License to Drive

Oh boy, a scooter!

My very own scooter!

Mine!

He doesn't need a license to drive this, does he?

For an eighteen month old, Mateo is quite an expert with the scooter.

Before we know it, Mateo will be driving...

Buns of Steel

All right, this post is about the Where and the Why.

Where?

The Queen Anne Hill Climb, which starts right on Lake Union.

Why?

For your pretty, little buns.

Nothing works out your buns like stairs.

Stairs help you achieve buns.

Buns of Steel.

Palomino's Jaguar

What is the big deal about a car show?

Brass cast radiators.

No pun intended.

This looks like something Barbarella would wear.

No, this isn't a tank. It's an air cleaner, which sits on top of the carbourator. I know this because Pa used to work on his own car.

Looks like a shark...

Once, I was with my usual cohorts (a subject that deserves it's own post) at a restaurant, sitting on the porch seating area enjoying the summer weather. A sleek grey sedan pulled up along the sidewalk to park. 

"What is that car?" wondered Palomino.

"A Silver Fox!" exlaimed Alfonsina. 'Silver Fox' is the nickname she and Palomino had given to their silver Buick LeSabre.

The guys contradicted. Palomino, being a Jaguar owner himself, thought it was the newest Jaguar model.

"Oh you fools! That's an Impala!" I declared. "See the deer emblem on the hood?"

All this time, the driver and his passenger - an overdressed woman with big blond hair, and too much make-up for the summer time - came ouf of the car. They ended up taking the table next to ours. The woman reeked of too much perfume, it drove the mosquitos away!

The debate continued about the make of the sleek, grey sedan that had just deposited the aforementioned couple at the table next to us. And I was winning it with my Impala argument.

Before getting into our own vehicle, we stopped to investigate the sedan in question. It was indeed a Jaguar. A very expensive model!

I blushed as I reasoned. "It doesn't have the leaping Jaguar ornament on the hood!" The emblem was in fact a flattened profile of the leaping Jaguar, much like Chevy's deer emblem.

"Quick!" 5-Star ordered. "Let's get atta here before we embarrass ourselves more..."

I guess Jaguar is cutting back on cost by doing away with the leaping jaguar ornament?

Studabaker

This classic is only one of three in existence.

If modern cars had stop lights like this one, we'd have less rear-enders on the road!

Fancy 1920's technology.

Chrysler

Original upholstery.

Prinz

Ford

Yes, you read it right. 

Ford

"Mater", like tomater without the tuh.

Buick

Volkswagon

Leave it to the Germans to be so innovative.

???

I don't know what this is... But I thought it was pretty.

I ask again, what's the big deal about a car show?

Milling through a crowd of car enthusiasts talking about horse power, engine blocks, and torque.

Jaguar

1962 Jaguar E-Type XKE 3.8 Roadster
Cream Body Color
Carmen Red Interior Color
4 Speed Manual Transmission
3.8 Liter DOHC 12-Valve XK Inline 6 Cylinder Engine

Palomino's Jaguar.

The Big Deal about the car show.

The Oregon Coast

5-Star and I haven't spent an anniversary together since we've been married. Blame airplanes, trains, automobiles, and boats... This year, weeks after our anniversary, we decided to take a road trip for a belated celebration getaway.  We took out a map of the Pacific Northwest coastline, dropped a penny on it, and agreed that wherever the coin landed was where we were going.

Pacific City, Oregon!

So we hitched a ride on a Cessna...

And forty-five minutes later we were there. 

Actually, that's a lie. 

We drove.

Five hours and forty-five minutes later, we arrived at our humble abode.

We ate at the famous Pelican Brewery right on the beach in Pacific City.

I had the Pelican Wings. Hah!

Our humble abode was two blocks from the beach. On our first night there, we saw this hunkin' piece of steel driving toward the beach.

To rescue poor, stranded beach drivers like this fellow.

Ah, what a beautiful coastline Oregon has!

Why?

WHY?

That night, we learned that this is where the 1985 hit movie The Goonies was filmed.

In the movie, Mikey and Brandon are brothers whos family is preparing to move because developers want to build a golf course in the place of their neighborhood - unless enough money is raised to stop the construction of the golf course. Mikey stumbles upon a treasure map of the famed pirate "One Eyed Willy's" hidden fortune, which set them and their friends Chunk, Mouth, Andy, Stef, Data (my favorite character, he set "booty" traps), calling themselves The Goonies, on a quest to find the treasure in hopes of saving their neighborhood. 

It was from that rock that One Eyed Willy's ship emerged at the end of the movie.

We took a drive as far south as Florence, about two hours south of Pacific City.

We visited sites on Highway 101.

And everyday we went to the beach.

It took almost seven hours to get home.

But Sonya didn't mind...