Here comes winter

Friday we cruised to BK in N. Stafford and enjoyed a pleasant evening with friends. There were about 12 cars in the parking lot when we went inside to grab a burger. This year the seasons around here changed from summer to fall on September 23rd at 5:05AM EDT then to winter on September 23rd at 7:15AM EDT. It now gets in the high 40’s when the sun goes down. That makes sitting outside in lawn chairs not really relaxing and fun but rather a test of controlling your trembling body parts while you try to talk normally. Your hand gets so cold that when someone gives you a cup of coffee you don’t know it’s burning your hand until you start asking if someone is barbequing close by! So….the Princess informed me that unless the temperature was more to her liking, she would not need her chair taken out of the coupe for a while!? I told her to be careful because she would have a lot of trouble getting up and down from the curb….I thought it was funny….apparently the correct comment was that I would find a heated chair for her….and the beat goes on….

Saturday I got up and checked the weather outside at 5:00 AM….a little cool but no rain….so I began getting everything ready to go to the tenth annual Christ Episcopal Church show in Spotsylvania, VA. At 6:15 the driveway was wet! The weatherguessers were showing rain around us and more coming from the south west. So I called the cruisers that expressed an interest in going with us at the Friday night cruise and we decided to wait till 9 AM to cruise to the event. The ground might still be wet but the show was still “on” so we would see how the morning unfolded.

Ron met us at WAWA and we all cruised the 35 miles to the event. We parked on asphalt and set up for the day. There were about 75 cars in attendance which is less than previous years…..no doubt because of the rain. But there were still some nice cars that did venture out. An unusual vehicle was the red ’58 GMC coe….not many of these around. The yellow ’56 Chevy pickup was a nice ride too. Almost all the rest are vehicles were ones that we see at most shows and cruises so no surprises to write about.

When I have written about this show in the past I always mention the raucous cannon firing. The noise is very loud and never at any consistent interval….and it is rarely announced when it will be fired. So to say that it startles everyone within a mile or so is being way too kind. I guess I have gotten a little numb to the concussion it makes as it really wasn’t bothering me like it has done before. But I decided to wander around and find out what was making everyone jumpy. The noise came from a Civil War re-enactment group that had set up a Confederate “camp” next to the show. They had a ‘Mountain’ cannon that they shot, without a projectile, every so often….the man I talked to said they shot it at regular intervals but I don’t think so. I was going to enlighten him about what “regular intervals” meant to the rest of the world but then thought better of my emotional response….after all he did have a bigger gun! And off in the distance four of his friends were coming back to their camp! So I told him to have a nice day and strolled back to the safety of the cars….

This show is a collaborative endeavor in that the Prince William Cruisers assist with part of the workforce behind the scenes. Roger guides the church members that assist. They have quilt raffles, food sales, vendor items and generally make the execution of this show very seamless. The judging was done quickly and they began giving the awards out a little early. Since this is the last show the church is putting on….it made it special just to be there. We packed up and cruised back to N. Stafford and home. We were going to attend the Bruster’s cruise after the show but the cold had taken a toll on us….we would need the warmth of our fireplace and much rest for the next day. We are to leave at O dark thirty for PA to visit our youngest daughter and her family, and then return home the same day!