Different Kind of Cruisin'

Time to go cruisin' to a cruise-in with cruisers! The day after our arrival, there was a car show at the Halifax Harbor Marina, where cruising friends Barb and Barry waited out Hurricane Sandy. What a great way to get caught up on all the cruising news while cruisin' classic cars.

I wish OUR Pinto from when we were first married looked like this one!

Surfer's Dream

Great window decal "Surfing impaired...too old, too fat, don't care."

Nice Woody Wagon

It was hard to tell there was a Karmenn Ghia hiding underneath the modifications.

Gorgeous airbrushing under the hood of this Mustang Shelby.



A 496 cubic inch big block Chevy in a pro-street Bricklin. KEWL!!

A late '30's Chevy pick-up truck with matching trailer.

His and Hers Hot Rods.

 A '57 Chevy 3100 Series Pick-up.

Rat Rod that started life has the owner's grandfather's 1928 Ford Model A. The body has been 'repurposed' from a junk pontoon boat.

 A VW Transporter

 A Yamaha HS-1 90cc twin, and a pristine 1975 Yamaha RD 250B.

The marina was a great backdrop for the show. It was definitely cruisin' with a twist.

It is heartbreaking to see the devastation that Sandy has caused along its path. I have spent many hours updating the sailing club's website regarding damage in the Abacos, and helped clean up after the winds here in Daytona. Luckily, we escaped pretty much unscathed up home. We have been on high alert in case Dave had to fly back north (not that he could get a flight anyway!), but we are relieved to know everything is okay.

All of our new construction is still standing including our last few projects that 'Atta Girl Construction' helped make, just before our departure. First up was the long awaited pergola that Dave made plans for, to take up the space between the motorcycle shop and the Den of Antiquities shed.

What's that in the distance...another pergola?

You bet. We liked the way that the first one came out so much that we built another one for the area that goes from the shop to the front of the house.

And what the heck is this being built in the shop?

Does this photo help?

It is an alpine version  and spacious. I can't wait to decorate it next spring.

What a great asset it will be for our Rally in the Woods trail riding parties next year!

Arrival

Just a quick post to let everyone know we have arrived in Daytona. Flights could not have been more perfect both in timing and flying. It's great to see my family again and there are all sorts of projects that need to be tended to (first cleaning up branches, etc. from Sandy...it has been windy and 5" of rain).

However, today is Dave's birthday and we're off to a car show, after I bake his cake and update the sailing club's website on Hurricane Sandy.

Happy 56th birthday Dave!!!



Sneaking Away

We are going to depart for points south today, trying to get our flight in before Sandy arrives in the Northeast. This hurrciane stalled over Hope Town and the eye lasted all day long. We have found out that at all boats at Abaco Yacht Service, where New Horizon is stored, are still standing, which is a good sign. Amy, the editor of the Hope Town Sailing Club's website, is already over in HT, so she has been sending me info to post on the the website. Go to www.hopetownsailingclub.com for Sandy photos (in more ways than one!)and reports.

So we're draining the water and winterizing the house. Then we're off and hopefully won't get stuck in Charlotte, and hopefully Dave won't have to fly back home for storm damage here.

Timing

We'll be leaving this northern climate in just a few days. But what’s this…how can it be? A hurricane named Sandy (how ironic) is approaching Abaco! There is even a tropical storm watch for Daytona, where we are headed first. Then there is a possibility that it may head to New York and New England. We’re hoping that our timing will be spot on, enabling us to fly south to Daytona without getting stuck in Charlotte. It will be a close call, but when reservations are made so far in advance, we are at the whims of the weather gods.


I’ll post our experiences when I get to Florida, and hopefully the Abacos and New Horizon won’t have any damage (the storm is predicted to go right over our home base of Hope Town). Meanwhile I’ll sit in front of my heater envisioning my other life…

Tim-ber!

Our time up here is growing short. A couple of our larger projects will need to wait until the spring, but this one couldn't wait any longer. We have been waiting a year to get rid of these sad looking pine trees that are not only dying, but block our sight line from the driveway. Now that Hercules has recovered, we finally took care of this task. We certainly didn't want the trees to fall on the pool house or our new lamppost, and of course not in the road. Dave climbed and attached his pulling rope (more like the size of a ship's hawser) and we led it around another tree, so we could control the speed it fell.

Then Herc took up the slack and Dave chainsawed.

The theory didn't work out as well as expected since the tree pivoted 180 degrees on the rope, but it fell in a better spot than we had planned. That worked for us and was easier to haul away the logs.

Karl and Jim showed up just in time for the next bigger tree. Thanks guys! Great minds at work.

I had to stand as a go-between and relay person, because Dave, who was in Herc pulling the tree from the woods, and Karl who was cutting, couldn't see each other. Unfortunately the tree got caught in the other trees on the way down, so Dave and Herc had to pull it down and out.

 Hercules has so much power that it ended up taking another tree down with it. Oh well, less to rake.

The last tree was an easy one, except that it was close to the road. Jim had to be a traffic spotter, just in case it fell wrong. No problem this time though.

Wow, can we see better now...inside, outside, and up the street!

For The Southerners

In case you miss seeing the changing leaves and colors of Fall...

Our backyard and trails.

Looking across Lake George, from theTongue Mountain scenic overlook.

One Last Time

Yesterday was our last Rally in the Woods trail ride of the season, and it was our best ever! The day started out cold with very heavy frost. At least it wasn't snow, like last year.

The sun came out, and between that and our eternal flame fire (embers were still burning from our last ride two weeks ago!), we kept warm and it was a spectacular fall day.

Trying to find the trails was a bit difficult with the falling leaves though.

Dr. Jan brought his tractor and turned the party into a Raking in the Woods event.

There was something for everyone to ride, most of it vintage.

The family that rides together, stays together. All these 4 Hondas belong to Kenny, Kerstin, Tim, and Tyler. A pair of XL 125's and a pair of Honda Trail 90's make up their herd.

Even Kerstin went out for a blast around the trails. Tyler looks at his parents with concern, wondering how they did trail riding.

Sara joined Eileen and daughter Erica on the Yamaha Blasters to celebrate Erica's first time riding.

Vintage riders and classic motorcycles. Bob (Kawasaki G5-100), Dave (Harley Davidson SX 175) and Karl (Suzuki RV 125) are all on 1975 bikes.

Jeff and Marie really enjoyed cruising on MARIE'S four wheeler.

As always, the Farmall was at the ready for rides. It was another family affair day, and first Dave took John and Michelle and kids out.

Then Kevin took his whole family for a specially narrated tour by Brian. The passengers are still wondering if his stories were really true or not. We'll never tell...

Andy M. made the day extra special by playing good ol' classic Rock 'n' Roll music.

John accompanied him with his 'air drums'.

Air drumming our fire-tender, Jimmy's head.

All the potluck food was delicious, and Chef John served up tasty hotdogs, sausage, and burgers from his early 1900's antique stove. Would you like Kevin's meat sauce with your dog?

Bob couldn't resist presenting John with a can of Monkey Butt powder to keep him more comfortable while riding ( a joke between us all). He probably could have used it, slaving at the stove all day!

Time to get sentimental. Dave made his farewell speech to Bob, who is moving to Florida. This ride was to honor our long time friend of 40 years.

We will really miss him!

Who are these characters? Obviously one is our own Super Hero Fly-Man! We really need our own reality show (leave a comment if you can come up with a good name for our show)!

12 hours of great food, riding, music and especially friends. It doesn't get better than this!