There were a few glitches, most notably the 2 hour border line-up on Saturday morning and the lack of working internet, even though we paid for it!, at the Motel 6 in Kelso but otherwise, the trip was a complete success.
My bumper sticker for the trip: 2 days, 928km, 84 cars = AWESOME
I did some vlogging thinking that it would be easier to upload video diaries than typing but the lack of internet caused a few glitches. I still, however, got the videos up. Here we go:
The first video from the trip is "Trip Intro" which is the 5th video down, everything newer is from the trip.
And we're not done yet! One of the forum members put together a little video, much like last years', except this time, there was a much larger convoy!
We were near the back of the pack this year at 4:09 (check out last year's video). Thanks again to aliens300c for the wicked vid:
The picture I took of the lot last year actually made it into the North West calendar but I'm not sure the same will be true this time around. There were simply too many cars and to boot, we had to park facing the helicopter rather than the observatory. Still, I managed a good shot:
On a good note, we did manage to see the mountain this year and it was fantastic!!
For the most part, work is bearable. Occasional crazy moments followed by down time to recooperate but this week, especially the last few days of this week, have been psychotic to the point where I seriously considered skipping out today - and then I remembered that the shit would still be here next week so I figure I'll do my best to wade through most of it today. Shouldn't surprise me though, the accountant is going on vacation for a week and everyone is up in arms to get things done before she leaves today. The way I see it, once she's gone, I'll have a little time to breathe!
It's a bit quiet at the moment, hence this update, but in 10 minutes I'll be going out on an errand and from then on, the day will roll downhill towards 5PM. We've got a full weekend planned: Mission Raceway tonight and then we leave for Mt. St. Helen's Saturday morning, returning Sunday night. Last year's cruise was a load of fun but it rained and it was too foggy to see the mountain. Considering the weekend is supposed to be a scorcher, I'm expecting I'll actually get to see it this year.
And just in case I don't have time to come back for more goodness, I thought I'd take this time to wish everyone a great weekend and to share this week's KFF:
Hubby's back from his trip to California. He got back very early yesterday and I did manage to see him before I headed for work.
The pictures are surprisingly good (surprising because he hardly uses a camera anymore) and though I would have taken hundreds of pictures, he stuck to about 90.
This is one of my faves of the bunch. It's the new Dodge Challenger which will be rolling off of the production line later this year. I love the classic lines and grill and for a moment, I really did think it was a classic car. Should be a hot seller with the American Muscle aficionados.
Sadly, the trip involved too much driving for the alloted time and hubby didn't have much of a chance to shop. I didn't even get a t-shirt! Oh well, at least he had a good time!
We've been prepping like mad for hubby's bit trip to Irvine's "Spring Festival of LXs" (he leaves Wednesday). He has a list of things to pack, so that bit is under control and if you've been following my Twitter updates, you know I spent most of Saturday killing time at the mall waiting to pick up the vehicle from servicing (green light - all's well). The only thing left was to give the Mean Mary a kick ass cleaning and so we got to work yesterday.
After getting home from the early morning movie and after I had some excitement at getting my new toy, we headed off to clean the car. A good wash and dry and then on to the waxing. I've never waxed a car in my life and rather than get right into the 7 (or maybe it's 9?) step bar process we decided to stick to the easy, three step liquid application (my favorite brand too!): apply in small circles, let dry, remove in small circles, finish with clean microfiber cloth. The finished product is STUNNING:
That there is hubby with the supper shiny vehicle.
We also gave the car a super interior clean (including spraying of the seats). At some point, we must really invest in upholstery cleaning (especially of the roof - not sure how it got so dirty but my keen eye sure pick it up). While detailing the interior, I did notice something which gives me pause. Whoever cleaned the car before we bought it used Armor All on the plastic. Huge mistake. It's left streaks on the plastic and I can see exactly where they sprayed. I tried to get the marks off but they don't seem to be disappearing. Thankfully they're only apparent when the plastic is wet. If anyone out there has a solution for getting rid of them, please let me know. In the meantime, don't use that Armor All crap on your car. It does more damage than good. (Side note: worth noting that Armor all has a Charger on all of their bottles and even featured prominently on their website).
Finally, I also took some shots of the interior of the car. I didn't think to take any before pictures but essentially, it looked like this except that all of the brushed aluminum stuff was black. Hubby decided early on that he wanted to purchase a carbon fiber dash kit except that those things run well into the $140 range. Instead, hubby went the cheap yet spiffy alternative: stickers. We bought some carbon fiber auto stickers at Canadian Tire and hubby carefully cut and placed the entire center console, reading lights and the odometer and steering wheel accents. Throw in a very fancy new shifter (in black complete with carbon fiber design) and you have a finished look that looks like it cost a fortune but instead cost $40 and a little elbow grease.
I sure think it looks spiffy!
For more pictures of the interior and a few more shots of the super shinny car, head here.
We've also ordered some decals that didn't manage to make it before our install deadline so those will have to be applied when hubby returns from his trip. I'll post more when that's done!
Yesterday D and I headed out for our first cruise with the car club down to Mt. St. Helen's. Met the small group (5 cars) out before the border, headed down and met up with another group. Along the way, before meeting up with the second biggest group at the base of the mountain, we had an envoy of 14 cars.
But that's nothing, when we pulled into the lot at St. Helen's there were a bunch more cars waiting. Didn't look like that many until we pulled in to the first overlook and started filling in the overflow parking lot
Yes, 38 [Edit: Apparently, the final count was 48 cars - and no, I didn't count them in the picture] cars take up a lot of space. Check it out:
Spot our beauty and get bonus points...
Apparently, we made the news too. I read on the forums that during the noon newscast it was mentioned that the station had received a call from state patrol that a "large group" of custom cars (I guess when you put us all together we all look custom), were making their way down the I-5 and causing all kinds of trouble! Not sure at "trouble" but we did get a lot of onlookers!
D and I actually went into the observatory at the top of the mountain and while in there, we lost the fellow Canucks so the drive home was much quieter (confession: who knew walkie talkies would come in so handy? Yes, there is a method to our madness) and D was exhausted so we had to stop a few times. Walked in the house at 10:30 and by 10:45 we were both snoring.
It was a fun filled day and a great way to meet some of the group members. Great bunch of people, everyone was super friendly and the organizers did a fantastic job. I can't wait for the next one!
I took some picture, which won't be posted until tomorrow but in the meantime, check out the pics of the event care of a fellow LXer Mr. Galloway.
