other dog

Yep, it was St. Patricks day when I was there, but it goes on for a whole week. That was the last weekend of it when I was there. And Yes, she's the one. Moved to Florida from Connecticut a long time ago. She's great!

and I was surprised at how cheap the beer was- 2 or 3 dollars for a bud light draft, and I would have expected it to be at least twice that.

I bought several beers at the Cabbage Patch, where the cole slaw wrestling was. That was the best, everything you wanted was right there. That young lady under the umbrella was over on main street in Daytona. We just rode over there to look, never even stopped. Too many people, nowhere to park, etc. But the Cabbage Patch, that was the cat's ass. Still lots of people, with lots of bikes, food, beer, souveneirs, hats, t shirts, scantily clad wimmens, you name it. We just parked over there and walked around, had a few beers, watched some rasslin, had a great time.

And...bike week. I wasn't even that enthused about going at first, but it was a blast, I really enjoyed it! Wimmens about to wrassle in the cole slaw- an elf, I think. more body paint- There was a few bikes other than Harleys there, but not many. I don't know what group this is, but they were good! The guy standing playing drums was really good. And there were beer stands everywhere! Oh, there were lots of motorcycles there too, but I forgot to take any pictures of them.

I saw lots of Florida wildlife. And more- I saw an airplane a big round thing- and this building.

I saw this International Cargostar in Rustburg one day. Don't see many of these any more, especially a tandem axle unit. Then one day in Oklahoma I saw this big yellow equipment. And I spotted a nice looking B model over behind it. Never did get a very good picture of it. But I got a pretty good picture of this house in Lakeland, Fl. with the big tree. Oh, yeah, I finally made it to sunny Florida. I saw great things in Florida. We went to a seafood restaurant, and while we were sitting waiting for a table I couldn't help but notice that the bar stools there were really nice. And these creatures were behind a pizza restaurant. Made of scrap parts, looked like mostly bike parts, but there was chains, sprockets, connecting rods, wrenches, and I don't know what-all else welded together to make these.

I spent the weekend in Florida- it was great! Even went to bike week for the first time ever, it was a lot of fun, lots of sights! I saw Donald Trump and Kim Jong Ungh! there. ...and lots of scantily clad wimmens. I even saw one getting body paint applied- And there were beer stands about every 50 feets, very reasonably priced too!

I didn't know that, thanks Paul.

I assume that too. I was worried for a while, because we'd been together for over 10 years and even though we weren't married some people told me we were "common law'' married anyway. But since she left on her own, I never asked her to leave, and she's been gone since November, I don't think she can demand half of everything. That would be bad, especially since I paid for everything since day one.

And my feet stayed cold all the time in 200 gram Rocky's, so I bought 400 gram insulated Rocky's, and haven't even worn them yet, probably won't get that cold any more this year anyway. And made in Vietnam...wow. Good looking boot though.

that may be true, but what I usually do is just grab the valve and wiggle it back and forth a few times, that will usually stop the air leak. Hi Rob!

I should be easy to find then, i'll be wearing the hat carrying a meatloaf.

She messaged me around Christmas, saying it would be a good start to the new year to get back together, start over, she'd like to come back. I told her I had no interest in her coming back, and that I was happier than i'd been in years. And she replied "WELL GOOD FOR YOU", in all capital letters, as a direct response to what I told her. Haven't heard from her since.

In fact, 1958FWD has a pit barrel smoker too, if he was willing we could make that right there at the Hellertown Truckstop and bring it over. There would be enough for 3 sammiches, one for you, me, and I suppose for Randy for the use of his smoker. That meatloaf is great, I can tell you that. I use 2 lbs. of hamburger and 1 lb. of Itallion sausage, then the usual meatloaf stuff- chopped onion, green pepper, bread crumbs, egg...

I suppose that could be done!

I might. When Old Bill gave it to me he asked me to wear it to truck shows. That's why I wear it, and it's the only time I wear it. If it offends people, and I don't know why it would, well, too bad. It's actually an Akubra hat, made in Australia, not a cartoon dog's hat, not a cheap hat, and I appreciate that Old Bill thought enough of me to give it to me. If he wants me to wear it to truck shows, it's the least I can do for him. It's a Coolabah, showing for $220 on the Akubra website, but that's not the Mack truck one, I couldn't find that particular model listed. https://www.akubra.com.au/ So yeah, I think I will wear it.

Hell, I don't know- no telling what goes on around here while i'm gone.

They'll probably find PT109 some day.

Not trying to hijack the thread, but speaking of finding things, did y'all see this?..amazing! https://www.abandonedspaces.com/uncategorized/arabia-steamboat.html

I called her that night, by accident actually, when I was trying to send a message, And we have talked and/or text messaged every day ever since. We have met in person since then too. She lived in Ct. when we first met, and now she lives in Florida. And she said she is coming to Macungie with me this year. So all is good...

But the strangest thing is this- one night I was going to Oklahoma, and when my driving time was up I pulled into the rest area on I-64 at the Illinois-Indiana line. I looked at my new smart phone- I hadn't long upgraded from the old flip phone, and saw a message request. And usually I paid no attention to message requests, or just deleted them immediately, but for some reason I clicked "accept" on this one. And as soon as I saw the name I knew exactly who it was. We had dated briefly, back in the early 80's. But she lived far,far away. And then I met my future wife down on this end, the one who died of cancer in 2005. So the long distance relationship ended...until that night. I'll never forget the conversation. At the time, my facebook profile picture was the one of me sitting in Dr. Bill's PIE truck, when Dave Coutu let me sit in it at Winchester. It says "Oakland, Ca." on the door. Her message said "did you ever live on the east coast?" I replied "I've lived in Va. all my life- did you ever live in Ct?" And she just happened to be on right then, and she said "small world".

So yeah, I haven't seen her since before Thanksgiving.

Well...it's a long story, but- One day back last fall Jo called me one morning to see where I was and what I was doing. I was in a tense situation at the time, don't remember exactly what, but I was in the Norfolk area. When we said "good bye" she said "I love you". I said "ok, bye!" About 3 seconds later she called back and said "I said- 'I love you!" So I said "well good for you!" and hung up...probably not the best thing to say, but it's what I said. That Friday when I was on the way home I called to see if she wanted to go to El Salvador- my favorite restaurant in Altavista, the Mexican place- oh, it's El Cazador- whatever, she said "I already made a sammich, and you know, I think i'll be moving on". I think she was expecting me to beg and plead for her to stay, but I said "well, ok, see-ya, bye!" And that was it. And i've been here with the cat ever since...that reminds me of a Richard Pryor joke