By Rock Jenkins, State Farm, The Drive Home II and III Driver
The Day 4 itinerary included travel from Tallahassee to Birmingham with a bit of a twist. Part of the group took a direct route, while David, Tabetha, Keith, Dave, and I hatched a plot to surprise AAT Marketing Manager Ashley Bice at her house in Niceville, FL. Ashley has participated in the past Drives, but more than that she’s been the main marketing, communications, and social media strategist who has made these efforts such a success. She would have been right along with us on the Drive Home III as well, were it not for the fact that she and husband Jay are within a week or two of having their first child. (BTW, she continues to drive our schedule and provide detailed coordination for us on a virtual basis from home while she and Jay wait for the big day to arrive.)
The Big Niceville Surprise crew left the hotel first driving the ’62 International, the ’72 El Camino, and the support truck and trailer. About 10 miles out we realized we had SUV keys that were needed by the other group, so I wheeled around in the El Camino to give them to Bill who had come halfway out to meet me in the Camaro. Transfer completed, I did my best to catch up with my Niceville gang but the El Camino sputtered and sorted badly up through the carburetor making it hard to reach 70 mph or better. (Keith later indicated it may have a bad spot in the carburetor because of a stuck needle or float.)
Click here to read the rest of this post.