(VERY LONG POST WITH MANY PHOTOS) Car Shows and a custom rig.

Sunday 8/12/2012

Hastings Campground

Hastings, NE

We’ve been attending some local car shows lately.  On Saturday, 7/21, we headed west to Kearney, NE, for the 25th Annual Cruise Nite Kearney.  There were actually several events scheduled Wednesday through Sunday.  But the main event was the “Show and Shine at The Bricks” which took place on Saturday on the brick streets of the downtown area .  It was a very HOT day with temps right at about 100 degrees.  There were many cars and lots of people looking at them.  Here is just a sampling of the vehicles attending this event.

The local downtown movie theater was showing a classic.  We chose not to go, though it would have been fun to see that movie again.

There was a “parade” later in the afternoon.

This was just a sampling of the cars in the parade.

After the parade we went to Skeeter Barnes BBQ, a local restaurant which was recommended by Scott,  Terri’s physical therapist.

Terri had the ribs…

and I had the chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes.

The food was delicious.  After stuffing our faces, we found a spot along one of the city streets and watched the cars cruise by until about 9PM and then headed home.

There was another car show a week later, 7/28, in Hastings.  This was a very small show with only about 15 or 20 cars.  Here are a few examples of what was there.

We obviously didn’t spend as much time at this one.

On Sunday, 8/5, we headed west about five miles to Juniata for the 7th Annual Juniata Volunteer Fire Department car show.

We arrived not too long after the show started, and soon after that we all stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem.  These need to be done more often!

There were quite a few cars already there.

This 1965 Chevrolet El Camino has quite a history.

Here’s another “rescued” car, a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro.  Note the absence of hood, door, interior, and drivetrain and also the major body damage to the fender and rear of the car.

 

And now here’s the car today.

This is a 1967 VW…notice the “special features” and “engine” descriptions.

Here are a few more cars, note the license plates on some of them.

There was quite an array of vehicles, hot rods to grocery getters.

Last, but not least, how about this rig!?!

All of the striping and lettering are in 24ct gold!

We arrived early, and they already had a good turnout of cars.  We thought about going back later in the day to see if more cars showed, but decided against it.

This weekend, 8/10-12, was Kool-Aid Days here in Hastings.  Kool-Aid was invented here in Hastings in 1927.  Every year on the second weekend in August Hastings celebrates the invention of Kool-Aid.  There are many events planned around the festival each year.  On Saturday, 8/11, they had the 9th Annual “Kool-Aid Kruise.”  We went over to Highland Park about 3:30PM

to check out the cars that were getting ready to go on the cruise.  Here are a few of them.

This old 1969 Plymouth Road Runner was pretty “rough” but I really liked it anyway.  Check out that front seat with the holes on each end and the springs showing.  What a classic!

This 1963 Cadillac was purchased and owned by Edwin Perkins, the inventor of Kool-Aid.  Notice the original spelling of “Kool-Ade”!

Here they go, heading out for the cruise..

We chose not to join the cruise in our Honda Element.

The next day, Sunday 8/12, was the “Fun in the Sun” Kool-Aid Car Show in Hastings as part of Kool-Aid Days.  The event took place in the parking lot of the local bowling alley.  There was a good turnout of cars and trucks.  Here are a few examples.

We both like going to car shows and cruises and checking out all the great cars and trucks.  After going to a few of the shows now in the area, we’re beginning to recognize a few of the cars.  Sometimes I get the urge to buy one, but that doesn’t last too long.