MA to AZ and beyond

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From the small farm we stayed at, we drove into St. Augustine again in the morning. We wanted to check it out a bit further. We found a parking spot downtown and set out on foot. We mostly just wandered around the area near the fort. There's a bunch of cute shops and restaurants, none of which were open. It was too early in the day, but it was already starting to get warm. We moseyed our way back to the van and had to drag Loki along with us. Once we got there, we blasted the air conditioning and hightailed it to Tavares.



That's where Shaun and Jenny live. We haven't seen them in a while, but we've stayed in touch through the powers of the internet. We have missed them! We spent some time catching up and checking out their house and meeting their dogs. After a while, Shaun had to do a quick job across town, and I tagged along. He was reinstalling a carburetor on an old IH Scout to get it running for his boss. The engine took some timing adjustment to run correctly, but we learned that it likes to burn quite a bit of oil. Oh well. It's to be sold, anyways. After that, we took a tour of all the other old cars this guy has laying around to be repaired. There are so many old Jeeps and International Harvester products. Some of them are in great shape, too. It was pretty cool to see so many in one place.





Anyway, after that, we went back to their house to have dinner and hang out. We slept inside because their house is ice cold compared to the unbearably wet heat inside the van.

 

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Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were not super interesting to write about, as much as we did enjoy them. We spent most of the time just hanging out with friends and walking dogs and trying to keep all of us comfortably cool.

We have had some issues with the insulation on our grey water tank which I've written here before. It just never wanted to stick very well. The last repair was failing and though it doesn't matter now because it's warm enough not to freeze, I wanted to address it rather than wait for it to be too cold again. So, while we had the driveway space to do it, I peeled off the insulation and applied a layer of spray foam insulation. This process was incredibly messy but also hilarious because of how bad it looks. Shaun said it's the worst automotive project he's ever participated in. Thanks. We don't really care because it only matters that the tank is insulated, not what it looks like. But it is pretty ugly, so I don't have a good picture.

The reason we came to their house, aside from meeting up with old friends, is that Shaun asked me to attend Hot Rod Power Tour with him. Shaun has a 4th gen Firebird on which he is installing a large turbo. Of course, he didn't get this done in time, so it's still in a hundred pieces about his house. So instead of something obnoxiously fast for power tour, we took something obnoxiously slow. A 1972 GMC Sierra Grande. It's in fantastic shape because the previous owner fully restored it. We gave the whole truck an inspection together to make sure it was road trip ready, as Power Tour is about 1000 miles not counting the drive to and from the first and last stops. We checked fluids, tire pressures, lug nuts, etc. Basic stuff. There were zero findings, but we assembled a tool kit anyways. The air conditioning compressor had just been professionally replaced and blew cold. The stereo worked well and has Bluetooth capability. We were set.



Other than that, we spent the days making dinner or going out to their favorite spots. Staying up late watching shows about food. I guess we all just love food. We passed the time until our departure Saturday morning.

 

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Saturday morning, Shaun and I said our goodbyes to our wives midmorning and got on the road around 9:30am. We hopped on the highway, turned the AC on and cruised. For like 2 hours. Then, there was a strong smell of brakes, and the air began blowing out warm. We stopped for a restroom and checked the AC compressor. The clutch was in a few pieces. It had gotten so hot it melted itself apart and the steel return springs were a deep purple. We cut the AC drive belt so it wouldn't get any worse, and then it was windows the rest of the way.



The Power Tour event begins Monday in Memphis. But Memphis is about 12 hours non-stop from Tavares, so we broke it up into two days. Shaun and Jenny have friends near Birmingham, AL, which we thought was about the midpoint. It was about 9 hours to get there, though. Oops. We realized when we were already on the way. We arrived at Tom and Deb's gorgeous farm hot and sweaty.



We were greeted warmly by Deb and she showed us around, and to a room we could sleep in. They had their house built recently to their own design, and it's absolutely beautiful. The land around it is gently rolling hills surrounded by woods and hosts several horses, a few goats, chickens, cats, and dogs. It's so lovely there. When her husband Tom arrived home, we all headed out to dinner in Hoover. They showed us a great pizza place called Brixx. Fantastic pizza.



Over dinner I started to get a sense of what Alabama is actually like. In my experience there the past week, it's nothing at all like the rumors and stereotypes. We lamented to our hosts about our air conditioning situation. Deb said, "you gotta talk to my hayman". She said he was going to the same event we were attending and that he has old cars. So, she put us in touch, and by the end of the meal, we had arranged to stop by Wally's place the next morning. What's the worst that could happen?

After dinner, we sat in their pool a while to relax and cool off before bed.

 

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I woke up well before Shaun, so I relaxed a while. I made myself a coffee from our cooler. I did some yoga. I toured the farm and saw the animals. I didn't get too close, because I didn't know if they were comfortable around strangers and whatnot. I think there's 9 horses, 2 goats, 5 chickens and 2 cats? It's a beautiful piece of property. I found a comfy seat next to the pool and started to write to you guys. But everyone else woke up before I finished, and eventually what I'd started got deleted. So, I did TRY and it's not entirely my fault.

Deb really wanted to cook food for us, so we had this massive breakfast. There were pancakes and hash browns from scratch, eggs, sausage, grapes and I can't even remember what else. It was basically a feast. We chatted for a while since we had some time to kill. Mister Wally, Deb's hayman, wouldn't be available to help us out with the AC clutch until around 1pm. But he was a half hour away, so eventually we said our goodbyes and drove over.

We met Wally in his shop, and he showed us around quickly while he was looking over disassembled engines in search of the correct part we needed. After a few minutes searching, he was convinced that he had just thrown away what he thought he still had. We thought, "oh well, not a show-stopper", but Mr. Wally was not having it. He was super apologetic, and very sincere. He went way above and beyond. He called O'Reilly "just down the street" and had them pull the part for us and set it aside. Then, he had the truck brought into his shop with the hood opened and a large fan on it to cool the engine down. He gave us the keys to his Savana and told us to go grab the part and let him know when we got back to the shop. We had met with this man for all of ten minutes at this point. We were so thankful, but also a bit in shock. We obviously weren't going to steal this man's van, but how would he know that?

Anyway, we hopped in and thanked him profusely. We had been debating swapping the clutch in at a parts store parking lot, but we hadn't really thought that doing the work on a cooled-down truck would even be an option. We were suddenly actually looking forward to doing the work. The parts store that was "right down the street" was nearly a 2-hour round trip but we got what we needed and set to work. For whatever reason, we decided to do things the harder way by removing the compressor from its mount rather than removing the fan shroud. But either way, we got it swapped out and set the air gap to the specified 0.030", threw on a new belt and tested everything. No issues. We buttoned up last minute items and were good to go.

"Come check out my other junk," Mr. Wally said. So, we hopped in his work truck and drove down a dirt road to another house on the property. We found a treasure trove of awesome cars in the basement there. There was a beautiful restomod C10 pickup with a LS swap and 4L80e and a zillion other things I'm not going to list here. There was a 79? Camaro Z28 and a sixty-...eight? Camaro, both with carb'd small blocks. Both beautifully restored, factory-looking cars, but with modern ignition, air-conditioning, and digital instrument panels. There was a seventy? seventy-two? Chevelle with an LS-swap and a 4L80e. The outside of the car was completely untouched, save for the classic Torq-Thrust wheels. It looked like it hadn't been washed in a decade or two but was in really good shape. Completely new drivetrain though, but no way to tell from the outside. There was a third-gen Camaro convertible as well. I think this car was mostly original; way cool to look at, but we joked about how disappointingly slow they all were. Then there was a Cadillac Sedan de Ville. I'm not even sure what year it was. But it was gorgeous. Just a mega-yacht of a car with 150,000 pieces of trim like they used to do. It had 29,000 miles on it, and it was in 100% perfect shape, completely unchanged. If you've ever closed the door on one of these, you know. CHUNK. Like sealing a vault.





We spent a while talking over the finer points of all the work that had been done to each car. We also learned that Wally had been a drag racer in his younger years, with a fastest ET of 7.7s, which is insanely fast. He still races eighth mile tracks, but he doesn't travel to quarter mile tracks anymore. He spends most of his time tending the farm animals, which includes Hank the camel, making hay, and building cars for customers. If you're in the market, check out https://www.lickskilletperformance.com/. They honestly perform beautiful work. The C10 they have is perfection in truck form. We thanked them profusely for everything and made our way back to our ride and headed towards Memphis.



The ride was mostly uneventful. We did encounter one issue with the AC clutch dragging while it was commanded OFF. Which didn't really make sense. As soon as we heard it, we flipped the switch ON and it fully engaged and we stayed chilling for the remainder of the ride. We figured this is probably what smoked the previous clutch, and didn't want to encounter that again. The solution was simple enough. We agreed to adjust the air gap larger in the morning, and see if that resolved it.



If you guys remember, Mandy and I stopped for lunch in Memphis at the beginning of this thread. It was really nice, and we had planned to stick around for a night, but the weather was forecast to be super cold, so we got back on the highway after lunch that day. That Memphis was NOT the same Memphis Shaun and I found when we got off the highway and approached our AirBnb. The main road was completely bombed out and very rough going. The convenience stores were all the style that had a group of people standing in the parking lot at 11pm and bars on the windows. We approached a red light and one such group made a beeline directly towards the truck, so we kept driving so as not to get literally car jacked. It was super uncomfortable. But we pushed on to the place we were staying. Luckily, it had discreet parking behind the house, not visible from the street. It was not super nice, but it was nice enough for our purposes. We moved all our stuff inside and crashed after a beer to help relax. What a rollercoaster of a day!

 

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Monday was day 1 of Hot Rod Power Tour and it started off just right: under the hood. The job was small, thankfully. We just pulled off the mechanical fan and shroud to get clearance to install the AC clutch puller tool. We loosened the retaining nut and backed off the clutch an amount. I don't really know. We fired it up to make sure the gap wasn't too large to engage the clutch and then slammed everything back in. We loaded up all our stuff from the room back into the truck bed. Mainly the cooler. That was the most important piece. We had just a short ride, about a mile, to the venue. It took us far too long to park at the venue. Probably an hour. There was one sandwich-board type sign at the entrance, one cop standing well off the road looking at his phone, and no other traffic management. We were a bit bewildered, but we went on with it anyways. Parking was such a disaster that Shaun said frig it and drove to the furthestmost corner of an empty lot and parked under a shade tree, just so we could be done with it.



We opened a beer and started mingling with the riff raff. So, something you guys need to know, I guess, is that the GMC truck we were in was exactly the opposite of who we are as people. It's in perfect condition, and it's really slow. And it's completely original (except, I think, the wheels). No mods = no care. I mean, it's beautiful. But it's about as boring as it gets in my opinion. And Shaun and I are car people, so we're interested in the work more than the vehicle, if that makes sense. It will in a bit, I think. I just wanted to put that out there, so you aren't making assumptions because we drove a pretty truck. It was supposed to be a big turbo V8 Firebird but the timing of things was such that the truck was what was available.

So, anyway. The guys parked right behind us were in a very old, very rough Bronco. The truck parked next to them was a fox-body Mustang. Yes, truck.



We found our people. Instantly hit it off. We had an awesome time hanging out with all of them talking dumb car stuff all day. Eventually, we heard from Wally. They'd had trouble with one of the cars in their convoy getting vapor locked. We found them in the parking lot as they were arriving and parking and we discussed solutions. Shaun and I set off in search of a carb spacer plate to help keep the fuel cooler so it wouldn't boil inside the bowl. We went to all the vendor booths, but none had any parts on hand that would help, unfortunately. Then, while we were there, we watched some people autocross which was fun. Some more underwhelming than others, but no less entertaining. We moseyed our way back through the car show towards where we were parked. We stopped to check out a C2 Corvette that I didn't loathe. I'm not a fan of Corvettes pretty much at all, but Shaun was determined to find one I liked. (Spoiler - we found one, but it wasn't this one) The owner had done a mountain of work to the car, and happily explained it all to us. He has owned it for 40 years, he said. After we talked to him for quite a while, he offered us BBQ from the giant smoker-trailer parked right next to him. Hell yeah! Never saying no to BBQ. It was amazing, and we thanked him profusely. Eventually, we went along our way back to the truck, checking things out all along the way.





Back at the truck, we had a new neighbor...thing. I guess it was a truck? It has a pickup bed. We both immediately knew that it was the perfect vehicle, so we started talking to the two guys sitting next to it. To set the scene, it was afternoon, they were under an awning pitched next to the truck in folding chairs. Chainsmoking cigars with a nearly-empty case of Coronas between them. I think only one of them was drinking, though. We learned all about the "truck": it's an S10 extended-cab frame with an S10 single cab. The suspension sits very low. The cab roof is chopped dramatically and very poorly reskinned. One of the doors is chopped decently, the other is just cut off. The hood and fenders don't exist. The engine is an old carb'd 350. The grill is from a 40s-era full-size truck, as is the bed. Strapped into the bed with steel cables and turnbuckles is an old military electronics equipment box. On the roof of the cab sits a generator which is used to power a wall-mounted AC inside the box, which is their storage and sleeping quarters. The whole thing is so wild, we fell in love immediately. The owners were super cool, too. We talked with them for quite a while, until we left the show.



We went to Hattie B's for hot chicken sandwiches for dinner and drank tons of water because we were pretty beat from standing in the sun all day, and definitely dehydrated. We went back to the same AirBnb, but only moved the most valuable items out of the bed and inside. We fell down a YouTube rabbit hole for a while and then went to sleep.

 

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So, a major goal of Hot Rod's events like Power Tour and Drag Week, is to encourage people to check out backwater, middle-American towns that no one's ever heard of. To that end, they compose a list of off-highway, turn-by-turn directions to get from venue to venue each day. They said to depart the Memphis venue at 8:00am. So, while we had already left, it was just down the street from where we'd stayed, so we went back to start day 2. Traffic getting into the venue was much more manageable Tuesday than it had been Monday. We arrived right around 8 after we got donuts at Midtown Donuts. They were fantastic, by the way.

We didn't stick around super long before people started rolling out of the venue, so we hopped in line. Somehow, immediately behind the same S10 thing we discovered the previous day. Kismet. We both agreed aloud that although we hadn't discussed anything with these guys about where they were going or what their planned route was, we were following them for the day. Whether they made it or not, we wanted to partake in whatever journey they were on. So as dozens of cars all around us turned onto the highway, we followed the S10 the other way. And it wasn't long before we were on gorgeous country roads rolling through miles and miles of farmland. Huge win. There were two 50-something Bel Airs behind us who had taken the same approach, apparently. They just followed us blindly.



Eventually, we had to stop for gas. We drove past two empty gas stations because they were on the left side of the road. And then there was nothing at all until we were nearly on fumes. We had no choice, but the gas station we ended up at was completely slammed with local traffic that clearly didn't understand gas station fundamentals. One car was getting a jumpstart, and the donor car was essentially blocking the entire entrance. Another car needed fuel and so parked a good 10 feet away from the pump, blocking that pathway completely. But the music was left playing at volume 11 while the driver climbed out of the window to go hang out for a while inside the convenience store. A car that was actually actively refueling finished, and the owner looked at their phone a while, creeping ever so slowly to the door to get in. And continue phonetime. The station was being refueled as well, but I can't fault that person for doing their job. But it added to the mayhem. We finally made it work, and we filled 2 auxiliary fuel containers as well. Once the four cars were filled that had been riding together, we set out on the way.

We eventually encountered some others that were on Power Tour as well. And then actual traffic from so many hot rods in one spot. Then we lost the Bel Airs that had been following us. We caught up with a few cars that were stopped on the side of the road so we stopped to ensure they didn't need anything we could provide. One car was vapor locking because the fuel was boiling in the carb. Shaun set to work setting up a fuel return line using parts that were on hand by pure luck. They iced down the carb to condense the fuel vapor and unlock the bowl then everyone continued on the way. We stopped for lunch with Cory and Ryan? (I think it was Ryan, but I'm not sure) who were in the S10 thing. I joked that my feet hurt from being too cold because we had to turn on the air conditioning. They hated that. I got the okayest Cuban sandwich and a wicked good beer that was huge and dirt cheap. I honestly forget where we stopped and what beer it was.



The rest of the ride was uneventful, save for a quick fuel stop. I believe we more or less followed the prescribed route. Not 100%, but pretty close to it. We arrived at Nashville Superspeedway at 5:15pm. The event at the racetrack was scheduled for noon to 6pm. We scratched our heads at how we were possibly supposed to do the prescribed drive AND participate in the autocross, Dyno challenge, car show, etc. at the racetrack. So, we parked next to Cory and Ryan and had a beer sitting in our folding chairs under the awning. The Bronco boys, whose names we never got, found us and hung out a while even though they were on their way out. After an hour or two, we got a warning we were being kicked out so they could close down the venue. So, we made for the gate.



On the way, Shaun recognized someone under a hood, so we stopped to see if help was required. I'm not sure if this is the best way to tell the story, but I feel like it can be difficult to follow so I'm going to start with the punchline. Keep in mind that we didn't know this at the time - no one did - the car was completely out of fuel. So, the owner, for whatever reason, began replacing the mechanical fuel pump on the engine block. But apparently on Pontiac engines, there's a trick to reinstallation that isn't common knowledge. But Shaun is familiar. I'm not. So, he dove in to help out. I hung out with Cory and Ryan staying out of the way offering totally unhelpful heckling.

We were kicked out again, so everyone moved outside the gates, the car under the knife was towed with a rope to the other side of the fence. And we setup shop outside the oval. We began quoting Sling Blade at the wrenching crew "Ain't got no gas in it." To which they replied to shut up, and that we're idiots. Breaking news. We thought it was hilarious and that's all that mattered. They finally got the fuel pump installed and the car still refused to start. They began diagnosing and eventually made their way to the fuel tank and tapped on it. Ting! Ting! Completely bone dry. I don't even think it had fumes in it. To their credit, they actually admitted the idiots had been right all along and we all had a deep belly laugh. There was much gloating. We poured in some gas and sent them on their way.



MEANWHILE all that was going on, another car and another crew had been towed out of the gate and was being repaired just next to us. I was comfy in my chair having fun being an idiot, so Shaun went over to see if they needed help. Apparently, they did. They were installing HEI I think, in a car that didn't originally have it. Kind of weird time and place to be installing mods but I didn't get the whole story. He helped get the car timed and back together in fairly short order.



There was another car nearby, but he refused to get involved. By this time, it was around 11pm so we went to our hotel for the night. When we pulled in, a small group were gathered around their cars in chairs in the parking lot. Somehow, they sensed it as we were walking by, "Hey do you guys want some pizza?" SO thankful. We had completely forgotten about eating, but the timing was perfect. They gave us an ENTIRE pizza and some bread sticks. It was SO GOOD. We checked in and headed back out to the parking lot to chill for a while, but they all headed in fairly soon after. We thanked them again for their kindness and turned in as well.

 

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Wednesday, we agreed to forget the prescribed route and just hit highway to get to Hoover, Al quickly rather than scenically. The previous day's ride was fun and pretty, but we weren't as interested in sitting in the truck for 9 hours again yet. Maybe tomorrow.



The ride was pretty simple. We hopped on the highway and cruised. About 10 minutes or so into the ride, we were forced to turn on the AC (the horror!), so we didn't smoke the clutch because it was dragging again. I guess it needs more gap, but we were disinclined to mess with it when we could much easier just turn the system on. We cruised until we needed fuel and stopped at a Shell, specifically. Shaun gets a military discount at Shell. Upon leaving the gas station, the truck displayed a stumbly idle. It barely wanted to stay running. We gave a cursory review under the hood with no findings. We hopped on the highway, foot-braking at each red light along the way to keep it running. Off-idle, it ran fine. Once we were on the highway, the issue went away. We cruised at speed for a few hours, worrying about what would happen when we inevitably arrived at the Hoover Met Complex. Nothing happened.



We cruised into the venue without issue. We decided that either we'd run the truck so low on gas that it picked up a piece of something and it somehow got through two separate fuel filters, or there was some bad fuel. Either way, the issue never recurred. We pulled into the parking lot with directions this time, which was nice. Somehow, the S10 thing had just parked as we were pulling in, and there was an empty spot nearby, so we parked next to them. We pitched the awning and chairs and grabbed a beer. This spot was fantastic, because the line of cars entering had to drive right past the front end of both trucks. So rather than walking around the show, we could sit while the show drove past us. We had a hilarious time watching the traffic, commenting on things we liked and didn't. Eventually, Cory and Ryan had to head home; they weren't completing the full Power Tour. We were a bit sad to see them go because we'd had such an awesome time hanging out with them at each stop, completely impromptu each time. As soon as they were leaving, the Bronco boys showed up and pulled into the vacant spot. We kept the party going.

Eventually, Shaun and I wanted to try to find Wally to see how his week was going. He was near "the start of the food line" or something like that, according to a single text message he sent. We tried to find a food line, but all we saw were a few scattered food vendors. So, we never found him. But we did see a bunch of cool cars on the journey. We passed through the vendor booths again in search of some people whose YouTube channels we watch, but they were MIA. We wandered over to the autocross track and watched some people sending their cars across the pavement. Shaun wanted to race the truck, but the whole week had been exceptionally hot, and that is really abusive to the vehicle, so he was hesitant. Understandably. We started to zig-zag our way back towards the truck through the car show and then we found it. The one Corvette I've ever liked.



It's a C4. With a cut up Dakota body on it. And it's perfect. We talked to the couple that built it for a while. I gave them credit for my favorite Corvette of all time. They really appreciated that. They told us a by-now familiar story of "finishing" (they're never really done, are they?) it up the day before heading out to the event. I think all car people are that kid in school who procrastinates and then stays up all night to bang out a project the night before it's due. We hung out at the truck a while longer before heading out.





We went back to Deb and Tom's, where we'd stayed Saturday night, since they were right down the street and insisted that we return. We were happy to save money on a hotel for a night and meet up with two awesome people again. When we got there, heat exhaustion was setting in for me. We sat in their kitchen and met their eldest daughter Nicky while Deb whipped up a charcuterie board. I got the chills. I chalked it up to their AC being so cold inside the house. I was also too queasy to eat much more than a few apple slices. And I started shaking. I took a shower which started helping. I just stood under the warm water for a while. Then, we all decided to go out to eat. I wasn't too keen on eating, but I figured I should at least try and get something in me. We went to a tex-mex place right down the street. It was actually right down the street, not Alabama "down the street" which seems to mean an hour away. I was slowly feeling better and better, and I actually got most of my taco bowl down. That helped, too. By the time we got back to their house, I was feeling almost normal. I definitely needed some sleep, then I'd be all set. We watched a few videos from people on Power Tour and then passed out.

 

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The route for Thursday just following standard GPS instructions was going to be about 5 hours, so we never even considered looking at the backroads way. Perhaps there wasn't even one. I don't know. We hit the road pretty early and thanked our hosts once again for dealing with us and being generally amazing. We went into Walmart to get a few things but all we managed to get from our list was toothpaste, and sunglasses since I broke mine. The sunglasses were only $2 so that was a win. We went across the parking lot to IHOP for breakfast which turned out to be a whole thing. There were only a handful of parties in the whole restaurant, and there were a dozen employees milling about, but getting their attention was akin to pulling teeth. We somehow ended up with 6 coffees, but we waited an eternity to get the check. We poured the coffees into our own insulated mugs to go, and we had to move to the exit to get them to finally give us the check. It seemed like they were willfully ignoring us. It was strange.

We hit the highway after that and bombed to Florida. Pensacola, specifically. Pensacola Fairgrounds, precisely. As we were getting close, we stopped for fuel. I went in to hit the restroom while Shaun dealt with fuel. On my way out, I spied a case of White Claws. I knew the cooler was empty, so I grabbed two bags of ice, too. I completely missed Shaun on his way in and my way out. He'd finished refueling and parked to use the restroom. I filled the cooler and closed the tonneau. I was talking to a fellow Power Tourer in the parking lot when Shaun came back out. With a case of White Claws and ice. I just burst out laughing as he moved towards the tailgate to open the cooler. Same exact thought process, just different flavors of drinks.



We loaded back up and hit the road. The fairgrounds weren't much further, and we made no additional stops. We grabbed a spot in the parking lot and had a Claw or two a piece. No one seemed to stick around their vehicles at this stop. We watched the traffic pouring in for a while and then decided to head towards the vendors to see if we could find any famous people. We checked out a bunch of cool stuff along the way. There's a lot of the same cars that drive the whole tour, but there's also new and interesting stuff at each stop that only shows up for one day. So, it's not necessarily the same car show over and over, although there is some overlap.



We made it to the vendors area and found some people we recognized from the internet. They were signing autographs and whatnot, so we moved along. Not really into all that. We checked out some of the cars that were on display in various booths and met up with Emily and Aaron of Flying Sparks Garage YouTube fame. I dunno if they're actually "famous" or where that threshold is. But Shaun and I both recognized them, and we chatted with them for a bit about some of the issues they'd been having with their Bronco that they posted in a video. It was awesome chatting with them and cheersing a beer with them. It was cool, if a little disheartening, to get their perspective on this event. They don't get to see nearly any of the stuff Shaun and I had witnessed and partaken, because they generally have to stick around their vendor's booth to meet with fans and whatnot. It's sad that they miss out on so much awesome stuff.



We moseyed back over to where Dave Newbern and Mike Cotten (or is it Cotton? I forget) had been signing autographs, because there were no fans around at this point. We recognized them both from a few different shows on Motor Trend and YouTube, and we talked to them for a bit. Newbern got pulled into a different conversation, but we ended up talking to Cotten for quite a while. His passion is minitrucks, and though I've never had one, I've always thought they were cool. I think I posted a picture here of one I randomly saw in Salt Lake City. He was stoked to talk minitrucks because it's kind of a dying subculture, and most don't care about them anymore. He told us all about the bodywork he'd done on his Blazer which we didn't even realize was there, which is how you know he did a good job.



We made our way back to Shaun's truck and then moved it over to the mobile chassis dyno. It was finally time to see what this monster was capable of. We knew it would be pretty boring, as we'd been in the thing for a whole week. But we devised a scheme to make it more interesting. We put some science into it. The setup was you pay a flat fee for three runs on the dyno. Additional pulls after that are cheaper. But we were working with three. So, first, we did a regular run with the AC on and the lights on. Then, we did a run with all that off. Then, we pulled off the air filter lid. The main thing we were after was how much power do the accessories cost. Any guesses? Twenty-eight horsepower. I was honestly surprised. I would have guessed about half that. Our highest-power run resulted in 198hp. I forget the torque numbers, I think it was somewhere around 300. The highlight of the whole thing was when the guy running the dyno told us that of the whole week, ours was his most interesting run. It wasn't the most impressive, it wasn't the least impressive. It wasn't extreme in any way, but it was interesting. Mission accomplished.



We did a big one-wheel-peel on our way out to celebrate our own stupidity. We found the Bronco boys in the spectator lot again. They told us the engine in the Bronco was getting louder. Perhaps a rod knock, or some top end noise. Not really sure. Were they going to investigate it or attempt to resolve it? Absolutely not. Were they going to give up on the Tour? Hell no. Like I said from the start - we'd found our people. We hung around a while until the crowd started to thin, and then we headed out in search of dinner. We had a recommendation for a place with some food trucks that ended up being a bust, and so we cruised on our way towards our AirBnb. Along the way, we found a taco shop, so we pulled in there right quick and ordered a burrito each. They were wicked good. We left fully satisfied.

We got to our accommodations for the night and Shaun was very uncomfortable leaving his truck in that neighborhood, so we kept driving. I couldn't really tell, but I trusted his judgement since he lives in Florida, and I generally avoid it. We drove a bit further along until we found a suitable hotel and worked on booking a room. Mandy and Jenny booked the room before Shaun or I could even pull up the proper website so that was amazing. We checked in, parked as discreetly as we could, and then headed straight to the pool. There were several other Power Tour cars around in the parking lot, so we were comforted by some strength in numbers. We steeped in the pool for an hour or so until we were pretty well and tired, and then we headed to bed.

 

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Friday, we woke up and got breakfast in the hotel lobby. It was fine. I wouldn't write home about it, but I'd write to you guys. See? I am right now. We hopped in the truck and onto the highway. The first three hours of this leg of the Tour were literally the same piece of highway as the day before. The event organization needs some work. But, again, it was to be a super long day, even on the all-highway route. Plus, Mandy and Jenny were on their way to meet us in Atlanta at the racetrack. So, we thought if we got there somewhat early, maybe they'd check out the show with us. And there was drag racing Friday only, which we definitely wanted to not miss out on. So that was the thought process for another day of not taking the prescribed route.

Around the Alabama/Georgia line, the route became new to us. We headed straight to Atlanta Motor Speedway which ended us up on some backroads anyways. And I pulled up the prescribed route just out of curiosity and was surprised to find we were on it. I guess they threw in the towel on trying to provide an interesting, back-country route for the participants. Who knows. But towards the end of the ride, we were in a decent amount of traffic and hungry. So, we started looking for a spot to stop for lunch. As soon as we started looking, there it was. Isabel Mex Grille. We popped into there to find a nearly empty restaurant. They were clearly understaffed, because about a dozen tables were yet to be bussed. So, we tempered our expectations and found a clean table. We waited patiently, and they promptly brought us some chips and salsa. The salsa was amazing! The chips weren't bad either. I ordered a margarita. Tall, because I'm passengering, right? What the hell. It was a literal stein of margarita. It was so much, but it was so good. I ordered grilled chicken and rice and beans with veggies. I forget what it was actually called, but it had a mango sauce. It was wicked good. Everything was awesome, actually. We bought some salsa to go, even, because it was that good. We crushed the final leg of the ride to the raceway and found a spot to park.

Not long after, the Bronco pulled in next to us. It's crazy how easy it is in a sea of thousands of cars each day, to find the ones you know. We never once made a phone call to locate our people. It just happens organically which is so cool. We didn't stick around with them for very long; we had business to conduct. The drag racing was open for another hour or so, and we were determined to enter. The competition needed to be destroyed and we had the vehicle to do it. We walked the grounds first, to figure out where we had to drive to. Then, we hustled back to the truck and drove over to the entrance. Shaun signed the waiver, and I hopped out because no passengers, and he was off. I ran over to the track (which in the real world is the pit lane) to get some video. What a rocket! Not really. It's slower than slow. But it was hilarious to watch. He circled back and got in line again. I moved further up the track so I could document some real blistering speed. I bet she hit almost 50mph! My phone overheated from too much horsepower, so I got no video and only a few good pictures.



He texted; it was my turn to take it for a rip. So, I ran down the track and scribbled on the waiver, threw my helmet on and strapped in. There were only a few cars making laps, so it was no time at all before I was in the burnout box letting 'er eat. I had driven some along the route, but this was different. It's hard to learn how to drag race a new vehicle in the full 30 seconds that I had. I did a burnout and rolled out some. I don't really know how well. It's not like it was going to break traction anyways, so it was inconsequential. I rolled up to the line and stood on the brakes to try and figure out where the stall was. But the tach taps out at 1500rpm. So, it wasn't straightforward. I think I pushed through the line some. But they weren't timing anyways. So, whatever. At the signal, I lifted from the brakes and held the throttle against the carpet. It was as mundane as you'd expect 198hp in a long bed pickup to be. LOVED IT! At the end of the pit lane, I was directed back down the track along the oval. I hopped in line again because there were a few cars still lining up. Same process, but this time I was next to something rather loud. So, I waited to do the burnout until they were done, so I could actually hear what was going on. Second pass was just as fantastically boring. A real thrill ride. After that, I pulled off the track and parked it to let it cool off.

I found Shaun and we realized that we could participate in the next event. They were closing the drag racing so that cars could line up to take laps around the full oval. Hell yes! We immediately figured out how to get in that line. It took a while, but we slowly made our way back to the pit lane. This was a much more popular activity, so we were hanging out in the pit lane for a while before our row finally got to go. We talked with other drivers while we waited. Then we strapped in and took two laps around Atlanta Motor Speedway. What an experience! It was honestly the highlight of the whole week. We were paced fairly slowly, but Shaun backed off on the straights so he could hammer it in the turns. The angle of the bank requires it, otherwise the truck wants to roll down the hill. It's so freaking steep! It was amazing. I tried to focus on the experience but also get video of it. And then it was all over in a blink. We laughed our way back to the lawn where we were parked earlier and shut the truck down for a while.



Mandy and Jenny had arrived, and I spent some time explaining where we were located so they could find us. They eventually made it, and we were so happy to see them again. Loki too, of course. And he was just as excited. We wanted to share the whole story of everything we'd seen and done right then and there, but it's so much and we didn't know where or how to start. It was hot out, and the grass was limited, so we didn't stick around long mainly for the sake of Loki's feet. The pavement was hot. We said our goodbyes and we all piled into the truck and Jenny drove us to the van which was outside the oval. Back home, we swapped over all my clothes and whatnot from the truck into the van, said bye to Shaun and Jenny, and set out for Phenix City, AL.

Mandy drove and I tried to recap the whole week along the way. Not far into the drive, we passed a car with its hood open and a jumpstart attempt in progress with a spare battery. We stopped to find they did need help. The jumper cables were not ideal, and the spare battery may not have been full, I'm not sure. We got them up and running in short order and carried on our way. They were very appreciative. The rest of the ride was uneventful. We arrived at my buddy Justin's house around 9pm. Or 8pm? It was really confusing because the time zone line passes through his property. Or really close to it. So, it was some time in the evening. We basically disregarded the clocks for the most part because it wasn't super important. Anyways, we hadn't seen him for nearly a decade, so we spent the night catching up with him and meeting his wife. Sometime around midnight, we finally went to sleep in in their house.

 

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I did pretty crappy taking pictures for a few days. I was feeling somewhat burnt out from it. So, I'll give you a few days writing instead of just one with pictures. I dunno if that helps or makes it worse. Deal with it.

Saturday, we hung out with Justin and his wife Christina for the morning. He made us a delicious breakfast of sausage, egg, and cheese sandwiches and home fries. So good! Christina had to work early, so she ditched us midmorning. The rest of us headed across town to Chewacla State Park to check it out and hike some trails with Loki. This was a pretty neat spot. There's a pond or small lake with a nice swimming area. It has a high diving board which I've never seen at an outdoor public swimming area. I was really tempted to jump off it but ultimately I was too lazy. Instead, we walked around the pond to check out the waterfalls. There was a weird cave formed inside the dam wall so I climbed in to check it out. There was a mega spider chilling on the wall right next to my face halfway in, so I ran back out immediately. We continued walking the trails but it was insanely humid, so we were all sweating profusely by the time we made it back to the van.

I quickly changed out of my drenched clothes, and we drove to Red Clay Brewery for a beer. They let Loki inside which is always appreciated. He crashed out on the cold cement floor and loved it. We each tried a different beer and we got a couple pretzels too. The beers were okay, but the pretzels were amazing. Get the mustard, too. It's spicy and delicious. They might have been better than the ones we got at Oktoberfest in Munich.

We eventually left Red Clay and headed to a grocery store to get some stuff to make dinner. Justin refused to let us pay or cook. That southern hospitality takes a lot to get used to. It's so foreign but it's really appreciated. Back at their house, once Christina got back from work, they started making us dinner on the grill. We had burgers and brats and pasta salad. It was all delicious and we ate until we were full. Then we hung around the patio in their backyard for the rest of the night reminiscing and telling jokes. It was too hot outside for a fire, but it didn't matter. We loved it all the same. Eventually we all got tired and so we went inside to sleep.

Sunday, Christina had to work early again. We said goodbye to her on her way out, but we stuck around a bit longer. We were going to hit the road from their house, but first we wanted to take Justin out for lunch. It was the least we could do. So, we went to Jar Fly and shared one last meal. I got a burger and they both got rice bowls. I dunno about the bowls but the burger was outstanding. After lunch, we said bye to Justin and made our way out of town.

We drove to Helen, GA and parked in a public lot downtown. We were pumped to find that it allows overnight parking. We hopped out, paid, and began wandering the town on foot. The town was going crazy, there were so many people there! I'd been once before a long time ago for Southern Worthersee which is a VW/Audi car show. It was busy then, but I didn't anticipate it would be so packed without an event going on. In fairness, it was Father's Day, so perhaps that drew some people in. It seemed most were floating down the river. It looked like a really fun time, but we had to pass because Loki doesn't like to float on things and we couldn't just leave him in the van, obviously. We found a wine tasting room where we sampled a few different wines and ended up taking a sweet red to go. We put it in the fridge and then followed the river all the way across town.

The party at the downstream end of the river was even busier than other parts of the town. It was totally packed with people picnicking and partying and hanging out. It looked like an awesome way to end a river float. We circled back on a different road to head across town again. Mandy popped into a chocolate shop that Justin and Christina recommended and got some truffles for us. Then, we made our way back to the van for dinner. Along the way, we stopped at Alpine Brew Deck to grab a beer and watch the river from above. The deck is lovely, and the live music was a nice touch. We sat next to a couple from Georgia and talked with them for a bit until they left. They were enamored with Loki and missing their dogs which were at home. Their accents were so thick that some of the conversation went over our heads, but it was a pleasant conversation anyways. I love the southern accent, even if I can't fully understand it. It just sounds so relaxing. We also talked to an employee briefly who said that the crowd was pretty typical for a weekend in the summer which I found interesting. It's cool that their tourism is obviously booming. After the beer, we made our way back to the van and opened it up to help it cool off as we wound down until we went to bed.

 

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Monday, we woke up and walked around a bit in a completely different town. It was the same town, but there were almost no people around. It felt totally different. We just went around Unicoi Hill Park with Loki and then we set out in the van from town. We drove from Helen, GA to Asheville, NC pretty much directly. We got out in downtown Asheville and wandered around a bit. We tried to find a grocery store that was on Google Maps, but it was just a statue, so that was a bust. We went to Whole Foods instead, which actually existed. We were short on most things, so it was a pretty thorough shopping trip. We loaded up the fridge and by that time we were almost out of parking; we'd only paid for 2 hours. So, we moved to a park just up the street that was free to park at. Mandy walked around with Loki, and I worked on writing to you guys for a while. Eventually, we started thinking about dinner and parking for the night and we decided to head out.

We drove from Asheville to Blue Ridge Parkway. I had to check. I always confuse it with Skyline Drive, which is fair I feel like, because they're essentially the same road. So, don't judge me, okay? Anyways, we cruised a bunch of the Parkway, and eventually found a campground which was full and was hike-in-only sites, so we kept driving. A bit further down the road, there was a single hike-in tent site with a parking space just off the road, so we snagged that. We didn't hike in or pitch a tent, but that's okay. We were technically on a side road, not the parkway (I think it was called Curtis Creek Rd?), and there was almost zero traffic. We saw more mountain bikes than cars in the entire time we were there.

We set to work on making dinner. This night was baked chicken breast and asparagus and potato chips. Not actually chips. They were sliced like chips and then air fried, but they didn't come out as crispy as Mandy was hoping for. They were still good, but more like a slightly mushy texture with a skin. It sounds disgusting when I describe it, but they were fine. You had to be there. Anyways. We didn't do much for the night, just hanging out mostly. Cleaning up dishes and whatnot, and then we laid down pretty early but didn't sleep right away. We watched a show first, and then went to sleep. I literally took no pictures of value.

Tuesday, we got up and we walked Loki down the road a bit. We hadn't gone downhill yet, so we checked that out. We're still getting used to being inside east-coast forests. They definitely hit different than out west. Maybe it's the maple trees? I've been trying to pinpoint the actual difference and it's tough. They have trees in Arizona for example. They have areas with a lot of trees. And they have tall trees. They have less undergrowth, in general, but I don't think it's that necessarily. The best way I can put it is that the forests out west feel like they hold less water. Normally, I'm not a fan of the humidity, but when you breathe it in, it's so good. But not if you're out in the sun. It's weird. Like I said, it's tough to explain. But the point is we're back and I'm appreciating it.

We walked back up to the van, packed up, and left. We drove to Wake Forest, NC. This one goes way back to the build thread, prior to this adventure thread. Some of you may remember, but we've been to Wake Forest in the van before. Our friends Ryan and Dani live there, and we were passing by, so we arranged to stop in again. We actually arrived before them, but we were given door codes to get in. We hooked up their dog, Delta, and took her for a walk with Loki around the neighborhood. They both loved it. I think Loki was actually excited to see Delta.

We made it back to their house, and I set to work on doing a tire rotation while Mandy wrangled the dogs. We have too much positive camber on the passenger's side front wheel. While I was on Hot Rod Power Tour, Mandy tried to get it fixed locally in Florida. She struck out at so many shops that she eventually gave up. Either their bays were not high enough, or they didn't have any availability until mid-July, or they didn't have the proper software for our year/make/model (this is a new one to me, not sure if it's legit). We have a friend with the tools to do it in the driveway in Massachusetts, so we'll deal with it when we get there. For now, I just want to spread the wear out over all the tires, so we don't wreck one fully, we just partially ruin all of them. You know what I mean?

Ryan and Dani arrived home separately while I was working on rotating the tires around. I was taking my time anyways. It was hot and humid, and I wasn't trying to be dripping sweat right before bed. Mandy worked on dinner once I got the last wheel back on the ground and was tightening lugs and putting the spare back up. She made us sausages and brussels sprouts with diced potatoes. It was so good. Perhaps because I was starving, who knows. But I gobbled it all up as I was putting tools away. I pulled out the compressor to inflate the rears, which had previously been fronts. The desired pressure is higher in the rear because there's more weight on that axle. We shoot for 55psi front and 65psi rear. I just went off the gauge on the compressor and left it slightly high. I like to use the TPMS to measure actuals and I figured I could just let air out and be done with the pump. Mandy said to leave it out anyways and we agreed if I put it away, I'd need it, and if I left it out, I wouldn't. The TPMS wouldn't display the tire pressures until I drove for "a few minutes". I decided to just do it in the morning; if I had to, I could drive around the neighborhood real quick to get the display to show the pressures.

We spent the rest of the evening chilling in the driveway with our friends in folding chairs and just catching up. We told them about our adventures in the past few weeks. They're generally pretty good at following what we're up to via our videos and we chat with them pretty regularly anyways. But it was fun to recap the most recent part of our journey anyway. Every time we do, it feels like dredging up memories from so long ago. Like if we tell a story from 2 weeks ago, it feels like it happened months ago. It's weird, but we enjoy it. Once everyone was getting tired, we said goodnight and headed to bed.

 

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Wednesday, we had a pretty leisurely morning. Ryan and Dani had to work, but not till mid-morning. So, they hung out with us a while as we made breakfast and made plans for the day. Sometimes it's actually tough not having real deadlines. Most times it's nice, though. I ran the van for a while, but the TPMS never displayed the pressures, so I took it for a drive around the neighborhood. Still no luck. I decided to just deal with it once we started driving to our next destination. We hung out a while longer chatting with Dani after Ryan had to start working, and then we packed up our chairs and headed out.

Some of my family was staying the week in Virginia Beach, VA, so we headed east. We arrived midafternoon and started catching up with everyone right away. They had a townhouse type of rental with a guest parking spot. So, we took the main spot right outside their door, and walked around a bit to stretch all our legs, Loki included. We ended up a couple blocks away at Barrel 17, stuck in a torrential downpour. They had an awning outside which we crowded underneath. Since we were trapped there anyways, we grabbed a beer to drink outside with Loki while the rain subsided. Eventually, it died down, and we went back to the townhouse.



Coming from the aviation industry, Virginia Beach is a really interesting location. There's a Navy base right nearby, and they are constantly running drills or something. Whatever they're actually doing, I don't presume to know, but the result is that there are constant F/A18 flyovers. All day long. It seems like in general they're heading out over the ocean in the morning, and then coming back in the evening. This is totally assumption, but my guess was that they're doing flying drills, and probably practicing landing on a carrier somewhere out at sea. Whatever it is, it was really cool to see the engines I used to test flying overhead. They use GE F414s and F404s. Depends on the variant, I think. I'm not that great at identifying aircraft, but in either case, we tested both. They're fricking L O U D. If you absolutely have to, you could probably yell at someone to communicate when they're flying by, but we learned quickly to just wait. I couldn't even hear my own voice if I was talking when one flew by. It's crazy loud.

We decided to walk to Icehouse for dinner. By "we", I mean not me, so I don't know what the criteria were. I was just along for the ride. And the food. It wasn't terribly far, so who cares. I got fried pork chops because they were a special of the night and they were wicked good. I think everyone else was a little underwhelmed with their food, but I tried to make the case for what was on the specials menu. No one wanted to listen to me. Oh well. I don't think anything was particularly bad, it just wasn't exceptionally good. Except the chops. That's the exception. The garlic mashed was perfect, too.



After dinner, we walked back to the van and the townhouse, and it was raining again. Of course. We didn't really care. The main thing was that Loki was inside the townhouse, so he wasn't getting wet, and of the three of us, he's the one that cares the most. Back at the van, we dried off and hung out with family inside for a while. My dad, stepmother, and twin half-brothers were there. The brothers are 15, so it's always hilarious to hang out with them. Eventually, the rain stopped, so we went out for another walk down towards the beach. We found a bar on the water, so we popped in to grab another beer. We played a few games of foosball on the rickety table they had in the bar, and James and Braden played some solid tracks on the jukebox. We had a really fun time until we eventually left and walked back. We hung out inside for a while before we went to the van to sleep.

 

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Thursday was still somewhat rainy and overcast, but we decided to hit up Motorworld for some go-karting action. It was pretty dead, probably because of the weather and whatnot, but we didn't care. We picked a track and bought tickets to go around it. We wanted to do the highest-speed track, but you have to have a license which my brothers do not. So, we picked the longest track instead. This one seems to have the next-fastest karts, so that was a lucky choice. We had the track nearly to ourselves; I think there were 2 or 3 other people out there with us. It was a wicked good time, perhaps just because I was in the front the whole time, and I had a fast kart. But I discovered early on that I didn't need to lift off the throttle at all on the entire circuit. Except at the end of each lap, because for some reason they collect one ticket per lap? I've never seen this method employed on a go kart track anywhere. It was kind of hugely inconvenient but whatever. Had a blast regardless. On lap 3 I started playing around with flicking the steering right to go left and vice versa to get the kart more sideways. It had the perfect amount of slide and power. It was great.

We shared stories after the race, and watched Mandy finish her lap even after we were completely out of the pit area. She was just out there for a casual cruise. Zero competitiveness, nor need for speed. She was just happy to be driving a convertible at a comfortable speed. Adorable. Afterwards, we watched everyone else drive karts for a bit and then made our way over to the high-speed track. Unfortunately, it had just begun to drizzle again, and so the track was closed due to wetness. We thought about trying to grab lunch and come back if the rain stopped. We drove over to Big Woody's just down the street for a bite to eat. The moment we stepped inside, it started to rain super heavily, so we knew right away go karting was off the table for the rest of the day. The food at Woody's was pretty good, we were pleasantly surprised. We each got a wrap and were satisfied.



After we left Big Woody's (don't worry, we made countless jokes about the name while we were there), we headed towards Tarnished Truth distillery. Since we're in the whiskey region, Mandy's been saying she wants to get something good for her dad because he likes whiskey. We were dressed for go-karting, and we pulled up outside one of the most gorgeous old brick buildings I've ever seen, and I was just like there's no way they're even going to allow us inside there. Let alone the fact that I would feel totally out of place in there dressed as I was. I looked online quickly and saw that a tour cost 20-something each. We quickly put that idea to bed. We went back to home base for a while to just hang out. The clouds started to break up and the sun peeked out, so we walked Loki around a bit. We ended up down the street at Vibrant Shore Brewing Company. I dunno, it just happened.

We were hanging out enjoying some awesome live music outside in the finally nice weather. A few people rolled up on bikes and appeared to be inspecting one of them. Braden is particularly interested in working on bikes, so I made him go investigate to see if they needed his help. They did. The chain had fallen off and they couldn't get it back on without tools due to the guard fitting so tightly. I grabbed some basics from the van, and he got to work putting it back together for Sarah, the bike's owner. I assumed it was Sarah with an H because she seemed like she likes to party. Anyways, she took it for a test ride and the chain fell off immediately. So, Braden loosened up the rear axle and snugged the chain properly and then tightened everything back up. Another test ride proved successful, and Sarah and her friends were very grateful. Braden was pumped to have a project, because he was otherwise just hanging out being 15 at a brewery and all.

After we left the brewery, we just hung out with the family in the townhouse until we got sleepy then we went to bed. Nothing super exciting, but it was relaxing and that was great. I was terrible with taking photos the whole weekend, I'm sorry.

 

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Friday, we woke up and the weather was gorgeous. We ate a quick breakfast and then took Loki for a walk all along the boardwalk. We went north till it ended, and then calculated it was about 2 miles to where we turned around. Not bad. We walked back making an approximately 4 miles loop. Loki was getting pretty sluggish towards the end, but he didn't overdo it. Just the right amount. Back at the van, we prepped for a beach day.

We walked to the beach midmorning and found a spot on the sand. It was pretty toasty outside, so we threw the frisbee around for a bit and then went into the water. The waves weren't as intense as what we encountered in St. Augustine, but they were fun to play in, nonetheless. We eventually got out and threw the frisbee around a while longer. Then back in the water. You can see the pattern here. Standard beach fare. Sun, sand, water, repeat. Anyway, we all eventually got hungry. As hungry as you get when you're in the sun all day. I dunno if it's just me, but it's usually more of knowing that I should be hungry, rather than actual hunger. It's weird.

We walked to a Mexican restaurant on the boardwalk and grabbed a table. I got tacos with pork belly, and they were delicious. The service wasn't stellar, perhaps they were just tired or something, I'm not sure. Or just a bad day. They seemed not super excited to be there, but then again, they're working on a beautiful day just away from the beach, so I get it. It wasn't bad, it just seemed a bit off, that's all. But it didn't really impact anything so whatevs! We enjoyed our meal and went along our way. We went back to the townhouse to get out of the sun for a bit and relax. It's exhausting!

We showered up and went back out to the boardwalk because there was a Latin music festival going on on the beach. We checked that out and it seemed like a really good time. Unfortunately, my legs were killing me from running around on the beach all day, and I was just generally feeling exhausted, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to. We hung around for a while people-watching and enjoying more live music, though. And we wandered along the boardwalk on our way back, which also hosts plenty more live music, sponsored by the city. We thought that was pretty awesome. There was way more foot- and car-traffic on Friday night than the previous nights. So, the people watching was far more exciting. And there were some interesting cars rolling by, too. We enjoyed the show as we made our way slowly back towards the van and the townhouse. We sat up on the third-floor balcony for a while watching the sunset and the car traffic, just relaxing before finally making our way to bed.

 

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Saturday morning, we got moving as soon as we were awake. We had a few pieces of clothing inside, hanging to dry. We had to grab those, and I made a quick breakfast sando as the rest of the family were getting up and getting out. It was about time to part ways as they had a long drive back to NH, and we had to recover some recent miles.

Remember when we did the tire rotation at Ryan and Dani's, and I had the air compressor out to adjust tire pressures? I left it in their driveway. So stupid. Ryan had called sometime after we left, but the best plan was to head back after we left the beach. We just drove straight there nonstop. We didn't really have a plan for the day other than that. So, when we got there, we asked for some recommendations nearby so we could be done with driving for the day. Ryan recommended Holly Point Campground and Rolling View Campground, both on Falls Lake. I believe they've only day-used both spots for walking their dog and whatnot. Totally arbitrarily, I chose Holly Point Campground. It was a short twenty-minute ride from their house, so we said our goodbyes - again - and set off.

We rolled into the toll booth at the campground and asked for a site for the night. We didn't reserve ahead, but you can. We just asked for whichever no-hookup site the attendant thought was the best one. She gave us number 43 and sent us on our way. It is a pretty nice site! But then again, almost all of them look really nice. They're flat, large, decently separated, and clean. What else is there? We walked the length of the park along the hiking trail from end to end and back. At the opposite end, we spent a little time at the beach, which apparently Loki is allowed on. I didn't see any "NO DOGS" signs, and there were a few others there without issue. He did his typical wade in up to his chest and then he pretty much wanted to get out. So, we made our way back to our campsite. We didn't do a heck of a lot for the rest of the day. We just took the opportunity to relax and read a while outside in the nature.



Eventually, Mandy set to work making dinner for us. Loki and I stayed outside as it was rather warm, and it's more comfortable outside than in. She whipped up some delicious beef lo mein with shiitake and pepper. It was hot for such a hot meal, but it was so worth it to endure the heat. We cleaned up and spent some more time chilling outside. I scrounged up some sticks from the ground to build a fire, but we only put in minimal effort because it was so warm outside. The fire was totally unnecessary, and only lasted for probably under an hour. Once it was lit, we only added a few branches to it and then just let it die. We felt guilty going to bed around 9, but I guess you can't party every day.