Book 4 - (2000 - )
.. (except me; I didn't handle it all that well).
When we walked into the restaurant we were led to a table in the front and there were Pete & Cindy Butler, Joe & Cathleen Blumberg, Barbara & Ed Cone, Matt & Kristyn Byrne and Beverly & Newsom Baker. Kristyn was seven months pregnant.
Gael was suprised, all right.
We gang-walked and shopped NYC the next day, took in a Broadway Show (The Full Monty) and had dinner at a west side restaurant Cafe Fiorello (a recommendation from Cousin Ed; it was great). Kristyn took me aside and said, "You've GOT to tell her about tomorrow morning. There's just so much emotion she can contain without stroking out!"
So I did.
I had arranged that the next morning we would renew our vows in the chapel of The Little Church Around The Corner -- where her Mom and Dad were married. Yes, I know; I'm a hero.
Spencer in 2026
Each summer we'd spend a week there.
In our July week in 2002, the whole family from the UK came along with Gael, Matt, Kristyn, me and five-month-old grandson Spencer. Kingston Cove had a community swimming pool about 30 yards from our house and the Byrnes used it every day.
One day Kristyn and the baby were down at the pool with only a few other people there. Kristyn was feeding Spencer. She'd been working with him on "Baby Sign Language" which is a subset of ASL (American Sign Language). It's a great way to communicate with a baby before they have the power of speech. Clearly at five months Spencer (smart as he was) had limited speech capability.
As she was feeding him, she asked him if he wanted more to eat. Here's that sign:
When they finished up and were packing up to go back to the house, a young woman aproached Kristyn and said (with a deep southern accent), "Ma'am? Is he deaf?" Kristyn said "no" and explained about baby sign language. Kristyn put Spencer in the stroller with all the poolside stuff and started the walk from the pool to the house. As they walked she began to get unaccountably angry.
She flew into the house with Spencer and was very upset.
We asked her what was wrong and she relayed the story. We said, "You shouldn't be upset; that young woman had no way of knowing that Spencer wasn't deaf."
She looked at us, still steaming and said, "I don't care that she thought he was deaf!!!! She called me effing "Ma'am!!!"
It was her first time...
A very special Corvette
Here's another (and maybe my favorite) Corvette story.
The 50th anniversary of the Corvette marque is coming up next year (2003). GM usually does something special for "anniversary" years; the 50th anniversary would certainly be something special. Here's a photo of the 2003 Anniversary Edition Corvette by Chevrolet Motor Division:
It's nice -- but not all that special IMO.
Sometime in 2002 I saw a small blurb in Car and Driver magazine. Some fellow was building what he called the "1953 Commemorative Edition" Corvette; something REALLY special.
The chief designer for a company named Magna Steyr, Bill Miller, along with a former GM designer, Steve Pasteiner, took what many of us 'Vette nuts were thinking to heart:
"What if someone took the look of the original 1953 Corvette -- and updated it to fit onto the high-tech chassis of the current fifth generation C5 Corvette?"
And that's what they did. Magna Steyr, the original owners of the design, commissioned a showcar prototype with an eye toward having GM adopt it as "THE" 50th Anniversary Edition Corvette. GM decided on a more conservative strategy (see photo above) and Magna-Steyr abandoned the idea.
Steve Pasteiner's company, Advanced Automotive Technologies, purchased the rights to produce a limited edition series of this fantastic vehicle.
...and here it is ....
Oh, YEAH!
I had two thoughts:
- He'll never actually build these, and
- If he did, I'd never be able to own one.
Well, he did and I did!
Note: Someone viewing this page asked, "What did the 1953 Corvette look like?" I thought everyone knew but if you don't:
Click to see it larger.
As I said, I doubted this ride would ever exist. But Gael and I went to CA to the Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance...
A chap named Ted Springstead
arranged to have his 1953 Commemorative Edition Serial #6 delivered to Monterey, CA for the Monterey Classic Car Week starting August 10th, 2002. There was a car show sponsored by Monterey del Oro on Saturday, August 10th -- and there she was! (this pix is of Ted's 1953CE):
(Click to see it larger)
How did I react?
Well, I simply flipped out. I got Steve Pasteiner's name from Ted to get my order in that same day. I got Steve Pasteiner on the phone and said...
"Hi! I'm Chaz Cone and I've just seen #6 on the showfield at Monterey. I have to have one, I don't care what it costs."
Steve said, "Good opening!"
He explained how it worked. I deliver him a C5 convertible as a donor car plus the conversion fee (then $30k) and a few weeks later I'd have my 1953 Commemorative Edition.
Gael shared my excitement and, when I calmed down, she pointed out that we didn't have a C5 convertible to give to AAT with which to build our CE. Bummer! I got on eBay and found a 1998 C5 convertible (in Torch Red). I bought it, flew to Indianapolis to pick it up...
Nothing to it...
And then I registered the domain 53CERegistry.com so that we'd all have a place to record our stories, pictures and specifications for these cars.
Here are some work-in-process pictures of the build:
We received her (Serial #11) at one of our Esmeralda Rallies. Here she is coming off the truck:
What a car; you couldn't go for a loaf of bread without drawing a crowd.; See more of our 53CE adventures by clicking HERE.
I had the car for ten years and loved all the adventures we had with her. With her sister CE #12 we drove the length of Route 66. We drove out to Vettes on the Rockies and dozens of local shows and events. I regret so much selling her but I reached the point in life where I needed cash more than Corvettes. 
The Historic Motorama
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Corvette, the National Corvette Museum (NCM) decided to produce what they called the Historic Motorama. The idea was to get one of each model year of the Corvette and caravan from Flint MI (where the first Corvettes were built) to St. Louis MO (where they were built from 1954 to 1981) and ending in Bowling Green KY (where Corvettes are built today).
This was quite an undertaking. The NCM organized a drawing where members could submit their cars for the appropriate model years (1953 through 2002). One car and an alternate was drawn to see who would get to make this journey. Gael and I were lucky enough to have our 1964 Silver Roadster picked!
Here's a link to the whole story.
It was a wonderful caravan which I documented (of course); click HERE.
The best part was at the end. I don't know how he did it but Wil Cooksey (the Corvette Assembly Plant manager) arranged for the Motorama cars to drive through the plant while in operation. OSHA and EPA must have had a fit. No cameras are allowed in the plant so there's no photographic evidence but, trust me, it happened!
We then paraded to the NCM where thousands of Corvette fans welcomed us.
2003
You already know that 2023 marked the 50th anniversary of Corvette. So, being the fans that Corvette people are, the NCM organized an event in Bowling Green. Corvettes from all over the country converged on Bowling Green. Of course, we had to be part of the excitement. Read all about it HERE.
Unlike our 1999 Caravan experience, thankfully, Gael was uninjured. Don't know about Gael's prior injury? Click HERE.
2004
Getting back on the Air!
I'd been off the air for nearly twenty years. At lunch one day in January, 2004 with my friend Bob Allphin K4UEE he prodded me to get involved with ham radio once more. I still had the gear, I had the time, I had the tower; all that was needed was an antenna and associated extras -- and a bit of re-learning!
I asked Bob what was new in antennas since I dropped out in the eighties. Among other things, Bob told me about the SteppIR Yagi antenna. I went to their website and fell in love.
This "magic" antenna could be configured from the hamshack desktop to any frequency between 6 Meters and 20 Meters. The elements were hollow plastic tubes and inside each was a copper strip that could be remotely rolled out by its controller to any length. This allowed for a single antenna to work across all the ham bands up to 20 meters! Perfect! Gotta have it!
I ordered the SteppIR antenna.
There was tree work needed to ensure the antenna clearance. I had the crew top off the adjacent trees well below the top of the tower so I wouldn't have to do that again for a while.
The contents were all there.
Here are Bill WB4WMG, Rich (not a ham; well, not in this context) and
Bill N4NX with the element tubes.
Bill WB4WMG with all six of the element tubes; they're not heavy.
Dave came down and we cranked the tower all the way up. With a 72' tower and a 10' mast that antenna was "up there!"
We ran the three cables (rotor control, SteppIR control and coax) into the shack, hooked it all up and made the first contact with a ham in the UK who gave me a great report.
We had been invited to bring the 1953 Commemorative Edition twins to San Diego for a car show. San Diego (for those geographically limited) is NOT on the way from LA to Atlanta -- but what the heck. Pete, Buzz & Jackie and me enjoyed the sidetrip. The show was great and friends Rich Wolf and Ina Thompson put us up.
It took us seventeen days to get to LA. I planned FIVE to get home. But first:
In planning for the Route 66 trip I ran into (on the internet) a Western Swing/Jazz band from San Francisco called "Cow Bop" who was planning a trip to Chicago and then a "Route 66 Challenge" to LA on Route 66. They wanted to see if you could still sing your way across the country with no money and no planned gigs. Their plan was to leave Chicago on May 7th with a tank of gas and $100 and see if they could make it all the way to Santa Monica depending on the kindness of strangers to let them "sing for their supper". When I got to know them and observed that we'd have a ten-day headstart on the road, I printed up some cards that I could leave at business establishments:
It worked out that our time put us and Cow Bop in Santa Fe on the very same day! Pete and I were in the audience at
Cowgirls Bar and Grill for the show. Pammy and Bruce and the band recognized me and hugs were employed.
I took them outside to see the CE. I pulled the red bra down so they could see the grill and forgot to put it back. It's gone somewhere on I-40.
♫"I lost my bra, on Highway 40..."♫
We were on the road again early the next morning (bra-less). Racing through the rest of (largely empty) New Mexico and all of Texas, I passed time writing this song:
♫"Oh, there's nothing to the left us and nothing to the right
There's nothing back behind us and nothing in sight,
We may be road-weary but we're making great time,
With nothing to distract us, we're both doing fine.."♫
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We stopped for an evening in my home town of Little Rock. Much of the family and my Aunt Charlotte enjoyed a meal.
Cousin Richard, Cousin David, his wife Donna, Aunt Charlotte, me and Pete
I figured we'd think of something else when we got to China.
She kept that card with her and everywhere we went to eat, she dutifully showed that card to the waiter. They always bowed and nodded vigorously. After a day or so we were early back to the tour bus after a stop and our guide came back early as well. Just to be sure, I showed the card to Yoshi explaining Gael's acute allergy. He laughed. I thought that was an inappropriate reaction -- until he told me what the card actually said.
He then wrote on one of his business cards: "Shifudo Ni" which means "No seafod". Worked better though the waiters still bowed and nodded vigorously.
Now, thanks to AI, I have this: 「全ての魚介類にアレルギーがあります」 but it's no longer needed as she outgrew her seafood allergy completely around 2005.
We loved Tokyo though dealing with signs in a symbolic language was a challenge. We bought a Tokyo Tour (which is how we met Yoshi) and visited a dozen tourist locations. At one of the beautiful gardens, I was sitting on a low stone wall around a large Koi pond. Changing film on my Canon AE-1 (remember film?) for some reason I removed the autowinder -- and dropped it into the Koi pond. I couldn't see the bottom so I lay down on the wall and reached sown into the pond to see if I could find it. The pond was somewhat deeper than my arm was long so I couldn't find it.
Gael pointed out that we were in a city, in the country where Koi are highly revered -- AND where the damned autowinder was made. We should avoid an international incident and just buy another. Good advice. I took it.
We took the bullet train to Kyoto; what a fun ride and a beautiful city. We hated to leave.
The next day we flew to Beijing. We'd read all the guide books about how tourists are watched and followed. We found none of that to be true. Our hotel had a part of the Beijing symphony playing in the lobby. Everything about the hotel was first class and beautiful. We hired a guide to take us around. He was from LA so there were no language problems at least on our end 
. We visited Tienemen Square, the Forbidden City and other tourist stops. . When we were done with the scheduled stops our guide asked us if there was anything else we'd like to see. We asked if it was possible to visit the pandas. No problem -- off to the zoo!
The next day we were set to fly to Xi'an to see the TerraCotta Soldiers but China cancelled all flights to Xi'an (for some reason) so instead we were routed to a different city Guilin. This is pretty agrarian. A highlight was a boat ride on the Li River. The limestone mountains that rise sharply from the ground were amazing.
But one day was enough so we advanced our flight to Hong Kong by a day and off we went.
I think Hong Kong was the jewel of the trip -- at least in Gael's mind. We walked, shopped went across the bay to Kowloon. On our second night we had a craving for something familar; fortunately there was a McDonalds two block away.
Merry first Christmas, Hayden Byrne!
To be fair, that picture was a few weeks after he was born on December 2nd. His middle name is Christensen after Gael's Mom's maiden name. Now Spencer has a little brother only just under four years younger whom he can influence (hopefully) in a good way.
Hayden in 2026
It was our oenophile friend's first taste of this great wine. Once uncorked, he waxed eloquent as he described for the rest of us (seven others, as I recall) the layers and layers of the wine's nose. He went on for some time naming the aromas within the bouquet: plum, wild cherries, licorice, chocolate, earth, etc. etc. etc.
We listened, raptly, as he went through them all -- layers the rest of us could only imagine. The rest of us were, in fact, well into the sipping phase when he reached the bottom-most layer. And then he said, "...and there, beneath all the other complexities, yes.....there's just a "hint .. of blueberry"!
Hint Of Blueberry = HOB -- and that became the name for our wine tours. From that moment, just to ride him a bit, everything was said to have a "hint of blueberry". Scrambled eggs, steak, vegetables, diesel exhaust, flatulence -- all now have a "hint of blueberry."
And now, as Paul Harvey would say, you know "the rest of the story".
Here's our oenophile friend and originator of the phrase "hint of blueberry":
Dr. Newsom Baker
Background
Since our daughter Kristyn and son-in-law Matt moved to the Sonoma County CA wine country in 2000, our awareness, interest in (and subsequent love of) wine expanded exponentially. Before their move we'd have an occasional glass of white wine when appropriate, but weren't really fans.
As we visited with Matt and Kristyn in the wine country, we soon became red wine aficionados. I think our exposure to red wine was limited before this because, since cabernet sauvignon was (and is) the most popular varietal, it was the red wine we most often tasted -- and both Gael and I were put off by the amount of tannins in the cabs that we tasted. Charge it off to uneducated palates, but we were not big fans of cabernet sauvignon.
And then -- we discovered Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Merlot (the movie "Sideways" notwithstanding) and Syrah/Shiraz. And, we learned that cuvee (blended wines) were often favored IF we happened to like the same flavors the winemaker liked. We learned that our greatest pleasure was in wines with big fruit flavors.
At any rate, we went from occasional polite white wine drinkers to lovers of reds. Our wine cellar now contains more than 500 bottles of non-investment quality wine and we enjoy wine often. Quite often. Very often.
Gael is a wonderful cook; don't just take it from me, ask anyone. We entertain often and wine has become a key element of those meals. Turns out, we have a lot of friends who enjoy wine as much as we do.
You just read about one of those dinners above where we served a new favorite wine, "The Prisoner" from Orin Swift Cellars and it was a big hit.
Many of our friends are orthodontists. This comes from a long association from when I was in the orthodontic software business.
Each spring, the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) has an annual meeting. In 2005, that meeting was to be held in San Francisco.
In talking about San Francisco, the Sonoma/Napa wine country and the AAO meeting over dinner (and wine) one night, we decided it would be fun to tack a wine-tasting tour onto the back of the AAO meeting. Our orthodontist friends would be in San Francisco anyway and, since we will visit Matt, Kristyn and our grandsons at the drop of a hat, it was decided and the HOB Wine Tour was born. We contacted Kristyn and asked her to set up a three-day experience with food and wine. She went to work.
As you may know from the Esmeralda Rally and other ventures, we like to add flair to our events. Each HOB participant wears a badge -- that's mostly so we don't forget our own name as the wine flows --
We like to make a statement. Once we visit a winery or vineyard, they rarely forget that we were there.
So, back to HOB Wine Tour #1:
Kristyn and Gael did the research looking for small-production wineries with good reputations and interesting tasting facilities. We found an affordable hotel and invited friends. I'm not certain that we knew we'd be kicking off an annual event but that's what happened.
Next stop, NCM Museum delivery!
2006
Enjoying NCM Delivery for our new Corvette
Once we knew when our C6 was coming off the line, we only had to wait through the 10-14 day "quality hold" and we could schedule our delivery. When Gael and I were in Bowling Green for our plant walk-through we picked Friday, February 3rd. We could likely have had it sooner, but we wanted as many friends as possible to join us and a Friday works best for that.
Gael and I put a list together and I sent emails to our friends asking them to join us. None of them live in or even near Bowling Green so it was a signficant driving commitment for them to join us -- but just about everyone we invited was able to come.
Back row: George Hicks, Newsom Baker, Beverly Baker, Ed Duprey, Bob Hardt, Bill Barr, Ron Floyd,
Cathleen Blumberg, Joe Blumberg, Fran Gunter and Fred Gunter
Front row: Vicki Hicks, Robin Floyd, Jackie Nielsen, Buzz Nielson, Gael and me
Here's our first look at the new ride in the Delivery Area:
"I'll be your Spokesmodel Gael..."
Click HERE to read all about this unique experience.
The Dayton Hamfest
Ham Radio operators like to flock. After all, communicators love to communicate. For almost as long as ham radio has existed they organize conventions, swapfests -- any reason to get together face-to-face. Radio contacts are called "QSO"s and seeing one another in real life is called an "Eyeball QSO". Generically thse get-togethers are called "hamfests" and dozens are held across the country. If you've been following the Ham Radio thread, you'll have read about the Atlanta HamFestival of 1977 where the top drawing prize was a mobile ham radio -- and a car to put it in!
The biggest hamfest in the world was and is held in Dayton Ohio and is called the Dayton Hamvention. No one remembers how Dayton became the biggest, but hams from around the world make their way to Dayton every year. There are vendor booths, swap meet tables (acres of 'em), speakers, dinners, drawings and a lot a fun.
I've been to Dayton several times over the years but this one was particullary sweet. Dave K4SSU drove me, Dale K4ROZ and Bill N4NX to Dayton his pickup. We mostly hung out together enjoying the fun.
On Friday night there was a dinner for hams who loved contesting. This subgroup (which is nearly everyone) enjoys competing in Ham radio events to see who work (talk with) the most stations in a weekend. It's lots of fun.-- hams are competiive. Anyhow, each year there's the Dayton Contest Dinner. Part of all such events is a raffle. This year, the top prize was $3,500 radio transceiver. Folks buy lots of tickets; I bought one.
They draw the ticket for the Top Prize first and put it an envelope to be revealed last.
When they called my name I didn't believe it at first. I'm told I yelled all the way as I ran to the front to claim my prize.
We chose the Crowne Plaza Ravinia Hotel as it was close to a Atlanta Rapid Rail (MARTA) exit making it easy to get to from the airport. We made a pretty good deal for food and room costs.
I have a good friend, Don Kasten, who plays baritone sax with a number of local big bands and we booked the GPC Jazz Ensemble to back up the Freshmen for the Friday night concert. The Freshmen would play self-contained on Saturday night.
We arranged for a couple of optional bus tours to add more entertainment to the weekend.
I contacted the Freshmen's management company and asked that they come in a day early so Gael and I could have them over for dinner. When you are a road musician, a home-cooked meal is a treasure. They agreed and they joined us for dinner on Thursday evening along with the FFS Treasurer Jim Whitmire and his wife Nancy. (see how Jim Whitmire keeps popping up?)
After the meal as we were sitting around the dining room table, Brian Eichenberger who sang lead, started singing and the other guys joined in. This was a unexpected treat that we didn't expect -- but enjoyed so much. A private concert by the Four Freshmen in our home? Not on the bucket list for sure.
If you know anything about the Freshmen, you know their biggest hit is "It's a Blue World" (click HERE to hear it). Nancy asked if they would do "Blue Moon" (she meant "Blue World"). To be fair, a substantial amount of alcohol had been consumed by everyone. Well, they don't do "Blue Moon". But wait...
From the stage at the concert Friday night, Bob Ferreira (who sings the bass part) said that they'd enjoyed dinner at our home the night before and that Nancy had asked for "Blue Moon". As a goof they sang a few bars and everyone had a good laugh (at Nancy's expense ). Throughout the concert and again throughout the concert on Saturday, between songs they'd break out a few bars of "Blue Moon". After the convention was all over, for years our convention was known as the "Blue Moon" Convention.
on the odometer? And I got to be the "official" First Start dude too, and as an extra treat, they let me drive it off the line!!! So I was the first person to ever start the car and the first to drive it under its own power. Awesome!!!!! (can y'tell I'm excited?)
