Haven't quite got that DISNEY vibe outta my mind...

Gosh oh gollies - where does the time go? Nineteen days since my last post... and me without much in the way of excuses... Be that as it may let me try and tie up some of the loose ends, and we'll get on to whatever's next in store for yours truly.

So last October 1st, Kelly and her Family headed up to Reno for the rest of their trip, and I was joined at Disneyland by Marcus and JC & Franci with their Daughter Amy and her Friend Kim, along with their Son David and his Friend Candice.

We had the usual good time, one of the high points being a visit to CLUB 33 for Lunch, and then a special evening to kick off Halloween. The Park was closed at 7:00pm and a special ticket was required to stay, which we had purchased ahead of time. With the reduced crowds the lines grew very short and there were Trick-or-Treat candy stations scattered throughout the Park.

Since us "old Folks" tend to run out of gas quicker than the "youngers", it was no difficult task for the "Adults" to head over to the front of the Castle to try and get a good position for the Fireworks, while the "Kiddos" tried to hit as many rides as possible. Long story short - Francie was brilliant and we got lucky and scored a bench RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE MOAT! Great fireworks show was our reward.

So, with a good time being had by all, I headed back to Hermosa with JC & Franci. Saturday was an Art Show Opening for Gerald Brommer, our High School Art teacher in Laugna Beach. Which gave JC and I our necessary "excuse" to see Janie Cavanaugh, Carol Ruby and Shelley Graen. We also got to see Bob Peck and his wife, Steve Thompson and surprisingly his oldest Sister Lyn and Mother, Evie - whom was like a second Mom while I was living in San Clemente back in the mid-70's, and who I hadn't seen in almost 30 years.

Sunday was a recovery day, mostly spend watching NASCAR, doing laundry and packing. Then Monday it was off to the Airport and home to Maui. And presto - the time warp enveloped me just like that!

"A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and an invisible labor." - Victor Hugo

TRICK OR TREAT... No, Wait - Happy Birthday Grayson!

Hokey Smokes... how fast can one week go???

Mousekateer Role Call, Sound off Please -

KELLY!

BROOKS!

MADISON!

GRAYSON!

& RON!!

Hokey Smokes... How fast can one week go? Here it is Friday and the Maguire Family is off to Reno to visit Papa Joe and Family before heading back to Maui. I think they all would have enjoyed more time here in the Magic Kingdom, but it's a long (read that expensive) way to come from Maui and Kelly felt she needed to make the most of their visit.

We had a real surprise with Carl & Wendy showing up, with only a slight hitch in that the Maguire's managed to miss their flight, and had to take a later one. Fortunately the red-eye got them here. Monday we hit the decks running... but wait, that'll have to wait - the clock's still tickin' for me, and I'm off to meet JC & Franci, two of their Kidz - David & Amy and Friends and old stalwart, Marcus for 0ne more Disney Day (and yes, lunch at Club 33) and a Mickey Halloween evening.

I've got tons of photos of the Maguire's week, and will no doubt have more from today's excursion, PLUS even more pics concerning the D-23 Scavenger Hunt - and will follow that up down the road. And so Dear Friends, I must dash... but remember:

"In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria." -- Ben Franklin

Destination 55 - Day Two Report

Gotta jet here pretty soon... but HERE'S THE LINK to the D-23 re-cap for Day Two. Today is the big Scavenger Hunt... Marcus and I are the TEAM PYEWACKET - anybody know the "key" to that reference? (Note: It's two-fold.)

Kelly, Brooks and the Kidz fly in tonight, and I move over to the Ramada Inn. We also have a SPECIAL SURPRISE in store for Tomorrow... Ya'll come back, ya hear...

"Never squat while wearing your spurs!" Will Rogers

Disneyland, Disneyland & MORE Disneyland

Wow! JC dropped me off Thursday (after a visit to the Grand Californian for a snack and refreshment, then a tour trough Downtown Disney, and more refreshment at The ESPN Zone) at the Disneyland Hotel, where I'm staying for the weekend events.

And I've been up to my eyeballs in Disneyland, Walt Disney, Mousekateers, Imagineers & Disney Legends ever since. From 8:00am to 10:00pm. (OK, so we cut out on the Music portion) last night and ran over to California Adventure to take in the WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR show (Note about the Video - compared to the "real thing" this half hour video only rates about a "3" in quality, you just can't duplicate the vibrant colors they produce, and the amazing choreography of lights, sound and water are pretty amazing. That being said, the video does give a pretty good idea of the show, so if you want to be surprised, probably best not to watch it), and then made a banzi run over to Disneyland to catch the second FANTASMIC show. Whew, a bit of a hustle, but worth it.

So - back to yesterday... fortunately, the wonderful D-23 Folks at Disney already have a GREAT summary of the entire day posted on their Blog, so just CLICK HERE to get the full report AND photos.

I will make one comment though, at the close of the Imagineer's portion, host Marty Sklar had the following to say... "Disneyland is NOT a place to "escape" it is a place to "relive." A place to relax and remember when you could feel safe, in a clean environment, and feel comfortable talking to a stranger, and enjoy life and be happy!" And he's right. It only bears out a philosophy I've held for just about my entire Adult life, "If the WORLD were run like Disneyland, we'd all be better off!"

"To all who come to this happy place: - Welcome - Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past ... and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America ... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world." Walter E. Disney July 17, 1955

End of Summer & SMOOTH Ride

No... doggone it, it's not my new ride. Well we made it to mid-week without too much of interest. Ran a bunch of errands, made a visit to ALPINE VILLAGE to hook-up with a couple of old High School pals, Fred Benham & Craig Hanna, along with JC, to drink some beer and decide on next year's 45th Class reunion (which we did).

But this afternoon we had a chance for an unexpected treat - we were invited to check out Daryl Shaar's 49 Chevy Fleetline custom car.

What a beaut - more than I can adequately describe, so hopefully the photos here will tell enough of the story.

Named the SCARLET HARLOT, this crimson beauty is on her way to Long Beach for the annual custom car show there. Now, here's the kicker - Daryl and his wife Jan, DROVE this machine from Carson City Nevada!

And on another note... my Dear Friend from Chicago, Emilie Barry sent me a heads-up e-mail reminding me that today was not only the "end of Summer" but the Autumnal Equinox as well, and the interesting side note that the Moon (which would rise opposite the setting sun today) was at it's closest to the earth in 26 years... well, had to catch that, and as you can see - I did.

"If in the process of winning you have lost the respect of your competitors you have won nothing." -- Paul Elvstrom

Ron's Rendevous Round-up

I left you yesterday as we were heading to the Hospitality Tent, dinner and car watching. Well dinner was pulled pork sandwiches, sliced potatoes and salad. Budweiser & Coke products along with bottled water were the bevereges, pretty much all you wanted. A side note of interest (at least to some) was they had the best Porta-Potties I've ever encountered. Carpeted, framed artwork on the walls, porcelin urinal AND flusing toilet, faux granite counter top and hand sink w/ hot & cold water, big mirror, and believe it or not, AIR-CONDITIONED!

Be sure to click on the COLORED links to learn more about anything of interest.

As the sun set the Crusin' Parade was in full swing, open headers, Oldies music and Cars under lights. We were joined early by Paul Peterson (notable for his many years on the Donna Reed show. He and JC had met many years ago, and have become Friends. He is now active as an advocate for child actors and always has a good number of celebrity stories to share. An interesting one this trip was about Jay North (Dennis the Menace) who is now a corrections officer in Florida.

Later in the evening - JC had gone off on a Golf Cart to get up close and personal when a reporter and camerman from San Bernadino local TV IEMG Ch.3 stopped by and wanted to do an interview - so Franci joined Paul and wound up doing about 20 minutes. Ya just never know what's gonna happen at these events.

Saturday we had an early call, as JC was introducing Dave McClelland the MC for the induction ceremony. The group of inductees was an interesting one, and as each was introduced a 3 minute video was played in which they told some of their accomplishments and background as to their selection. It was one of the better formats I've seen for this type of event. If you've any interest, click here >>> Crusin' Hall of Fame to learn more about WHO and WHAT.

Out in front of the California Theater (which has just been completely refurbished and is a classic old theater house complete with balcony seating) they had parked several cars from the Peterson Museum, Jim Wagener's THE JUDGE GTO, Hurst's 2010 Dodge Challenger Hemi Series 5 SRT8, and Boyd Cottington's ALUMABODY Million dollar roadster... I've pictures of them in the collection linked below.l


After the Hall of Fame induction ceremony we cruised over to the Hospitality Tent for breakfast burritos (scrambled eggs and churrizo). I managed to get a pretty good sampling of the cars making the rounds. I've posted them on my WEBSHOTS site, all you have to do is click the link here>>>>> Route 66 Photos Mind you, I'm not a photographer, so other than a few, they're not particularly great, but you'll get a good idea of the wide range of vehicles to be seen.

The evening capped off with a real treat, we were given tickets to see Frankie Avalon, also at the California Theater. I have to tell you the show was good, and Frankie's still got his own hair and coincidentally he was celebrating his 70th Birthday. His youngest Son (he's the Father of 8 children, his oldest is 46) is his drummer, and his lead guitarist is Phil Everly's son...

Sunday was simply returning "home" to Hermosa, just in time to catch the NASCAR race. Ahhh, life is good!


"If you live right, things happen right!" -- Walter Elias Disney

Lake Not So Woebegone

This morning we had a light breakfast at the hotel then out and about to get our credentials for the weekend. KTLA Ch.5 was doing live broadcasting and we caught the tail end of that. One of the first "not so normal" cars we saw was this Nash Rambler that was more engine than car...

Not much was going on today so we took off for Lake Arrowhead, did a little driving around in the mountains, stopped at the Lake Arrowhead Resort for a beverage and to enjoy the view of the Lake. Then it was down to Alpine Village for lunch at Woody's Boathouse, right on the Lake. The theme there is Chris Craft all the way, including Booths placed in the stern section of the classic motorboats. They have a great Soup and Salad bar, besides a full menu and complete bar. The level of the lake was way up from last year, so that's a good sign.

After lunch we stopped to visit with a fairly familiar looking fellow...

We needed to get back to SanBerdo to meet friend's of Jay & Franci'; Gary & Paula Weber, who were joining us for the Rendezvous. Gary's another "car nut" and owns a classic Woody (not being shown this weekend) and I'd originally met them at a Long Beach Grand Prix several years ago. After getting them checked into the Hotel, we headed down to the Hospitality tent for some car watching and dinner. I'll follow up this post with photos...

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." -- Vincent Van Gogh