MetalDad

You know that song Hootie sings called Wagon Wheel?  I thought of it as I stood here:

 

 

Wait, I think that might be better with no flash:

 

 

Yeah, I like that better.

 

Any way, where were we?

 

Oh yeah- Hootie.  Do you know he's a Country Singer now?  Well he is.  And in the last year, he had a song out called Wagon Wheel.  Country music stations played that song about 5 times per hour.  Sometimes more.  Hootie is doing pretty good without the Blowfish.  But, what I want to know is what the heck is he talking about? Rock me baby like a Wagon Wheel?  What does that mean?  Doesn't a Wagon Wheel roll and not rock?

 

I knew I wasn't going to solve that riddle, so I moved on.

 

See, now you come around with this song. I tried to turn you on to this before, posted the original version by Old Crow Medicine Show on one of my TRs way before Hootie ever sniffed it out. OCMS did it first, and way better.

The peculiarity of the lyrics comes from the way the song was written. The songwriter from OCMS is a lifelong Bob Dylan fan, and was listening to some bootleg outtakes of Dylan warming up before a recording session years ago. Ol' Bob was just strumming and singing some stream of conscience lyrics. Years later the young bluegrass musician hears the improvisation, and completes a song around it. As they became regionally popular, they also became friends with Dylan's son Jakob (from the Wallflowers). They ran the story by Jakob, and Dad, got his blessing, and gave him a writer's credit.

First time I met FamilyofBears, Brandy was sat in her cart on the 1500 loop playing the OCMS version on her phone. It's a camping staple from way before Hootie mainstreamed it!

It also shows up at Friday Night Fire, if you ever make it by...

Hit it with some lube, that latch can be a bit stiff. It often gets hung up on the ball, I used to have to lift it back up about a quarter inch, and pull the veh forward an inch or two. That little flap that it's hung up on is what holds the ball firmly in the cup. Why does everything that has to do with hitching sound so filthy?

Wow, that update was all melancholy and infinite sadness. 

Nice Smashing Pumpkins reference!

I used to get sad leaving Disney, until I got married and had kids.

I guess knowing that you live in proximity, and having your family in the truck with you kind of stems the post-trip let down, and I can totally see how once that changes, you sort of get back to that sad place where the seats are empty again. I get it.

Don't you get the feeling that your neighbors think you're nuts when you climb out of the camper in your driveway in the morning? They just don't understand!

Mine think I'm nuts anyway, that just seals the deal!

Jason, there should have been a small ceramic heater left under one of the dinette seats. That thing will get the PUP nice and toasty. Almost burned my scalp one night from having it too close to where I slept. Keep a bottle of water handy, keeps the air dry too, several cold nights I woke up thirsty from the dry air!

The booze does help though, I've studied that!

Is that an mp3 player sat on top of the fridge? If so, good choice, music should be the priority on any trip. Just make sure there's plenty of bluegrass and Rolling Stones, and you'll be OK!

I wonder how many people caught the Indian Springs reference?

 

I did.

 

Nicely played.

 

TCD

Can't forget Radiator Springs

I thought I’d share some photos for the backstory.  I’ve been battling photobucket for some time, but I’m forging ahead for the sake of the TR.

First, here’s a picture of the PUP, the first one I sent Jason.

This was the night before, we popped it up & down, and packed it full of goodies for Jason and Sil, this is my Annie holding the keys!

The next day, Sunday, I gave up football to deliver. Here’s the first few feet of the journey!

On the way, we had to stop by BassMaster’s to pick up a very important component…the potty! The moustache lives!

My son, a little old man at his core, falling asleep on the toilet!

Once we crossed the Skyway, it was a short drive up 75 to Rich & Lorna’s. We got through the gate, and waited while Lorna’s condo security did a full cavity search, and proceeded to storage, where I damn near backed over Rich. He eventually settled in over an ant hill while I unhitched. We headed back to Lorna’s for some iced tea and a men’s room, chatted some…

]

And headed home with a lump in our throats. We found solace at a Shell station, where we drowned our sorrows in Dr. Pepper and Slim Jim’s.

Going back to early June, this is our new camper that we adopted from Cyndee and the fp4 gang. This photo was taken on that weird bus loop thing out by the 2000 loop. I figured I’d hit the CS while I was there. Also gave me a chance to admire the new rig and snap a photo.

And here’s how it sits now!

And of course, what fiend wagon would be complete without one of these?

_{It's the BassMaster, believe it or not.  I opened up this 8 page masterpiece in the works, and couldn't put it down.  Best of luck to you, Jason.  Maria will take good care of you as she is very fond of fiends...as am I.}

Holy Crap... a unicorn!

I read about an almost identicle scam on a car being sold by a "deployed soldier" (may have been on Ripoff Report). Ready to be shipped to a buyer, shipping paid for, in a far away town...The prospective buyer was a tipped off by a lot of the details that didn't seem right, odd use of language, bizarre requirements, not being able to see it locally... He kept going back at the seller, and chipped away at the scam. The scammer was from Eastern Europe, admitted that he wasn't interested in hacking him, just taking his money, knowing that there was no international law to recover the funds. He was very forthcoming in describing the scam.

I'm suspicious of everything, especially craig's or ebay. My sister was selling a wave runner a few years ago. My mother looked at the ad online, and a few hours later got an email saying, "It appears you are shopping for wave runners, here's one we have for sale" and was sent the photos of my sister's unit, but from a different seller.

Woohoo! I'm in too. It's been a little difficult to post as often as I used to, our new office system is web based, so the streaming, and sites like FB and photobucket are blocked, so it's more difficult to upload and write TRs.

Serendipity indeed. Our part of the story goes back earlier this year. We were wanting a bigger unit for the five of us (and dog), and we had our heart set on finding a 3-bunk hybrid.

I happened to mention it one day to Cyndee (fp4), several weeks later, they announced they were moving north and would be selling the camper. She contacted me. Would we be interested? It is a bunk house, so we could stack the kids in the back! Problem was, they were way up in Jacksonville.

It just happened that we would be making that 5 hour journey that very weekend for a graduation party. We came, we saw, we liked, so MetalWife, myself, and Ben (BassMaster), worked out the logistics and hatched a plan to get Cyndee's camper to a happy place!

We camped in early June, in what would be Maria's last MetalTrip, at Lake Louisa (highly recommend!). On Sunday, we woke up, popped-down, hitched-up, and headed to the Fort, where a party of 4 were rocking there last Fort trip while eligible for Florida resident's! (Not that they freaking honor that anymore!). A few moments after signing the docs and taking the picture fp4 posted a few pages back, we hitched it up, and towed it back to the Tampa area. Ben had Maria in tow.

Since then, I've done a number of things, tinkering and modding it out. The CD player ate one of my favorite reggae discs, so of course I had to replace the whole sound system. Put on a new roof, and gave it a new patriotic makeover! Maria benefitted from the project too, she got a new roof while I was at it!

So far we're three fiends in to the tale, when I hopped in to the chat for the first time since like February. I was actually getting ready to prepare the ad, when I logged on to FF, and I saw some were in the chat, so I jumped in. That's when I bumped into Jason. Serendipity. I sent him what we had prepared for the ad, and off we go!

In regards to Jason's new rig, it was our first taste of camping, we were hooked. We took it out 13 times in our first year alone. Eventually landing us here on FF with you guys. BTW, it has a very cool large musket mickey graphic on it's door side, purple even!

The kids named the camper Maria and it stuck. As we were emptying it out, we came across all sorts of things that the kids decided needed to go to Jason. So there's a bunch of knick-knacks, lights, EZup.. all tucked in, so when he opens it, he'll have a ball figuring out what it all is! Not sure how the Jaws key chain got in the mix, and no, the toilet had never been used! The hippie lights were purchased on our maiden voyage, and have been up on every trip!

Sunday, we hitched it up one last time and headed down to Lorna and Rich, for the next stage. Sat and chatted with them for a while. So far 6 fiends involved until we get to this report (MD, fp4, BassMaster, Lorna, Rich, and Jason). It takes a vilage to get a boy his camper!

I can understand what Cyndee means now, I became quite attached to that PUP ( I won't say little, as it's huge as pups are concerned...23ft opened, rocking dueling king-sized bunks!). I know that it's going to a family that will enjoy it like we did!

Hooray! You're back. Having some difficulty keeping a TR going myself. I need to get it wrapped up….hopefully today.

I'm so glad you took pictures since I took none! I must have met 10 new fiends this trip and not a single bit of photographic proof.

It was great to hang with you a couple of times, hear your great tunes from the Little Tykes boom box and chat by your fire. Hope our families end up camping together again some time!

I think your fireworks viewing spot is pretty much perfect. You have the CS right there and can just walk 10 steps to your camper and crawl under the covers when the show is over! Genius!

You got that right! We didn't have a plan for fireworks viewing. The first on went off and we just went towards the sound. Probably a tougher sell in the summer with full foliage.

I'm sure we'll be there together at some point.

Great update!

Capris!

Fiends!

That photo of Ben and his beer- LOL!!!

TCD

Ben pointed that out. "Hey! I'm on beer!"

I saw in Wal-Mart that the have duct tape with moustache graphics on it. Gotta get it for him.

Normally, I would think that a picture of me would be the grossest thing in a TR update. But that story SMB. :barf:

Me too!

When I read that I just missed Dave and Anna, I was bummed!

Though I was fortunate to meet Dave later in my trip, I still have not met her. Someday!

I forgot to chime in on the scavenger lady, too…..how disgusting! Reminded me of the scene in Caddyshack where that kid drinks all of the leftover cocktails on the table and one of them had a cigarette butt in it….if you saw the movie you know what happened next.

It was awful. And of course, I couldn't stop looking.

Then we talked about it.

What if it had been there for a long time? Fallen on the ground? A bird pecked at it?

Maybe baby spit-up or nose blow was on one of the napkins that was in the food she was eating from under.

It wasn't like she was homeless, she was at Disney, rented a cart, having dessert, and finishing someone else's.

Agreed. We left the day after TCD, which means I was packing and folding a popup in the rain. Drag.

Somwherez in there you came by our site with your husband. I recall meeting him late in the trip.

Day Three:

Continuing on, now it’s time to get our evening rolling.

New Year’s Eve.

We hopped a DTD bus and headed out for some snackage.

First stop, always is Cooke’s for some curry and Guinness.

We moved quickly across to Ghirardelli’s when it dawned on me.

We’re in DTD on NYE!

What was I thinking?

Remember when it was NYE every night at PI?

Anyway, we got a seat.

Notice the lady with the Rent Me cart behind the kids.

The reason I took those shots is because she totally grossed me out.

We were waiting for the server to deliver the goods when she pulled up.

Scooted out of the cart and into the chair.

And, proceeded to eat all the leftover cones and toppings left from the prior customer.

Later, her group showed up, and she wolfed down her own ice cream.

WTF?

Here’s the crew and their cones and whatnot…

And here’s my patented Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Pineapple thing that I order.

Don’t you think they could have told me I simultaneously had ‘bed head’ and ‘hat head’?

We headed back to the bus as quickly as possible as DTD was getting a bit crowded.

A quick tree shot before we head out!

Back to the Fort, and all scattered, leaving me to play with beer and fire by myself.

Which doesn’t suck, BTW.

Another Fiend doth approach.

That’s Cyndi, better known as fortpartyof4.

She came by with her son in her slick new blue cart.

She got to meet Annie and see the almost-famous MD Capri pants.

MetalWife was sound asleep, she didn’t meet anyone!

Then this guy showed up!

That’s DaveinTN and Anna!

Was great meeting all the folks that I’ve enjoyed Fiend banter with all this time!

There was a really cool moment when Dave’s kids and our kids were discussing books that they’ve read and how they thought they were better than the movie versions.

It just reassured me that Fiends tend to be the salt of the earth and do it the right way.

Congrats to Cyndi and Dave for an excellent job on raising your kids to be respectful, and interested in family time, and camping.

How refreshing?

Now.

It’s time for the BTS!

Tonight, our featured brewery is Shipyard out of Portland, ME!

For years it seemed like they only had one brew.

This year alone, I’ve seen at least a dozen varities.

And we’re gonna try as many as possible.

So we called in some reserves to help tackle the mountain of Shipyard we had assembled.

Enter… you guessed it.

The FamilyofBears.

They even showed up with their own brew.

Another Shipyard...

Applehead.

Who knew they’d be so dialed in…without warning?

They thought the BTS was ridiculous, which it is.

And they enjoyed it immensely!

Sometimes dumb is good!

We started with this one, and worked our way through.

You know how some people look like their pets?

How cool is it when you can look like your beer?

After working our way through the assortment , it was time to prepare for fireworks!

We gathered in perhaps the best secret spot to view fireworks at the Fort!

There we all were toasting and cheering and welcoming in 2013 at the 2000 loop bus stop!

Totally absurd!

We saw the fireworks through the trees.

And the continued selection of world’s worst fireworks pictures!

Us, celebrating at the bus stop!

Happy New Year!

Soon thereafter, it was time for some late night looping.

We went into the land of the sick on 1600, figuring the cold would kill the germs.

Here’s Carol and Lorna holding Annie’s Snarky.

Got to tour Carol’s camper, very cool!

And lastly, TJ

It was a late night, and I was chock fulla brew, so we meandered back to base to start fresh in the morning!

Corny, Cheesy, and Severely Outdated.

I love it. My kids love it.

Not everything has to be super-ultra-high-tech.

I love that my kids look forward to it.

I love that it has had very few changes since it's inception.

I love that it's FREE!

I also love that when we hear it at the campsite, the kids yell out what scene it is!

Octopuss!

Flag!

Hey bud, thanks for that awesome familyofbears pic!! Love it :)

One of my favorite new years eves coming up!

I agree on that one! Wait til you see the pics I have!

. . . .must be the milk talking.

Funny, MD, funny!

Good stuff.

That hash and eggs look delicious. And the pickle chaser? Genius!

Love the photo with Curt. He sure looks happy that you were there to bother him say hello.

Great horse photos, too.

Excellent update!

TCD

We now carry the big can of hash, as we've attracted some hangers-on. I may be making a batch sunday morning after church.

Text me for a to go order, or a drive-by.

Funny thing, when I saw the girls later and asked them what their favorite part of the trip was so far, they all yelled "hash!!!" They couldn't get enough of that stuff apparently. Said it was the best thing they had ever eaten.

Awesome. They wanted it several days, but it can't be a daily thing.

Great Update!

Love the morning milk run. I may be stealing that tradition.

If DW saw or smelled that CBH being cooked, she would have been a squatter at your site until it was ready.

The milk run is awesome. Early morning adventure with just the two youngest. I'll expect to read about it next time!

Confirmed.

And I saw the MD capris.

We had breakfast at WL, visited DHS, and were on our way back to the Fort when we saw you and the Bears coming out of the woods.

It was quite a sight, I might add.

TCD

Oh boy, the capris again. I won't bring up your mom jeans again either.

Love your report and the hash! Cute Kids....!

Thanks. Glad to have you along.

Great update ! Excellent choice of music to start that last day of the year.

Very cool. It's a vital part of the experience.

Love the BTS.

Totally stealing that one.

Steal on... But share the adventure with us!

BTW, whilst we were in that cart lot, getting ready to cross the street, out of the WL path comes the TCD 3 on wheels!

You may recall, he had cart envy over NYE, so he and the twins were bikin' it.

Saw him everywhere. We must've been like gum on his shoe!

Day Three:

Sounds: The Outlaws, Cheap Trick, Joe Walsh, Pickin’ On Series

Smells: Horses and gun powder

Tastes: Chocolate milk, curry, and a shipload of Shipyard.

Good morning, and welcome to Day Three!

Today’s New Year’s Eve!

A busy Fort day.

We slept in a bit, knowing that we’d surely be up late!

If you’ve ridden on this written cart before with me, you’ll recall a few traditions that developed over time.

Today was the MetalDad Chocolate Milk Run.

Like a beer run, but with kids, in the morning!

As per usual, it was me, John 2, and Annie.

We looped, looked, and explored.

Everywhere from the furthest reaches of overflow to the gates of rotting River Country.

In the middle there somewhere, we stopped in the Meadows for our milk.

And our newly located rest area, behind the milk cooler.

Who needs Space Mountain?

We found a secret restroom!

That’s me…livin’ the dream!

Back porch for some sunshine, hopscotch, and morning wood photos.

Ya’ know, photos…of the trees…and wooded area…whatever.

Get your mind back to the Fort…

Annie rocks the hopscotch…

Looking out over the Bike Barn, Dock, and pond.

The path to the dock and Bear Rock.

And, the path to the bridge.

Time to resume our Milk Run.

Annie gets a head start on the Chocolate.

John 2, ever the rebel, goes for the Strawberry.

And, I opt for the Chocolate…a classic!

As we continued our looping, I snagged this shot.

The calm before the storm, so to speak.

Apparently, shortly thereafter, this was the site of great controversy.

Heading back to the old RC, I came upon a spot that was either once a home for a picnic table or ice cream cart, or cart parking.

But today, it was home to a stunning array of cones.

It’s random, yet symmetrical and perfect…must be the milk talking.

We stopped at the entrance to Clementine’s Beach to finish of our milk, as per usual.

Then headed on back to the site.

The goils were up and about, looking for that Hot Chocolate!

So, as I expertly boiled some water, the goils waited eagerly!

Now, what better way to finish off a cup of Hot Chocolate than to top it with a gigantic marshmallow?

These things are roughly the size of a small roll of toilet paper, or cylindrical baseball.

Whatever that means.

While I’m at it.

Breakfast!

Corned Beef Hash and Eggs!

11:35am.

How do you finish off breakfast?

Pickles!

As we sat and ate, a rustle in the leaves…

A Fiend approacheth from the south.

“Hi! I’m Curt… bord1niowa!”

A handshake ensues.

He tells me he’s setting up a rig across the street.

I had to check it out.

Here’s his new popup rig.

And Mrs. Curt to the left, or would that be BordWife?

They were very nice to meet, and have a really cool service!

This rig was decked out in Capt. Jack/Pirates gear.

Amazing work.

Here’s Curt and I.

I was clearly in the way, so I left him alone.

Bassmaster showed up about that time, and headed out to do some fishing.

We were in the mood to get into some trouble.

So, we headed over to 1600 to posse up with the FamilyofBears

And their mother!

And we’re off.

We headed up towards the Settlement area, actually parked the carts by the bus stop over by the ranch.

Hey look. Old railroad tracks!

We started heading trough the woods to explore the FWRR.

As we got deeper and deeper into it, we realized that most of us had on crocs or flip-flops.

So, we retreated and planned to explore whence we were properly prepared.

Let’s cross the street, shall we?

I had to snap a shot of one of my favorite pieces of art anywhere!

This is from the men’s room near HDDR.

It’s a tile painting of a band of cowboys that obviously slept in a pile of ants or poison ivy.

I just like the absurdity that someone thought to paint it.

And someone thought it would look good on tile in the men’s room.

Off to explore the TCD ranch while we still can.

Horses, and sleighs (on wheels).

We hung out with the horses for bath time.

Time to check out some ponies!

While I was there, I took a shot of the old tower, looking up.

A little hand sanitizer after petting the ponies, we headed back to our site, and the Bears back to their spiffy new hot rod PUP.

Next up, a trip to DTD, and a totally unique NYE celebration! And more Fiends!

Sounds like a fun evening!!!!!

Sorry about all of us infecting 1600 loop

We did several drive-bys. And you'll be in the late night NYE update!

I accidentally consume beer sometimes too. No worries.

LOve the pics of MW struggling to get her reading in. LOL

Yeah, not sure how that happened with the beer.

She has a kindle now, hopefully that helps with the reading/lighting issue.

Awesome photo of TCD with his first Magic Hat!

I forgot how cold it got that night.

I should have come back for the BTS, but we were off in some park enjoying some time with the people not from this land.

I thought I felt crowded.

Then I looked at the photos of all them goils in your camper.

Dude.

TCD

Yes, the PUP sleeps 9. It's wall to wall breath-n-ass, but we make the best of it!

Hoping to go bigger one of these days!

Heck yes it was cold!

I've been in the south so long now I actually hurt.

Ewww, backwash. Seriously, you had to give me that mental picture? I've been a good girl, I didn't deserve that.

But dinner looks good.

And if you want to be a hero, get you wife something like this http://www.walmart.c...indingMethod=rr . We got ours from Harbor Freight, but it works great for reading in the dark.

Yes, my son has a tendancy to backwash. He's a gross little 8yo boy.

Whenever he wants a sip of my drink, I just save him the last bit.

He took a sip from a friend's kid's drink at a Rays game one time and made the kid cry.

I had to replace the kid's drink as it now had hot dog crumblets in it!

:jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy :jumpforjoy

No shame in resupplying! And on day 2? Yu da Man!!!! :clint:

Yes, but it was your inspiration!

Glad you're back MD. Having a crummy time lately and your TR's always make me smile.

Hope things are calming down for you and the Metal fam.

I look forward to hearing the MD/BM reviews of those CA brews.

Well, the reviews were brief, in the last update, the last paragraph.

I read your Nascar report. Too cool.

We're Ryan Newman fans in our house. Although the loss of Army was almost a dealbreaker.

I love a camo race car. Quicken Loans, not so much!

Great update MD!!

Are those some Publix French Hamburger Rolls in that pic? I love those things.

And who doesn't love a giant dill?

Your pics also remind me of just how cold it was some of those evenings that week. We'd go looping and the whole campground was buttoned up by 9pm. Except your site. LOL>

Yes sir, nice pickup on the Publix French Hamburger rolls. Practically a food group on it's own in my hive!

BTW, you asked me once about ALDI's steak seasoning.

True culinary art at $1 a bottle! Made by Stonemill Essentials.

Cindy Lou agrees: http://cindyloubakesforyou.blogspot.com/2011/07/roasted-asparagus.html

Agree on the pickles. We've tried to replace candy and junk snacks with pickles, carrots/ranch...

Plus it inspires the kids to drink more water! (and leave my Dr. Pepper alone!)

I did notice our loop shut down early.

I just sat by the fire in and out of a light sleep.

Snarkolepsy!

I saw a hunk taken out of the gingerbread over at the Contemporary that week too!

Gross.

I don't even like gingerbread.

I can't imagine eating industrial 'model' gingerbread not intended for human consumption, after it's been touched by thousands of international tourists.

I'll have a Clampett story to finish my TR.

We either had to laugh it off, or drop luggage and throw fists!

Continuing on, we stopped by the trading post to goof around and blow some allowance money.

Now, given my status as resident rule-breaker dirtbag, this graphic that they’re working for 2013 appeals to me greatly…very metal!

The goils shopping and looking for stuff…

I decided to wait outside in the much coveted rocking chair.

I think my son took the pictures.

Annie joined soon after for some laptime!

BTW, did you know there was a bathroom inside the Meadows Trading Post?

All these years, I’ve never seen it.

It’s behind the milk cooler.

Annie used it.

We meandered back to the site to prepare for this evening’s activities.

As I made my way to the Magic Hat to prepare for some dinner slingin’, a Fiend approaches.

That’s Mr. TCD enjoying his very first Magic Hat.

Here’s TCD with MetalWife and the BassMaster.

Sounds like a comic book.

Then, it was time for fire.

The rangers require a lid on the fire, so the key is to make sure the fire is mightier than the lid!

Plus, we were sprinklered. Don’t believe me? Check back to Day One of this here diary!

The kids were all over the place on their scooters (not enough room for bikes this time!)

Some were in the camper giggling.

Ben and I were by the fire carrying on preparing for a BTS.

So she went to the only place a girl can go to get some peace to read!

Luckily, it was outside.

I took a shot of the backside of the camper from in front of the CS.

Given our proximity to the CS, it never was an issue with noise or foot traffic.

And, a short commute in the cold.

Picture sucks though!

Back inside the camper, the kids break out some high stakes Uno!

And Annie rocks the late night giant dill pickle!

Once the kids went inside, MW made her way back to the fire, still fighting the good fight to get in some reading.

Earlier, I mentioned going to WalMart, and one of the items on the list was beer.

Brent pointed out that it was Day 2 and I was re-supplying.

Earlier that day, Genia and I were bexting (beer texting) and she sent over a Newcastle.

I was inspired, needed to have it available in the cooler.

Had to test the coolerness of it, so I had one!

Who doesn’t love some 4-finger Mickey hands on a cold night?

Dinner is served.

Better late than never.

I do most of the cooking and cleaning when we camp.

I don’t wear a watch when I camp, so it’s always Fort-Thirty.

Time stamp says 8:37 and 8:44pm on the food.

Deal with it.

Bubba Burgers!

Get the kids ready for bed.

Fire up the heaters!

Mentally prepared for the BTS (Beer Tasting Session)

Some spiffy new camo cups for the occasion.

And we’re off.

The BTS is a tradition that Ben and I started, basically, to give us a sense of purpose as we laze around the fire gulping brew.

We discuss the intricate personality, hints, and notes of each handcrafted beer, bringing it to a point of high art.

In reality it’s a couple of whackos sat by a fire, drinking beer, staring at the roof of a camper in the cold.

Tonight, we feature selection from the Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka, CA.

I’m not a fan of fruiting the beer, but I have to say, the Tangerine is pretty freaking cool!

Second time I had it.

The Indica was pretty potent tasting, a little too hoppy for my palette.

The Alleycat was nice, an amber ale, will return to my cart one of these days!

The Great White was OK, it’s an unfiltered wheat beer, which means it looks like my son backwashed in it with a mouthful of cheese and cracker remnants.

They also have a winter seasonal called Winterbraun which was accidentally consumed before we packed for the trip.

Maybe next year.

Next up, Day Three.

I used to work in a toy store when I was a young man (on the weekends, I'd wear the clown suit and demo the new toys!).

After the doors closed, we used to listen to the SexPistols, and the only cassette player we had was a Teddy Ruxpin doll.

The bear would dance and sing along to whatever tape you played, with intentions that it would be the Teddy Ruxpin tape.

The accelerated tempo and distorted guitars freaked that thing out.

Ahh, youth.

Glad this TR is rolling again.

Now don't stop.

I'll try to keep up. There's a bunch of material to cover.

Great pics! Looking forward to more.

Thanks. New phone-cam since last TR, I hope the pics are sharper.

I love the little Snarky. That is so cute. Hot Chocolate and looping, sounds like a good day to me.

No kidding. Who would have thought a golf cart could bring so much joy!

She loves that bird!

Luvin' it so far..... :jumpforjoy

Excellent. Glad you're along!

Alright, trying to keep up, as my TR is a day behind yours now.

We did the train track investigation with the FamilyofBears on Monday too!

It was about 2:30pm when we did it.

I saw the WWW in a drive-by on Saturday in Fantasyland.

We had just ridden Ariel's clamshell ride, on our way to Dumbo/Barnstormer, when I heard someone, who'd seen my purple shirt, yell "Hey FortFiends!"

It was Marty and Carol I believe, but they were heading in one direction, and I the other, both at high speed and engulfed in crowd.

Neither of our groups could stop in traffic so a wave and a thumbs up ensued!

Glad to see all had a good time. We'll chat under tamer circumstances I'm sure!