No Rest For The Weary

Well, as I said in the last entry, I got home from my little trip out west at 6:02pm on Friday, the 11th. After hello's and howdy's I headed for the shower and got some of the road dust washed off my hide. After that we headed for the Texas roadhouse for a big steak dinner. After several days of juice and trail mix I was ready for something more substantial. We didn't leave until almost 9:00 and then it was straight home to wind down because we had to get up early and be to Harbor Island for the Spread The Music volunteering gig.

So, We were up and over to Harbor Island alittle bit after 9, putting up the canopy and organizing things. We had to change the exit road because the storms that came thru during the night had made some spots in the field pretty much impassable.

Wanda & Gigi

There was to be a car show as one of the draws but with the weather looking iffy I'd left the car home. I changed my mind later though and brought the hot rod. People starting showing up about 10 and by noon family fun day was in full swing. I divided my time during the afternoon between parking cars and taking pics of the festivities. By the time 4pm rolled around most of the party was over and we were getting ready to take off home for a break before the night's events kicked into gear. I managed an hour's worth of naptime and then it was time to head for Pizza Hut for some supper.

After dinner we were back at Harbor Island where the beer tent was in full swing. the first band was just finishing up their set so I didn't get much of a chance to hear 'em. The second band was a blues band that was adequate but nothing to write home about. By the time they finished their set I was tired and antsy so when the 3rd and final band of the night started I wandered up front to watch them for a bit. Their bass player was quite good but the band's sound over all was not that impressive. They were, or seemed to be at least, jamming most of their set and many folks lost interest and wandered off or went home. I decided that I'd do something constructive and start taking down the stakes and caution tape early so that we weren't gonna still be there at 1am. Tony helped me and we were just finishing up when the show came to an end and the crowd headed for home.

I've always missed the Wheels Of Grand Haven car show cuz we have something else going on but this year I was home for the weekend so I decided I'd do it and skip the Coast Guard one this year. So the alarm went off at 5:30am Sunday morning. I got up about 6:30 and scurried around getting camera gear together and was downtown parking the car just a bit before 7am. Registration was open yet so I went down the street to the Delite and ordered breakfast. While I was waiting for it I ran into a friend, Tony Sheriff and he pulled up a chair and we shot the breeze for an hour or so while we ate our breakfasts. One of his friends joined us later on and we talked about those things that are on the minds of most everyone nowadays........

After saying our goodbyes I headed back to the car and cleaned her up a bit while I waited for registration to open. Once I had my goodie bag and dash plaque it was time to go hike around a bit and shoot some frames. I ran into the older gentleman with the 1923 Durant that I'd met the first part of June at the car show in Muskegon and we talked awhile. After leaving him I wandered around some more, shooting frames and then after making a complete pass went back to the car for a break. I had a 60's Thunderbird on the left side of me and on the right side a guy had pulled in with a 1954 Vette in mint shape. I ended up talking with him quite a bit on and off during the day. He'd just finished restoring the car and this was his second car show.

There were over 320 cars lining Washington street by noon. It was about then that I took my ballot and pen and walked around voting for my favorites. Once that was done I just hung out until 3pm when they started the award presentations. I wasn't able to snag a trophy this time but luckily for me I don't do car shows to collect dust catchers....I do it for the fun of doing it and to be a part of something that I love. When a trophy does come along it's just icing on the cake.

Once all the trophys' were disbersed, motors were fired up and people started heading out. I waited about 15 minutes and took some pics of the other cars heading out before heading out myself. After getting back home I ate a bit of lunch and kicked back for awhile. I'd thought about going down to Holland to do the cruise-in at the D&W but the skies looked they were going to dump some rain so I decided to hang close to home instead and get stuff unpacked and organized a bit.

Here it is Wednesday now and I still haven't gone thru all my pics yet, or put stuff away entirely. It's denial, I know it is, but I'm back home again, already and South Dakota and those night skies are a 1,000+ miles away. Lord Willin' I believe I'll be heading back out that way again in the not too distant future. There was just too many things I didn't get to see that need to be seen and time is running short.....no sense wasting any more time than I already have.

Night.

TC