A couple of weeks ago the local news media announced that the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America was going to be coming through the Upper Arkansas River Valley on Monday, the 6th. So I looked at the ride's website, found the route which had approximate times for stops and low-n-behold they were coming by within a mile of my house...!!! Monday turned out to be a beautiful day so I pulled "BLKBRRD" out of the garage and parked down at the intersection they were going to be passing through.
As they rumbled by I was taking a video with my camera while waving at everyone (and getting waves in return!). Unfortunately the battery in the camera died part way through so I didn't get the whole caravan. After they passed by I hopped in the car and followed them down to Buena Vista where they had a planned fuel and lunch stop. A member of the Arkansas Valley Car Club (I'm the current club president) suggested we make a donation to the charity so several of us presented a check to Kyle. A reporter from the local paper was there taking pictures and his story appeared in this week's edition (The Chaffee County Times).
It was a fun morning and getting to meet those folks a real pleasure. They were all very cordial, friendly signing autographs and standing for pictures. While chatting with Herschel I teased him about his brain still being a little frozen from his time in Minnesota with the Vikings. His laugh was genuine and he told me that Minnesota was the best place he lived in during his NFL career. He said the people were all very friendly and the school systems were great for his kid - BUT the winter weather was TERRIBLE!
I wasn't around the car when Kyle did this FaceBook interview with Herschel - wish I would have been...!!! And here's all the pictures and videos I've collected so far and gotten posted on the AVCC website: KPCRAA in BV
I was planning on joining the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America but because of urgent matters, I didn't make it. I need to find and get an Optima d35 first before anything else.
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