Retirement Travel and a Weird Mix of Other Stuff
When I stumbled across them the other day, they made me chuckle. I thought y’all might get a kick out of them, too.
We were just watching TV. But when I looked over at Hubby in his chair. I just HAD to grab the camera, which, luckily, was close by.
It really is three separate pictures. The second one is the look I got after the flash popped up and fired.
Enough said.
Apparently he’d read about it — and seen pics from past shows — on the Internet.
I hadn’t. So I didn’t know what to expect. With Warrenton being a small town, I thought it would be a small event. I was wrong.
I was really torn about celebrating Father’s Day without visiting my Dad. We invited him to come down for the show, but my Mom has been sick. So they need to stay closer to home. After making arrangements to visit with him next weekend, I felt a little better.
Knowing how much Hubby had been anticipating this event, I couldn’t help but get excited. Plus, it would give me something interesting to blog about for a change.
Registration was from 8:00-10:00. So it should have come as no surprise to hear an intermittent cacophony of deep-bass rumbles all morning long.
While I’ve been to car shows before, I’d never been around to hear the comings and goings of quite a few high-performance machines. It was awesome.
So awesome that I couldn’t wait until 10:00. Shortly after 9:00, I hooked the girls up and decided to take a quick stroll through town. I was amazed at how many cars were there. And they kept on coming!
Wanting Hubby to be similarly surprised, when we get home and he asked about what we’d seen, I played it down by saying, “There’s a few cars there. It’s nowhere near what I expected, though.”
It wasn’t. I was expecting small, remember? There had to be over a hundred cars there. And more people than I’d ever seen in our little town at one time.
Oh, and like the previous day, the weather was perfect.
I took quite a few pictures. It was challenging, though. With so many people milling about, it was hard to get good shots of the cars without strangers in the pictures.
Really. Look how many people were there. Main Street was packed!
Not only were we amazed at the number of vehicles and people, the variety and rarity of many of the show entries was incredible. Like that 1958 Dodge Power Wagon. I thought giant four-wheel-drive vehicles were a new thing.
And check out that old Chevy Suburban (above). I forget what year that was. Hubby could tell me, but he’s not here at the moment. Sorry.
I forget what that car was called. But that’s one I’d love to drive. It was built in the early 1900s by the brother of the guy who was sitting beside the car. Who I didn’t manage to capture in the shot. I wish I had.
Isn’t that car pretty? Hubby said I shouldn’t say cars are “cute” or “pretty.” I should use adjectives more along the lines of “kick-ass.”
I still say it was pretty.
That old Hudson was another mutual favorite.
We both liked this Jaguar, too.
I tell you, the variety and quality of cars entered was quite impressive.
I forget what sort of car that was, but Betty Boop made me think of a certain friend of mine.
The event was a smashing success. I’m so glad we went.
Our love affair with this town continues. We are so glad that we purchased this house in town, even if it wasn’t what we were looking for. It’s so cool that have things like this within easy walking distance. By “easy,” I mean it was like three blocks away.
And when we were done, we walked back home and quietly enjoyed the rest of the day.
If you would like to see all of the pics, you can view the slideshow embedded below.
Or you can go right to my Flickr site to view the pics.
I hope your Father’s Day was similarly enjoyable.
I have a feeling we’ll be celebrating in the exact same fashion for many years to come. Hopefully next year Dad will be able to join us.
Amy, TJ, and the grand kids came down to visit, arriving on Friday afternoon and leaving around midday on Monday.
Getting to spend that much time with the whole family was a rare treat. Between TJ’s deployment and the family’s year-round busy schedule, I can’t remember the last time we saw them all together for an extended period. This was actually TJ’s first visit to our VA home. And we’ve been here for eight months! We were really glad he finally got to come down for a visit.
We had dinner at home on Friday and the adults had a chance to just visit while the kids entertained themselves with Lego’s (pricelessly pronounced as “Yegos” by Joey) and movies.
Saturday started off early with a trip to the little farmer’s market here in town.
That was followed by a trip to the caboose. Joey loves visiting the caboose, which sits on an old railroad siding near the Warrenton Branch Greenway, a railroad bed turned walking/biking path that’s only a couple of blocks from our house.
The caboose is a popular photo spot. As is the nearby shanty, where I’ve taken pictures of Amy and the kids on a couple of different occasions.
I couldn’t decide which shot I liked better (first one in the post or the one immediately above), so I decided to use both. Aren’t they a cute little family?
While we were out, Hubby got the grill set up to cook a big chunk of pork (8-lb Boston butt), which we were to have for a dinner of pulled pork. He’d made a couple of different sauces a day or two earlier, a NC-style sauce (thin, vinegary, and spicy) and a mustard-based sauce. The NC-style sauce was TJ, Brianna, and Gaige’s favorite. Amy liked them all. Hubby and I still prefer our Salt Lick Original Recipe BBQ Sauce (a story in itself).
While the meat slowly cooked/smoked, the adults relaxed and visited and the kids found various ways to keep themselves busy.
They were starting to get bored. Amy and TJ were going to take them to the playground, but it was sweltering hot, so I suggested we just set the kids loose in the driveway with the hose to cool off.
I didn’t capture nearly as many water pics as I’d hoped because either their backs were to me. Or the older kids saw me and got those cheesy expressions. Plus I didn’t want to risk venturing out there with my camera. An almost-five-year-old with a wide open hose is a scary thing.
That and I think the heat made me a bit lazy. I hate to sweat.
Here are a few of the not-so-great shots.
After lunch, it was nap/chill time.
The downtime for everyone (I spent an hour inside soaking up the A/C!) was short-lived. Then it was back outside.
Joey is a funny little thing. He’s quite animated and kept everyone laughing with his antics.
That’s one of my favorite shots. Definitely one to show him when he’s all grown up!
I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of the finished pork roast, which was a lip-smackin’, finger-lickin’ masterpiece. I guess it was because once it was done, we all switched to get-the-food-on-the-table gear. We’d been smelling that sucker cook all day long!
Saturday evening brought more relaxation. And then on Sunday, we all went to visit Luray Caverns, which is just about an hour west of here in Luray, Virginia.
Hubby gets the credit for thinking of that one.
It was horribly busy (an hour in line just to get into the cave), but we made it work.
Which is good, because the kids had a good time. And it was really cool, temperature-wise, inside of the cave.
After about a one-plus hour, 1.5-mile shuffle (it was too crowded to call it a walk) through the cave with Joey maintaining a constant discussion about bats (where they live, where they lay eggs, how they drink, where they sleep, etc.), we ate a picnic lunch on the cavern grounds and then headed home.
TJ and Amy took us out to dinner that evening. They said since they were treating, I had to pick the place. I chose Rancho El Paso, figuring a tasty Mexican meal accompanied by a very large, very strong Sangrita Margarita would be a great way to cap off the day.
It was. But the rest of the evening was sort of a blur.
We all sat outside for a while, then Amy and I took the girls for their evening stroll around town.
I always look like a giant next to Amy, who is all cute and petite. But since this is one of the few pictures with me in it, I decided to post it anyway. As the family photographer, I don’t get in many pictures (fine by me!) unless I remember to ask someone to take a picture of me.
While we were out walking, TJ got the kids showered and ready for bed. They all watched a movie while the adults stayed outside, visiting some more.
We got LOTS of visiting time in, which we really enjoyed.
Monday was fun, too. But I’ll have to save that for another post.
All in all, it was a lovely weekend. Hubby and I are truly blessed to have this crew in our lives.
The weather was perfect, which allowed for what was essentially a spirited two-day ride.
In motorcycle terms, those back-to-back short curves, otherwise known as zigzags, are twisties. A sweeper is a long, smooth, gentle curve.
Lots of twisties and sweepers, in good weather with little traffic, is lots of fun.
Even straight roads are nice, as long as there’s good scenery and elevation changes with a sweeper and/or twisty thrown in every now and then.
It doesn’t take much to make us happy.
You didn’t even know we were gone, did you? 🙂
I had just posted them.
Then he asked if they are funnier than his new-favorite cartoon.
It’s close, but I think his is funnier.
He’s got a Rubes calendar, and here’s the cartoon from April 9…
So, if you’ve ever wondered where a seemingly out-of-nowhere rainstorm came from, now you know.
To see more Rubes, check out this blog.
All three of our grand kids play organized sports. So it is next to impossible to find a weekend that they are all available to come for a visit. Which is good and bad. Bad because we don’t get to see them very often. Good because sometimes it’s hard to find stuff they all three like to do.(Brianna is 11, Gaige is 8, and Joey is 4.)
This weekend, Gaige and Joey came for a visit, so it was a real guy weekend.
Before the guy stuff started, we had to feed the kids a snack.
Shannon recently posted a photo of Snicker-doodle Muffins she’d made. Hubby decided he’d one-up her by making the same muffins and posting pictures of the boys enjoying them.
Of course, he’s got the advantage there since she’s now living in California.
The guy stuff began right after snack time when it was off to Pop’s workshop for some building projects.
Pop did a very good job explaining the safety rules, equipping everyone with safety glasses, and overseeing the tool use VERY closely.
Hubby made the boat bases before the kids came. There’s one here for Brianna, too, in case she asks about boat-making when she comes for a visit.
After the masts were in place, it was my job to make flags. A small but important role for G.
Then it was time for the next project.
The boys watched from a safe distance as Pop cut the pipes into the right lengths. I think Gaige was in charge of reading the measurements and quantities from the diagram.
The boys are way too young for saw lessons.
They’re finished! Wondering what it is?
It’s a Marshmallow Gun. You insert a miniature marshmallow, blow hard, and out shoots the ammunition. Joey, couldn’t say “ammunition.” It kept coming out as “Army mission,” which was very confusing for me when, just before they left, he asked me twice, “What about our Army mission?”
The dogs were actually willing targets. They LOVE eating marshmallows. Joey does, too. I’m not sure who ate more bullets, Joey or the dogs. The boys were a bit dismayed that their ammo kept disappearing.
It took Joey awhile to figure out how to blow hard enough to actually launch a marshmallow, but he did finally get it.
The boys wanted to visit the caboose, so Pop walked them down to the Greenway. I stayed home to cook dinner.
You won’t see any pictorial proof here, but I did actually do more than take pictures all weekend. I was in charge of food. (I made the best from-scratch pancakes on Sunday topped with homemade whipped cream and strawberries!) But my primary “job” was Lego building. Gaige gets bored with Lego’s. So he and Pop watched a movie or two while Joey and I built stuff.
Not that I am complaining. Quite a few of the bricks in the collection were mine as a kid. The rest were Eric’s. We have a LOT of Lego’s.
On the way down, Joey asked Pop, “Are we going to the house with the Lego’s? Or the other house?” When Pop told him the Lego house, he said “Yes!”
Sunday’s project for the boys was pretzel baking.
Pop made a B-shaped pretzel for the boys to take home to Brianna. Which, of course, meant Gaige and Joey then had to have their own letter pretzels.
While the pretzels baked, I had the boys pose for a picture with their boats. Notice their shirts. See how Joey’s looks sort of big and Gaige’s is so small his t-shirt is hanging out of the sleeves and at the bottom? I didn’t realize it until I met Amy halfway to get them home and she asked, “Why is Joey wearing Gaige’s shirt? Hey, wait a minute, what’s Gaige wearing?” Apparently the shirt Gaige chose used to be his.
In case you are wondering if Hubby was as tired as he looked in the picture, the answer is YES. 🙂
That picture was taken not long before I headed out with the boys Sunday afternoon.
Now I am anxious for Brianna to come down for her girls’ weekend. I have something very special planned. Something I have been wanting to do that Hubby has no interest in whatsoever.
Do you think the boys enjoyed their visit?