After the excursion to GT-42 in Solvang, CA, the Mazureks swore there would never be another drive to an event over 1,000 miles in PRNCZ. The estimated distance to Colorado Springs is 1,100 miles. Will the Mazureks be there in PRNCZ? You'll have to attend the event to find out. Maybe...

GT-45 Dash Plaque?

Well, we guess the decision to take PRNCZ to this event was made for us. PRNCZ is not being driven to GT-45, neither are either of our Volkswagens. As a matter of fact, we're not going either. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of this event and pretty much put a kibosh on a few other things for the summer, including our Golden Anniversary trip. Diane wrote a letter to NAMGAR's Board of Directors suggesting postponing GT-45 in Colorado Springs to 2021 or 2022. No one responded, so we don't know if this remains GT-45, cancelled, or if GT-45 will happen another time at another location.

It's a pity, because a route was planned, and there seemed to be some interesting places to visit along the way. As you can see from the photograph, by May 1st, we were prepared to hit the road.

Prep'd for the Drive

The first day's drive would have included stops to see the pig in a brick doghouse commemorating Kewanee, IL, the Hog Capital Of The World; the Bagpiper Statue at Monmouth College in Monmouth, IL; and Snake Alley - A Very Crooked Street in Burlington, IA. The last attraction is supposed to be a competitor to the famed Lombard St. in San Francisco (GT-9).

While none of the "attractions" are earth-shaking, they are curiosities, and they were to provide interesting rest stops along the day's route. In addition, this would have given us an opportunity to leave later in the day and set the pace and schedule for the remainder of the outbound Colorado Springs' trip.

The first night was to be spent at an opulent Super8 in Burlington, IA.

The second day, after a hearty, Super8 breakfast, we would drive back into Illinois and work our way down the Mississippi River to visit the home of the Mormon Movement, a National Historic Landmark, in Nauvoo, IL. We made a brief stop there on the way home from GT-42, but it was mid-afternoon, and we were more anxious to get home than to sight-see: we vowed to return one day. Our plan was to take an organized tour of the historic area, look around for a bit, then move on, since only Mormons are allowed to visit the actual Temple.

Our next stop for this day was to have been a 1950s gas station with dummies claiming to be Lyle Van Houten's Automotive Museum. While the term "museum" may be generous, it seemed worth checking out, since it wasn't that far off our route west. Then not much further west was the Shoe of the World's Tallest Man, Robert Wadlow. Not normally attracted to old shoes, it is housed in an antique store, and Diane never passes up antiquing!

On The Back
Mouse Over to Read the Back

We were hoping that the timing would permit us to spend time in Marceline, MO. Marceline is the boyhood home of Walt Disney, and there is supposed to be a museum with a fair amount of memorabilia and collections relating to Mr. Disney's life. There are also supposed to be a number of other attractions in the area, but it was doubtful we would have had the time to visit them.

Further along the route is Laclede, MO, the birthplace of General John "Blackjack" Pershing. This would have been a quick stop to visit a memorial.

We're sure you've heard the term "slicker than sliced bread." For years, that was the term to describe something that's new or novel that improved the way something was done. Well, our final stop for the day was to visit the Home of Sliced Bread in Chillicothe, MO. The first sliced bread machine was invented here in 1928. It's claimed that the invention of this machine increased bread sales by 2000%. While the original building still stands, that business has long since left, and all that remains is a plaque to memorialize the event. By the way, the World's Largest Goose and the World's Largest Pelican are also in the area, but this would have been the end of the day, and the Super8 was much closer.

The third day would mark our final day on the road before reaching Colorado Springs. It was to be a short, 236 mile drive along a stretch of east Colorado nothingness. The only thing that appeared along our planned route was the Kit Carson Observation Tower at the Kit Carson Museum in Kit Carson, CO. Hmm... there seems to be a theme here. This was about halfway between the termini so, it seemed a likely place for a respite. By late afternoon, after a shower, we would be sitting at the bar in the Marriott, sipping and catching up with other like-minded folks.

In 1994 we spent some time at this very same Marriott while house hunting in Colorado Springs. We had accepted positions with a small start-up technology company in California and that business was looking to us to locate the business' Operations in Colorado Springs. We convinced them that it made no sense to locate Operations there. In those days you couldn't get anywhere from Colorado Springs, and the customers were located on both coasts, with prospects in other countries. We moved Operations to Chicago. While in Colorado Springs, Diane formed an attachment to The Broadmoor. We don't golf, but the Golden Bee Pub was a great, albeit expensive, place to hang out.

Sometime during the GT, we were also looking forward to visiting Concours Cars in Old Colorado City. This is the shop that helped us on our return trip from GT-42.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide any images for this GT, save for the postcard which depicts the one place in the area we knew we would have visited: The Garden of the Gods. Somehow we don't think that, today, it looks anything like the 1959 postcard shown above.

Our return trip would have been quite uneventful and off-the-cuff. We've traveled the return route on many occasions while in the West. Our basic plan was to leave the hotel mid-morning after bidding a farewell, setting the GPS for no highways and no toll roads, and heading home. Lodgings would be selected and booked during the morning's drive, and any sites visited along the way would be ad hoc. Our night would likely have been Kearney, NE; the second night Cedar Rapids; the last night at home.

Our sincere thanks to the local MGCC group and the MMM Registry for all the preparation and planning for what would have been a fabulous GT! Their literature and video were superb. We truly hope they can welcome us in the near future. Well done, folks!

Eventually, the originally intended GT-45 dash plaque was mailed to us. A much better design. Don't you think?

We have received word that GT-46 will definitely be in Atlantic City, during the MG Council's MG International, scheduled for June 14-17, 2021.

And, GT-47 will be in Colorado Springs. Thankfully, the folks there agreed to try again to show us a Mighty Great GT! Thanks.