show in preparing orders for 34 people.  She was like a whirl wind in her small kitchen area, pumping out food as fast as anyone has ever seen!  The service and staff was the best we have had when ordering off a menu with as many people as we had.  Ellen Weinroth made sure she was first in line for ordering instead of her normal dead last.  And Don Grobengeiser actually had a meal served to him!  They didn't forget you Don!!!   Mary added a nice touch by having Alan James strumming his instruments the whole time we were enjoying our meals.  What a nice sound and a real treat to have live entertainment just for our group.  Everyone seemed to enjoy visiting with old and new Velocity Vette people while they were seated.  We had a few new people on this Driveout, including Wayne and Bev Meddaugh and Dan Pursel and friend Anne join us for their first time.  We always like to see new faces in our crowd.

After finishing up our leisurely lunch and checking out the gift shop, everyone headed out in their different directions for the day.  The sun was shining brightly with no threat of rain for us to worry about!

I was asked about our Velocity Vette name badges and where to get them.  If you go to our FOR SALE page and scroll down, you will find the info needed for ordering.

It turned out to be a very nice day...   we will see you on the road,

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Map

  Meeting at Costco                                                                   On 89A headed to Jerome

  Mini Cooper bringing up the rear                                               Heading into Jerome

  Firestation curve in Jerome                                                      Eye candy for the tourists

  Heading down the hill                                                                Red Rocks of Sedona out ahead

  Almost to Clarkdale                                                                    Parking at Jerona Java Cafe

  Our meals begin                                                                       Almost all served

Bagdad Driveout - Completed! - 2/28/09

On Saturday, February 28^th, we had 29 cars meet at Albertson’s in downtown Prescott.  We were met by some pretty impressive super cars that drove up from Phoenix just to see us off on our run.  Jeff Bootz, President of the Arizona Lamborghini Club (and Z06 owner) drove his new Silver 1999 Lamborghini Diablo VT Coupe, also joined by two friends who drove a green 2008 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder and a Red 2004 575 Maranello Coupe.  Lots of eye candy for car buffs!

We also started off the morning with some yummy pizza samples provided by Chris, Manager of Streets of New York Pizza. Chris was nice enough to bring a couple of pizzas over to where we were all parked.  After enjoying the impromptu car show, the group headed out towards Skull Valley going down Iron Springs Road through Skull Valley and on down to Kirkland.  Before we arrived at Kirkland, we noticed 9 Corvettes passing us!  They were headed towards Prescott!  It was the Valley group… they decided not to wait as they arrived in Kirkland early.  So they headed up Iron Springs to try to meet up with us.  When they passed us, they turned around and headed back down the road catching up with the rear of our long line of Corvettes.

As always, it was a beautiful drive on a great day that turned out to be 71*.    This is by far the largest showing for a Velocity Vette Driveout since its inception in July 2007.  From Iron Springs Rd we continued on to Hwy 96… the best local Corvette road you can drive .  Hwy 96 has many twists and turns that make any car enthusiast feel like they are on an E-ticket ride at Disneyland!!!  Boy, am I dating myself… I don’t think they have e-tickets any longer! 

As we closed in on Bagdad, we made a right turn on Lindhal Road and headed towards Circle Bar Steakhouse.  What an impressive showing of cars!  We were now 40 cars and 73 people… joined by two more Corvettes from the Valley, at the restaurant. The locals loved it!!!  They were in shock and awe!!!  It was like their own personal car show… We all parked in the reserved parking area that Lisa had set aside for us.  Pretty nice Corvette Show!!!  The cars were watched by the “security” force just to make sure the Corvettes were looked at and not touched.

At the Circle Bar Steakhouse, we were met by Lisa (owner) and Shelby (manager) along with their extra staff that was brought in to accommodate our large group for lunch.  We were each handed a raffle ticket for a chance to win T-shirts or insulated cups that Lisa donated to our group.  Lisa also provided little veggie plates to quiet our taste buds while the waitresses took our orders. Lisa’s husband Lloyd gave us a great talk on the local area of Bagdad and interesting features and facts on Freeport McMoron Copper and Gold Inc. where he is employed as the Senior Health and Safety Specialist.  It was a fascinating history of Bagdad.

The Circle Bar Steakhouse provided everyone with awesome food!  We were allowed to order off the full menu from Prime Rib and Rib Eye steaks to subs, burgers and pizzas. However, this full menu selection option provided to our group came at a price.  Obviously, not everyone could be served at the same time with 73 orders placed all at once. Thank you for your patience!  After discussion and feedback from some of our group, we have determined that it will be necessary in future driveouts to limit the menu selections for large groups, as well as offer buffet, salad bar, hamburger bars, etc.  We were all impressed with the great variety of tasty food and the waitresses did their best to give our large group of 73 good service.

After lunch, everyone headed out in their own homebound direction.  Many of us drove back on Hwy 96 to Kirkland Junction.  From there the Phoenix group headed home down Hwy 89 to Hwy 93 and on to Hwy 60.  For the Prescott contingent, most of us headed back up Hwy 89 finding more twists and turns driving on into Prescott.  There were a few that drove back the way we came through Skull Valley on Iron Springs Road.  Our motto is “We get you there, but you go your own direction home”…!  We have many choices…

Everyone had a great drive on a perfect day!

See you on the road,

Lyn DeLano & Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Circle Bar Steakhouse - 901 N. Lindahl Street- Bagdad, Az.  928-633-3484

Map

  Parking lot full of Vettes                                                          Lamborghini Diablo VT Coupe

  Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder                                                      Chris serving up Pizza

  Long line of Corvettes                                                             Arriving at the Restaurant

  Parking lot full of Corvettes                                                     All 40 of them

  Our groups arrival                                                                    Visiting time

  Everyone chatting                                                                      And chatting

Heart Attack Grill Driveout - Completed 1/17/09

The Prescott group met on another cold (26*), clear, beautiful morning at Albertson’s on Saturday, January 17^th, at 8:30. 12 Corvettes headed down White Spar (Hwy 89) for the beginning of our “Corvette Road” Driveout for the day.  As we passed Ponderosa Tire Pros, all of the employees were outside giving us the “Corvette Wave”.  After a nice drive down Hwy 89, we met up with some of the Phoenix group at the intersection of Hwy 60 and Vulture Mine Road.  There were 3 Corvettes waiting for us and they joined into our Corvette line as we drove by.  We continued on Vulture Mine Rd for a beautiful back road drive with some fantastic views of sweeping landscapes and a mix of Saguaro Cactus and Sycamore Trees!  What a great drive through the back country!  AND… the day was perfect! 

We did have just one interesting phenomenon as we drove through this back country… Jeff Bootz had mentioned that he heard a crack in the roof when he left his house to join us.  Well as it turned out, he pulled over to check the top. It seemed okay so he took off again. The DeLano’s were right behind him and we were playing catch up going a little faster than we normally would to catch up with the group that was now way ahead.  WELL… all of a sudden we saw a yellow “flying saucer”… it was Jeff’s roof!!!  It flew off the top of his Z06 and cart wheeled into the air headed right at us!!!  The wind must have caught it and it took off to the left and ended up on the other side of the road.  Both Corvettes stopped and Jeff ran back to pick it up… We then caught up with the rest of the group now pulled over on the side of the road waiting to see what happened to the last two Corvettes.  Jeff headed straight to Freeway Chevrolet in Chandler and skipped lunch!  Fortunately, this incident didn’t happen on I-10 with all of the traffic!  It will take about a week to replace the roof and Jeff will have his Z06 back and be ready to roll again on another Driveout!

We eventually ended up on I-10 for a length of time.  We exited at Chandler Blvd and headed to Heart Attack Grill for our lunch. This is a pretty interesting place to say the least!  The “nurses” were prepared for our arrival.  We LOVED looking at their cute little “nurse outfits”…  Shades of Hooters here!  We all gave the waitresses, errr, um, “nurses” our orders and we enjoyed the 1,000,000 calorie meal of Burgers, French fry’s all cooked in LARD, and coke in a bottle…  When was the last time you saw a glass “bottle” of coke-a-cola???  Michael Davis ordered and ate the Quadruple Bypass Burger…!  We can’t believe he ate the whole thing!  That was four LARGE Burgers or 2 pounds of hamburger!  What a guy!!!  Way to go Michael!!!

Everyone had a great time enjoying their lunch and we all REALLY enjoyed the “eye candy” that the nurses were showing off!  Cute little skimpy outfits!!!   Oh, and did I mention that the weather was perfect… 79*!!!

After our lunch, everyone headed out…  Some stayed in the Phoenix area and went to South Mountain to see the views of the city and others drove back on their own.  I think that most of us headed back to Prescott up I-17.  What a great day for a Driveout!!! 

See you on the road!

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Heart Attack Grill - 6185 Chandler Blvd, Chandler, AZ

Map

Video Click Here

Early morning meeting                                                               Driving through Yarnell

Driving down Hwy 89 twisties                                                     Vulture Mine Road                                                                                                

Jeff lost his top!                                                                       The group waiting for Jeff                                                 

Heart Attack  Grill                                                                  The Waitress!                                    

Craig showing off the Trophy                                                      Ed helping out Mike                                                             

View from South Mountain

Wickenburg – Screamers Drive-in – Completed!  12/6/08

 We started out on a pretty cold day (26*) at Prescott Albertson’s parking lot at 9am.  There were 9 Corvettes to start out the drive heading down White Spar and heading to Wickenburg at 9:30am.  The day turned out to be perfect!  Sunny and warming up nicely.  We hit a few windy twistys on the way down, which was just a warm up of what was to come after lunch. We also saw off to the left a strange fog formation within the hills. When we drove into Wickenburg, we headed west for a couple of miles to “Screamers Drive-in” and we all parked in front, making it look like the Corvettes really belonged there!  Meeting us there, were Phil and Joan Murray and Rod and CC Holt from the Phoenix area.  We were very proud of Bill Terry driving with “one eye”, since he had just had cataract surgery a few days before.  Fortunately, Kathy didn’t have to take over for him during this driveout!  Everyone did their ordering and ate their lunch.  What great burgers and shakes!   A real 50’s style Drive-in.  Blair, the manager, made sure everyone was happy with their orders.  We were in and out of Screamers just in time for the regular lunch crowd to show up. 

After our lunch, we all headed west to Vulture Mine Road taking a right heading to Hwy 93.  At Hwy 97 we headed east on a very cool twisty turny dandy Corvette driving road!  This is a road that you can easily “catch air” with the up and down undulations.. along with the twisty turnys!  Everyone was very well spaced out and we all had a great time.    The views were pretty  awesome to look out on, as well.  Really nice country side if you can take your eyes off of the road!  When we reached Hwy 96, we headed to Kirkland Junction on more twisty turnys!  At Kirkland Junction we turned left heading to Skull Valley.

When we reached Skull Valley, one of our group wanted to stop at the store, but there was not enough parking for all 11 of our Corvettes.  So, Ed pulled over a little ways out of Skull Valley.  This was an unintended stop, and we were not able to all pull over safely.  When we plan these Driveouts, we make sure there is enough safe parking for all of us before we make a stop.  Ed and Lyn are also always in contact by radios, to make sure everyone is with us.  So in the future, if you have a place in mind that you would like to visit on the way, please be sure to let us know previously, so we can check it out first to make sure it is a safe place for all of us.  Once we pulled out to continue on our way, we all headed up the hill on more twistys and on in to Prescott where everyone went their separate ways, which is usually how we end our Driveouts.  The Prescott Christmas Parade was just ending, so it was a little crowded around the Courthouse Square when we all arrived, but we got through it okay.  Another fantastic Driveout enjoyed by everyone!!! 

See you on the road! 

Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Grand Canyon Caverns Driveout - Completed! 11/15/2008

It was Saturday, November 15^th when 21 Corvettes and 1 Porsche met at Prescott Costco for our Driveout to Grand Canyon Caverns on Route 66.  We had several Corvettes arrive from the Phoenix area joining us before we left Costco at 9:30. The morning started out at 32* but warmed up nicely to 70* during the day.  

Before heading out, there was a technical advisory given to all C6 Corvette owners.  They were reminded to check their cabin air filter periodically.  It is located behind the cover plate just behind the battery in the firewall.  It can be shaken out/vacuumed/rinsed off and then reused.  When it is time to replace it, you want to order the Bosch C-3722.  This filter is much heavier than the original, and is impregnated with charcoal.  GM parts dept wants $82 for the filter...  you can order it thru Checker Auto Parts for $18.99.  Ask the manager of your local Checker's to special order it thru the Bosch warehouse via "special order administration".  If you have any questions concerning ordering, you can call Lori at the Prescott, Checker's at 928-445-9480.

Our group headed west on Hwy 69 to Prescott Lakes Parkway turning north onto Hwy 89.  On our way, as we entered Chino Valley, there were 4 more Corvettes waiting for us in the Safeway parking lot.  They merged into our line just like clockwork!  We totaled 26 cars and 48 people for this Driveout.  We all headed north on Hwy 89 to I-40 taking Crookton Road exit (Route 66), so we could travel on Route 66 into Seligman. A few of us “turned it up a notch” feeling the horses under the hood run!  Somehow, Nathaniel and Melanie Volz and Gene Janowski kept on going on I-40 missing this exit, but they met up with us in Seligman.  From Seligman we drove the 22 miles to the Grand Canyon Caverns on a perfect sunny day. 

All 48 of us arrived and parked our cars, taking over the place at 11:15!  We all entered the restaurant and ordered lunch so we would be in time for our tours.  After ordering our lunches, we all made it over to the Curio shop to buy our tour tickets, returning to our tables where most of our lunches were served shortly after.  We did have a Birthday Boy… Bill McQuade decided to celebrate his day with us!  Happy Birthday Bill!   We had a little dessert for him as we all sang Happy Birthday. 

The Caverns are amazing and very intriguing with a lot of history.  There is a year round temperature of 56*. Grand Canyon Caverns is a natural limestone cavern 210 feet underground and the largest dry cavern in the U S, with an elevator that goes down 21 stories.  Near the natural entrance, they found skeletal remains of an extinct giant ground sloth. This animal lived and died during the Age of Mammals, when the Woolly Mammoth and the Saber-Tooth Tiger walked the earth. They've all been extinct for at least 11,000 years. There was enough of the skeleton found to determine height and weight of the model that stands near the area where the skeletal remains were found. "Gertie" as they call her, stands 15 feet, 4 inches and would have weighed at least 2,000 pounds. You can also see claw marks on the rocks where she tried to climb out.  Her living relatives are the anteater, the modern-day tree sloth and the armadillo!  There is also a petrified bobcat that had fallen through the original opening in the mid 1850’s to the cavern below where he is curled up on a rock ledge.  He died here with a fracture to his hip.

These caverns are huge in certain areas, and they even have weddings for those that want the “different and unusual” wedding to be remembered!  They also have rations of water in 50 gallon drums and food that were brought down during the Cold War, thinking they would provide a safe haven for about 2000 people.  One thing that Di Mannen noticed was that they only had THREE rolls of toilet paper…  THAT could be a problem for that many people staying in the Cavern during an all out war! 

We had a great time and decided to go our separate ways back home with several stopping in Seligman to check out the town on the famous “Route 66”.

See you on the road!

Lyn DeLano

Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Diva's Driveout - Completed!  11/7/2008

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory & Talking Rock - Diva Driveout

On Friday, November 7^th on a crispy, cold (28*) beautifully clear day, we had 39 “Divas” (girls only!) and 27 beautiful Corvettes which met at Prescott Gateway Mall.  In the parking lot, after finally warming up, the Corvettes were very nicely lined up with the help of our parking attendants, Steve DeLano, Ed Frias, and Craig Wolfson. Our first stop was at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, where we were met by fellow Corvette and store owner, Renee Cooperman.  She had an array of samples for all of us to try out before we all decided on our purchases, mostly for the husbands!  We were also given “goodie” bags from Michelle, Marketing Director of the Prescott Gateway Mall, which included coupons worth over $700 in discounts.  After filling up Renee’s store to the max with all of our ladies, we then headed out to the parking lot, where our guys, helped line up the ladies Corvettes for takeoff, heading to Talking Rock for lunch. We did have the help of the Mall’s security vehicle, which blocked off the street at the Mall entrance so we could all proceed as a group.  That is a lot of Corvettes!  We had a beautiful drive out there and when we reached Talking Rock, about a ½ hour’s drive north on Williamson Valley Road, the Gate Guard at the entrance to Talking Rock said he had been waiting all morning to see us arrive! We then drove toward the Clubhouse and were directed by Jon, F & B Director, to a separate parking area Jon had reserved just for us.  We then proceeded to fill that parking lot with all of our shinny Corvettes!  We made our way inside to the very comfortable room that I reserved for our lunch.  What a great place!  We had the “Room with a View” all to our selves.  This is a beautiful setting overlooking the golf course and a very pleasing place to spend time eating and visiting with everyone. 

Before lunch, there was an award given!  It was the “Devil Rock” Award… given to Pam Wolfson in honor of her hitting a rock on Velocity Vettes last Driveout on October 4/5.  That rock put a hole in the oil pan of Pam’s 2004 Black Z06.  The Wolfson’s and DeLano’s ended up waiting 2 ½ hours for a tow truck to arrive (read previous Driveout below) all the way from Safford where we sat on the Devil’s Hwy and waited(Hwy 191 in eastern Arizona). This highway has the most switchbacks (over 500) within 60 miles, of any Highway in the entire country!  Also, a special mention was made regarding the long drive up from Phoenix for this Diva Drivout made by CC Holt and her guest Amy.  Thanks for coming so far for lunch!

Our lunch was incredible as prepared by Award winning Chef Jeff Kincaide and everyone enjoyed the food, fun and wine!  We had a special menu choice of Bay Shrimp Salad, Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich, or Grilled Chicken Caesar all of which included Vichyssoise or Cream of Broccoli & Cheddar soups.  Many of us decided to test out the Award winning choices of wine to enjoy with our lunch.  Kudos goes to Jon Esquibel, Food & Beverage Director, for arranging all of the details for our wonderful Diva Driveout lunch at Talking Rock!  We will be back!!!

See you on the road,

Lyn DeLano

Velocity Vettes

27 Corvettes all lined up...                                   Too much chocolate?

     Divas all ready to head out...                                 Arrival at Talking Rock!

39 Divas for lunch...                                             Let's order...

Enjoying the day...                                                Pam with her "Devil Rock" award!

Devil's Highway Driveout - Completed! 10/4-5/2008

 The Devil did his dance!

On Saturday, October 4^th, 4 Corvettes met at Costco.  It was a cloudy day, but no rain!  We headed out on Hwy 69 to Hwy 169.  We hit I-17 north for several miles to General Crook’s exit.  From there we headed east on Hwy 260 through Pine and Strawberry with a short potty stop in Payson.  From Payson we headed to Pinetop/Lakeside were we met the group from Phoenix which consisted of 3 Corvettes and also 1 Corvette from Silver City, New Mexico.  We had a great lunch at Mama Bears in Pinetop. We all sat together in the “glass” room and relaxed before continuing on.  After lunch, we all headed out under still cloudy skies to Eager staying on Hwy 260, where several gassed up.  It just started in with rain before we reached the Hwy 191 exit heading south.  On Hwy 191 south we passed through some amazingly beautiful pine forests going through Alpine and ending up at Hannagan Meadow Lodge (9,100 ft) where it was still pouring when we arrived.  We checked into our rooms and cabins and all gathered to sit on the front porch.  The rain didn’t hold back 6 Corvettes from driving 6 miles down the Hwy to the view point!  We ended up seeing nothing and getting soaked, so headed back to the Lodge to sit in front of the big fireplaces to dry off and warm up!  We were introduced to Hanna, resident (and very pregnant) kitty.  We all thought she would have her kittens any minute the whole time we were there… but she never did!  Managers, Wild Bill and Antonia McLain were the most wonderful and accommodating people!  It was very interesting to see photos on the walls and read all of the history of this amazing place.  We also  enjoyed listening to the many stories that Bill had to tell…  like in is in an advertisement for G.Q. Magazine and he was also in several movies as an extra with Kevin Costner, Danny Glover and most recently "Miracle at Sage Creek" with David Carradine.  Bill’s main function is Horse Packing trips, while Antonia runs the Lodge so very efficiently with only a few employees.

After everyone dried off and sat around relaxing and chatting we had dinner in the Lodge dining room where we had wonderful meals which included Prime Rib, Rib Eye steak, Salmon, Chicken and all the fixin’s.  Bill brought out a biscuit and gravy for Steve DeLano’s dessert, because he couldn’t wait for the morning buffet breakfast!  Needless to say, we were all VERY full!  After much chatting, we all headed to bed only to be rudely awakened by a HUGE flash of light and a thunder bolt at 4:30am!  There was no warning for this, and everyone woke up. That flash of light could have woken up the dead!  It continued through out the morning hours. It must have hit right next to the buildings we were all in.  When it was time to get up and go down for the great buffet breakfast, it was STILL raining.  We were all in the dining room when we noticed looking out the windows that it had started to SNOW!!!  This was only 7am and we were leaving around 9am.  The whole group sat looking outside when they noticed Michael Davis with his little micro fiber towel trying to wipe off the snow from his car.  There was much laughter over that one!  By the time everyone had eaten and we were ready to head out after saying our good byes to Bill, Antonia and crew (including Hanna the kitty), it was warming up enough for about 4 inches of snow to turn into slush. 

Nathaniel and Melanie Volz headed out in the lead to take the 8 Corvettes down Devil’s Highway (666) otherwise known as Hwy 191 south.  There are over 500 turns from top to the bottom on the Devil’s Hwy. We drove very slowly until the slush turned to rain and eventually after about 10 miles there was just intermittent rain.  We saw lots of rocks in the road which we mostly avoided.  At one point there was even a tree that had fallen across the road.  It was flattened down enough that our Corvettes could even drive over it bark and all, without damage to any of our cars.  Finally the rain stopped and the sun was popping in and out of the clouds.  We got about half way down the 60 mile twisty turny drive and stopped at a view point to stretch.  We decided that the Divas would take a turn at driving this wildly fantastic Corvette road.  That included Ethan, who was riding in Steve Karp’s Black C5 Vert.  They decided it was time to switch along with the ladies.  We went along okay for many miles keeping in contact on our radios about any rocks in the road from the rain and snow, which we all missed… except for one Diva!  Pam Wolfson was going to go around a rock (that would only prove to be menacing to Corvettes!) and decided at the last minute that she could go over it!!!  Not to be!!!  As she drove over it, that rock put a hole in the oil pan before that rock was obliterated!  The Wolfson’s poor Z06 was puking oil on the road until she was able to pull over on the shoulder.  At that point we all stopped.  Several in front of her kept going until we contacted them on the radio and they turned around and came back up the turn to where we were pulled over.  Everyone tried their cell phones and only Pam Wolfson’s and Becky Lopez’s fortunately worked in that twisty canyon.  Pam was able to call Safford, 70 miles away, and request a flatbed tow truck.  We all waited around and decided that the rest of the group should head on down the rest of the way.  They did and stopped and had dinner at Jerry’s Restaurant before splitting up and heading home… Phoenix, Prescott and Silver City, N.M.

While Craig and Pam Wolfson waited for the tow truck to arrive, they were kept company by Steve and Lyn DeLano.  It took 2 ½ hours, but the sun was out and no more rain!  When the car was loaded on the tow truck, the DeLano’s took off and headed to Safford where they had already planned to stay the night.  The Wolfson’s had a history lesson from the tow truck driver of the surrounding area as they drove back to Safford.  They saw some Big Horn Sheep and were told all about the HUGE copper mine at Morenci.

The driver dropped them off at a motel close to the Chevy dealership so they could be within walking distance of their Corvette.  They got up the next morning and went to the dealership, which actually had two Certified Factory Corvette Techs that could work on the damage.  Steve and I stopped by to see how they were doing with the repair before we left to head back to Prescott Monday morning.  The car was up on the rack and we could walk under it to see the minimal damage to the rest of the under carriage.  The bottom of the oil pan was removed and cleaned up and all of the pieces from the silver dollar sized hole were actually inside the pan.  The pan was sent out to a welder to be repaired, only to discover that the welder did not feel comfortable welding the aluminum oil pan.  He didn’t think it would the weld would hold, and was afraid the aluminum oil pan would warp under the intense heat.  So Craig talked the Techs into letting Craig do the welding himself as well as reinstall the pan… very nice to be knowledgable and experienced!  He did the job, reinstalled the oil pan, took the car across the street to have a wash after that dirty drive in the rain and snow, and then headed back to Prescott later in the day!  They got home late that night.

We do believe that the Devil was with us on this whole trip…  all 700+ miles!  Maybe that is why Ed Frias was in California and missed this trip!

Those of you that didn’t go on this Driveout will never know what an experience you missed!

Lyn DeLano

Velocity Vettes

Mormon Lake Lodge Driveout - Completed! 8/23/2008

Our Driveout for Saturday, August 23^rd was to beautiful Mormon Lake Lodge.  This was Velocity Vettes inaugural Driveout over a year ago.  This time the group met at Costco in Prescott at 8:30am and we headed out at 9:00. We had 9 Corvettes start out from Prescott, going east on Hwy 69.  We then headed east on Hwy 169.  At the junction of Hwy 169 and I-17, we met up with the group of 5 Corvettes that came up from Phoenix.  They were able to slide right into our group as we headed on to the freeway.  We numbered 14 beautiful Corvettes on the road.  After picking up the others, we headed north on I-17 to General Crooks Trail exit and east on Hwy 260.  We had a beautiful sunny drive on Hwy 260 with all of its wide sweeping turns, a great Corvette driving road among the tall pine trees.   We then headed north on Hwy 87, another interesting driving road with lush green meadows and tall pine trees in picture postcard settings.  As we came up on Lake Mary Road, we turned left and headed north for 27 more miles with yet more lush greenery.  The Monsoons have been kind this year to Northern Arizona!  At that point we turned left at the sign onto Mormon Lake Road and drove the 2 miles to Mormon Lake Lodge.  What a crowded place this was!  There were several other bike clubs and a BMW car club coming in just as we were leaving, besides all of the tourists on ATV’s, bikes, horses, etc.  It was definitely summer time at Mormon Lake Lodge!

Our lunch was again just as good as we remembered it from last year!  Jennifer, F & B Manager, had our tables all set up for us as we arrived.  Before lunch, many of us toured the Zane Gray Museum attached to the restaurant.  What an interesting array of items that are hanging on the walls and in glass cases.  It is full of historical photos and letters.  Author, Zane Gray, left many mementos as he traveled the world.  This was one place that he treasured as he lived and wrote in this area for many years.

The wait staff did a great job of serving all of our 27 people.  And boy did we have our food quickly for as busy as it was!  Everyone had an excellent meal to carry them through the rest of the day.  After lunch, the group meandered outside to realize that a huge thunder cloud had formed right over the Lodge!  It was now RAINING, after a beautiful sunny drive to get there, and only ONE puffy cloud in the sky when we went into the restaurant.  The weather in the Mountains can sure change in a heartbeat.

Our entire group headed home the same way we arrived.  We waited a bit to see if the rain would stop and it was just a sprinkle when we headed out on Lake Mary Road to Hwy 87 south.  This is where it POURED and must have washed all of the bugs off of our cars.  (The temps went from 62* at the highest elevation, 7450 feet, to 104* in Camp Verde.) Then on to Hwy 260 west to General Crook’s Trail, to I-17 south.  Some of us returned back to Prescott and some returned to the Phoenix area.  Another memorable Driveout to remember!

See you on the road!

Lyn DeLano & Ed Frias

Velocity Vettes

Mormon Lake Lodge

Map

Wupatki-Sunset Crater Volcano Driveout 

Completed! - 7/26/2008

 Ed and I founded Velocity Vettes exactly one year ago this month, July 2007.  We have close to 300 hits a month on our website, so I guess we are doing this right!  What a great way to celebrate our one year anniversary!  We had one of the largest crowds of Corvette owners join us for the Wupatki/Sunset Crater Volcano Driveout on Saturday, July 26^th.  The majority of the group met at Costco in Prescott at 9am.  12 cars headed east on Hwy 69.  Our line of Corvettes turned on to Hwy 169 and headed east again.  As we approached I-17, Ed contacted Nathaniel to make sure the Phoenix group was at the I-17/169 meeting place waiting for us.  As planned, they were there waiting to jump back on to I-17 with us.  They waited next to the on ramp to I-17 and joined in our long procession just like clockwork!  We then headed north on I-17 and picked up Bill and Pat McQuade, one more Corvette, as we passed the Hwy 260 on ramp.  Only… they weren’t there!  They had gone up to the next exit to see if they would have a better view at that on ramp to see us driving up the freeway, but they didn’t.  So as they drove back, we saw them heading south as we passed by the Hwy 260 exit.  They got back on I-17 heading north and eventually caught up with our group.  Then... there was something about Rod and his daughter arriving late!  Coffee was spilled on Rod’s pants a few blocks from home, just as they were leaving Phoenix and he had to go back to the house to change clothes!  They finally caught up with us at Brandy’s.  We totaled 20 Cars and 37 people by the time we were at the restaurant.… 

We had a little glitch before arriving at Brandy’s…  There was a different street name where we were to turn left and several Corvettes went straight looking for the street.  Ed, already at the restaurant, jumped into his Z06 and went to rescue the 6 or so lost drivers.  We arrived at Brandy’s Restaurant at about 11:15am.  Andy, the Manager, had anticipated our time of arrival (with a phone call from Ed on the road) and had the tables set up for us.  What a great place!  It was very busy, but all 37 of us were fortunate to be seated when we arrived. The food was unbelievable!  You could order breakfast until 2:30pm or choose from the lunch menu.  The owner Brandy, even made a special trip in to greet our group. Everyone was very satisfied with the menu and the many choices you could order.  The sweet potato fries were the most popular item on the menu!  We now understand why Brandy’s Restaurant has won many awards for Northern Arizona Restaurants.  The location of Brandy’s also provided us with easy access and unlimited parking, so all of our Vettes could be parked together! 

After chowing down at Brandy’s, Ed again led our 20 Cars north on Hwy 89 about 12 miles to the first Visitor Center at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument.  What a site to see… 19 Corvettes and 1 Porsche heading up the Highway!  

We all parked and got out to visit the Sunset Crater area.  Volcanic ash and lava as far as the eye could see. After 700 years, plants are just starting to grow in the cinders. The skies were very dark and the lightning was dancing in the distance, remnants of Hurricane Dolly that headed into the Southwest area of the Country.  Loud thunder added to the mix!  Many brave souls made the short walk on the path provided.  By the time this hardy group made the loop, it was raining pretty hard.  We then all jumped into our cars and drove the remaining 35 mile loop to Wupatki Pueblo.  It rained a little along the way and when we arrived at Wupatki, the rain stopped and the sun eventually came out again.  What an awe inspiring place this was! These ruins housed up to 100 people and the area includes a ball court, so they must have been sports minded as well.  There is also a “blow hole” located just below the ball court.  Many of us placed our hands over this small hole in the ground, and you could feel the cool air rising from the cavern below.

It was a very interesting day to say the least!  After we finished viewing Wupatki Pueblo, many of our group headed down Hwy 89 to I-40 and on to Hwy 89A.  We drove through beautiful Oak Creek Canyon and into Sedona.  We thought driving through Sedona so late in the afternoon (5pm)... along with threatening skies, would allow us clear sailing through this Red Rocks area!  It was not to be!  There was a considerable back up in traffic in this congested area! They had construction going on right in the middle of Sedona.  They are putting in a round-a-bout and there is only one lane of traffic going each way.  It was stop and go for about 30 minutes!  If we had known this, we would have chosen a different route! Once past that little hold up, we flew on home!  Some of us chose to go through Jerome then on to Prescott.  Others headed down I-17 south to their homes in Phoenix and Scottsdale.  We all had a wonderful day with a little rain and a little sun and some very impressive sites!  Thanks to all who participated, and a big Thank You to Kenneth who supplied me with some of his great photos!

See you on the next Driveout!

 Lyn DeLano and Ed Frias                                                               

Velocity Vettes

Wupatki National Monument

Sunset Crater Volcano

Map

Brandy's Restaurant

Map and Menu