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Updated 4/21/07 Nebraska, Kansas & MissouriPlans for the Nebraska - Kansas - Missouri Caravan have come together and look like this: We will officially start the Caravan in Lincoln, NE. on Tuesday, September 1, 2009. There are events happening in Lincoln before we depart that might be fun for us Corvette enthusiasts. On Sunday, August 30, the Nebraska Corvette Association is sponsoring a Corvette Show where the first 150 entrants will receive a free t-shirt. Go to (www.nebraskacorvette.com) for details of this Corvette show. Sunday evening is on your own but there should be no problem looking up local Corvette enthusiasts or other Caravan participants to fill your evening. Monday, Aug. 31, we will be touring Bill Smith's Speedway Museum in Lincoln, NE (www.museumofamericanspeed.com). The address of the Museum is 340 Victory Lane. The number of people attending the tour will determine if we will need an additional 9:00 AM tour or be at their normal 2:00 PM tour. Sharon and I toured this Museum in the mid-90's and can personally attest to this collection of race cars and auto related memorabilia as one of greatest collections you will ever see anywhere - bar none. Let us know if you think you may want to join this tour ($10 admission fee per person) so we can plan if an additional 9:00AM tour is required. We will spend Monday night in Lincoln, NE. One of the recommended Motels in the Lincoln, NE. area is the Hampton Inn South. The motel is located at 5922 Vandervoort Drive and the phone number is 402-420-7800. A recommended nearby restaurant is Lazio's Brewery and Grill and is within easy walking distance from the Hampton Inn. We will depart Lincoln from the Hampton Inn parking lot at 9:00AM on Tuesday, Sept.1 for the Blue Springs, MO. area (just East of Kansas City, MO). Not long after leaving Lincoln we will be stopping at the private collection of Mark Pieloch in Syracuse, NE. His collection contains over 100 cars of which more than 60 are Corvettes. All cars have either been totally restored or are low mileage original cars - several muscle cars included. The collection is housed in a 42,000 sq. ft. building; viewing this collection is free. After we leave Syracuse, NE. we will be traveling Highway 2 east toward I-29. We will travel south on I-29 past St. Joseph, MO. on our way to Blue Springs, MO. In Blue Springs, MO. we will meet up with other Caravans from the West and Northwest areas of the U.S. Currently we have no specific plans for this stop and the evening will be open. The following motels in the Blue Springs area are all located on I-70 and include: On Wednesday, Sept. 2 we will depart Blue Springs from I-70, exit 21. The departure will be on the south side of I-70 where there is a Home Depot / Wal-Mart parking lot. Take exit 21 and go south to the first stop light - a very short distance. At the stop light the Home Depot / Wal-Mart parking lot will be on the right. Departure time is 9:00 AM. Since these businesses will be open for business they have requested we park away from the buildings toward the road. We will travel across Missouri with a lunch stop in the St. Louis area at the St. Louis Mills Mall on I-370. To get there we will take the I-370 exit (exit 224) and travel to the St. Louis Mills Mall (exit 11). We should be arriving around 12:00 noon. There are many places to eat at the Mall and fuel is in the vicinity but not at the Mall. We are planning a 1:30 PM departure from the east side of the mall area near the Sears Outlet Store and the old Circuit City Store - you can still see the outline of the old Circuit City sign on the building. We will depart the Mall and travel east on I-370 to I-70 toward Mid-America Motorworks (www.mamotorworks.com) in Effingham, IL. Our planned arrival time in Effingham, IL. is 3:00-3:30 PM. It would be a good idea to check into your motel (almost all motels are at exit 160) first before going to Mid-America as Mid-America has a full late afternoon and evening planned for us at their facility. When you leave your motel after check-in, travel East on I-70 to the Highway 45 exit (exit 162). From this exit you will travel north on Highway 45 for a little over 1 mile. Mid-America will have people on the right side of the road to direct you to a parking spot. Mike and his crew will provide us with tours of their facility including Mikes Museum (self guided) which includes many one of a kind Corvettes and a great collection of Corvette memorabilia. The entire facility will be open for our Caravan to enjoy as long as caravan participants are there. There will be a chicken dinner offered to Caravan participants for a nominal cost of $8.00. I am told Effingham is noted for two things - Mid-America and Neimerg's Chicken. This Chicken meal includes all the trimmings including potatoes, salad, veggies, etc. The "Naked Sissies" band will provide us with entertainment starting at 7:00PM for the rest of the evening. I am told this band is not really "naked" and they are an interactive band where you can join in with the group if you play one of the instruments or of you just want to sing along. Sounds like a fun evening of entertainment for everyone. Mike is offering a 10% discount on all purchases as well as some limited installations on certain items. "Goodie bags" and a car wash area will be available to all participants. This will also be the first opportunity to "build a mat" where you can have floor mats built to your own specifications. We will spend Wednesday night in Effingham, IL. Mid-America has invited us to a free Continental breakfast Thurs. AM, Sept. 3, from 7:00 - 8:30AM. After this Continental breakfast we will depart from Mid-America at 8:30 AM to our final destination at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY. From Effingham, our route will take us south on I-57 through Mt. Vernon, IL, where we will pick up I-64. We will travel I-64 east toward Evansville, IN. In Indiana we will take exit 29A and travel south on I-164 where we will exit at 7A (Lloyd Expressway). There are many places to eat and fuel up at this exit for the remainder of the trip. After lunch we will gather together at this exit and have a police escort to Bowling Green - final details to follow soon. Our police escort will take us from Evansville, past Owensboro, KY. and on to Bowling Green. Our planned arrival time at the museum is mid afternoon on Thursday. We have the Corvette window decals and flags as seen on the Corvette Museum Website. Decals are $10 and flags are $15 each plus shipping; we will have a limited number of each for sale on the caravan. If you have a personal family radio we will be using Channel 10-0. We realize these radios do not reach very far and hope everyone will help pass messages along to others on the Caravan. The caravan leaders will not exceed posted speed limits at any time and participants are encouraged to try to maintain distances that are safe and to help prevent the "accordion effect" when many cars travel together. Please be careful and enjoy the 15th year celebration of the Corvette Museum. Our email address is: vettnmo@charter.net Carl & Sharon Ballinger Please make sure you are signed up for eNews to keep current on the latest news: |
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