Monday, November 21, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
The Grand American Road Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype Unveiling
Enjoy something I posted over at Hooniverse earlier this week.
Well my fellow Hoons, this olelongrooffan has done it again. Yesterday was the official unveiling of the Daytona Prototype Corvette right here in good ole Daytona Beach, Florida. As all I was doing all day long was working with Manuel Labor, I decided to take the afternoon off and crash the gates at that unveiling to see what could be seen.
Yeah, there were more muckity-mucks in attendance than you could shake a stick at. It seemed like every member of Chevrolet corporate motorsports who wears a suit was there as well as all the big shots from NASCAR (they were there for the fuel injection testing out on the track anyway), Grand American Road Racing, Pratt and Miller Engineering (not a suit in sight with that bunch), Wayne Taylor and his Suntrust Racing team, Bob Stallings GAINSCO team (Bob however was AWOL), and virtually every member of management for both the Spirit of Daytona and the Action Express racing teams. That's GM's Jim Campbell at the podium reminding all of us what a great and storied history the Corvette possesses. Hell, he even invoked the name of Betty Skelton.
And all of the team's drivers made it out for the event. Darren Law, David Donahue, Terry Borcheller, Christian Fittipaldi, JC France and a bunch more were out for show and tell. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. even took a break from NASCAR testing to step inside, see the show and enjoy a plate full of salami and cheese.
Several items were mentioned either by Jim Campbell in his presentation or during the requisite Q and A session afterwards with a member each from Chevy racing, Pratt and Miller and Grand Am Road Racing joining Mr. Campbell on stage. Brad Brownell, who broke the story on this release here on the Hooniverse yesterday summarized those points for me in a much more succinct manner than this olelongrooffan could ever accomplish so I'll let him speak to them.
1. The beautiful blue car in the pictures is the first of three that have already been built. Bob Stallings-Gainsco Racing and Wayne Taylor-Suntrust Racing have already taken stewardship of their cars (first in line, likely because they have been loyal to GM for years, with both having run Pontiac and Chevrolet engines in the past). There are another two cars being built right now, as Action Express Racing will be fielding two cars and Spirit of Daytona Racing have committed to one full season entry.
2. The new Corvette DP chassis was a joint development between Cheever Racing's Coyote manufacturing and GM's de facto racing squad of Pratt and Miller.
3. Talks between GM and Grand Am began nearly 18 months ago, and the three chassis have been in the works for about 8 months from design concept to finished product.
4. Nobody knows exactly how well the car will perform, as it has never been on track before today's test session. We shall soon find out, I suppose.
5. Dyno testing has been completed, however, which shows the Small Block Chevrolet engine produces 530 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 450 lbft at 5,500 rpm. The engine has been equipped with aluminum heads and a dry sump oiling system for a lower center of gravity, and to eliminate the slosh effect on an oil pan under g-loading.
6. No estimates have been given on the actual cost to purchase and run a new style Daytona Prototype, though I would suspect that the new chassis are slightly more expensive to build than the outgoing set of chassis (most were originally designed and built in 2003). However, even with a price increase, it is unlikely that these four teams would have paid full price anyway due to heavy subsidies levied by Chevrolet Racing's marketing budget.
7. As GM increases their presence in Grand Am, it is unlikely that their successful GT2 program will be going away any time soon. GM wants to see another class victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans before they put a bookend on that section of their racing history.
Thanks a million Brad.
After the Q and A session, the floor was open to photographers and, of course, this olelongrooffan stepped right up on that stage and captured some close up images of it for my fellow Hoons.
While I was up there, I approached one of the Pratt and Miller dudes and asked him if any of the technology from the much acclaimed ALMS Corvette had found its way to this Daytona Prototype.
He commented that yes some had and that most of the latches, hinges, tiedowns and other such items from the ALMS Vette had been utilized on this DP.
And trust me, regardless of the mediocre advertising team running the ads geared toward those potential customers who do not follow Hooniverse, the team that came up with the color of this beautiful car and its contrasting engine compartment did a fantastic job.
Now if my fellow Hoons know anything about this olelongrooffan, you know I didn't just stay around for the show but I had to stay until the bitter end. Plus, my elcheapo 28 dollar ebay acquired camera works a helluva lot better outdoors than indoors. (that there is a giant hint to whomever gets my name for Hoonimas this year!)
Oh yeah, while I was out there waiting for this to show up, I wandered over to the pits area to to check out the NASCAR test session.
And I'm here to tell you, whatever aero changes they tried on those NASCAR machines didn't work and "two car drafting" was in effect all day long.
That Pratt and Miller engineer also mentioned the headlights were exactly the same at those on the ALMS Vette. Imagine a who know how many hundreds of thousands of dollars race car that is an exercise in parts bin manufacturing!
Yeah, the designers of this DP were able to incorporate a bunch of the street version of the Corvette's design features into this new body style.
And as much as this olelongrooffan despises "Lambo doors," on these Daytona Prototypes they are pretty damn cool.
The taillights were flat across the top just below the lower spoiler. I have seen mention around these webs they are reminiscent of the tail lights on a new Camaro.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear this SBC sing but I am confident it possesses a wonderful, throaty melody when at speed. I can't wait.
The first split window Vette since 1963!
And just to reassure my fellow Hoons these are original images (hell, I don't even know how to photoshop!), I got a member of the Spirit of Daytona race team to capture this image just prior to his applying their decals to this beauty.
Oh yeah, I must once again thank Brad Brownell and a special note of appreciation to General Motors for the plate of food and the cold Diet Coke and to the security dude at the Turn 1 entrance of the Daytona International Speedway who, once again, let this olelongrooffan slip by to gather even more trivial information and experiences to share with my fellow Hoons.
Well my fellow Hoons, this olelongrooffan has done it again. Yesterday was the official unveiling of the Daytona Prototype Corvette right here in good ole Daytona Beach, Florida. As all I was doing all day long was working with Manuel Labor, I decided to take the afternoon off and crash the gates at that unveiling to see what could be seen.
Yeah, there were more muckity-mucks in attendance than you could shake a stick at. It seemed like every member of Chevrolet corporate motorsports who wears a suit was there as well as all the big shots from NASCAR (they were there for the fuel injection testing out on the track anyway), Grand American Road Racing, Pratt and Miller Engineering (not a suit in sight with that bunch), Wayne Taylor and his Suntrust Racing team, Bob Stallings GAINSCO team (Bob however was AWOL), and virtually every member of management for both the Spirit of Daytona and the Action Express racing teams. That's GM's Jim Campbell at the podium reminding all of us what a great and storied history the Corvette possesses. Hell, he even invoked the name of Betty Skelton.
And all of the team's drivers made it out for the event. Darren Law, David Donahue, Terry Borcheller, Christian Fittipaldi, JC France and a bunch more were out for show and tell. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. even took a break from NASCAR testing to step inside, see the show and enjoy a plate full of salami and cheese.
Several items were mentioned either by Jim Campbell in his presentation or during the requisite Q and A session afterwards with a member each from Chevy racing, Pratt and Miller and Grand Am Road Racing joining Mr. Campbell on stage. Brad Brownell, who broke the story on this release here on the Hooniverse yesterday summarized those points for me in a much more succinct manner than this olelongrooffan could ever accomplish so I'll let him speak to them.
1. The beautiful blue car in the pictures is the first of three that have already been built. Bob Stallings-Gainsco Racing and Wayne Taylor-Suntrust Racing have already taken stewardship of their cars (first in line, likely because they have been loyal to GM for years, with both having run Pontiac and Chevrolet engines in the past). There are another two cars being built right now, as Action Express Racing will be fielding two cars and Spirit of Daytona Racing have committed to one full season entry.
2. The new Corvette DP chassis was a joint development between Cheever Racing's Coyote manufacturing and GM's de facto racing squad of Pratt and Miller.
3. Talks between GM and Grand Am began nearly 18 months ago, and the three chassis have been in the works for about 8 months from design concept to finished product.
4. Nobody knows exactly how well the car will perform, as it has never been on track before today's test session. We shall soon find out, I suppose.
5. Dyno testing has been completed, however, which shows the Small Block Chevrolet engine produces 530 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 450 lbft at 5,500 rpm. The engine has been equipped with aluminum heads and a dry sump oiling system for a lower center of gravity, and to eliminate the slosh effect on an oil pan under g-loading.
6. No estimates have been given on the actual cost to purchase and run a new style Daytona Prototype, though I would suspect that the new chassis are slightly more expensive to build than the outgoing set of chassis (most were originally designed and built in 2003). However, even with a price increase, it is unlikely that these four teams would have paid full price anyway due to heavy subsidies levied by Chevrolet Racing's marketing budget.
7. As GM increases their presence in Grand Am, it is unlikely that their successful GT2 program will be going away any time soon. GM wants to see another class victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans before they put a bookend on that section of their racing history.
Thanks a million Brad.
After the Q and A session, the floor was open to photographers and, of course, this olelongrooffan stepped right up on that stage and captured some close up images of it for my fellow Hoons.
While I was up there, I approached one of the Pratt and Miller dudes and asked him if any of the technology from the much acclaimed ALMS Corvette had found its way to this Daytona Prototype.
He commented that yes some had and that most of the latches, hinges, tiedowns and other such items from the ALMS Vette had been utilized on this DP.
And trust me, regardless of the mediocre advertising team running the ads geared toward those potential customers who do not follow Hooniverse, the team that came up with the color of this beautiful car and its contrasting engine compartment did a fantastic job.
Now if my fellow Hoons know anything about this olelongrooffan, you know I didn't just stay around for the show but I had to stay until the bitter end. Plus, my elcheapo 28 dollar ebay acquired camera works a helluva lot better outdoors than indoors. (that there is a giant hint to whomever gets my name for Hoonimas this year!)
Oh yeah, while I was out there waiting for this to show up, I wandered over to the pits area to to check out the NASCAR test session.
And I'm here to tell you, whatever aero changes they tried on those NASCAR machines didn't work and "two car drafting" was in effect all day long.
That Pratt and Miller engineer also mentioned the headlights were exactly the same at those on the ALMS Vette. Imagine a who know how many hundreds of thousands of dollars race car that is an exercise in parts bin manufacturing!
Yeah, the designers of this DP were able to incorporate a bunch of the street version of the Corvette's design features into this new body style.
And as much as this olelongrooffan despises "Lambo doors," on these Daytona Prototypes they are pretty damn cool.
The taillights were flat across the top just below the lower spoiler. I have seen mention around these webs they are reminiscent of the tail lights on a new Camaro.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to hear this SBC sing but I am confident it possesses a wonderful, throaty melody when at speed. I can't wait.
The first split window Vette since 1963!
And just to reassure my fellow Hoons these are original images (hell, I don't even know how to photoshop!), I got a member of the Spirit of Daytona race team to capture this image just prior to his applying their decals to this beauty.
Oh yeah, I must once again thank Brad Brownell and a special note of appreciation to General Motors for the plate of food and the cold Diet Coke and to the security dude at the Turn 1 entrance of the Daytona International Speedway who, once again, let this olelongrooffan slip by to gather even more trivial information and experiences to share with my fellow Hoons.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Yeah, It's Been Quite A Couple Months
In the words of the infamous Johnny Carson, MORE TO COME.
Click here for more on this one.
Click here for more on this...
Yeah, I'm Back.
Click here for more on this one.
Click here for more on this...
Yeah, I'm Back.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Yeah, I've Been Busy
Well, maybe not so busy as just uninspired. Since returning from the Mile High City at the beginning of September, the highest point, and it was high, of my life was the day just last week thebeachgoddess came down and we spent it together just screwing around. (Thanks again T & V)
Well, Counters, as the end of hurricane season is upon us, this olelongrooffan is gonna take a respite from those supplies,quit spending nearly every waking moment on these tubes and take the time to read a few old school books for a change. I have several around I have been meaning to get to and now I'm going to take that opportunity.
Plus not a whole h*lluva lot of cool stuff, at least to me, has been happening around these here parts lately. But don't worry, Biketoberfest starts in a week and a half, the Daytona Dream cruise follows two weeks later and the Turkey Run two weeks after that.
I'm still around but just will have my nose in an old school book and work on trying to find something to do employmentwise. This olelongrooffan has been searching high and low for meaningful employment, three and a half years now, and having no luck. Although thebeachbiker did send me a link to a job opportunity in Gauntanamo Bay, Cuba. God knows submitting 350+ web based applications isn't doing it for me.
To paraphrase something Einstein once said, 'Continuing to do things in the same unsuccessful manner and expecting different results is insanity.'
And as much as there are many who believe this olelongrooffan is insane, sometimes I even agree, "something'll come up, it always does."
Don't worry though, this olelongrooffan will still
Celebrate Life.
Well, Counters, as the end of hurricane season is upon us, this olelongrooffan is gonna take a respite from those supplies,quit spending nearly every waking moment on these tubes and take the time to read a few old school books for a change. I have several around I have been meaning to get to and now I'm going to take that opportunity.
Plus not a whole h*lluva lot of cool stuff, at least to me, has been happening around these here parts lately. But don't worry, Biketoberfest starts in a week and a half, the Daytona Dream cruise follows two weeks later and the Turkey Run two weeks after that.
I'm still around but just will have my nose in an old school book and work on trying to find something to do employmentwise. This olelongrooffan has been searching high and low for meaningful employment, three and a half years now, and having no luck. Although thebeachbiker did send me a link to a job opportunity in Gauntanamo Bay, Cuba. God knows submitting 350+ web based applications isn't doing it for me.
To paraphrase something Einstein once said, 'Continuing to do things in the same unsuccessful manner and expecting different results is insanity.'
And as much as there are many who believe this olelongrooffan is insane, sometimes I even agree, "something'll come up, it always does."
Don't worry though, this olelongrooffan will still
Celebrate Life.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
A Great Day After Birthday
So Counters, this olelongrooffan had a quiet 52nd birthday and pretty much just surfed around these tubes on Thursday.
However, Friday was anything but quiet. This olelongrooffan has blogged many times about my sister-in-law, newly christened thebeachgoddess. The image of her above was taken a while back during a fateful afternoon back when she was thebarngoddess and a bunch of us built her a Chicken Coupe de Ville out on Haven Lee Farm up in the Missouri Ozarks.
This is an image of her with her team of miniature horses and her Springfield wagon during one of the many parades she and thehorsefarmer participated in back in the day. She is always smiling, isn't she?
Yes, I just had to include an image of that aforementioned Chicken Coupe de Ville and
like their horses, their chickens are miniature also.
Now last spring thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer ventured off the cow path to come down to the Birthplace of Speed and spend a wonderful couple of weeks hanging with thejeepjunkie, the Kid and this olelongrooffan.
And the ever so sweet beachgoddess made sure this olelongrooffan had something to eat all the while they were here.
Well, as this olelongrooffan has previously mentioned, thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer had so much fun down here in the Birthplace of Speed they decided to divest themselves of a bunch of horses, tack, wagons, trailers and tractors and move to theblue hair Sunshine State joining three of his four brothers.
And thehorsefarmer, now thebeachbiker, traded his big *ssed zero turn mower for a beach bike and barbeque grill.
And it should be noted thebeachgoddess will be needing that sweater and scarf should she decide to venture out onto our Atlantic beach this coming January.
So by now, this olelongrooffan can hear those Counting Along With Me, what the h*ll do thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker have to do with my 52nd birthday and the day after?
Well Counters, refresh that cocktail and this olelongrooffan will relate the happenings of Friday, the last day of September down here in the Birthplace of Speed and its surrounds.
And Away We Go...
After thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker had made their decision to join their fellow family members down here in the Sunshine State, they decided to have theirfactory fresh lightly used 2003 Ford Taurus (you know a car had to factor into this blog somehow, didn't you?) receive a service update at their local Ford dealership. This dealership had performed service on this sedan since the day it was driven off their lot and their service performance had been stellar. However, on the last visit that Taurus made to that dealership, something went awry and, unfortunately, this problem was not realized until after the Bus had delivered that car to thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker down in the oldest city in the United States.
A couple weeks ago when they were down visiting this olelongrooffan at the Taj Mahal, thebeachbiker mentioned the Bull was not acting correctly and this fact was mentioned to thejeepjunkie when we finally caught up to him. Of course, that conversation evolved into the isomerics of air pressure in tires with regards to hot versus cold measurement of the same. My eyes kind of glazed over at that point, by the way.
So, anyway, it was determined thebeachgoddess and thejeepjunkie would coordinate their respective schedules and get that Bull down here to the home of the World's Most Famous Beach so thejeepjunkie could get a look at it in his new shop. Well, they set that visit up to coincide with this olelongrooffan's 52nd but due to a scheduling conflict with some of thejeepjunkie's best customers, that meeting was postponed until the following day.
thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan determined it would be best if she swung by the Taj Mahal and pick me up prior to heading to thejeepjunkie's shop. We were going to utilize thejeepjunkie's pickemup truck while the Bull was getting diagnosed as to what was up with it. thebeachgoddess had a few specific things she wanted to do but the rest of the day was left up to this olelongrooffan to figure out what to do. She did, however, comment that she was, once again, feeding this olelongrooffan as she is trying to "put some meat on your bones."
So we got to thejeepjunkie's shop, picked up his pickemup truck and thebeachgoddess mentioned she was starving. Of course, the first thing I mentioned was that we should head over to the Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street and grab some Bloody Mary's and a burger. Well, I must say thebeachgoddess has a great sense of humor, as well as being extremely attractive, but this wasn't what she really had in mind and we just grabbed a quick eggamuffin from Ronny's place.
Now, here I must interject this point. As I have mentioned at least one time previously, this olelongrooffan has been known to be the tour guide. As such, I always strive to provide guests or travelling companions new and interesting destinations and try to venture onto new avenues so as not to get my guests bored with the same old scenery.
Well, Counters, this olelongrooffan, try as I might, failed miserably in my task as a tour guide that day as we drove past these five different times that Friday. thebeachgoddess knows their entire history as well as the location of The Best Damn Garage In Town.
So anyway, we headed out to Sam Walton's big box store where entry requires a little blue card and did us some shopping. Now this olelongrooffan can't remember the last time I was in a big box retailer that didn't specialize in home improvement products but I do know it has been at least ten years. I mean a single guy doesn't really have a need for a 48 pack of toilet tissue or a twenty pound pork tenderloin no matter how inexpensive the per unit cost is. Yeah, I was in sensory overload that is for sure.
After that we again passed by those vacant towers to return to the Taj Mahal to put a bunch of that stuff in the massive refrigerator to keep all that stuff fresh for thebeachgoddess's return trip to her new home town.
We then headed out to the Daytona Beach Flea Market to see what could be seen. I have lived here for three and a half years and only have been to that market once previously. As we were leaving, I related this fact to thebeachgoddess and she commented that she could see why.
While we were there, thejeepjunkie called with the prognosis on the repairs to the Bull and, after consultation with thebeachbiker, authorization was provided to thejeepjunkie to perform the necessary corrections to get thebeachgoddess's daily driver back up to snuff.
In the meantime, lunch was in order and as we were passing the Daytona International Speedway, I recommended we eat at some Mom-n-Pop place down on Beach Street rather than some restaurant chain there on International Speedway Boulevard. thebeachgoddess concurred and we ended up at a great little Mexican restaurant that I have previously seen but had not previously frequented.
It turned out to be an excellent decision as the food was abundant and delicious, even if the hot sauce was a little to hot for thebeachgoddess. The portions were so gigantic this burrito came home with this olelongrooffan and I thanked thebeachgoddess for the birthday lunch and dinner!
Over lunch, we had an excellent conversation about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. thebeachgoddess commented on how much they enjoy St. Augustine and that she wouldn't mind getting a cheap fishing pole to use in the lake at the place they call home.
After a quick trip through a nearby over priced antique mall, we decided to head back to the Taj Mahal and take a break. Upon arrival, we spent a few minutes on the massive veranda enjoying the ubiquitous ocean breeze and soon thereafter, this olelongrooffan could see a nap would be welcome in thebeachgoddess's world and suggested one. She commented that she didn't want to be rude and I admonished her that she still had to drive home and this olelongrooffan was not offended in the least.
I spent some time on these here webs and then divided up some of those Sam's acquired provisions as thebeachgoddess had instructed me to do. Shortly thereafter, the massive communication system here at the Taj Mahal lights up and as it is thejeepjunkie, I answered with "Is it done yet?" "Come and get it," was the not unexpected response.
And we did. thebeachgoddess was thrilled at how well the Bull ran and the fact the air was, once again, ice cold. On the way back to the Taj Mahal, we stopped and topped off the fuel for her hour long trip home. We got back to the Taj Mahal and loaded up her provisions and got her on the road to be reunited with thebeachbiker.
A little while later, this olelongrooffan was getting a cold sodie pop out of the frig and noticed that I had forgotten to load this in the box for thebeachgoddess to take home.
Now I don't know how I missed it and even worse, how long will it take me to eat a pound of organic baby spring mix lettuce?
And the final cool thing? While thebeachgoddess was enjoying that much needed rest, this olelongrooffan headed out to pick up some more sodie pops and as I was driving down the street, I spotted this fully functional fishing pole beside the road awaiting pick up by the big green truck that travails my street twice a week. I remembered our conversation over lunch and snagged this for thebeachgoddess. After all, my favorite four letter word is "free".
A wonderful day was had by thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan that day and even though we never did make it to the Boot Hill Saloon we certainly did
Celebrate Life.
However, Friday was anything but quiet. This olelongrooffan has blogged many times about my sister-in-law, newly christened thebeachgoddess. The image of her above was taken a while back during a fateful afternoon back when she was thebarngoddess and a bunch of us built her a Chicken Coupe de Ville out on Haven Lee Farm up in the Missouri Ozarks.
This is an image of her with her team of miniature horses and her Springfield wagon during one of the many parades she and thehorsefarmer participated in back in the day. She is always smiling, isn't she?
Yes, I just had to include an image of that aforementioned Chicken Coupe de Ville and
like their horses, their chickens are miniature also.
Now last spring thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer ventured off the cow path to come down to the Birthplace of Speed and spend a wonderful couple of weeks hanging with thejeepjunkie, the Kid and this olelongrooffan.
And the ever so sweet beachgoddess made sure this olelongrooffan had something to eat all the while they were here.
Well, as this olelongrooffan has previously mentioned, thebarngoddess and thehorsefarmer had so much fun down here in the Birthplace of Speed they decided to divest themselves of a bunch of horses, tack, wagons, trailers and tractors and move to the
And thehorsefarmer, now thebeachbiker, traded his big *ssed zero turn mower for a beach bike and barbeque grill.
And it should be noted thebeachgoddess will be needing that sweater and scarf should she decide to venture out onto our Atlantic beach this coming January.
So by now, this olelongrooffan can hear those Counting Along With Me, what the h*ll do thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker have to do with my 52nd birthday and the day after?
Well Counters, refresh that cocktail and this olelongrooffan will relate the happenings of Friday, the last day of September down here in the Birthplace of Speed and its surrounds.
And Away We Go...
After thebeachgoddess and thebeachbiker had made their decision to join their fellow family members down here in the Sunshine State, they decided to have their
A couple weeks ago when they were down visiting this olelongrooffan at the Taj Mahal, thebeachbiker mentioned the Bull was not acting correctly and this fact was mentioned to thejeepjunkie when we finally caught up to him. Of course, that conversation evolved into the isomerics of air pressure in tires with regards to hot versus cold measurement of the same. My eyes kind of glazed over at that point, by the way.
So, anyway, it was determined thebeachgoddess and thejeepjunkie would coordinate their respective schedules and get that Bull down here to the home of the World's Most Famous Beach so thejeepjunkie could get a look at it in his new shop. Well, they set that visit up to coincide with this olelongrooffan's 52nd but due to a scheduling conflict with some of thejeepjunkie's best customers, that meeting was postponed until the following day.
thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan determined it would be best if she swung by the Taj Mahal and pick me up prior to heading to thejeepjunkie's shop. We were going to utilize thejeepjunkie's pickemup truck while the Bull was getting diagnosed as to what was up with it. thebeachgoddess had a few specific things she wanted to do but the rest of the day was left up to this olelongrooffan to figure out what to do. She did, however, comment that she was, once again, feeding this olelongrooffan as she is trying to "put some meat on your bones."
So we got to thejeepjunkie's shop, picked up his pickemup truck and thebeachgoddess mentioned she was starving. Of course, the first thing I mentioned was that we should head over to the Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street and grab some Bloody Mary's and a burger. Well, I must say thebeachgoddess has a great sense of humor, as well as being extremely attractive, but this wasn't what she really had in mind and we just grabbed a quick eggamuffin from Ronny's place.
Now, here I must interject this point. As I have mentioned at least one time previously, this olelongrooffan has been known to be the tour guide. As such, I always strive to provide guests or travelling companions new and interesting destinations and try to venture onto new avenues so as not to get my guests bored with the same old scenery.
Well, Counters, this olelongrooffan, try as I might, failed miserably in my task as a tour guide that day as we drove past these five different times that Friday. thebeachgoddess knows their entire history as well as the location of The Best Damn Garage In Town.
So anyway, we headed out to Sam Walton's big box store where entry requires a little blue card and did us some shopping. Now this olelongrooffan can't remember the last time I was in a big box retailer that didn't specialize in home improvement products but I do know it has been at least ten years. I mean a single guy doesn't really have a need for a 48 pack of toilet tissue or a twenty pound pork tenderloin no matter how inexpensive the per unit cost is. Yeah, I was in sensory overload that is for sure.
After that we again passed by those vacant towers to return to the Taj Mahal to put a bunch of that stuff in the massive refrigerator to keep all that stuff fresh for thebeachgoddess's return trip to her new home town.
We then headed out to the Daytona Beach Flea Market to see what could be seen. I have lived here for three and a half years and only have been to that market once previously. As we were leaving, I related this fact to thebeachgoddess and she commented that she could see why.
While we were there, thejeepjunkie called with the prognosis on the repairs to the Bull and, after consultation with thebeachbiker, authorization was provided to thejeepjunkie to perform the necessary corrections to get thebeachgoddess's daily driver back up to snuff.
In the meantime, lunch was in order and as we were passing the Daytona International Speedway, I recommended we eat at some Mom-n-Pop place down on Beach Street rather than some restaurant chain there on International Speedway Boulevard. thebeachgoddess concurred and we ended up at a great little Mexican restaurant that I have previously seen but had not previously frequented.
It turned out to be an excellent decision as the food was abundant and delicious, even if the hot sauce was a little to hot for thebeachgoddess. The portions were so gigantic this burrito came home with this olelongrooffan and I thanked thebeachgoddess for the birthday lunch and dinner!
Over lunch, we had an excellent conversation about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. thebeachgoddess commented on how much they enjoy St. Augustine and that she wouldn't mind getting a cheap fishing pole to use in the lake at the place they call home.
After a quick trip through a nearby over priced antique mall, we decided to head back to the Taj Mahal and take a break. Upon arrival, we spent a few minutes on the massive veranda enjoying the ubiquitous ocean breeze and soon thereafter, this olelongrooffan could see a nap would be welcome in thebeachgoddess's world and suggested one. She commented that she didn't want to be rude and I admonished her that she still had to drive home and this olelongrooffan was not offended in the least.
I spent some time on these here webs and then divided up some of those Sam's acquired provisions as thebeachgoddess had instructed me to do. Shortly thereafter, the massive communication system here at the Taj Mahal lights up and as it is thejeepjunkie, I answered with "Is it done yet?" "Come and get it," was the not unexpected response.
And we did. thebeachgoddess was thrilled at how well the Bull ran and the fact the air was, once again, ice cold. On the way back to the Taj Mahal, we stopped and topped off the fuel for her hour long trip home. We got back to the Taj Mahal and loaded up her provisions and got her on the road to be reunited with thebeachbiker.
A little while later, this olelongrooffan was getting a cold sodie pop out of the frig and noticed that I had forgotten to load this in the box for thebeachgoddess to take home.
Now I don't know how I missed it and even worse, how long will it take me to eat a pound of organic baby spring mix lettuce?
And the final cool thing? While thebeachgoddess was enjoying that much needed rest, this olelongrooffan headed out to pick up some more sodie pops and as I was driving down the street, I spotted this fully functional fishing pole beside the road awaiting pick up by the big green truck that travails my street twice a week. I remembered our conversation over lunch and snagged this for thebeachgoddess. After all, my favorite four letter word is "free".
A wonderful day was had by thebeachgoddess and this olelongrooffan that day and even though we never did make it to the Boot Hill Saloon we certainly did
Celebrate Life.
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