8th Annual Mustang & Ford Show, May 15, 2010

I decided to head on up to Jacksonville for the show put on by the local Mustang Club, after considering it for a while. Money has been pretty tight around here lately, so a Mustang Show certainly wasn't in the budget. However, including it in a cheap family weekend getaway was a clever way to justify it. We logged on to priceline.com Wednesday and booked ourselves a room at the super8 motel, with less than raving reviews (but can you really trust those reviews from disgruntled guests?) we were super excited to be staying there. On Friday we loaded up Beatrix with everything a family would need for a two day adventure two hours from home, mostly toys for my two and a half year old daughter to stay occupied in the hotel room. We arrived just a couple hours later to find the reviews were mostly not accurate, and aside from having to change rooms due to a malfunctioning TV (went black, started squealing, and the smell of ozone filled the room) we were quite happy (worth every penny of the $39 a night we paid!).

Saturday started early (it usually does on car show days) as I was to meet up with the other MFMC members, who had also made the trip to Jacksonville, for breakfast. If you read this blog you will have probably already have guessed who in fact did make the trip, so listing them won't be necessary. However, I will, I have a picture that goes along with it...

Jim, Vic, and I (the "BMC" of the "MFMC")

Also, Val was there in her 07 GT CS, and Joyce accompanied Vic. We met at Dennys at 7am for breakfast before the show, and with me in the lead drove over to Jacksonville landing together. 4 cars and 5 club members, to be expected at a show more than say 20 minutes from home. Personally I like going to shows put on by other clubs, I get to meet new people and see different cars. Also, we want other clubs to come to our shows, it seems only fair that we attend their shows too.

There was a pretty good turnout, I would say about 150 cars all together. Saw some familiar faces, and cars I've seen at other shows. It's nice to see folks that obviously travel for shows as much as or more than I do. There were plenty of cars there I had never seen too, which is the whole point of traveling to a show. It was a nice day, sunny and warm, not too bad in the shade at all, though we had to chase it all day. Fortunately, we were parked near some trees and a grassy knoll so it was pretty easy to find the shade when we needed to. There was also an air conditioned mall area a mere 200 feet from where we were sitting that we could visit to cool off a bit, and purchase things too. As a club we sat and listened for our names to be called for receiving an award, 2 out of our 4 cars won! I won "Silver" and Val won "Bronze" in the "05-09 Stock Mustang" Class.

So, it was a fabulous day with my traveling club mates. Looking forward to the next show...

The family and I stayed in Jacksonville for one more night in our fabulous motel room. We returned home on Sunday, it was a nice little 2 day break from Winter Park, and my Wife was able to take as many baths as her heart desired. We don't have a tub at our home, and I have a Wife that loves baths...

My 2010 Mustang GT

As you all know I drive a Mustang, this car makes me feel like a little kid. I have, like most enthusiasts, a list of things that I want to do modification wise. There is, however, one thing that I am starting to get very impatient on, this item is a new muffler from Magnaflow. This will make "Beatrix" sound like the car she is meant to sound like. It would sound a lot like THIS, I about wet my pants when I heard that. The only problem is, I am not even close to the 1000 bucks I would need for parts and labor. So if anyone reading this wants to donate money to me to basically waste on a new muffler just to make me happy you may do so over the the right of the page. I will eventually get this, but my impatience is definitely getting the better of me...

Timeless Wings And Wheels, March 20, 2010

On Saturday this past weekend I was joined by Jim, Val, and Vic on a trip up to New Smyrna Beach for a different kind of show at the airport there. It was a show for all makes of cars, though it was mostly Mustangs, and WWII airplanes. 3 P-51 Mustangs, and a remake of the same were their too. There were other planes as well, including a jet used by astronauts for training. It was a free show, but donations of pet food and donations for lunch were appreciated. Folks also had the opportunity to buy time and photos of their car with a P-51, I was broke so I only got some lunch. It was a great day, 71 and sunny, a little warm without shade (just a mental note if I go to this event again next year). I had hoped more people from the MFMC would be there, but there was a club event scheduled for the same day. I had to work in the evening so the car show was the only choice for me.