Report from Dean Gier - Birmingham Mustang 60th anniversary show. 

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     My brother Dale & I left Tuesday morning in the dark and the rain.  It rained on & off most of the day as we visited the St. Louis Arch.  We traveled through Illinois and ended up in southeast Missouri at a bed and breakfast owned by a third cousin.  We spent Wednesday exploring the town of Altenburg Missouri where four generations of my Mother's family lived after migrating from Germany in the mid 1800's.  We visited Tower Rock at the Mississippi River in Perry County also.  Thursday morning we traveled onto Birmingham and checked in for the show.  After, we checked into our hotel, which was a convenient half mile from the show entrance driveway.  We spent Friday & Saturday looking at all the Mustangs at the show.  There were many flavors of Mustangs on display.... concours trailered, concours driven, unrestored, modified, daily driven, race cars and many more.  All weekend there were groups of Mustangs being driven around the Barber Motorsports racetrack.  The MCA had an information & merchandise tent next to the vendors & parts area.  There was also a parking lot where Ford & Saleen had new vehicles on display along with a Ford merchandise trailer...plus more display only Mustangs.  We went back Sunday morning and left early in the afternoon to drive to New Albany Mississippi for the night.  Along the way we stopped in Tupelo Mississippi to visit Elvis Presley's childhood home.  Monday morning we traveled to watch the solar eclipse within the path of totality in Northeast Arkansas.  Traffic after Memphis going to the eclipse viewing area was something I wasn't expecting.  It was manageable but sometimes a little crazy.  We parked for viewing in a gravel lot on the edge of Portia, Arkansas.  My brother brought welding lenses which worked great.  Watching the eclipse was super neat.  The traffic after the eclipse was also a little hectic, but not too bad.  We ate later at a Mexican restaurant in West Plains Missouri which Jeff recommended.  We spent the night in Springfield Mississippi, gassed up with ethanol free fuel at Buc-ee's and drove to Wichita Tuesday morning and arrived mid afternoon.  Along the way, we stopped and looked at Big Brutus near West Minerals Kansas.  It dwarfed my Mustang when I parked next to it.  This was my second trip to Birmingham as I attended the 45th in 2009 with Phil Nelson.  He drove his `66 Mustang hardtop.  This road trip was a total of 1,886 miles which included crossing the Mississippi River four times and traveling through six states, not counting Kansas.  I had only one issue with my fastback.  A parking light bulb blew out but I had brought an extra with a few other spare parts which weren't needed.  During the entire trip there was many stares, waves, thumbs ups & horn honks from fellow motorists.  Be sure to drive and enjoy your Mustang or special Ford.  It does no good to leave them setting in your garage.  Get out and drive and have fun doing it !!  Dean