Grizz's Redneck Express 1966 Chevy Short Fleetside RESTO-GO!

[Grizz1963]

Seems the 4th of July was a good one at my friend Dennis' plac.



ALMOST AT THE 50% MARK

Just got to keep hoping a few more people, well a lot more really, do add in a few coins.



Overnight there was a couple more contributions in my nale.

Thanks to Phil, temporarily in Portugal and Dennis in Missouri enjoying his fridge full of beers.




If anyone else still wants to contribute, please do not hesitate and remember there are various ways to do so.

[Grizz1963]

You guys and girls have made another day end up good, no great for me.

Again, my thanks sound empty, compared to the care and generosity I have seen the last few weeks.

This morning a local donation came in, bringing us closer to the £700.00 mark.

Thank you Sam Taylor. Hope to meet you in person some time, remember the kettle is always on over here.



We also got sent the rules for the day and a map of the ride route was included.




Quick quiz question for those interested in good food..

Ta2don in Searcy, Arkansas sent me a pic of his lunch earlier today.

Care to identify it??




Later we had a good chat on FaceTime, with him sharing his trip out to a golf course where he was stopping in for a sales call.

I do love this technology that puts us all so easily in touch with each other.




Got home tonight and found an envelope with just a £10.00 note in it.

Anonymous contribution from a guy called "Cars"

Then my last lodger came in and added another tenner.

Next up....... MercDan called me to ask for the PayPal details and sent some. Obey for the kids too.

You guys all rock !!!





Thank you very much !!!

We have passed the £700.00 mark now, having made it to £716.00 not including the £35.00 I have contributed already.

Now £750.00 is calling my name.....��

[Grizz1963]

Couple of messages that came in overnight.

I was chatting to Dennis in St Louis, Missouri last night on Messenger.....

Woke his morning to this message.



Also got a PM from Clem Johnson in Fayetteville Arkansas.

More good news, especially as I know e parcel contains Louisiana Gold Hot Sauce. Something very special to go with good food.

Thanks a mil Clem and Kim.





And another one in from Roger and Deb.



Roger built his own lake outside his home.

This is the sunset view over his self built lake in front of his house. You drive over the dam wall on the way out.



Left to right.

Dennis, Debbie with moustache and husband Roger. (They were headed to a "Moustache Party" later)

Car started as a true Barnfind.





FOR THOSE WHO MISSED MY USA ROAD TRIP LAST YEAR.

CLICK LINK.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...2016-best-trip


THANKS AGAIN TO ALL THOSE WHO MAKE MY LIFE SO GOOD.

[Grizz1963]

Message from ElWoody in Cologne, Germany.

You´ve asked for coin money? Here you are! ;-) Go grizz go! No matter if in sport gear, ridiculously dressed up or barenaked... It´s for something good!

Remember I had asked for any coins

Michael had collected all the coins he could find around him and came up with £8.43

Pretty cool guys !!!!

Whether in the bottom of your sock drawer, under your cars seat or in the office if you pass a coffee cup around.
I really am not proud.

Cash is cash.

Thanks again.

[Grizz1963]

Just over three hours drive......

I am now in Grantham, near where the torture will start at 12.30 tomorrow.

Have never done as many updates in my life.

Tent city has sprung up by the lake, for those sleeping over tomorrow night.



And a few more contributions from around the world.

Again, I am both humbled and thankful for the support you all bring to what in my view, is a team effort across the internet.

Donations from people who have no jobs, are fighting the odds or just want to be part of this effort makes my heart happy......
KARMA IS A LOVELY MISTRESS.

Thanks to ElWoody for his second contribution, made up,of all the coins on his cars floor, behind the couch and anywhere else he looked.
Graham Bull, thank you as well for the support, a quiet guy.
And of course we mentioned Roger, whose beers are always very cold, along with the smoked Game sausage he makes.




Let's see what happens overnight........

Fingers crossed.

[Grizz1963]

Been to dinner, carbo loaded (not that I need it, as I am no pro.) and then back to hotel for tonight.

Glad to be sleeping in a hotel, rather than a tent tonight.

Earlier on Craig and I,were chatting by text, he was out having after work drinks with colleagues, so I challenged him to see if he could get any loose change from them......... nope, did not happen.

However, he was up for supporting my challenge frommSharon to wear a tutu tomorrow.



While out at dinner there were a couple of donations that came in?

Thanks to good friend Dave and his wife Helen.

And then also Steve AKA "Mucky Helmet" who added a large chunk of change into the mucky bucket. Thanks mate, that was lovely.



13 hours approximately before we take off tomorrow.

So still some time to contribute your small or large change please.

I am pretty sure this Just Giving account will stay open after tomorrow as well, in case people still want to,make a donation.

Bed time now I guess, this room has no air on, and is like an oven.

Later guys, gals.

[Grizz1963]

I am amazed.

At the weekend there was 50% of the target collected.

Tonight it is 80% albeit only just.

I think with the stragglers and final numbers still to be made up it could be close.



Miss Katy LOVES PINK and commented on our team T shirts.
So I asked her if she wanted mine.
Now washed and ironed, it will be way too big for her, but she is happy.

Kind of a token too, that the race is over but the fund raising carries on.



Blessed with another lovely sunset.




Of course typically there is always one.

Originally Posted by sparkplug

yeah - you need to raise your target Grizz.

I've not had a chance to contribute yet so set a number and let's see if we can reach it.

Honestly the way this place has been recently it's your thread that keeps me paying my subs more than anything else so it seems only fair to chip in after your efforts

So, based on promises made and monies offered, I thonk that £1200.00 is doable if all honour their offers.

I thonk £1250.00 is not an unrealistic target.


Anyone still up for collecting the small change around the office?

Deposit directly or even PayPal

Its all good.

[Grizz1963]

Mind comprehensively blown this morning.

This does not in any way reduce the value of every single contribution received.
As mentioned before, it's the pennies and pounds that add up, and it's all about what individuals see as appropriate.

Thanks to Fil "Sparkplug "

Looks like £1300.00 is an attainable target now if the other promised funds come in.



Have a good day all.

And thanks again

[Grizz1963]

Yesterday was a good, no, GREAT DAY.

Just the day alone brought in another £155.00 to our Internet total.

Thanks to Spark plug and then followed by SkinnyLew and a few others.

I also offered my manager the £10.00 toward the team T-shirts, but he declined and said to put it into the donations. So my shirt was paid for twice I guess.



Another donation that came with a short explanation also hit home more clearly than what I could have described.

From Temeraire




Thank you to Lttledumptruck for adding another £20.00 to the total as well.

We are now at £1245.00 according to my calculations and adding up, it could be more as there were a few anonymous contributions and currencies I just did a rough conversion on.

This is just awesome !!



Lastly, I had to go book a restaurant for a function yesterday afternoon and they had a load of old cartoons on the walls......

This made me smile.





Have a good day all.

[Grizz1963]

Another donation in yesterday partly based around the TuTu challenge.


Brought us to £1365.00


This is an amazing number.


Thank you to every person who helped with this effort.

[Grizz1963]

LAST CALL...!!

Well, it looks like this fund raiser has ground to a halt.

At £1370.00 we have all done extremely well.

If anyone still wants to make a named donation in my. Are, the Just Giving site has not been shut yet, so I could still see it rounded up to £1400.00 that looks good.

CLICK LINK: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraisi...eTriathlon2017

A rounded up number would have been cool, but I am thankful and proud of the whole effort by all who supported me on the ride.

A couple more pics from the corporate photographer (surprised they took photos to the end) at the end of the ride/race.


This is an example of corporate Health and Safety gone bloody mad.


We were not allowed to ride the first 400 or more meters due to it being dirt, in case someone fell off.......


SERIOUSLY !!!


So had to run with our bikes, pushing them.





Freecycle bike did good.


Headed back to park it up and drop off my timing tag.





I was surprised at how little knackered I actually felt, maybe drinking enough liquids before the ride and a bit more at halfway worked.


Off to a BBQ later with Alpaccas.

Yummm.

[Grizz1963]

Came to Katy's house for the weekend as we had a BBQ to go to at friends of hers, which would include Alpacas..... yes please.

So after feeding the cats, I went to the post office to collect a parcel.

As is my preference, using Prozac, the little van that can.



Then drove the 50 miles to her place, continuing to grin, despite the traffic on the M25 being a bit rubbish.

Another thing that made me smile when I got here were these riders, riding their horses though the High Street.

Only in England.



Once I unpacked the van (brought my ironing too, yes I am spoiled, but it's a fair trade for doing her yard work cutting grass etc) I also unpacked the box.....

A gift from the USA from Clem and Kim in Fayetteville, Arkansas........ www.tubatrucks.com Take a look.

Blown away again at generosity beyond the call of duty.

The parcel was meant to be some Louisiana Gold Hot sauce, as I had used the last of my precious stash brought back from Kim's kitchen last year.

Of course there was a box with 12 bottles in there.

Also some awesome vintage Chevy stuff, and my personal emotional favourite, a Sinclair Dino soap.

Clem also added in a very very neat numberplate for my collection.

And lastly, some Dollars in cash for the charity collection that he had previously asked me to advance him.

Guess I will have to go to the USA to spend it.



Thank you Clem and Kim for the donation. You guys rock!!



Later I cut the grass, then we went shopping etc, and by 4pm off to BBQ

A great day so far.

[Grizz1963]

Bit like a Medusa.....

Chop off a head and another two grows......


Thanks Tim.

It did indeed make me smile.

Boosted my morale for sure.



This makes the "Internet donations" move up to £1521.00 in traceable donations.

Let's see what today brings.

[Grizz1963]

Thank you to FreshandMinty for carrying on and donating to the children's charity even after the ride.

The charity is still open and donations continue to trickle in, getting closer to their target.




London beckons again today.

Looking forward to the weekend as I have Friday off in lieu of working he 1st July.

Mini long weekend.

[Grizz1963]

Every now and then something comes along that needs to be shared.

Click the link and take a quick look.

I do love some creative metalworking


http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...-hours-skilled


Trust you will be impressed with this bit of craziness.



Another donation




Lovely sunset again.

[Grizz1963]

Had to collect two parcels from the post Office Depot yesterday.

One was from Australia.

Thank you very much RBlote.

They are hugely cool and will go well with my collection.

He entry pass will of course get hung in the garage too.







Over at Katy's for the rest of the weekend.

She does not do bootfairs, bit of a snob........

But yesterday afternoon we went to a bootfair about 5 miles from her place.

Not massive, and no traders, which is a good thing.

Loads of random stuff, mostly older people selling stuff they paid too much for 20 years ago when it was in vogue.

First item, not photographed is a large, read efficient, hairdryer for £3.00 to replace the one that she had at my place for her visits, as the old one blew up. Happy with that.
Katy got a paperback for 50p for her holiday in Greece.
And she got a pack of thermal socks for her brother.

Found this sign in French, which I do not read, for £1.00 but perfect for a random wall on the shed.

£1.00 bargain in my world, ally backed as well and great condition.



Same lady had this plate..... for £2.00

Why?? I hear you ask.

Dennis' partner Debbie collects Christmas stuff amongst others, and this is outside of her remit, but last year I found her a very collectible side plate that I posted out, badly wrapped and it got broken, so his one is to "replace" that one, it is of Sandringham which to her, as a Royal watcher, may have some value.
Just need to pack it more securely before I post it out this time.



Another ornament, this time for Katy at cost of £1.00
She has three that I bought before for £5.00 and has them hanging around her house.
Happy girl.



Lastly, at 50p a piggy getting sick the morning after.

This is for her younger daughter, who like many youngsters, has not realised that alcohol will always win if you over do it.

Katy always makes her a little parcel of stuff when she heads back to Uni, so this will be included.

I doubt that she will get the message, but worth the laugh.



No bootfairs today though.

Off to take little princess to lunch.

[Grizz1963]

My good friend CraigRK is in the USA at the moment.

He already has these two cars with another truck headed out here.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...an-inspiration

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...0-pickup-donor

San Francisco to be precise, for work.

Sadly, he is experiencing all the pleasures of being a guest in that great country.

He has been sharing photos and observations.

This one yesterday made me smile. Just how mad has the world become??

At least I never saw any of this sort of madness when I traveled mid-America.



Sadly, he is stuck in San Francisco over the weekend and only has a Credit cards, SatNav and a Harley.

My heart bleeds for the man........

Maybe he will find another truck to buy while riding out.





And in my own life, a small change of fortune........

After a couple of years of my employers not getting it right, it seems they screwed up my taxes again, but this time in my favour.

So what to do with the windfall... we'll, it was my money in the first place.

Addit to Prozac and buy a truck, or just leave it to earn zero percent interest.




Almost the weekend.

Going to look if I can find a small treasure that I was informed about yesterday...... thanks to MercDan.

[ibrown50]

Add it to Prozac and buy a truck

[Grizz1963]

Guessssss......

Who just had his first English pint of beer ??



Michael and Trish over from Spokane, Washington.



For those interested in Michaels interesting and at times challenging build: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=487100


Welcome to Mud Island.


Dinner to follow.


Great to have you here. It is great to meet up here in the U.K. After meeting up twice before in the USA at Clems charity events.

[Grizz1963]

Tuesday night we wanted to go out for a steak, last meal together, in the end we changed our minds and went with a Chinese Buffet.

Turned out to be a good choice for us.





Back home after dinner, a,last beer, and of course Harley making herself comfortable on McMurphy.

Both cats were extremely taken with him and Trish, alwaysna great sign.



This morning it was up before 06.00 as the visitors were off on the next leg of their European tour....

Taking the Eurostar train through the Chanel tunnel to Amsterdam and onward from there.

Even this early in the day, the traffic can get to be a nightmare, thankfully we got to leave the motorway just before the actual snarl up.




Amazingly, they have been here a week already.

It was a real,pleasure sharing time and travel with them

Good byes said, it was off to get tickets to Europe.

Easy as that.





I was back home before 8.00am

Found both cats in the spare room where the McMurpys had kept their luggage while they stayed with me......



I guess they were also missing them already.

I hope we get to see more of Europe through your eyes McMurphy.

[Grizz1963]

I really do hate school holidays.

Too many bored children about.

More than that, no customers to see. Half away on holiday and the other half working twice as hard.

So last week I took Friday off to spend with friends including the weekend.
I then impulsively asked my boss for some more time off work and he agreed.

So today I spent in town dealing with some banking and other matters.
Not working tomorrow either...........

One of my favourite places on the poor side of town is a Turkish shop and associated restaurant. Great service, food and fresh fruit.

So I decided to have lunch there and watch people for an hour and a half.



Today I selected lamb and yoghurt soup, served with olives, pickled vegetables and a pile of their flat bread, freshly baked in a wood fired oven on site.
A dash of chilli oil on top and you are on your way.



After lunch I had a leisurely Nescafé coffee and watched people for an hour or so and chatted with friends around the world on messenger.

Then the bill came.

£6.00 or $7.75 incl tip.

Got to be a good thing.



Sometimes living is winning.

Now thinking about what I will get up to tomorrow.

It could be a crazy good day.

Not even the weekend.

Yet........

[Grizz1963]

Friday morning 03.45 UK time.

Harley saying WT Actual F ??



Ooooppps.

Now is Saturday Morning 06.30 here in America.
USA 6hrs behind the UK. Managed about 6.5hrs sleep after having been awake 25 hrs straight.
Impulse buy to come surprise visit my friend Dennis for his 60th birthday.
They have a long weekend with Monday off. Labour Day.
So Saturday and Sunday night are championship V8 Sprint car races.
Then hitting road to see a few very good friends in the Dodge Hellcat, some also will be surprised.
I had 7 beers at last count last night that may have helped me sleep a bit. Coming home from airport Adam did a rolling burnout at 40mph for about 20 meters. Just mashed throttle "gently" and laid two black lines down. The car is a beast.
But 707 bhp will do that.
That's a mad mad car and I will be driving it.

Sometimes I can do spontaneous like buying the ticket. No regrets so far.
Looking forward to this trip unfolding.

I do hope that some of you guys will be along for the ride.

So after an early start yesterday I came in via





UK from the skies headed out.

Pretty.




So I guess the question is.......


Is anyone interested in more feedback and pics from this trip??

Let me know even if you are a stalker.