License and Registration, Please

Last Friday evening, thejeepjunkie, TheGoodAttorney and this olelongrooffan were enjoying Happy Hour on the front porch of the Taj Mahal.

thejeepjunkie turns to me and asks if I have renewed the tags on my "Blue Plate Specials". I replied I had gotten the notice for renewal but had not yet gotten off my lazy *ss to get them yet.

Down here in the Sunshine State, your vehicle license plates expire on your birthday. Mine is September 29, 1959, yeah, the big Five-O this year. I usually receive my renewal notice in mid August and have until October 9 to get those tags renewed.

He mentioned that fees for them are doubling on September 1. Thanks, again, Tallahassee.

I commented that first thing Monday morning, August 31, I would be heading down to that building on Beach Street in Daytona Beach and getting those yellow tags and renewed registration for the next time Johnny Law wanted to speak with with this olelongrooffan.

TheGoodAttorney mentions he heads out to Bunnell, Florida, about 20 miles up US1, northwest of the Birthplace of Speed, to get his renewals as the have this huge, new building and the wait is minimal.

I communicated my appreciation to both thejeepjunkie and TheGoodAttorney by going inside that ice cold Taj Mahal and getting each of them a 'cold pop' from my massive refrigerator.

So, Monday morning, I arrived over at the DMV office and this is the sight I see.

The parking lot was packed and there was at least a hundred people in line.

Not So Good.

I promptly picked up my cheap, trusty cell phone and called TheGoodAttorney to get directions to that big white building over in the Flagler County seat.

So, I head up US1 and pass the rain saturated salvage yard that has my replacement window for the rear door of the olestationbus.

A little later, I arrived in that sprawling metropolis and sight this flatbed carrying a bunch of crunched automobiles. I am fairly certain these are not Cash for Clunkers victims as they were all at least 15 or so years old.

I cut a right on SR 100 and headed over to this big, new building Flagler County built during the building boom of the past 15 years. Had to cost 10's of millions for a county with a population of 91,247.

But, I don't really care what it costs as I am not paying for it but I do know this fact.

TheGoodAttorney is my hero. I was in and out of that place in 17 minutes flat, armed with my renewed registration good until September 29, 2011. Unfortunately, the decals I got are imprinted with this, 9-11. But I saved $137 this year and $274 in 2010.

And since I got that mission accomplished, I headed out in on a new, to me, roadway to see what I could find.

I stopped in at a used furniture store to try and find a 36" diameter wooden table for a certain friend of mine. Unsuccessful but I did find this

old Chevy Pickup out back that looked like it Ran When Parked, American Edition.

And when you own "Palm Coast Import Auto" you might want to have at least one imported auto.

And why does dang near every car on this lot have its hood opened?

I previously mentioned somewhere in this blog I am looking around for a cheap 4 wheel drive. I spotted this one and stopped in to that lot to get an image of it. The dude working in the shop it was in front of

mentioned to me the owner was looking to get 15 large out of it. Good Luck Pal.

And only McDonald's has a "Welcome" sign and a "Do Not Enter" sign on the same roadway.

And this bluury image below of a Kia minivan

Well the sticker on top says "Cowgirls Kickass" and the sticker below? "Jesus". Yeah, I am quickly heading back to the coast.

But not before stopping at a new car dealership to get a few images of their "Cash for Clunkers" lot.

Ironically, I used to own a Cadillac of a similar vintage as the red one below.

And a Cherokee such as this one. If thejeepjunkie would let me, I would get another.

These two Fords seem to be of a recent vintage and I would think would be worth more than the maximum allowable $4,500.

And I cannot believe these two are Clunkers but they both are sporting the tell-tale yellow Clunker stickers.

Oh well.

I was cruising down SR100 and spotted this shop across the street and knew I had to whip a Ueeee to get some images to share with you Counters out there.

I spotted this beautiful maroon BMW 2002. The spiritual inspiration for my generations younger 325.

And this 74 Rolls Royce could be used to deliver mail as it is right hand drive.

A newer Rolls and a highly desirable Mercedes longroof lingered nearby.

So I decided I would head on back to the Taj Mahal and get a few things accomplished.

But know, I passed up this roadway for

this one.

As I was cruising down Old Kings Road, enjoying a cold bottle of water from that cooler I always have with me when travelling, I spot this behind a berm in front of a campground.

I am pretty sure I knew what it was but whipped a Ueeee to go back and make sure.

Yep. A mid 70's vintage GMC Motorhome. I. Would. Love. One.

A little later, I got on Old Dixie Highway and headed

down this tree lined roadway to

Highbridge Road heading out to

A1A for the beachside ride home.

As I was driving south on that scenic highway, I was thinking about my day and it seemed some of the roads I traversed that day I remember having traveled on them before.

So later Monday evening, I checked my journal, it is called By The Numbers. Sure enough I had saved a blogpost about a drive I took last January and had never gotten around to publishing it.

The following images are from that road trip.

I was driving up John Anderson Drive, which is parallel to the Intercoastal Waterway, Beachside, here in Ormond Beach and came across the inspiration to this and this.

Yeah, a tugboat tethered to its dock amongst all those yachts behind all those waterfront homes, some equipped with Shetland ponies.

And there is no McMansion adjoining this tugboat dock, but it did sport a huge Lincoln Limosine. Go figure?

Just up the road a piece on HighBridge Road, it passes along a body of water and is a pretty cool, yet slow three mile trek along this shoreline. And not one guardrail was to be found!

I turned onto another road, unfortunately I have forgotten the name, my atlas is out in my now rainsoaked oleragtop and I am to lazy to google map it but know it has rural feel with many large lots and is lined with McMansions.

I found this Dodge Power Wagon under a carport at one of them.

Just up the road a piece, I saw a sign for the Bulow Plantation ruins and cut down

this trail to get some non car related culture into this olelongrooffan.

It was very serene and if you go to that 'Bulow Plantation' link, it has some fairly interesting information about the growing of sugar here in Coastal, North Central, Florida two centuries ago.

Alright, enough of culture, let's get back to cars and such.

As I was driving up another road, I spotted this cool mailbox stand.

It is an old towtruck crane!! My kind of sh*t. I jotted down the particulars; Weaver Auto Crane, Springfield, Illinois. Based on this, in this condition I would venture it is worth over $1,000 to the right buyer.

Just a little further down the road, I spotted something I thought no longer existed here in the United States.

No, I don't mean the Carmelite Monastery but on that sign were the schedules of the Masses and this was the listing.

Daily Mass Schedule
English 9am
Polish 10am
Latin 11am
Confession before each Mass

I didn't realize Masses were still celebrated in Latin!!!

Somehow or another, I meandered over to A1A and headed back for a

drive on the beach to visit with those seagulls prior to heading back to the Taj Mahal.

And know this Counters: it is finding this old draft blog and combining it with a new blog, you know, Two, Two, Two Blogs In One, to share with all of you that lets me

Celebrate Life.