Well it's hot out, I am not one to complain about the heat but the heat does cause my work day to be rather busy. It also happens to be my week on call. I finally was getting to the point where on call was much less stressful and now the first heat wave hits on my week. Oh well such is life, I will be free from on call for a good portion of the rest of the busy season though.
Will keep it short tonight, my mind just needs a rest, last two days have been go go go.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Almost forgot
Greetings all,
I just about forgot it was Wednesday. Almost forgot to post.
First thing I just finished washing and waxing my MINI. I was way overdue for a good cleaning. I got done after dark, I can't wait to see it in the sunlight. Tomorrow I will be replacing the spark plugs and changing the oil. I am wanting to do some of my own work, partly to save some money but mostly for the satisfaction of a job well done, yeah it's corny but whatever. That being said I think I will be returning to Chad at DT for the oil changes, it's a good excuse to visit and frankly I think it ends up cheaper, royal purple oil is not cheap here.
Now to the fun stuff, Saturday was the annual Detroit Tuned Spring clean up party. It was a good time as usual for such events, even though there was not much cleaning up done. I actually took a picture of every MINI that attended. pictures here A couple friends from DC, Stacey and Jay were visiting Chad for the week end, it was nice to see them again so soon after the Dragon. After the Spring clean up party wrapped up some of us (Chad, Stacey, Jay, Josh, Matt, Casey) went out to a karaoke bar. Well no one else other than Chad had been there before, he knows a few people who work there. This place was right downtown Detroit, quite close to Comerica park actually. Chad had mentioned going out for Karaoke before but what a surprise when I walked in that place. This place was rather small and somewhat dingy. The customers sitting closest to the door looked like hobos their lady friends were later identified as toothless hookers. The rest of the crowd was also quite diverse. This may not sound like a good review but actually this place was great, we all had a terrific evening, laughs were had by all. I was even told I was cute by Chad's friend that's always good for an ego boost. I hope to hang out with her a bit more next time I go, she seemed pretty cool. Chad being the MAN meant that our tab for the evening was only $50, I lost track of exactly what we consumed but it was definitely more that $50. We ended the night with a run to White Castle, Stacey and Jay were first timers, I think they enjoyed it, until of course the sliders took affect, but hey that`s part of the experience.
I just about forgot it was Wednesday. Almost forgot to post.
First thing I just finished washing and waxing my MINI. I was way overdue for a good cleaning. I got done after dark, I can't wait to see it in the sunlight. Tomorrow I will be replacing the spark plugs and changing the oil. I am wanting to do some of my own work, partly to save some money but mostly for the satisfaction of a job well done, yeah it's corny but whatever. That being said I think I will be returning to Chad at DT for the oil changes, it's a good excuse to visit and frankly I think it ends up cheaper, royal purple oil is not cheap here.
Now to the fun stuff, Saturday was the annual Detroit Tuned Spring clean up party. It was a good time as usual for such events, even though there was not much cleaning up done. I actually took a picture of every MINI that attended. pictures here A couple friends from DC, Stacey and Jay were visiting Chad for the week end, it was nice to see them again so soon after the Dragon. After the Spring clean up party wrapped up some of us (Chad, Stacey, Jay, Josh, Matt, Casey) went out to a karaoke bar. Well no one else other than Chad had been there before, he knows a few people who work there. This place was right downtown Detroit, quite close to Comerica park actually. Chad had mentioned going out for Karaoke before but what a surprise when I walked in that place. This place was rather small and somewhat dingy. The customers sitting closest to the door looked like hobos their lady friends were later identified as toothless hookers. The rest of the crowd was also quite diverse. This may not sound like a good review but actually this place was great, we all had a terrific evening, laughs were had by all. I was even told I was cute by Chad's friend that's always good for an ego boost. I hope to hang out with her a bit more next time I go, she seemed pretty cool. Chad being the MAN meant that our tab for the evening was only $50, I lost track of exactly what we consumed but it was definitely more that $50. We ended the night with a run to White Castle, Stacey and Jay were first timers, I think they enjoyed it, until of course the sliders took affect, but hey that`s part of the experience.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Let's try this again
Well last week I had a post written, due to some sort of technical glitch it got lost. I said I was going to do some research and give you a more informative post but that did not happen. I do plan on making it interesting non the less.
Basically my lost entry was about road trips. I have been on many in my life, but until my most recent trip I don't know if they count. They involved lots of driving but any stops were on the way and rarely very long. I have fallen in love with the multi stop road trip, have a destination but plan ahead as to where you will stop research great places to eat and explore a strange city. On our way to MOTD in Fontana Village, our two stops along the way were actually D-tours, and it was fun.
I grew up rather far away from where my parents are from, so for many years we would pack up the car a couple or more times a year and headed out on the road to visit my rather large extended family. The drive is roughly twelve hours with stops for food and gas. Rarely did we break up the trip in two days and even rarer did we stop somewhere to check something out. I understand why but I am sure we missed out on many adventures.
What I would really like to do someday is go on a road trip where my destination is the same as my departure location. Of course it would be nice to wonder about North America for a few years, but that can't be done until that whole working thing is over with. I think three weeks or so could be done realistically. I would plan out a basic route and scope out some fantastic eateries but I would also keep my schedule open for unplanned side trips, although if I plan for the unplanned is it really unplanned?
Now the question is what to drive, yes I know I love my MINI and it is a really fun car. The thing is I would want something I can sleep in. I have seen set ups in cars with the passenger seat removed and a makeshift bed set up. This could be cool but I just can imagine I would be a getting a good nights sleep. I think a motorhome no bigger than a full size van would be perfect, I could keep food properly stored and cooled, and have a climate control system that does not involve idling the engine all night. I would have to figure out my best option for this, buy an old one have it checked out and sell it upon my return or rent one.
The other decision is to go solo or not. More than two the vehicle choice may be seriously affected but I really don't know on this point. It's great to have friends on a trip but there is something about being on your own and making all the decisions. I don't mean that in a selfish way just that in a group everyone makes some sacrifices on what they want to do or not do on a particular day, I don't want to feel like I am forcing my friend to tour a boring to him museum, and I don't want him to miss out on an antiques store because of me. I think in the end I would like at least one companion, but we would have to agree before we go on a voting system for activities. It would sure make meals out much better, something about eating alone in a nice restaurant just seems wrong.
Let me know what you think and any suggestions you can offer will be appreciated. This trip is still far off but I will do it one day.
Basically my lost entry was about road trips. I have been on many in my life, but until my most recent trip I don't know if they count. They involved lots of driving but any stops were on the way and rarely very long. I have fallen in love with the multi stop road trip, have a destination but plan ahead as to where you will stop research great places to eat and explore a strange city. On our way to MOTD in Fontana Village, our two stops along the way were actually D-tours, and it was fun.
I grew up rather far away from where my parents are from, so for many years we would pack up the car a couple or more times a year and headed out on the road to visit my rather large extended family. The drive is roughly twelve hours with stops for food and gas. Rarely did we break up the trip in two days and even rarer did we stop somewhere to check something out. I understand why but I am sure we missed out on many adventures.
What I would really like to do someday is go on a road trip where my destination is the same as my departure location. Of course it would be nice to wonder about North America for a few years, but that can't be done until that whole working thing is over with. I think three weeks or so could be done realistically. I would plan out a basic route and scope out some fantastic eateries but I would also keep my schedule open for unplanned side trips, although if I plan for the unplanned is it really unplanned?
Now the question is what to drive, yes I know I love my MINI and it is a really fun car. The thing is I would want something I can sleep in. I have seen set ups in cars with the passenger seat removed and a makeshift bed set up. This could be cool but I just can imagine I would be a getting a good nights sleep. I think a motorhome no bigger than a full size van would be perfect, I could keep food properly stored and cooled, and have a climate control system that does not involve idling the engine all night. I would have to figure out my best option for this, buy an old one have it checked out and sell it upon my return or rent one.
The other decision is to go solo or not. More than two the vehicle choice may be seriously affected but I really don't know on this point. It's great to have friends on a trip but there is something about being on your own and making all the decisions. I don't mean that in a selfish way just that in a group everyone makes some sacrifices on what they want to do or not do on a particular day, I don't want to feel like I am forcing my friend to tour a boring to him museum, and I don't want him to miss out on an antiques store because of me. I think in the end I would like at least one companion, but we would have to agree before we go on a voting system for activities. It would sure make meals out much better, something about eating alone in a nice restaurant just seems wrong.
Let me know what you think and any suggestions you can offer will be appreciated. This trip is still far off but I will do it one day.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Wednesday already.
Well this sucks. I had a blog post written up and when I hit post it gave me an error. I thought no big deal, I constantly see the autosave doing it's job. Well it didn't I am just glad it was not a long post. I guess I will re-write it and maybe elaborate a little. That's all for now though.
Monday, May 3, 2010
It was fun.
Well I am back home. The MINI is unloaded, but needs a good cleaning, funny how driving in the rain does not help with that. My pictures (375) are currently being uploaded to my computer, next step organising. XIEK crashed on the spare bed last night as he was too tired to drive that last leg to Midland. I actually drove most of the way home alone until about midway through Ohio after a meal break and some gas I got back on the road just as XIEK, Ryan's Lotus, and a Michigan MINI caravan were passing by so I joined them.
It was a great trip but I a glad to be home, glad I took Monday off to relax a little. I will miss my friends and those curvy roads. I am also glad the MINI made it back this year unhurt.
I don't know where to start, I had planned on constant updates, but I was busy having fun that I did not feel like sitting in the lodge on a sketchy internet connection. Here is a link to Colin's blog http://colinswanderings.blogspot.com/ he did a better job at updating as he went. Since I already covered the first two parts of the trip so might as well not repeat that. With US129 being closed to through traffic just before the section known as |"The Dragon" to make our way to Fontana Village we had to go through the Cherohala Skyway, it's a great drive with even greater views but it's a long detour when you want to get to your destination, and it was quite foggy, although at that altitude I think it's just clouds. We made it to Fontana Village safely though, the Volvo wedged between two trees however was not so lucky, we stopped to help but they had already been rescued. My friend Paul actually witnessed it and was the one who called for help, no one appeared seriously injured. Eventually the police put up some yellow tape to let people know they had already been there, it was still there when I left Saturday. We checked into our cabin(506), our cabin mate Shannah had already arrived. We introduced each other and everyone got along, she actually lucked out he room was supposed to have bunk beds but she got a double bed.
That evening we ended up on a friends cabin for a party because it was raining.
Tuesday it was raining on and off all day. Did some MINI watching and a little exploring, close by. Graydyn and Susan went to Blackberry farm for a wonderful dinner, and decided to spend the night as the drive there was much longer than expected. Colin and I had a spaghetti dinner at the DC metro MINI cabin, it's a unofficial event for all the people who show up early for MINI's On The Dragon. (MOTD) It was a fun evening.
Wednesday is officially the first day of MOTD there were lots of MINI's around before but now they seemed to be arriving by the minute. My friend Aaron and "Kentucky Pete" arrived in the afternoon. We caught up and hung out for most of the day. I attended the welcome dinner afterwards went for my first Dragon run. As already mentioned US129 is closed due to a rock slide, the section known as the Dragon (318 curves in 11 miles) was not directly affected. However since there is nothing between the Tennessee state line and the slide they had closed the road right at the state line. Because of the major tourism created by this section of road The Dragon is going to be open as a dead end for people to enjoy from 8-8 daily. We got there at about 7:45 thinking they would let us do a full run, but we got turned around about 3/4 of the way through, I got lucky though, no idea why but they drive through with a large plow truck at the end of the day, my friends got stuck behind it going very slow breathing in diesel fumes. I actually don't really like The Dragon, it's a very technical road, and because of the switchbacks I get a little nauseous. I much prefer the other roads in the area including the road from Fontana Village to the start of the Dragon known as Hellbender, still very curvy but no as technical. When we got back we made it to the fire pit AKA stone henge for the nightly party.
Thursday hung around a bit, took Colin for a drive up and down the Hellbender, he took some video, although I don't have it yet. Not much else exciting happened other than having fun with friends.
Friday went for a few more drives and hung around the village, even got a game of mini put in, it was a fun course. Friday Brewswap night, see my previous post for what a Brewswap is. We eventually all made it up to the fire pit.
Saturday Colin, Graydyn and Susan left in the morning. I was really looking like it was going to start all day but we only go a small amount late in the evening. Went for a drive again, then met some local friends for lunch at Deals Gap. Being our last night there the party was quieter than normal. I said my goodbyes and headed to bed. I got up early and headed home.
It was a great trip but I a glad to be home, glad I took Monday off to relax a little. I will miss my friends and those curvy roads. I am also glad the MINI made it back this year unhurt.
I don't know where to start, I had planned on constant updates, but I was busy having fun that I did not feel like sitting in the lodge on a sketchy internet connection. Here is a link to Colin's blog http://colinswanderings.blogspot.com/ he did a better job at updating as he went. Since I already covered the first two parts of the trip so might as well not repeat that. With US129 being closed to through traffic just before the section known as |"The Dragon" to make our way to Fontana Village we had to go through the Cherohala Skyway, it's a great drive with even greater views but it's a long detour when you want to get to your destination, and it was quite foggy, although at that altitude I think it's just clouds. We made it to Fontana Village safely though, the Volvo wedged between two trees however was not so lucky, we stopped to help but they had already been rescued. My friend Paul actually witnessed it and was the one who called for help, no one appeared seriously injured. Eventually the police put up some yellow tape to let people know they had already been there, it was still there when I left Saturday. We checked into our cabin(506), our cabin mate Shannah had already arrived. We introduced each other and everyone got along, she actually lucked out he room was supposed to have bunk beds but she got a double bed.
That evening we ended up on a friends cabin for a party because it was raining.Wednesday is officially the first day of MOTD there were lots of MINI's around before but now they seemed to be arriving by the minute. My friend Aaron and "Kentucky Pete" arrived in the afternoon. We caught up and hung out for most of the day. I attended the welcome dinner afterwards went for my first Dragon run. As already mentioned US129 is closed due to a rock slide, the section known as the Dragon (318 curves in 11 miles) was not directly affected. However since there is nothing between the Tennessee state line and the slide they had closed the road right at the state line. Because of the major tourism created by this section of road The Dragon is going to be open as a dead end for people to enjoy from 8-8 daily. We got there at about 7:45 thinking they would let us do a full run, but we got turned around about 3/4 of the way through, I got lucky though, no idea why but they drive through with a large plow truck at the end of the day, my friends got stuck behind it going very slow breathing in diesel fumes. I actually don't really like The Dragon, it's a very technical road, and because of the switchbacks I get a little nauseous. I much prefer the other roads in the area including the road from Fontana Village to the start of the Dragon known as Hellbender, still very curvy but no as technical. When we got back we made it to the fire pit AKA stone henge for the nightly party.
Thursday hung around a bit, took Colin for a drive up and down the Hellbender, he took some video, although I don't have it yet. Not much else exciting happened other than having fun with friends.
Friday went for a few more drives and hung around the village, even got a game of mini put in, it was a fun course. Friday Brewswap night, see my previous post for what a Brewswap is. We eventually all made it up to the fire pit.
Saturday Colin, Graydyn and Susan left in the morning. I was really looking like it was going to start all day but we only go a small amount late in the evening. Went for a drive again, then met some local friends for lunch at Deals Gap. Being our last night there the party was quieter than normal. I said my goodbyes and headed to bed. I got up early and headed home.
Well that was my road trip over 1600 miles covered, I had the GPS off while in the Fontana area, it was a good one and I am going back.
All pictures can be found on Photobucket not sure why but they are in reverse order.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Last Day
It's Saturday and I leave tomorrow morning. Still having a great time. I will have many picture to post up when I get home.
Last night was the Brewswap basically everyone brings some beer to trade, it's always fun to try new beers, of course if you really like one it may be quite difficult to get some back home. Not much planned for today besides a lunch with a few friends from the area. It will start raining shortly here but we have have perfect weather since Wednesday so I really can't complain, well maybe a little since I will be helping my friend Chad take down him vendor tent later.
That's all for now, just wanted to give an update but i will be giving you my full report once I get back home.
Last night was the Brewswap basically everyone brings some beer to trade, it's always fun to try new beers, of course if you really like one it may be quite difficult to get some back home. Not much planned for today besides a lunch with a few friends from the area. It will start raining shortly here but we have have perfect weather since Wednesday so I really can't complain, well maybe a little since I will be helping my friend Chad take down him vendor tent later.
That's all for now, just wanted to give an update but i will be giving you my full report once I get back home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)