Travels, Hobbies & Interests

Notably, in 1993 Patty drove the car to an SCCA Solo 2 National Championship in B-Prepared Ladies. In 1994, Mike & Patty won both the mens and ladies classes in B-Prepared at the nationals. After undergoing a color change, the car was re-numbered #27, and Patty won her third national championship in 1996.

On March 19, 2004, we said good-bye to the 1996 Collector's Edition Corvette. The car was purchased in August of 2000 and it had been Patty's daily driver for about 3 1/2 years. We had a lot of fun with the car! It was in car shows and autocrosses. It was taken out on track touring days and a few short out-of-state trips. 96 Corvette

Patty took a picture with the car one last time before heading over to Sewell Cadillac-Chevrolet to turn the
keys over to the new owners. It was a little strange to see someone else getting into the '96 in the same spot where we took delivery of the car a few years before. We sold it to a friend who provided a wonderful home for our old car. Update - In 2009 the car moved on and once more came into the possession of a friend. She hasn't gone too far from home!

04Z06Emblem

But never fear . . . there is still a Redhead in a Vette!
We went home on March 19, 2004 in a brand new, 2004 Z06 Corvette!

04Z06rear

Like the last Corvette, it is silver with black interior and chrome wheels. It definitely fits the "bigger, better, faster" category!
It is a fixed roof coupe with a 5.7 liter 405 hp sequential fuel injection V8 engine and a 6-speed manual transmission. All that power hits the ground with 17" wheels in the front and 18" in the rear. It goes FAST and we're having FUN!! Out of all the Corvettes we have owned between us, this is the first "new" Corvette either of us have ever had. I even kept my personalized license plate, "AGGRSIV," which looks more appropriate on the new car!

That's our 2001 GMC Sierra 3500 Diesel Dually behind the Corvette in the picture above.
Mike treated himself to a new truck a few years before this photo was taken.

The newest addition to our racing program is a Panoz GTLS, powered by a Chevy LS1 engine, of course!
We started developing the car in the latter part of 2009 and Patty campaigned it in the 2010 Grand Bayou Charity Challenge at Circuit Grand Bayou.

Although we enjoy racing together and sharing the same car, we really have a lot of fun when we have the opportunity to be on track in separate cars competing against one another.

In a totally different direction, we have another new toy - a 1930 Chevy Sedan "Rat Rod" - and it is a blast! It is rude, crude, slammed, and obnoxiously loud. Some people get it, some don't. It is quite a head turner whichever way you look at it. We think it is a lot of fun!

Stay tuned! You never know what might show up in our garage next!

Our hobbies and interest are widely varied. Among them, we have a strong interest in the enjoyment of trains including modeling and collecting of all scales, collecting railroad memorabilia and touring the country enjoying rides on steam trains. Our biggest interests are in the old L&N and Southern railroads mostly due to the fact that our respective families worked at each of those railroads. We have been members of the Louisiana State Railroad Museum, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society, the Southern Railway Historical Association, and the National Railway Historical Society.