Afternoon all. Other than running a couple of errands this morning and finally getting around to hooking up the battery maintainers I got for the tractor and the Rhino, it's been a pretty slow day.

Gayle's got one week of school left and she'll officially be retired.

 

Congrats to Gayle.

 

Afternoon/Evening all,
I’m back from my big adventure. Got a little drizzle from Mount Vernon. IL to here but otherwise the trip was good. Most of the construction sites were shut down for the weekend so it was slow in some spots but not like going there was.
Was close to 9 hours seat time, but several potty/walk breaks added another 45 mins or so to the trip.
Dave2 and I enjoyed some cow last night before we went our separate ways. He’s heading into Virginia for a bike ride today.
I’m tired of riding but I need to go the store for some staples, not metal ones, before I call it a day.

 

She had Drill this wknd or she would have definitely been on the bike with me, she hasn't ridden on this one ss of yet. Couple short rides I'd had it out before t'was to cold for her. Yesterday was a really nice day for riding.

Rich I've been seeing a small skidsteer for sale up here in town recently, I haven't stopped to look at it but would you like me to get the info.? They are so handy to have around..

 

Welcome home BJ.

I assume that Dave2 is out there pedaling a bike somewhere. I prefer my bikes to have a throttle. Speaking of which I got ours out yesterday evening and put about 10 miles on it. It has been nearly a year since it's been started. It's been about 3 years since Sherry's been on it. I think she's decided that her riding days are over. She's in Chitown playing with babies and grandbabies so she missed out on yesterday's ride, but she probably wouldn't have gone anyway.

My throat has been sore for the last 3 days so I'm skipping church today. No sense in giving it to a lot of other folks. Fortunately, I can watch our sermon several different ways, on computer, telephone, and television. I won't miss out completely. Sherry comes home tomorrow and I sure hope this sore throat has gone away by then.

 

Thaks but I will pass, the X bro in law/still a good neighbor now has TWO Bobcat skid steer loaders, 2 big tractors (cab/a/c diesel) with front end loaders that I can borrow when ever.

I got one side of the bldg done done T&G board wise, and the other side of the bldg boards all stained yesterday. I am about to go put them up here shortly.

 

Well, my plan to have a rather easygoing day frittered out. The wife has been cleaning out the office/junk room to make room for her personal stuff from work so I've been moving stuff, vacuuming, taking trash out etc. Gayle's worn out now so maybe I'm done for now. I'm thinking a shower may be in order before turning in for the night.

 

It's still not spring in Macinac city. 40* and rain for 2 of our 3 days there. The trees were just starting to show signs of budding. Gotta be close to 2 months behind us. Went to the island on Thursday. Sunny and 60. Still small piles of snow there. Campsite was nice. Macinaw mill creek campground. Lake front. Bridge and island view. Full hook ups. $117 for 3 nites. We've spent that for 1 nite in Pidgeon Forge or Co Springs. Had to email my doc some pics of my now infected hand. He sent a script to a wal mart 20 miles away. He should be happy that you cant do smell o vision, I could smell it from some distance. Left Macinac Friday, home in time for dinner Saturday. Today we did a 100 mile round trip for our grandsons 4th birthday. I think I have an appt with the couch tommorrow. 38th anniversary coming up on the 21st.

 

Evening Everyone!

Tour is officially over. I finished up the last two shows in Conroe, Tx. yesterday. I made it back to the shop by 2:00 am today, washed the truck and put it in the shop, then hauled butt back to the house. I'm looking forward to doing nothing for a few days.

I took this picture yesterday as well. The truck we built last year, and the one Harper and I built this year. He did the cradle, wiring and plumbing. I did everything else. We learned from our mistakes and experiences and this latest truck is FAR nicer than the first one.

 

Well welcome home Alan, you been a road warrior for sure. Enjoy the time home, what is next, back down to "tidy up" trucks after the tour. Rebuild a few frames, pull a few motors to be rebuilt. Change some sun gears, repair all the bent, broke, cracked pieces.

FYI Thursday June 11 Hot Rod Power Tour 2026 having a car show at MSU sports field parking lot. I am going to spectate, it is free.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ur-2026-a.html

Well I got all the boards stained yesterday, and put up today. So now the north and south wall are 100% done. Also the SIL stopped by outa the blue and got my mini split a/c working like a champ. Was a simple rewire of just 2 wires. I am back to work tomorrow.

 

Update, just got informed from a FTE member (that is driving his 73 Ford truck in the Power Tour cruise) that the MSU venue does not OPEN until 11:00.....

Morning folks.

 

Morning all,
Managed to take the dog for a walk before the skies opened up. I guess we need it but it's gonna be another knee deep lawn mowing whenever I can get back out with the ZeroTurn.
Maybe it'll be a good day to work on the 56.
OBTW Welcome back Alan.

 

Morning all. Had some pretty loud storms early this morning, sounded like the thunder was right outside the house. Haven't noticed any damage & never lost power so all is well.

 

Rich. I don't plan on doing anything to the trucks. I think the boss is shutting the shop down and kicking everyone out for a week so we can come back with a more level head. This was a REALLY tough year. So tough in fact, I have no real desire to even LOOK at a monster truck. The crew will pull the three main trucks down to the bare chassis, then go through everything and put them together. We have another brand new chassis getting dropped off that will be the replacement to the A team's Shark. B team may end up getting a new Shark as well, but that is to be determined. I MIGHT have a trailer build out to do, but only if it can be dropped off here at the house. I am COMPLETELY over going to Texas for a while. I already told the boss this was my last first quarter tour. I will fill in a weekend here and there, but my days of spending 5 months straight without a day off in Texas are over. I've only had 10 days off since January 10th. I'm over it. The boss and I were talking on one late night thrash. (we were replacing the engine, wire harness, computer and modifying the exhaust on the new ride truck the night before a show) I said, "Remember when I said this was my last first quarter tour?" He said, "Yeah." ....."I meant it." In December, he told me I'd only have to go to 4 shows. I had to drive four shows in the first ten days of tour. 18 shows later, I drove a race truck in 12 shows, the ride truck in 4 shows and had to drive the hauler to 2 shows. ...AND build a ride truck from bare frame rails to a turn key truck in 10 weeks. The race teams didn't have it any easier. They logged more miles this year, than the last two combined. The production company has tripled in size since I started there three years ago. Now he's trying to streamline everything to make it more efficient. It's been a mess all around this year. He needs to find a way to make this new version work without hemorrhaging money every week. The stress has been unbelievable this year. We all need a break.

 

Good luck Alan! Glad to see you back on here.