With Frieberg wielding the megaphone for the last time, he once again implored us to drive nice, look out for other Tourers in need, and to obey all the laws.

We all listened. Sure we did.

When he finished, it was time to make hay and hit the road.

Thousands of us left Harrisburg and wound our way East.

Over bridge, over dale;

on two-lane, four-lane, interstate, and even a tollway or two.

Car after car passed Jerry by (good call, considering how close we were to the local prison) before he found a friendly soul in Shane, who gave him a ride the rest of the way in the Mazda3.

A tip for next time, Jerry — remember what your mother said when you were about 10 years old:

“You should have went before you left.”

Cool cars and little towns just seem to go together. Take the GM Solstice, for example.

It’s not a Lotus, but it’s not bad.

After crossing into Jersey, you could almost smell Raceway Park. Or maybe that’s just the way Jersey smells. I’m not sure I want to know, either way.

Every year, someone has a sob story. You know the one: “We drove 8,714 miles and broke down 2 blocks from the end.”

It’s true. Someone always does.

At least she still has a smile on her face.

When we arrived, thousands of cars were already there, some making fun runs down the strip. I don’t know what time they left, if they were able to arrive before us. We always drove the speed limit.

With a last walk around the park, we found a few cars we hadn’t seen before. A tilt-front ’57,

a Henry J gasser,

and a not-so-official oil company truck.

You’d think with the profits oil companies are making these days, they could afford to get it detailed.

Out in the far end of the show we ran across one of our Mothers Choice Award Winners from the 2005 SEMA Show. We managed to get it moved up to our trailer location.

It’s a steel-bodied re-creation of a Tucker, complete with a twin-turbo Northstar V8.

The engineering is unreal — in both the original and in this modern example.

As I correctly predicted, storms could come up thanks to a low pressure front centered south of us in Maryland. Everyone scoffed, but the facts speak for themselves:

We only saw a few drops of rain, but it sure did get windy.

With a last run through the lot before calling it quits, we found a cool dog,

a need for spell check,

and the only surfboard on the Tour this year.

Long boards look best on a long roof.

Even with the possibility of rain, Tourers felt the need to keep their rides looking their best.

Gotta love that PowerBall Mini.

For the final time, I trekked up on the stage, this time joined by Chad of Hot Rod TV.

I gave away my last prize, presented Joe with his own Chip Foose Design “man purse.” and said my good-byes, promising to be back again for 2007.