Oh yes we did

M and I took off Sunday for a little jaunt, a little get-away.  To those who asked, we said, "Oh, we're going hiking."  What we didn't tell them was that we were going hiking in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  In the Corvette Assembly Plant.  Which is next to the National Corvette Museum.  Where our new, custom-built, 2010 Jetstream Blue Metallic Grand Sport Corvette waited for us.

Here she sits, in the delivery hall of the National Corvette Museum.  

The sign to the left tells visitors that they're looking at OUR car.

After the plant tour, and the museum tour (both phenomenal and worthy of their own posts), Michael received an orientation on the car from Lance, our delivery specialist.  Which is necessary since the cockpit looks like it could fly the space shuttle or something.

I think this image might replace the one of the two of us on our wedding day.

Lance drove her out of the museum (liability reasons precludes new owners from driving out) and parked her around front for more pictures.

This is one happy boy.  I'm pretty sure he didn't stop smiling for 48 hours.  We left, and M said, "I don't want to go back to the hotel.  Let's just drive around."  So we did, stopping only for a nice dinner at a local place called Mariah's.  After he took me past the Bowling Green Water Treatment Facility three times, and the same coffee shop with two people sitting outside four times, I made him leave Bowling Green proper.  Then he drove around the outskirts for awhile longer before grudgingly heading back to the hotel.

Our first stop after leaving the museum was to head back across the street to the assembly plant, where this amazing mural is painted on the wall outside the visitor entrance.  

Then M wanted a shot of the sign showing her birthplace.

This was the sign at our hotel.  Appropriate, yes?

Here she is, home at last, "tucked in" for the night (M's words, not mine).

I heard the squeaky door from the family room to the garage whine a bunch of times that night, and I knew he was just checking on her.

Some FAQ's about our little adventure:

1. Yes, we've known about this for awhile.  We had to special-order the car over a month before we could take delivery.
2. No, we didn't tell anyone.  Some things are more delicious when shared just between the two of us.
3. It has 436 horses under the hood.  And it's all rumbly and growly and awesome.
4. My car is the one booted from the garage, by my own suggestion.  It's the oldest and the most logical to park outside.  And M promised to help scrape the snow and ice off it in the winter.
5. No, we haven't "punched it" yet.  The first 500 miles are to be fairly tame, with no cruise control and no high sustained speeds, dramatic acceleration, or sudden stops.  The seals have to, well, seal, and the suspension has to settle.  So we plugged "no main roads" into the navigation system and had a wonderful, relaxing drive home through rolling farm country.
6. Yes, it's a stick.  Yes, I know how to drive a stick.  Yes, I've driven it.  No, M didn't have a heart attack.  (Does a small stroke count?)  Yes, he will "let" me drive it whenever I want.  It's our car.
7. Yes, we'll take you for a ride if you want.  (M will take any excuse to drive it...and is going crazy with all the rain the past few days.)
8. No, you can't drive it yourself.