Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Here comes Fall....


Friday the Princess & I cruised to VA BBQ and the weekly gathering in Fredericksburg, VA.  The nights are getting cooler and darkness descends on the neighborhood earlier every week.  And we get to set our clocks back in a couple weeks….whoopee!  One of the neat things about fall is the sunsets.  The air is always clearer and colors are in the sky as well as the leaves.  And so begins another magical season for us to marvel about.

About 30 cars came out to enjoy the evening with us and the conversation topics ranged everywhere; from cars-food-kids/grandkids-spouses-political-social issues-weather-you name it!  When you are with friends anything is fair game to talk about….we may not always agree….but we are almost always agreeable!  Fred won a VA BBQ, anatomically correct, pig trophy….so now he has something else to cherish from his adventures with Maxine.  Earlier in the day I had switched the water valve on the heater hose under the hood of the truck to “winter” position….so the Princess was contented with the cruise back home.  It was cool enough that her private little summer vacations she gets, wasn’t enough to keep her comfy.  She is so high maintenance.

Saturday we left Stafford, VA and cruised 35 miles to Opal, VA to the start point of our second Roaring 20’s cruise of the year.  Five of us left Opal and were joined by Bob as we passed Culpeper.  When we arrived at the first pit stop in Madison, 38 miles from Opal, three more joined us for the last 5 mile leg of the cruise. 

We had lead a cruise to this museum/collection nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in late June this year.  This museum is a one of a kind deal….you will find amazing artifacts of the American automobile industry displayed everywhere.  It showcases the beginnings of our automobile culture through unique vehicles and ends with some oddities of the 1950’s.  And as the name implies, the majority of the display is from the 20’s & 30’s.    You will also find an unbelievable amount of automobile memorabilia and other mechanical artifacts from that era.  Stationary engines, powered farm implements, chain saws, lawn mowers, a few bicycles can be discovered among the vehicles.  You will also find other antique items like stoves, dishes, dolls, furniture, models, sewing machines, vacuum cleaners, typewriters....you just have to see it….which you can’t in one visit!  It is not a polished, temperature controlled, antiseptically clean display, leave your white gloves home.  It is as if the founder, John Dudley, just brought everything in and parked it last month….then left.  John & his wife, Clarissa, have passed and the museum is now in the capable hands of their daughter, Martha.  Since we plan our cruises to raise awareness to our charity, Fisher House Foundation, Martha graciously agreed to not charge us for the visit.  We received $55 in donations to Fisher House….it was a good day!

I cannot amply describe the contents of this museum but you can go to the site I have stored the pictures I took….and maybe….maybe….you can get a flavor of the experience.  It is a sensory overload….you cannot see everything in one visit, trust me on this!

After we finished the visit some of us began our next 25 miles on the way to Wood Grille Buffet in Charlottesville, VA.  This restaurant always accommodates us on our cruises in this part of Virginia.  Their food is yummy and they give all us seniors a discount….just because we are so pretty!  The staff is attentive and thorough.  Their parking lot is huge so we never worry about parking lot damage to our rides when we eat there.  After we all ate too much we loosened our belts and contemplated our 85 mile trip back to Stafford.  The amazing thing about the way we like to cruise is the destination is not the only high point of the day….it’s the journey too!  The day was perfect, deep blue skies, white puffy clouds, dark green grass and moderate temperatures….it really was perfect!  Driving around on the Virginia byways is enjoyable in itself….  The Princess is getting much better at recording our adventures in photos….you have to check out the images….go along with us….be part of the fun….I love this hobby.

 

Pictures from June; https://www.flickr.com/photos/53063560@N05/sets/72157645479673783/

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