What a great Viper weekend! This jaunt up to Michigan's Upper Peninsula offers great winding roads with views of Lake Michigan, a terrific car show, a unique zoo, a Marina owned by a Viper owner, great eats, and all the fun with club members you can handle!
It all began on Friday, May 20th, with Vipers coming from all over the State through the driving rain to our motel home away from home in Escanaba.
Of course everyone wanted to clean up their car after driving through the rain all day. Frank Berle was heard muttering something about Michigan's mud being much better than the "mud" in Ohio.
After we got unpacked and cleaned up we headed over to Riverside Dodge, who hosted us for our annual cook-out and Viper car show. They are great hosts and have been supportive to the club over the years.
We even allowed a strange car into our midst. Larry Pollack brought his 720 hp modified Ford GT (Larry has a 690 hp Viper too!).
When everyone had loaded up with burgers and other goodies we headed over to the UP State Fairgrounds, where the official Krusin Klassics events were centered. We cued up for the annual kick-off parade through Escanaba and surrounding communities.
Steve Nelson always leads the Viper posse in the parade with his striking bumble bee GTS. This crowd pleaser always reminds me of the advertising tag line ". . . the proud bird with a golden tail"! The caravan of Vipers in the middle of the parade was a real crowd pleaser.
After the parade we ran back to the motel to watch the Pistons lose the Eastern NBA Championship -- oh well, it gave us a reason to drink! The following morning we went back over to the fairgrounds to get our strategic spot for the car show.
Our row of Vipers represented a good cross section of ages and models, which proved once again to be a real attraction to the crowd (they ignored the near-by Corvettes!).
One of the fun features of this car show is that they set up a portable Livernois Motorsports Dyno and give a trophy to the highest horsepower turned at the show. Last year Rob Butryn took top honors with his 857 hp Doug Levin GTS. This year Frank Berle upheld the Viper honors by taking first place with his 524 hp stock 2008 Snakeskin Green coupe -- way to go, Frank!! Now, we've got a streak to defend . . .
They even had a green trophy for Frank -- what thoughtfulness . . . !!
By noon we were done wowing the crowd at the car show, so we moved on to the DeYoung Family Zoo, a unique zoo run by Buddy and Carrie DeYoung and an army of volunteers. They have an impressive array of animals and run breeding and support programs in conjunction with zoos all over the country.
They look forward to the Vipers paying them a visit every year and they reserve a special parking spot for us in the middle of their grounds.
The cars always attract a lot of attention when we show up.
This zoo truly reflects the extreme devotion that the DeYoung's dedicate to their animals. Among the exotics they have on display are the white Siberian tigers.
The zoo offers a unique opportunity for children (and adults) in the Upper Peninsula to see such animals without having to travel extreme distances. You can check out the info on the zoo via the link below:
DeYoung Family Zoo - Home Page
They rely heavily on donations, and we always chip in and make a special contribution in the name of the Viper Club when we go there. Here's a shot of the DeYoung's and some of their younger volunteers holding baby animals born in the last year at the zoo.
After the zoo we took a "spirited" ride through winding backroads adjacent to the river to the Marina owned by Viper owners Keith and Shelly Boye in Menominee, MI. Keith led in his Hennesy 550 RT-10. At the Marina the Boye's hosted us with shrimp and all sorts of generous hospitality. They live at this exciting spot and it is always a treat to see what's going on at this intersection of the river and Lake Michigan.
Another exciting treat we have come to look forward to at the Marina are the "animated driving demonstrations" in the parking lot by Frank Berle. Last year's show was one of the most popular car links on You Tube! Frank took the opportunity to demonstrate that his new 08 was perfectly capable of holding its own.
Kim has suggested that this might best be the last year that Frank performs (unless he buys a tire store) -- so I don't know what we'll do next year. However, the cop who showed up will be relieved . . .
After enjoying the Marina we cruised down to The Landing restaurant on the lakefront in downtown Menominee for a lively dinner of excellent food and drink. Then we continued our "spirited" driving back to our motel in Escanaba to congregate room to watch the Red Wings try to win the Stanley Cup.
Frank brought in the dyno trophy and we celebrated both it and the Red Wings victory!
The next morning we made our traditional big exit from the hotel and had a final breakfast at Delona's Restaurant. Bill Turin set the record for length of "signature" on the way out!
As others have said above, we all owe Steve and Sue Nelson, and Keith and Shelly Boye a huge round of congratulations for organizing such a fantastic event. They took the time to make all the reservations, preview drive all the routes, pre-register us for the car show, and otherwise make the whole weekend flawless!
Here's a link to Steve's pictures on the Kodak site, which will give you an even broader overview of our activities.
Kodakgallery.com Slideshow
If you're a MCVO member, mark this event in your calendars for next year -- it's perfect for driving fun, car events and good fellowship!
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