Cal had made it over safely and had started fussing over him immediately, not that Cal would call it that. He also started into his racing stories about his year and how well he did, winning overall. Lynda and he were impressed; Cal had a good year and it sounded like he did it with the manners he was taught.

He was still getting drowsy when he took his pain meds, which lead him to missing some of what Cal was saying. At this point though, the pain meds were still necessary. Even with that, it was nice to have Cal's energy around.

It was only a couple days after Cal arrived that his sister Stacy arrived, and for the first day she was here, she stuck to his side like glue, so he knew that his crash had scared her. She typical would spend more time with Lynda then him. After that first day though, she did stop sticking as close to him and went back to following her aunt around like she normally did.

It was only a couple of days after Stacy arrived that his brother and sister-in-law showed up. They spent a good couple of days together and he had told them of the trip he and Lynda were planning on taking. Cal had just so happened to overhear about the trip and got excited about it; he and Lynda agreed that he could come too, not having the heart to deny him the chance to come when he was so excited about it.

His brother's family, Cal included, left together, with Cal promising he that would visit again. And Cal certainly kept his promise by visiting several more times. Each time saying, that he had to visit to keep him company. Not that he didn't have plenty of people stopping by to visit.

Tex had visited him and Lynda almost weekly and had even been over a few times when Cal was.

Even a few of his fellow racers had dropped by to see how he was doing. This time it was Junior who had dropped by. They talked about his recovery, Cal's racing and how Cal got himself invited on his and Lynda's road trip.

Which lead to him inviting Junior on the trip, as he too was invited but would be missing the grand opening of the racing museum, due to a wedding. It took some convincing and Junior hearing approval by Lynda for him to accept, but he did.

When Cal found out that Junior would be coming with them, he was thrilled and even more excited for the trip.

When he was finally ready to travel again, Lynda booked the four of them rooms to stay at the motel in town. In addition Cal and Junior had come over to start the journey so they didn't have to meet up anywhere.

They knew it would take a few days to get there, the way they were going. They were avoiding the major roads as much as possible and enjoying the road side attractions when they came across them, taking pictures as often as not.

Junior and Cal were getting along well and were acting as if they had been friends for years. Goofing off just like they should on a trip like this but keeping it in check enough to not completely seem wild. He even got a quiet dinner with his wife the one evening while traveling.

After their few days of travel, they made it into Radiator Springs about mid-afternoon and decided that the first thing they would do, would be to check into the Cozy Cone Motel.

They talked with Sally a bit as they were checking in, and she told them about everything that was happening around town. She suggested that they take the late afternoon tour of their now newly opened museum.

He thought that this was a brilliant idea. It would be an enjoyable way to slow down from their traveling and he'd get to show those boys about his inspiration to race.

They were lead through the museum by the town's resident tow truck, Mater. He was leading them from wing to wing, stating which wing was which and answering any questions asked.

They were lead into the next wing, leaving a still intently looking Cal behind, who ignored the tow truck's call of everyone sticking together.

This was the wing he had wanted to see, the one he had been hoping for; Doc Hudson's, The Fabulous Hudson Hornet. Cal still hadn't stopped looking at the one exhibit in the last wing, so they were one short when they entered the wing he had been waiting for.

Junior was sharing his amazement at how many wins The Hudson Hornet had in a single season, a record that stood to this day.

That was one of the many reasons he was so inspired by him.

Lynda then asked the question he had wanted to ask.

"Excuse me son, but is Doc Hudson here today?"

"Sorry, Mrs. The King, I think Doc went out for a drive or something. We should see 'em at supper, by Flo's though. Flo's though that's funny right there."

Lynda and he shared a look of amusement at the tow truck's humour. That's when Cal decided to make his appearance again.

"Uncle Strip, did you see everything they have back there? They mention all of the racing greats on the one wall and you're included."

"Well now, that's mighty fine of them to do so, but I reckon that was Lightning's doing. Now why don't you take-a-look here and see why The Fabulous Hudson Hornet was my inspiration for racing."

"Whoa, are those his Piston Cups? They even mention Smokey his crew chief and Louise 'Barnstormer' Nash, River Scott, and Junior 'Midnight' Moon!" Cal went on more talking to himself than his companions.

"Junior, can we talk a minute." Strip asked seizing the opportunity to pull Junior off to the side away from Cal and Lynda.

"Sure Strip, what about?"

"You and Cal are getting along fine, you might be seeing more of him after this trip."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he's been racing at a lower level here for a few years now and doing mighty fine at it as well. He's looking for more of a challenge so I think I'm going to try and see if I can work it to be his crew chief and see if Tex will sponsor him. Cal just might be the next face of Dinoco. What do you think?"

"Well, any of us are going to have a tough time beating Lightning but if he's finding the lower leagues slow than it's time for him to move forward. He should be some friendly competition, though seeing how he races would be helpful to know if he'll do good."

"Thanks Junior for your opinion, I'm hoping you, Lightning and him, can be friends, sometimes it's more fun racing when you have friends out there. So, things don't get bitter. You're less likely to do something stupid to other racers if they are your friends."

"You're trying to avoid there being another Chick Hicks, aren't you?" Raising an eyelid.

"No Junior, the racing world can be a lonely place if you only see your fellow racers as competitors only. I saw your interview with the press expressing your concern about what could have happened to Lightning when he was missing. That's a good attitude to have. He doesn't know this but I believe he had no friends early in the season."

"How? Are you sure?" The younger car asked in surprise.

"Junior, if he had had friends to keep him in check, or even to support him it would have made a difference. You saw what having some guidance and friends did for him in that last race. Those first races when he was a fresh rookie there wasn't one sign of support in the crowd. How many signs did you have when you started?"

"My friends and family who came all had signs. Mind you people knew dad so there was support there too."

"I always try to keep my eye out for the signs to see who might need a little extra guidance. It was only once Lightning started making his name known there were signs. He'll need friends on the track as much as off, just as Cal will. Never hurts to have an extra friend or two around, even if they're just a friend at work. Now let's get back there before Cal talks everyone's ear off."

"Okay." They drove back over to their group.

"Is this the last wing of the museum?" Asked Strip to Mater over the still talking Cal.

"Yes sir, Mr. The King."

"Well, if we're about done looking why don't we head over to that Flo's V8 Café, we've heard so much about."

"Oh, does that mean we might meet Lightning McQueen and The Fabulous Hudson Hornet?" Cal asked wide eyed.

"Likely, though he goes by Doc around here." Mater replied.

"And Cal, when we see Lightning, I'll introduce you myself." Stated Strip.

The group of them drove the short distance to the café and parked themselves at the pumps. It was maybe five or ten minutes later and a dusty Doc and Lightning drove up.

"Oh, hey, you guys made it!" exclaimed Lightning.

"We did. Lightning I'd like you to meet my nephew Cal, and of course you know Junior and my wife Lynda."

"Of course, it's nice to see you Junior, Mrs. The King. And nice to meet you Cal."

"You too Lightning" Junior greeted.

"Hello Lightning." Lynda said back.

"It's great to meet you too." An enthusiastic Cal responded.

"Cal's a bit of a fan of yours, he might like you more than me."

"Uncle Strip, you know you're always my favourite racer. But he's Lightning McQueen and he helped you finish your race which moved him up from my fourth favourite racer to second."

"Who was second? Not Chick, was it?" Lightning asked warily.

"No, he's too rough of a racer for my tastes. Always has been, even before he caused Uncle Strip to crash. No, my second favourite was another rookie he started a year or two ago, Bobby Swift."

"Oh, I've met him, he's supposed to be a decent car." Lightning said.

"I know him, he's a good friend, always ready with a joke. A real stand up guy. I'll have to introduce you guys one day. Hey, Lightning I heard you were invited to the racing convention this year." Junior said.

"Ah, yeah, I got the invite."

"I had to convince him it wasn't a joke. The rookie was in disbelief that he was being invited, until I showed him I was invited too." Doc said entering the conversation for the first time.

"Well, it will be good to see both of you there. It's not something they do every year, on average it's about every 5-7 years and then they only invite those with the biggest names in the racing worlds. It's a big honour and you both deserve it." Strip said.

The remainder of the evening was spent talking and telling stories. One of the stories told was a prank that was played on Mater about a ghost story after he had been pranking and scaring everyone else in town. He shared some race related antidotes as did Lynda though hers were different in perspective from not being a racer.

Eventually they all made their ways to their cones for the night. The rest of their stay in Radiator Springs was just as good as their first evening.

They had all driven over to Willie's Butte and watched Lightning and Doc race each other and afterward Cal and Junior even had a try at the dirt track. Luckily neither of them landed in the cactus patch. It was still too soon for him to be pulling such stunts after his crash, otherwise he would have loved to race against his inspiration just to be able to say he had.

They ended up meeting all the residents of the town and the boys all ended up going tractor tipping lead by Mater. Which meant the next day they got to help round up the tractors that ended up in town while the older cars sat and talked.

He and Lynda took a drive up to Wheel Well and sat on the outlook for awhile before driving back to town.

Junior had to leave a couple of days earlier than they did, so he left on his own after saying good bye to everyone. The next couple of days went by quickly and after saying their good byes and promises to visit again. The three of them started the journey home, this time going a more direct route, not trying to avoid the major highways or the interstate. That made the journey home much quicker.

Cal left a couple days later which left him and Lynda alone, at least for a bit. They compared they're thoughts on how the trip had gone, and marveled at how much Lightning had changed with having the town as a support system. He was much more agreeable to be around and had gotten along well with Cal, which he was glad.

He didn't think Tex would be getting Lightning as his racer anytime soon though, he'd just have to convince him that Cal could be the racer he's looking for. Of course, him saying he'd be Cal's crew chief might help the argument.

Overall both he and Lynda were pleased with how their trip to Radiator Springs turned out, it was a good way to start his retirement from racing.

So that's part two, and next comes what I've really been wanting to post but needed this bit for some of it to make sense.