This is crazy even compared to the apparent ups and downs of CEG over the last week
I was driving west on I-40 about 80 miles west of Oklahoma City. I had just been through a gruelingly crappy construction zone. In my mirror I see a silver 'tour catching me in the fast lane. At first I thought "looks like an SVT!", but immediately realized it was a normal Contour front-end, only pretty low to the ground. Then I noticed it was definitely not rolling on stock wheels.
Hmmmmmm...what have we here? I wonder if this is an OK-CEGer? It seemed kind of bittersweet considering the last news I had of CEG's future was bad. What a fitting end to a long, glorious run for such a top-notch site.
By now the 'tour is closing in and I catch a glimpse of sidemarkers. Well now, this is definitely not granny's Contour. I wonder who this could be. The guy pulls up and we ride side-by-side for a few seconds trying to converse: impossible at 70+ mph. So we head to the next exit 2 miles down to pull off and say hello.
During that stretch I'm trying to recall OK's members. I know JPett, but he drives a red pre-98. I know of codeo, sqplus's brother, but don't know what he drives. All the others I can think of drive SVTs. So who was this mysterious CEGer? I bet you wouldn't have guessed correctly either
Remember, I'm on my way from OK to AZ. I am ending my vacation. The odds of me running into a CEGer are slim, but this particular CEGer I never expected to meet.
It was sqplus (Brad) from CO!! The same guy I had emailed back and forth the week before about cam gears. Turns out his car had broken down in OK last time he was down and he was returning it home after repairs. What a coincidence. Both of us with family ties to OK, headed to different parts of the SouthWest, meeting on a lonely stretch of I-40 over 800 miles from either destination
Too strange.
He had a different tale to tell. My exhaust caught his eye. He thought SVT also, but once he got close and the shadows weren't so dark he could tell it wasn't an SVT at all due to the stock rear bumper. Once he saw the AZ plate, he immediately thought it was me (guess I'm popular
).
We cruised to Amarillo together where we each went our separate ways. It was a very cool way to start my roadtrip back
