What A Wonderful Couple Of Weeks

Sorry I haven't posted alot this week or so. As I mentioned, this olelongrooffan has been busy.

Plus this blogpost has been going on.

Now, those of you Counting Along With Me will remember that I have had a whole d*mn bunch of good times over the years with members of the Lee Clan.  I mean it doesn't really matter what the occasion has been, this olelongrooffan has really taken the opportunity to Celebrate Life with my friends and family.

This week thehorsefarmer and his lovely bride of 36 years, yeah...they are happy even if he doesn't remember the date of their anniversary, are down here in the Home of The World's Most Famous Beach taking a much needed couple weeks away from Haven Lee Farm, Marionville Edition.

They arrived two weeks ago and it seems they are enjoying themselves while not having to muck the stables, clean the chicken Coope de Ville, or enlarge their pond so they have a place to ice skate the migrating Canadian geese have a place to overnite.

So this olelongrooffan arrived down at their temporary home away from home and the three of us sat around just chatting it up.  thebarngoddess mentioned this olelongrooffan was too thin and headed inside that huge *ss fifth wheel camper to fix me a sammich in her much appreciated attempt to fatten me up.

At one point I popped inside to see just how big their big screen TV is (it's big) and spotted a couple chunks of Ozark farm raised beef thawing on the counter.   Mmmm Beef.  Home Grown. Mmmm.

I head back outside and see my hippie older brother's new hat.

 Not only does he look like TheGentlemanFarmer, he has his sense of humor also.  And that is a good thing.

So, a little later thejeepjunkie shows up and thebarngoddess put out a spread fit for a King.  The absolute best meal this olelongrooffan has had in quite a while.

And, of course, thejeepjunkie's 2a had some starting issues so we spent some time messing around with it.  Yeah, old cars, old car issues.  

It reminds me of the time this olelongrooffan was replacing the in line fuel filter underneath the rear of my olestationbus.  My neighbor comes out and asks if I am having trouble?  "Nope, I'm having fun."  And I was.  And I still do.

Last Friday, this olelongrooffan played tour guide for thehorsefarmer and thebarngoddess.  It was a blast but I pretty sure this olelongrooffan wore their country *sses out.



We hit the highlights of the greater area of the Birthplace of Speed and did our best to Celebrate Life.

But we did have a great time, saw alot of cool stuff including a bunch of back streets on one of which is the home of the Spirit of Daytona racing team;  then on to see that round fender Ranchero in the lobby of Motorsports Marketing.  We then hit a local RV shop to try and find a light thehorsefarmer needed for the underside of their home away from home and then on to lunch at a local waterfront restaurant. 

I have just this to say about that.  Although the River Grille advertises a bunch and I had heard it was a pretty good spot, on this day, there was a hiccup there and watching the mullet jump in the Tocoma River was the best part of that lunch.

After that experience, we took the scenic trip back to the Birthplace of Speed and went by the Fortunato Park to see the cupola off John D. Rockefeller's Ormond Hotel and stopped for a brief visit at the Taj Mahal.  Then off to a local tourist trap for souvenirs for the Shark Angel and The Little Princess.

We then hit the Daytona Beach Pier and the Bandshell to see that event hosting historic landmark.  While we were there thehorsefarmer was the lucky recepient of a pink slip on the windscreen of that huge *ssed F350 he sported this couple a weeks.  I'll let him tell the story of it on his blog a little later in the week, once he gets back to the Ozark Mountains and settled back into Life on Haven Lee Farm.  But know this, the Daytona Beach on street parking commandos are friendlier to a Ford Escape than they are to a Ford F350 four door long bed dually pickemup truck.

Subsequently, this trio headed down Main Street and across the Main Street bridge, where the ever alert barngoddess spotted a bunch of dolphins feeding on the school of fish out in the Intracoastal Waterway.  thehorsefarmer, ever the tourist he is, stopped that huge*sstruck right on that bridge so we could check them out.  Yeah, if I were in the vehicle behind, this olelongrooffan could possibly have been upset but, actually, I probably would have looked out there, seen them and thanked that alert tourist for that rare sighting.

But all was cool, we were headed out to the Daytona International Speedway for a look see.  It was pretty cool as the Richard Petty Driving Experience was out racing their recent vintage NASCAR race cars and thehorsefarmer and thebarngoddess got to see them up close and personal.  I was able to capture an image of my tourista family members and a couple of the cars on a cool down lap prior to entering the pits.  The cars are behind the horizontal bar in the next image.

After checking out the elcheapo close out gift shop up there in the NASCAR turn 4 grandstands, we headed over to our final destination, The Legends of Motorsports museum.  They are the ones who host the annual Legends of Motorsports parade at low tide on the beach every year on the Tuesday before the Daytona 500.  It is a pretty cool museum outlining racing in the 50's, 60's and early 70's around these here parts.

As I mentioned, thehorsefarmer and thebarngoddess were pretty worn out by the end of the day and this olelongrooffan is sure it was pretty quiet in that big ole fifth wheel camper that evening.

On Easter Sunday, we all invaded thejeepjunkie's beachhead for a few hours of fun in the sun.

thehorsefarmer and thejeepjunkie got in a little football time and later

we all headed over to thesungoddess's home for a delicious Easter dinner with the Kid's sister in attendence as well.

Afterward it was out to the Kid's garage where we caught a little Australian Super Car racing and probably a cat nap as well.

Shortly thereafter, this sinus headache possessing olelongrooffan took my leave and headed back to the Taj Mahal.

thehorsefarmer called last evening to mention, again, how much fun they had down here and were headed back to Tornado Alley early this morning.

Hey horsefarmer and barngoddess, have a safe and fun trip home.  Know that this olelongrooffan had a total blast spending time with you also.  I'm so glad while you were here, we were able to

Celebrate Life.

I Blame thejeepjunkie For This

This olelongrooffan has previously shared with those of you Counting Along With Me about my acquiring a few Tonka Corvettes the day my Comanche decided it had driven enough.

Well, since those Vettes, on ebay, brought in more than four times what this olelongrooffan paid for them, thejeepjunkie thought I might be on a roll and gave me a set of air suspension bags for a Ford E-350 van to ebay for some cash for shop supplies.

He acquired these when one of his customers, who races car in the feeder series for ALMS, wanted to upgrade the hauling capacity of his box E350.  Alas, these were not big enough for him and he had thejeepjunkie order yet another larger set.  thejeepjunkie was the kind recepient of these and they are being listed this evening, although the images of it were taken a couple days ago.

Why the delay in listing these, probably $150 bags I can hear you Counters out there asking?

Sometimes this olelongrooffan thinks I could live on this road.  I captured this image on my Road Trip for Mom someplace between the Birthplace of Speed and the Queen City of the Ozarks a couple years ago.  I captured this image as a couple days previous this olelongrooffan had cut the sh*t out of my forehead on an overhead door on my, then, storage unit.

Well Counters, Monday evening as this olelongrooffan was carrying that box of bags back into the Taj Mahal, the screen door at the front door caught some wind and

caught me right on the forehead, just above my left eyebrow.  It hurt like h*ll on Monday and Tuesday morning I woke up to this face in the mirror!  The swollen knot where the door hit me is almost gone but it is still tender.  I wonder how long this olelongrooffan is going to look like I received the business end of Mohammad Ali's right hook?

And why does this olelongrooffan blame thejeepjunkie?  Well, if he had shown up for Happy Hour on Monday, he could have held that door open while I carried his box of bags back into the Taj Mahal.

But ya know what?  Having a fruitful day in the flea market and on ebay, having a box of bags to ebay, and still having those Japanese tin cars to ebay sure helps this olelongrooffan to

Celebrate Life.

Sorry This olelongrooffan Hasn't Been Around Much

Sorry I haven't posted alot this week or so. Hey, this olelongrooffan has been busy.

Plus I've been trying to keep thehorsefarmer and thebarngoddess entertained!

The Glass Is Still More Than Half Full

This weekend, this olelongrooffan made the six hour trip down to FantasyLand to substitute for TheGoodAttorney in the presentation of a Construction Continuing Education Course.  (He's a new Godfather and attended a Baptism on Saturday afternoon, on the beach, in flip flops. This is Florida afterall.)

On the way out of town, I spotted this almost used up longroof and had to stop and get a few images of it for an upcoming blog.

And just down the street from it, I spotted this now rare Porsche 924.

Once this olelongrooffan had gotten down the Eisenhower Interstate System's 95 and headed east on its 75, nature took its course.  I stopped at a boat launch facility out there in the Everglades and had a meeting with Mother Nature.

While there, I captured this grainy image of Florida's other main attraction, an alligator.  That is it, just off the other bank of this canal, about 40 feet from this longrooffan.

After doing that class in Naples, I headed up to Sarasota to teach another one on Sunday.  Although this longrooffan did not have a specific motel to stay in, once I saw this one on US 41, I had no choice but to stay there. 

Hey, I'm the longrooffan, not Rockefeller!!

Anyway, as I was strolling down the Tamiami Trail find a restaurant, I looked in the parking lot adjacent and saw this image. 

Well, I am certain those of you Counting Along With Me know that this olelongrooffan was in that parking lot in an instant!

According to one of the drivers of these classic Model "A"s, the Orlando Model "A" club had ventured over to Sarasota to visit the Sarasota Auto Museum and I happened to catch them at their motel of choice this weekend.

I even spotted, what I believe to be, a 34 Ford four door ragtop.  It was beautiful.

The location where the Sarasota class was is directly across the street from the weekly swap meet the city puts on and during one of the many breaks in this class, this olelongrooffan ventured over and

picked up the three Tonka Corvettes in the above image.  These were included with a Tonka car hauler back in 60's and should bring a few bucks for Happy Hour offerings to the Taj Mahal.  No, Bus, that Chevy Stake Truck from TomP (RIP) is not leaving the Taj Mahal any time soon!!

But even better, I also picked up, from the same seller during that $20 negotiation process, these three vintage Japanese tin cars.  All of the self propelled motors work on them and other than some cosmetic issues are in great shape.  Ebay, here this olelongrooffan comes!

Now this olelongrooffan can hear all ya'll commenting the glass seems a lot more than 1/2 full.  A couple relatively lucrative days teaching those classes, a night in the Cadillac motel, scoring some easily sold toys on ebay.....Hell longroof what's up with that 1/2 full cr*p?

Well Counters, when this olelongrooffan turned off the ignition of my Comanche at my chosen place of rest that Saturday,

this usually bulletproof mechanical starter relay under the hood of that 25 year old means of transportation decided it had had enough and refused to allow this olelongrooffan to start that ride up again. 

Well, after tinkering around for an hour or so, thejeepjunkie was summoned on my massive, high tech communications system.  We strategized about the problem for another hour or so, with no success.

So, here this olelongrooffan is, 192 miles from home, unable to start my primary means of transportation and no idea what the h*ll is wrong with it.

And even though all of that above statement is true,

This is the welcome sight this olelongrooffan saw after teaching that class all morning and early afternoon long. 

That's right Counters, thejeepjunkie and TheGoodAttorney made the fire burning SUV sighting  on I-75 and the tuner car fatal accident on I-4 round trip to rescue this olelongrooffan.  Plus, thejeepjunkie was able to source the needed part at 5:30 on a Sunday afternoon and get my old Indian back on the road so this olelongrooffan can get my sorry *ss to work on time tomorrow.

That, Counters, is why the Glass Is Half Full and this olelongrooffan can still

Celebrate Life.