ODE FOR THE 2012 N.T.B.A. NATS

[John Eplen]

Well, here I am again, probably making the same apologies that were made last year and the years before. These words are again going on way tooooo long and there are many Bucketheads that I talked with that I did not mention below. Lord willing, I’ll try to catch you next year in Carson City. What a great Nats the Choo Choo version turned out to be. We had a couple of down times with the accidents, but the Lord has chosen to heal one and gradually heal the other. I hope that we may be able to return to Chattanooga sometime in the future; or maybe somewhere close.

ODE FOR THE 2012
N.T.B.A. NATS

It doesn’t seem like the passing of a year,
Since the pups and me were standing right here.
With trailer loaded, waiting for ‘dark o’clock’, anxious to leave,
I pondered this ‘Buckethead mania for the Nats’; it is evident I believe.
It’s our ‘family manner’, increasing from Nats to Nats by exponential degree,
Placing a priority on attending our yearly ‘reunion’; I think most would agree.

Then my day dream vanished for it was time to go,
We had only missed our deadline of eight o’clock by an hour or so.
Heading down to the Exxon we picked up the usual forty pounds of ice,
Now into the dark Texas Hill Country we drove, once again rolling the dice.
Our night time limit is fifty miles per hour or below; once given as timely advice,
Otherwise one could crash with a deer and that is NEVER nice!

I have given up on driving to the Nats without experiencing a storm,
Sure enough, at Terrell, just east of Dallas, rain fulfilled the norm.
We would encounter two more storms before reaching Monroe,
Where they hit us escapes my memory, so I do not know.

I do remember east of Monroe, at night, the windshield being covered with antifreeze,
I kept searching for a clear patch of glass which the glycol had not seized.
Stopping several times I made repairs trying to render the leak deceased,
By dawn something worked, so with clear glass and crossed fingers I dared to be pleased.

A clear windshield helped us reach Choo Choo Town sooner than I had guessed,
We were ready to check in at one o’clock, I felt that we were blessed.
Then Al and Shirley arrived no more than two minutes after us,
And, as usual they drove the Tzer rather than take the bus.

I asked Al if he could analyze from where the antifreeze had leaked,
As he inspected I could tell that his curiosity had been peaked.
Since Al is a much better mechanic than me, I valued what he detected,
I was elated when he came to the same conclusion that I had suspected.
There had been a temporary leak from the front seal of the water pump,
It had allowed small droplets of antifreeze, upon the windshield to dump.
Although the leak had stopped long before we reached Choo Choo Town,
Al and I agreed that it would be best to find a new short pump somewhere around.

By now it was getting much later in the day,
The pups and my batteries were too low to play.
We selected the coolness of our room in which to stay,
On Saturday we might find an appropriate water pump to obtain for pay.

Saturday morning found us in the parking lot in searching for local information,
We needed to find a new short pump to make the transformation.
Several Bucketheads were asked to inspect the witness marks which were no illusion,
After viewing them they agreed with Al and me, coming to the same conclusion.
Among those present on Saturday morning were Charles and Lavell,
Like Al, Shirley, the pups and me, they had arrived early as well.

Just then Rolla walked up and was informed of our need for a new water pump,
He began making a cell phone call to get us over this mechanical ‘hump’.
“The name of the place is Honest Charley”, he said, awaiting an answer on the other end.
Honest Charley was closed until Monday, so no inquiry could begin till then.

Since they were closed on Saturday and Sunday, a trip to Honest Charley was abolished,
So Al said he would search on his laptop for a pump that was plated or polished.
He found the chrome plated versions at Honest Charley in stock,
I knew that a visit to Honest Charley on Monday would be my first stop.
For changing the pump Rolla insisted that I use his drain pan, tools and jack,
And have Danny Hessel, known as ‘Cuz’, take me to buy the pump and bring me back.

The water pump issue moved to Monday, but there was still another issue that I had,
I bought a new GPS for the Choo Choo trip, but my learning curve was BAD!
I noticed that Al was fluent with his GPS; it was a different brand than mine,
I handed mine to him and he worked to try and help me for quite some time.
But, my GPS was so foreign to his; he finally gave it back,
Tom Buckley had offered to help on Sunday upon arriving at the Choo Choo track.

Sunday morning I decided to start cleaning that third storm off my T,
I kept watching for Tom and Jan Buckley; not knowing what their arrival time might be.
My old camera had been left at home; my memory, once again had put me in a bind,
The only Best Buy listed was so far away; it would challenge my GPS to find.

As I cleaned on into the late afternoon,
I was unaware of the increased number of T’s arriving so soon.
Some were new comers’ to the Nats, but most were doing their yearly return,
I suspect that the joys of early arrival somehow have been learned.

By now it was late afternoon and I still had a camera to find,
I had tried to program my Garmin, fearing that I might be driving blind.
So I asked Al if he would use his GPS because he would need to lead me.
Then Al, Shirley, the pups and me headed out to find where that Best Buy would be.

I was correct; that Best Buy was far away; almost in another town,
But, when we got there, just after six, I noticed that upon Al’s face there was a frown.
Forgotten was the fact that it was Sunday, so Best Buy had closed at six,
I quickly apologized to Al and Shirley for getting them into this fix.

There we were, sitting in a huge, empty parking lot,
But, not all was lost as two ladies drove up and parked beside our spot.
We could tell, when they exited their car; they were enamored with our T’s,
We answered so many questions that were asked; the ladies seemed to be pleased.

Al ended up driving each lady around the lot for a little spin,
Then, at their request, it was time for picture taking to begin.
Each lady posed with the Tzer and Al who was grinning from ear to ear,
It’s a good thing that Shirley is not a jealous woman, or for Al I would have fear.
If there is ever a ‘Goodwill Ambassador List’ created for the N.T.B.A.,
All and Shirley Carpenter should be listed at the top, I’d say!

By the time we got back to the Choo Choo it was nearing dark,
I spied Tom Buckley as I drove in to park.
When I asked him to show me how to use my Garmin he said, “I’m not your man”,
“The one that figured out how to use the Garmin is my wife Jan!”
But, I would have to wait till Monday for the tutorial to begin,
Unfortunately, Jan didn’t happen to be at the Choo Choo right then.

Monday morning found me with quite a list of ‘to do’s’,
As the majority of the T’s left for the ‘Tail of the Dragon’ cruise.
Cuz took me to Honest Charley’s since the water pump was first on the list,
The pump could be brought from their warehouse by noon, Joe Lombardo did insist.

So, it was back to the Choo Choo where I thanked Cuz for the ride,
I needed to seek out Jan Buckley that was the next thing I did decide.
Tom pointed me in the direction where I saw her sitting under a tent,
She was talking to Tammy and as I walked up the conversation was spent.

I asked Jan for a tutorial on my Garmin and she began to teach,
When I completed her Garmin class there wasn't anywhere I could not reach.
I think Jan should be given a doctorate in ‘Garmin Speak’,
She’s qualified to teach in any university five days a week.

With so much time left before the water pump would arrive,
I decided to make a solo try at the Best Buy drive.
With pups on board and Garmin attached, we left for Gunbarrel Road,
The Garmin kept me on track; shortly I was in the Best Buy abode.
It did not take me long to find a camera within,
Then our return trip to the Choo Choo did begin.

I could not pick up the water pump till three,
Returning to the Choo Choo, a ‘cool down’ hour would be needed for my T.
As insisted by Rolla, I got his tools, drain pan and jack,
Then Al and Cuz came over to help get my T back on track.

We started removing the water pump when I heard a voice that was familiar to me,
When I turned around, John Ashlock was who I would see.
I wanted to inquire about Rose and impart some information that was on my mind,
We ended up talking for a long, long time.

I finished talking with John to find the pump swap almost complete,
Al and Cuz kept on working; one knew they didn’t stop to tweet.
Within a few minutes my T was running with no leak at all,
It was ready for our six o’clock cruise call.

Upon returning my T to its’ parking spot I received some alarming news,
A deer encountered Vicki’s T and the impact did abuse.
The deer had leaped upon her windshield, shattering it out of sight,
But, thank the Good Lord Vicki survived the crash untouched and alright.
The T was taken to Honest Charley’s since they could do the fix,
They would return the T to normal after it had sustained the deer’s lick.

Fifty or more T’s left the Choo Choo at precisely six with a resounding bound,
After a while we arrived at a ranch quite a long way from downtown.
We drove into a large field lining our T’s up in two rows,
And there they sat for a picture to pose.

Tables were set up with condiments for a hot dog roast,
With tree limbs to skewer the franks while held over some coals to roast.
We waited for the roast to begin while standing under large trees for shade,
Cookieman, Hunter and Ceec were present with conversation to be made.

Cookieman astounded me when he conveyed what had happened to him,
Upon his arrival in Chattanooga, one night in a hospital room he did spend.
The doctors fixed the problem quickly; the next day he was good to go,
Steve was his own evidence of good health, he was NOT moving slow.
Hunter updated me on his progress in school band where he’s a winner,
And I had the best conversation with Ceec since the Serria Vista, Saturday night dinner.
The hot dog roast was a big success; it turned out real nice,
As an ending for Monday’s activities, it was just the right spice.

Tuesday morning I still had the last portion of clean and polish to do,
A lot of the Bucketheads left for Lynchburg with the Jack Daniel Distillery to view.
I gathered what was needed for this next polishing bit,
It was my intention to finish today and be done with it.

I was lucky to have parked by Harley Alcox plus Punkun and the Patch,
They are always willing to talk and the conversations are hard to match.
By afternoon I had cleaned off the last dirty speck,
Then I was given the bad news that Al and Shirley had wrecked.

The information that was available seemed sketchy, nobody knew,
I had heard that Al was alright, but Shirley was in the ICU.
The information remained in limbo as afternoon faded to night,
Hopefully, by Wednesday morning Shirley would be out of the ICU and alright.

Raccoon Mountain and Cloudland Canyon State Park were listed for Wednesday’s start.
There was no advanced news about Al and Shirley for anyone to impart.
I decided to attack the remaining problem caused by the previous storm,
I had lost gauges before, but preferred to not make it the norm.
The third storm caused my temp gauge to indicate zero for the temperature my engine had,
Cookieman and Tom Buckley helped me test the gauge; it turned out to be bad.

Another trip to Honest Charley’s for the pups and me became the ‘order of the day’,
Joe Lombardo ordered the correct replacement gauge and allowed me to pre-pay.
The new gauge would arrive on Thursday; Joe would call me when it was here,
We returned to the Choo Choo and found someone that we hold very dear.
Toolman brought Al back to inspect the Tzer wreckage which was in the back parking lot,
Then he would freshen up and Toolman would return him to Shirley’s hospital spot.
Al appeared to be in good spirits considering all that had happened to him,
He said something about a two week stay, so Shirley would be in the hospital till then.

Lookout Mountain Attractions was the only listing for Thursday’s run,
The listing was plural because there were many avenues on the mountain for having fun.
Our first stop was Ruby Falls, leaving Rock City and the Incline Railway on the top,
We didn’t stay long at Ruby Falls; our destination was the Railway at the highest spot.
Upon arriving, with camera in hand, I met Eggy, who had also made this stop,
Eggy held the pups as I went to the observation deck to make pics of the drop.
To say that the view was ‘breath taking’ would be a low evaluation,
The beauty in this view has to be among the greatest in our nation.

Now Eggy and we were faced with finding our way back to the Choo Choo,
I punched in the Garmin and hoped the directions would be true.
Everything seemed to work very well as we wound down the mountain roads,
I guessed that I had, once again, entered the correct Garmin codes.

Back at the Choo Choo Honest Charley’s gave us a late afternoon call,
Immediately we left to pick up the new temp gauge for a ‘near dark’ install.
Now it was time for the ‘Tamale Throw Down’ given by the New Mexico bunch,
The best way to describe this event is that it is the ‘Ultimate Southwestern Lunch’.

Weelstang announced that the ‘Throw Down’ would be followed by an additional treat,
It was to be held in the Choo Choo lobby at seven o’clock where one could take a seat.
Wanda’s grand-daughter would provide entertainment; her name was Misty Boyce,
She would perform on a beautiful grand piano in addition to her equally beautiful voice.

I quickly got the impression that Misty and Wanda had done these concerts before,
Wanda began to ‘rock and roll’ from side to side; I feared she might fall to the floor.
Every time Misty would begin playing and singing a new song,
Wanda would know the tune and lyrics so, with Misty, she would sing along.
I told Wanda that she should form a duet with Misty and book some concerts to perform,
They would certainly be better than most existing groups; they would certainly do no harm.
T-Odd was having as much fun as Misty and Wanda while taking pictures in the lobby,
He’s so good with that camera; it has to be more than a hobby.

After the concert I went to my T to put the new temp gauge in the dash,
It was nearing dark before I got the new gauge in, I NEVER work in a flash.
Dale stopped and asked me to be at the National Meeting Friday; three times in a row.
I should have guessed that something was up, but I really didn’t know.

I wanted to test the new temp gauge by driving to Ben and Jerry’s on Broad Street,
The gauge worked OK as the pups and I anticipated a cold treat.
But, just as with previous attempts, parking space availability was extremely lean,
The pups and I would end up leaving Choo Choo town without a taste of ice cream.

It was early on Friday morning when I rolled out of bed,
Time for the National Meeting, I had not forgotten what Dale had said.
The room was a movie theater that had comfortable seats,
It was as nice as any we had for previous meets.

Weelstang opened the meeting with occasional help from Dale,
Bill gave recognition to his board of officers without fail.
He would be transferring the N.T.B.A. leadership to a newly elected board,
After this third board takes their jobs, I bet they will never get bored.

Weelstang said that the ‘Hall of Fame’ nominations this year numbered three,
He named Rose Ashlock first, then John Brown and me.
I felt unworthy, but was elated that Rose and John’s names, upon the list would be.
The last thing Weelstang did was announce the site of next year’s National meet,
When he said Carson City, Nevada I got excited, knowing it will be a traveling feat.

Bill then transferred the baton to Rolla and his officers to begin their run,
Rolla began to present a few of the things he would like to get done.
He will accomplish what Punkun and Weelstang did during their reign,
Rolla will improve and strengthen the N.T.B.A. even through ‘fire and rain’.

With the meeting at an end I returned to my T,
The Ladies Cruise to Gordon Lee Mansion was yet to be.
I wanted to see the model railroad exhibit, now seemed to be the right time,
That exhibit was worth waiting to see; it was a complete railroad line.
This exhibit occupied the entire second floor of Penn Station,
It was large enough to be called a model railroad nation.

Then, back out to the parking lot and over to my T I went,
Where more time with my Buckethead friends might be spent.
One of my favorite cars of all time was parked to the right of me,
Al Conn owned this brilliant red, full fendered, stake bed twenty three T.

Behind me and across the isle Grease had parked his new car,
Featured in a recent issue of Street Rodder, his Viper T had become a star.
With more than enough horsepower to make him the victor,
This is one awesome, ten cylinder road constrictor.

By afternoon the time neared for the poker run,
Many T’s lined up to participate in the fun.
A rain storm began as they started their ride; disappearing as quickly as it arrived,
After all was said and done I believe every T survived.

During the week in the parking lot there was plenty of ‘down time’ play,
Lollie cooked up tasty treats and brought them out day by day.
Teresa dropped by with Zoey on a leash as we had a nice chat,
Zoey, as usual, seemed to be happy with where she was at.
Al was finally able to return each day with more information about Shirley to reveal,
With each day we were happy to hear that Shirley had begun to heal.

Saturday morning we moved over to the Coker Museum for our ‘Show and Shine’,
Chestnut Street would be blocked off for parking our T’s in a line.
A delayed start put us at Chestnut Street where most of the T’s had already parked,
The pups and I found a parking spot at the entry way that had not been marked.

By the time my T was parked the sun had begun to bring the hot,
Thanks to the Bucketheads that helped me set up my tent which allowed for a shady spot.
It wasn’t long before another late arrival appeared; it was Hemi-T,
He was able to back his car into a small spot on the right of me.

This year Curt brought his daughter Emily when his Choo Choo trip was made,
I was glad that they sat their chairs up under my tent for shade.
It was nice to talk with Curt and Emily for quite a while,
Then it was camera time, so I headed for the center of that T parked isle.

Down the center of Chestnut Street I strode, with T’s on the left and T’s on the right,
At first I looked from the entry way to the end; that was a humbling sight.
It was a composite view of Henry’s start, moved forward and witnessed under current light,
The imagination applied to our little cars is proved by no two being alike.

I never seem to express the credit and recognition that all N.T.B.A. members deserve,
For some reason, each year, the words remain in an unreachable reserve.
Perhaps one view might suffice; consider what was said about T’s being Henry’s start,
When one views our ‘Show and Shine’, it is really a viewing of our N.T.B.A. heart.

As I continued down the T-bucket isle, my new camera did not limit the number pics to take.
I ended up in front of the Coker Museum with one more stop to make.
I asked where the valve cover races were taking place,
Someone informed me that the races were over and Uncle Larry had vacated the space.
Later I contacted Uncle Larry asking if supercharged covers had been allowed to race.
The races had concluded before I could find the competition place.
Uncle Larry graciously told me what the final winners list would be,
The Stock Class entries had set a new record when they totaled twenty-three.
Vickie Brooks ended up taking home first place,
Ilona Burton came in second with Werner-Schafer occupying the third space.

The Modified Class had only six entries with Angie Milton ending up on top,
Joe Mackey was second with third going to J.D. Scott who worked in Coker’s shop.
The technology that’s been applied to these valve covers has increased since the races began,
Early in the week I watched Larry work on a racer for Ceec; it took a steady hand.

It wasn’t long until three o’clock arrived; time for the final meeting to begin,
Among the early business was a T body that had been raffled off by RPM.
The proceeds were presented to Al Carpenter for helping with Shirley’s hospital bill,
Ron also donated one of his precise, metal creations to Cookieman, King of the cookie mill.
It wasn’t long before the meeting gamut had been run,
Most of us were either sitting or standing in the sun.
Although the present Nats had just ended, I wanted the Carson City time to be here,
But, as with all Bucketheads, I will have to suffer in anticipation for about a year.

Most folks don’t understand that hosting the N.T.B.A. Nats is an awesome feat,
It takes several months of intensive work to make sure participants enjoy it as a treat.
Credit must be given to Terry Hill, Mike Meyers, Bill Cook, Rolla and J.R. Fitch,
These are the gentlemen that worked for over a year to pull the Nats off without a hitch.
I suspect that there’s a group working on behalf of the N.T.B.A., located in the west,
With a goal to make the two-thousand thirteen N.T.B.A. Nats stand out as the best.
So, it’s on to Carson City next June where we can experience our early western roots,
The only thing I can say to everyone is, “Don’t forget your boots!”

Herman T. Quackenbush July 11, 2012

Aka: T-Pilot with Pups

Aka: John Eplen

[Tim Taylor]

Just beautiful T-Pilot. I look forward to your ODE each year. When I want a reminder of a previous Nats, I generally go straight to your ODEs. Like a snapshot of the history of the Nats and the NTBA. So glad you write the ODEs and record our history.

[Bruce Pickett]

Wished I could have made it to Choo Choo this year, but alas a new job prevented it. Nice job on the description of the events and glad all is well. Keep up the words of wisdom Sir Quackenbush.

[mike wade]

John thanks again for a great story about the NTBA 2012 Nats as usual you tell a great story......

Mike

[23Tzer]

I always look forward to your Ode each year John. Thanks.

[Arleen Peters]

Beautiful!!!

[angie milton]

Great job John!

[Bill Darr]

Thank You John, just great. weelstang

[Al Husa]

Way to go John! Wonderful re-cap - as always!

[John Brown]

Another great one John! Thanks!