G Is For Gear Heads

It's time again For ABC Wednesday. If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday, you are missing out on a lot of fun. This week the letter is "G". G is for Gear Heads. This weekend Gear Heads from all over came to Mena, Arkansas for the annual Wilhelmina Rod Run.











This years Rod Run marked the 34th anniversary. It was first held on Rich Mountain at Queen Wilhelmina State Park for several years on Labor Day weekend. The rod run was later moved to the weekend before Labor Day due to the already high volume of use at the State Park and the fact that it overloaded the personnel at the state park. The Wilhelmina Rod Run is always well received by the local population and is looked forward to each year.













Although the Rod Run is held at Queen Wilhelmina State Park, many of the vehicles are displayed in Mena on Friday and Saturday night. These pictures were taken at the Friday night show held around the restored Mena Depot.













Each year Daddy drives one of his cars to the Friday night show. This year he took his Berlina. These cars were factory built, by the Phillips Motor Car Corp. They were built by hand, on a brand new 1980 Corvette, with the styling of the 1936 Mercedes 540k cars. These cars are super rare since less than 90 cars were ever built. The factory was in Pompano Beach, Florida.













Jumper Davenport was there with his 1957 Cadillac Convertible pulling a beautiful old wooden Cadillac boat. The combination was a real crowd pleaser.











One of the most unusual cars there was a fully restored Packard coupe that the owner bought from a museum and changed the entire drivetrain to make a modern driving street rod that looked completely stock. He told us that the wheels were what intrigued most people. He had them machined from a block of aluminum to look as close to the original wheels as possible.




















What a great show. I'm looking forward to the Wilhelmina Rod Run again next year.

Seattle Vacation

It was a great vacation, even if I didn't get to go. When Gina and I were visiting my sister Jeannie over the fourth of July, the two of them hatched a diabolical plot. They planned to meet in Seattle for a weeks vacation. Gina has a sister that lives in Seattle and one that lives in Portland. They all got together and had a great time. I was very jealous. I told Gina that since I couldn't go she needed to take lots of pictures. She came home with lots of great photos.



They really packed a lot of activity into the time they had. In Seattle they went to Pikes Place Market,





The Aquarium,









And to a Seattle Mariners baseball game.





One day they spent near Ocean Shores, which is a six mile long peninsula bordered by the Pacific Ocean and Grays Harbor.









On another day they spent about 8 hours driving around the base of Mount Rainer.











The Seattle, Washington area sure has lots of beautiful scenery, and so many things to do. While you are there you are required by state law to drink large amounts of coffee. Because of this law there are Starbucks everywhere. Gina even found one location where there is a Starbucks right across the street from another Starbucks. Gina didn't want to run afoul of the law so she made sure to get her iced coffee.



Gina had a great time, and I'm glad she had a good vacation. As she was leaving Seattle she got a great shot of Mount Rainier From the plane.



I'm sure glad to have her back home!