Had an early report last month, now a late report this month, so it may be longer than usual. On the 23rd of March we had finished in the Saint Louis area and headed south into Arkansas. Spend a day catching up clerical work, another day making out a tentative order for Moss to replace the parts missing from the trailer (remember the February incident in Indy).

On Monday March 25th we jogged up briefly through Branson, MO to find a Brit shop out of business. Having WiFi problems

Jon Thompson (panel beater) of Sports Car Specialties in Squires, MO

and did not get our parts order sent out. Made it over to Squires, MO before sunset to visit Jon Thompson of Sports Car Specialties. He is an expert panel beater doing some phenomenal body restoration work on vintage British cars. By 10-pm we were back up in Joplin, MO looking for Basic British. The guy's daughter and son-in law live there now, but told us he had moved to Springfield, MO, but we got his phone number. Called him the next day to find he has a web site that still works, and he is (or was) a specialist in AH Sprite and MG Midget (pre-1975 models) but is indeed retired. On the 26th we finished inventory of the trailer, update of the parts order, and finally found both the time and a good WiFi spot to send the $1,000 parts order with 250-line items to Moss. Specified delivery point would be the UPS depot in Kansas City Kansas.

On Wednesday the 27th we were haulin’, doing shop hopping around the Kansas City area in both Missouri and Kansas, managed to connect with 8 shops in one day. Next day we got a bunch of grief from Moss when they

A few of the toys at Empire Automotive in K.C. MO

David Henderson and Matt Pluff, the young guys running Empire Automotive in Kansas City, MO

shipped most of our parts from the wrong coast, Petersburg, VA (and a day late), and sent one small package from Goleta, CA, but shipped it by USPS

Allan Miller's toy shop in Baldwin City, KS

addressed to the UPS depot in Kansas City. That was going to turn into a real mess. Next day we spent some time at Empire Automotive in Kansas City, KS, finding a nice rather large shop doing well and run by the younger generation.

On Saturday the 30th we were going to a Spring Tune-Up party with Lawrence All British Car Club in Lawrence KS, but weather turned cold, and the event was cancelled, but we went anyway. We spent the day with Allan and Vickie Miller in Baldwin City, KS, began by drooling over some of his toys, and then did a little maintenance on our MGA. The following day was spent creating a new inventory spread sheet for parts that would be in the magic trailer (once the new parts order arrived). We haven't had an accurate inventory for some time.

(Continued on page 13)