Friday evening Dan and I discussed what the
weather guessers were forecasting for the next day so we could determine what
kind of vehicles to use on the run. They
were forecasting sleet, ice, snow, rain, hurricane, tornado, Derecho, the early
arrival of Daylight Savings time, earthquakes and a general armageddon that
would leave our earthly orb smoking and hurtling through space producing the end
of the world as we know it. So….we
decided to err on the side of safety and use daily drivers instead of hot
rods…. It would be safer if any of the
prognostications of the weather weenies came true. We contacted everyone we could via Facebook,
email and phone calls to advice of our decision. The object of the day’s activities was to
provide as many toys for the USMC Toys For Tots campaign as we could while
mixing socially with friends that we may not see till March when the new season
begins. We wanted to make the run with
the hot rods but we also wanted to return home with all the parts on the cars
that we left with! So most of us drove our
daily drivers….most of us….not all, just most.
Around 10AM people began congregating at the
Chill’s restaurant in N. Stafford, in Stafford Marketplace. The manager, Derek, is enthusiastic about the
gathering and the mission of the day….Toys For Tots. Derek opened his store early to accommodate
our schedule and had his staff fired up to make the beginning of our event a
positive one. He also arranged to have
20% of money that was spent on food during our visit, to be donated to Toys For
Tots! Our group mingled for a couple
hours and then it was time to go…. No
bad weather yet….we were still ahead of the end of the world!
One of the things Dan sets up is to have the
Stafford County Sherriff’s office provide an escort for our band of cruisers
and I’m told that it is one of the high points of the day. In years past I would leave Chili’s about half
an hour earlier than the rest of the group so I could run to the USMC museum and
take a video of the group as they arrive.
But this year since we were using our daily drivers I would leave with
the rest of the group and would be able to experience the “escorted” cruise….it
was
very cool. Dan’s son, Deputy Crane, met
with the cruisers in the commuter lot to explain how the escort was going to
work and how we had to drive. It’s
always better to explain things so the procession moves effectively and
safely. It was only a 6 mile cruise to
the museum but thanks to the Deputies it was smooth and trouble free.
Some of the car clubs from the north met us at
the museum so there were about 32 cars total….which was down a lot from last
year’s 87 vehicles….no doubt due to the abovementioned end of the world
prediction…. But many people had
purchased toys so they gave them to the people that were going to attend the
event so in the end we contributed a massive amount of toys for the
program.
After dropping off the toys most of us gathered
in small pods to talk and catch up with friends we haven’t seen in a while. Some visited the displays of the museum that
helped us understand what it means to be a US Marine. The rich history that is on display
chronicles the exploits of the Corps….it is truly something that one must
experience. Duty, Honor, Country…. Something that is sadly foreign to most in
D.C. nowadays.
Some stayed till Mr. & Mrs. Santa arrived at
3PM but most without small children left by 2PM or so. The Princess and I said our goodbyes and
cruised north for lunch at Cracker Barrel with some friends. While going through Dumfries we got caught in
the tail end of the Christmas Parade that was winding down. The Princess got to practice her ‘Prom Wave’
out the sunroof of our car….you have no idea.
After lunch we motored home and I guess the weather weenies were wrong….
again…. Surprise? Although it did rain a
little on the way home so I guess it was a good decision to not bring out the
hot rods….
This ends the 2013 season for us and I will
start posting again in March. Please
check out the pictures of this event at; http://www.flickr.com/photos/53063560@N05/sets/72157638681816694/
MERRY CHRISTMAS
n
HAPPY NEW YEAR
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