Happy Thanksgiving

We made it back to our RV in Indio on Sunday morning after an enjoyable trip to Anaheim for the Mecum Auto Auction. Even though we found 2 cars we were interested in, they didn't meet all of our criteria so we did not purchase any vehicles, but it was worth the trip. Our foremost goal was to experience a Mecum Auto Auction vs. the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction. They are pretty much the same - maybe Barrett-Jackson is a little more formal. Even though our hotel room was nice with the free breakfast and happy hour each evening, it was nice to get back to our own RV and place.

Our schedule this week has been the usual - exercise/rest/golf/boat ride/dinner. Our golf games have been normal except for yesterday when an alien took over my body and shot an incredible round of golf which included a 85 yard hole-in-one on hole 8. Plus I shot a par round (it's a par 54 course). Go figure!

Today we just finished our exercise and Jim has all the ingredients ready to make homemade cranberry sauce and a pumpkin/cranberry nut bread (except we don't have the nuts here and I don't want to go to the store). Later we will put a 15 lb turkey on the Weber grill with mesquite wood for flavoring and enjoy our dinner after a boat cruise.

Oh, and for everyone who lives in a cooler climates - I just would like to say we have been enjoying and will enjoy throughout this week beautiful 70 degree weather with very light winds. It makes for pleasant evenings out on the patio especially for Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving wherever you spend it!

Final Day

This is the final day of the auction and the day that 2 vehicles of interest are being presented.  The first one goes this morning - a 1967 Mustang GT500 Eleanor. It's only a replica, but even with that it will probably go over $100k. The other draw back is it does not have A/C.

 The second vehicle will be presented late in the day is a 1967 GT500 Shelby replica also - also without A/C.  So we will see how the bidding goes. If a steal then maybe Jim will bid. Which one do you think Jim would look good in the best?

We stand along the side of the staging area so see all the cars as they move up.

We head back to Indio first thing tomorrow morning. It will be nice to get back to our own place, this staying in a hotel room gets old.

Two Auto Nuts

Ok, ok - so I'm a little late in getting my posts going for this trip. Got on the road last Friday - made it to Indio without incident (always a good thing). The next day was spent cleaning the patio, casita, boat, finish setting up and getting the RV washed (by a the Exotic Washers not us personally). The casita was quite dirty after sitting for 6 months - the dust there gets into everything. Sunday we finally   got out on the golf course, took our walk/bike ride in the morning and got into our usual routine. We had dinner at the restaurant Sat. (lobster and steak) and Sunday (rib night).

Took off for Anaheim on Tues. late morning (2 hour drive) for the Mecum Auto Auction. We are staying at the Sheraton right next to the the convention center (where the auction is located) which is across the street from Disneyland.

 We are at the Club Level (because of our Starwood Platinum status) so we get to partake in the Club Lounge which provides continental breakfast every morning but more importantly is the happy hour from 5-7 every evening with free drinks and plenty of munchies (enough that you can make a meal out of it, which we did last night).

Tues. night we went to Morton's Steakhouse for dinner (great food). Jim was inquiring about the 6 liter (which is equal to 8 regular bottles) Silver Oak bottle of wine, so they set the bottle on our table trying to tempt us in purchasing it for $1200.

 Here's the happy couple enjoying their dinner.

Wed. morning we went to Amada Industries about 15 miles from the hotel for Jim to look at and get demonstrations of some laser press breaks and punches. It was fascinating what these machines can do, especially for me since I've never witnessed this before.

We had the afternoon free so we took a drive to Newport Beach and had lunch at Billy's on the Beach.

 From our table we were overlooking the harbor.

 The decor was Hawaiian and was quite pleasant. Our fish & chips were very good - ate too much but was content. From Newport Beach we drove up the coast through Huntington Beach then back to our hotel.

The rest of the afternoon was spent looking at the cars going up for auction. This is a 1967 GT500 Eleanor - would make a perfect addition to our collection (at this point we don't have a collection, but it could be started at any point). The original Eleanor went for over 1 mil, the other Eleanor went for over $200k in Reno, so imagine this one will go for about the same as the Reno one. We will see on Saturday.

 Now, don't you think Jim would look good in this BRIGHT PINK TBird?

 Here's another 67 GT500 at the auction that would be a good buy. Even though it's only a replica (meaning Shelby didn't build it) it's still in fine shape.

 Greg - I'm driving your Rolls home for you! Hope it fits in your garage.

The auction starts today at 1pm so we are heading over there now to check out any new cars they've added since yesterday. There are only 4 cars being auctioned off today that might be of interest. Most of the cars we are interested in go on Sat.

Another Week before Road Trip

We just been busy working around the house, riding our bikes and enjoying the beautiful weather these past few weeks. Getting some golf in, but this time of year everyone wants to play golf and with overseeding the courses, it's quite slow with cart path only. Enjoyed golfing with Greg last Sat. at Dorado with an excellent visit and meal at his home afterwards (he always has my favorite wine).

This past week, I got back into painting after taking about 6 months off. Here is the result that got hung on the wall last evening.  It's 24"x30", which is one of my larger sized paintings. I thinking of working on some abstract work for my next project, so will see how that goes. I've done one little abstract, but I need one that is probably 30x36. I will be stretching my talent with that one.

UA basketball season starts with their first game tonight, we plan to be their with our bucket of popcorn.

We head off to Indio next Friday for a couple of weeks with a side trip to Anaheim for the Mecum Auto Auction for 5 days. Will post the highlights. Until then will be enjoying our beautiful Arizona weather.

New Exercise Program

I can't believe how the days just go by so fast. Here it is another month since I posted. But not much has been going on during this time. Just been hangin' out at home, playing a little golf (and I mean a little). This time of the year they are overseeding the course, and with the beautiful weather everyone wants to play golf - which means the course is just packed. So we have only been playing 9 holes late in the afternoons on Fridays and Sat.

So to find something else to entertain us and also give us more exercise, we bought bicycles.

We settled on what they call a hybrid/crossroad bike. It's not a street bike but also not a true mountain bike, but in between.  On the way home from purchasing them, we stopped at the Rillito River Path, which is a perfect place to ride bikes. It's fairly level, it's off road but paved and is 12 miles long (not that I can go that far). With Jim in the lead that first day, needless to say I only could go about 3.5 miles out before I had to stop and turn around for a total of 7 miles. I just am not fit enough to keep up with his speed. The next day, I went by myself and went a more normal speed for me and was able to do a total of 11 miles. But over the weekend I was struggling, so had to back down to 10 miles. My body just needs to build up more muscle. I'm definitely getting my workout.

No trips planned until over Thanksgiving heading back to our place in Indio - it's that time of the year again when we make trips over there to enjoy the fine Palm Springs area weather and to eat at the Country Club restaurant. This year we are taking a little side trip (we will leave the RV at Indio) to Anaheim to the Mecum Auto Auction where we will stay at the Sheraton close by the auction. Since we experienced the Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction in Reno, we just wanted to experience the Mecum Auto Action to compare the two.

So until the middle of November, probably nothing to report.

Flagstaff/Winslow Trip

OK - I'm a little slow in getting this posted as this trip happened Sept. 6th - 9th.  We went to Flagstaff for the Route 66 car show in historical downtown. Saw lots of cars, but it started raining in the afternoon so just went back to the Embassy Suites where we were staying.

Sunday we headed out east to Winslow. It continued to rain, but every time we stopped it miraculously stopped raining until we got on the road again. We stopped at Winona to visit a section of old Route 66 that went over this bridge.

Then on to Meteor Crater where 50,000 years ago a meteor hurtled at about 26,000 mph hit the earth and left a hugh hole in the ground. Enjoyed the visitor center there with a short movie and exhibits.

We stayed at the La Posada Hotel in Winslow. This Fred Harvey hotel opened back in 1930 along the Santa Fe Railway. It was open until 1957 then a couple purchased the property in 1997 and started restoration. It was restored in the late 90s and is a beautiful piece of history.

It is on the main east/west railroad track with trains going by frequently.

There are quaint courtyards.

Remember the Eagles song with the lyrics "Standin' on the Corner in Winslow Arizona?" Well, we can say we were "Standin' on the Corner" now.

Needing to rest before walking back to the hotel (a whole 3-4 blocks).

 Not much else in Winslow AZ but it was a pleasant stay at LaPosada Hotel and a walk through history.

Last Day for Wine Tasting

Wed. brought the last day for our wine tasting tour of Sonoma County. The day started at an excellent winery in Healdsburg - the Seghesio Winery. They are known for their Zins.

 From their we continued on over to the southern part of Alexander Valley. Our first stop was Hawk Winery, but didn't find anything to our taste, then stopped at the Robert Young Winery, also not to our taste.

We visited several more wineries, but along the way we enjoyed the beauty of many flowers blossoming.

Also the scenery was spectacular with all the vineyards everywhere.

Just rows upon rows of grapes.

Some of the wineries we visited were Chalk Hills, Lancaster, Alexander Valley Winery and ended up purchasing 9 bottles more wine for our collection. The last place we visited we tasted right out of the barrel - but unfortunately the wine wasn't any good.

All in all we have had a wonderful experience of Sonoma County. In fact I like it much better than Napa Valley. There are less people and the wineries are sooooo much friendlier and give you all the information you want and take the time to explain everything. Now we are packing up and heading out in about 1/2 hour to Lodi where we will visit with my sister Sharon and nephew Mike and his family in Sacramento. Then Friday off the Indio for the night and homeward bound on Sat. for the end of another trip.

Until next time - safe travels wherever you go!