Alfa 164L made it home....

...but not without a little adventure! REad the email below I got today from Steve, the buyer from Virginia....

Chris,

Had a good trip saw Rose and Rick in Daytona and then Ralph Lee 164 owner friend in Orange Park (he wants the seats). Stopped at 9 pm in SC and up again at 4 am.

Stayed in Santee, SC and got home 10:30 this morning.

Almost lost car to a deer at 0830 this morning in broad daylight as it ran right to left in front of me. I braked hard, missed deer or deer missed me but not hard enough, as I nailed hunting dog's hind quarters that was chasing it in left corner of front bumper and popped/broke off head light washer nozzle and blistered some clear coat on bumper. Damn deer hunters and their pick up trucks with dog cages. Happened just a couple miles from VA state line once I left I-95 to get to here. God was with me is all I got to say.

Thanks again for the radio it keep me good company. I ship it out soon.

Steve

Farewell friend

Enjoy your new life in Virginia Beach...

Dutch rub

Well I had a fun time last Friday night for a few hours with some friends at Liam's pub. At times it got a bit boisterous but all in good fun.

I was even the victim of the infamous "dutch rub" aka "noogie" as perpetrated by my pal Mikey. Note Cap'n Jim off to the side enjoying the drubbing I am taking.

Things remembered

By nature I am a pack rat. I keep some things for years and years and years after I prolly should have rid myself of them. Not sure why really, but I think maybe I figure they will be useful to me again someday. Or maybe unearthing something special from underneath a pile of other things will bring a smile to my face, or a laugh or maybe even a tear or two.

Over the last few weeks as I have been slowly but surely packing things in preparation for my move, I have unearthed some of these things that were/are special to me. I guess in some cases the word unearthed is not really correct, because some things I kept and I knew exactly where I put them, but I had to keep them out of sight to keep them out of my mind.

So tonight is one of those nights especially where I am running across a lot of things with special meaning to me....and I am glad tonight that I am a pack rat :-)

Henceforth and Forthwith

Upon my return to the Great Plains, one of the first orders of business shall be to call upon my old brewing partner, Mike "The Enforcer" Morhardt (MM) with the goal of re-establishing ourselves as the preeminent home brewers in the central USA sector.

We shall embark upon this quest with a batch of SIMCOE HOP ALE.


Winter is a special time for brewers, with many breweries releasing IPAs and other strong and hoppy ales. This recipe is in that tradition with hearty portions of Simcoe flavor and aroma hops. Simcoe is a relatively new hop, good for both bittering and aroma and is the signature hop in this recipe. It is a nice alternative to the sometimes overused Cascade hop.

6 Lbs Gold liquid malt extract
3.3 Lbs Amber liquid malt extract
1/2 Lb British Crystal (55L)
1/2 Lb Aromatic Malt
1/2 Lb Munich 40 L
1 Lb British Pale Malt
1 oz Simcoe bittering hops
1 oz Simcoe flavor hops (boil 25 minutes)
1 oz Simcoe aroma hops (boil 5 minutes)
1 oz Simcoe aroma hops (add after you shut off heat)

Yeast: Wyeast 1056 American Ale or Whitbread Ale dry yeast.

Last Guzzi outing with Florida friends

This morning I hooked up with some of my Florida motorcycling friends, Andrew, Angela and Eddie for a final ride before I head back to the midwestern USA Thanksgiving week.

We headed out on some nice Florida backroads to the Osteen Diner for breakfast....mmmmm, blueberry pancakes n bacon! After breakfast we explored some more roads and did a nice big 90 minute loop, eventually getting back to where we started in the a.m.

Next was a nice ride along even more nice roads, some with good twists and turns, leading to the quaint little town of Mt Dora. There we saw some cool motorcycles, cars, and lots of neat shops. A delicious lunch followed and then finally the ride back home.

All in all a wonderful day in gorgeous Florida exploring many fun roads with great friends.

CLICK THIS LINK TO SEE PICS ON PHOTOBUCKET

Another good ol' GFR tune