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

[flashed]

That place is too cool .

[Palf70Step]

[Bomp]

Incredible.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

That place is too cool .

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Originally Posted by Bomp

Incredible.

Its an amazing place.


And when you speak to various people including Dennis, you realise just hos much work and time he put into creating a petrol heads dream restaurant.

After much more looking around and just drinking in the atmosphere and decor, I made it back to the bar to order a drink and lunch from Kelly our amazingly tallented waitress.

She had been waitressing and bussing tables since age 15 and runs her own graphic design company. Using the waitress job as a way to make extra cash for herself.
She clearly is the best they have at Ethyls as she runs the bar and a bunch of tables.

Friendly, bloody intelligent, cute and sharp as a rapier she was onto my instantly, loving my accent but also playing me like a fish.

That to me is one of my favourite parts of travel and meeting people.....that special connection you make.

I will certainly remember her for more than one reason for a long time.

I ordered Catfish and sweet potato fries with caramel sauce with onion rings and a bottomless glass of Dr Pepper. Thats another thing I love about the US. Drinks getting refilled and refreshed as long as you need them to be refilled.

Dennis and Debbie had good meals too.



My last meal. Perfect.




Kelly.......... Perfect.

Playing me the way I love it.

Just how perfectly could I end two weeks spent with amazing friends and making new friends in the US ??

These two weeks will once again be forever printed in my mind.

A massive thank you to every person who touched my life.



Once we had eaten, chatted had our fill I asked Dennis if I could pay.

He called Kelly over to where were sitting to ask for the bill and she replied "No need to pay, its been taken care of already" Kent Eisenbath the owner at Ethyls had picked up the tab.

I kid you not !!

Even to the last moment, random kindness and generosity poured out to Dennis (remember, I am just the guest there)
When we were at Harry J's before and had an awesome meal splitting a mind blowingly large and good two inch Prime Rib and drinking a lot of beer with Dave they refused payment from him too. Dave Howell owner at Harry's J's And Dennis go a very long way back too.
He is clearly respected and loved wherever he goes.
An amazingly easy guy to get on with.

After lunch we headed the last 20 miles to St Louis Airport for them to drop me off as Dennis had work to go do for a customer and Debbie was going to see her grand daughter.

I was early by four hours. Check in took about 3 minutes.



Then a not so boring few hours of people watching, Starbucks coffee and Delta Airlines again being delayed.

Had I known this was just the start........

Headed for Detroit where I would change planes for Heathrow.



Raining when I left St Louis.

It was the first bad weather of my whole trip. Blessed or what??



With Delta's 45 minute delay in St Louis it meant that the Detroit change over was litterally as fast as I could get from one terminal gate to another. Walking straight onto my UK bound flight.

All the Delta staff at this point except for one guy were misserable and unfriendly in my opinion. Enough to warrant avoiding future flights with them if I can help it. Funny how the Virgin crew were the opposite on the way out.

Sad really.

Uneventful, sleepless flight got us to Heathrow the next morning.

Welcome home.......... to Blighty.



Get off plane. Fast lane Passport.

Bagage collection........ should be a breeze.

30 minutes later.

No suitcase........ WTF ??

Impressed.

In the mean time I think my case that was just over the 23kg mass allowance, zipper closed in layers of motor racing grade Ductape as the airline or handlers managed to break the zipper open and lose some of my gift stuff on the way into Detroit.
So I thought that maybe internal security had possibly rumbled my baggage or even worse, detained it.



Go to Delta Lost baggage.

Helpful guy clearly knows the drill.

Whips out form and pen.

Fill this in and bring back.

I give him my baggage tag and he is on the computer.

Yup, your baggage was left behind in Detroit as the flight had been delayed.
They would not waste time finding it.
Return form and pen.

Guy tells me my baggage will be delivered on Saturday or Sunday.
Which was confirmed on Saturday by text to say my baggage would be delivered between 21.00 and 23.00
In fact it was at 22.05 on Saturday the doorbell ended up ringing and my unopened Ductaped bag was unceremoniously plonked in front of me.

So I headed for the Purple parking bus stop to go get my car, only to be told the bus is full and I need to wait for the next available bus.

Car collected, onto a thankfully eady M25 to do the 85 miles home.

Got home and unpacked hand lugguage, showered and made cuppa Tetleys tea. Heavenly.

Friday Night I took a Piriton antihistamine that normally knocks me out to try get some sleep. Katy had also decided wisely to give me time to catch up on sleep.

Of course most pleased to have me home on Friday was my Garage Thug cat Harley who must have missed me according to my lodger and house/cat sitter.




I managed to sleep about 8 hours dead.

First time in three weeks.

Saturday was filled with running around getting food, milk etc as my Nomance with Katy continued and needed some food to impress her.

Later for the close of this story.

[Palf70Step]

Harley's face belongs on one of those meme's or a commercial for something!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Harley's face belongs on one of those meme's or a commercial for something!

This pic is probably more appropriate.

Formal mortgage application starts tomorrow. Agreed a price with seller. Need to sell AMG, Motorhome, house in MK, etc, etc

[Grizz1963]

Saturday afternoon late Miss Katy came over to visit.

It had after all been three weeks since we last saw each other.

Our Nomance based on an easy friendship meant that I had made some extra effort by going to the Turkish shop and bakery to buy flat bread, Puck spreading cheese and other treats.

So we could have an easy dinner with no fuss.



The Turkish bread is always a winner.

Katy was happy to see me and she looked lovely.



Harley was very happy.



My left over Dollars were about to be converted to Sterling and stuck back into the mortgage that had become a priority earlier in the year.



My baggage was delivered on Saturday evening just afyer 10pm.
So of course I needed to unpack and get the bits I brought for Katy out for her, including the pink Buck knife that made her laugh.

Sleep continued to evade me as my biological clock was now so screwed up that Saturday night delivered about four hours sleep.

On Sunday we had a reasonable day. Lazy start and walk about then a walk down the Medway river from Upnor.

Thankfully the tide was out but the windy day meant loads of Lazer class sailing boats on tbe river.



Sunday night I got almost no sleep and up at 05.30 on my way to a team meeting in London for the day meant I really suffered to jusy stay awake.

Monday night I turned off all electronic gizmos in the house and slep for 9.5 hours dead. The last time I slept that much, I must have been 10 years old.

From Tuesday it was back to the day job.

Suited up.



Man, I miss my shorts and flip flops.



By Wednesday evening it was late meetings and training again with London at night being my song.




Last photo is a map made up by Elwoody (Michael) in Germany.

Trying to capture all the routes and detours I used is not easy.

So this map is a very basic representation of the 2500 miles I did either with other people or in the Dodge Hemi Challenger that Dennis gave me to use.

I was amazed at the 25.3 mpg that it returned on longer trips like to 400 miles a day I did returning to Missouri.




There are a few small things I still need to complete and record. I will come back to them when I get to it.

Now its back to normal.

Thanks for riding shotgun.

I think there are around 550 photos in this thread. I could be wrong though.


And Yes, unfortunately I have started planning next years trip already. It may include Blues, Bourbon and Beads.

2017 invite has also come from Colorado.
This has to be considdered as I always like Colorado for its nature.

Now relaxxxxxx.

[flashed]

What an adventure this trip was ,thanks for taking us along .

[dwcardfan]

Thanks for the ride!!!!

[Palf70Step]

[Bomp]

Whew, Glad you made it over the pond in one piece.
How many days are you shooting for on the next trip?

[53Sparky]

Reinforcing the Colorado invitation on this site in addition to the Garage Journal invitation.

1) It's only an 11 hour drive to Fayetteville from here. You could probably hit a couple of other members on your way down there you wanted to.

2) There are many flight (either direct or indirect) options from London into Denver International Airport. Just saying.

3) The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is a combination of rally racing and hot rods.

4) 300 days a year of sunshine.

5) I know of several junkyards in the area where you could get nearly rust free spares.

Have I made my point yet?

By 2017 summer, I hope to be done with my '62 project.

[uber cool]

I read all your trip reports, excellent to read and see what you did. We have just come back from 2 weeks and 1500 miles around California and Nevada, took us a few days to get back into sleep and this awful cold & damp weather, cant wait to go back again.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

What an adventure this trip was ,thanks for taking us along .

John

Its guys like you who make me report and enjoy these trips.

I absolutely love to immerse myself in local culture and really enjoy the learnings that come my way.

People everywhere I go are generous with their time and love to share.
So the least I can do and enjoy doing is to Pay it forward by sharing.

The more I get to know people over there the more I wish my life was not so screwed up.

Originally Posted by dwcardfan

Thanks for the ride!!!!

Donnie !!

Thank you for the ride.

The pleasure was certainly mine.

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Good stuff ehhh Bill ?

Originally Posted by Bomp

Whew, Glad you made it over the pond in one piece.
How many days are you shooting for on the next trip?

Bomp, we cannot take more than 10 working days absence.

This year I managed 13 working days because I had got permission from my contract agency.

I would love to have two full free weekends over three weeks but that wont be happening.

Originally Posted by 53Sparky

Reinforcing the Colorado invitation on this site in addition to the Garage Journal invitation.

1) It's only an 11 hour drive to Fayetteville from here. You could probably hit a couple of other members on your way down there you wanted to.

2) There are many flight (either direct or indirect) options from London into Denver International Airport. Just saying.

3) The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is a combination of rally racing and hot rods.

4) 300 days a year of sunshine.

5) I know of several junkyards in the area where you could get nearly rust free spares.

Have I made my point yet?

By 2017 summer, I hope to be done with my '62 project.

All great points, noted.

Thank you for the invote and offer.

I guess everything still has to shape itself around Clems Tuba Trucks Big Charity drive.

That makes it slightly awkward.

Of course nothing stops people from coming to where I am at.

Originally Posted by uber cool

I read all your trip reports, excellent to read and see what you did. We have just come back from 2 weeks and 1500 miles around California and Nevada, took us a few days to get back into sleep and this awful cold & damp weather, cant wait to go back again.

Homesick for the USA was the worst along with jetlag

Looking forward to the next trip already. If I can manage it all.

[Grizz1963]

Well it seems the road trip keeps on giving.

One of the parcels I posted to South Africa went to a friend Jacques and contained a bunch of license plates and a 1.75m long snake skin for his break away cottage.

He saw that both Donnie Wilson and I like and collect knives.

So he arranged for some Okapi knives to be bought and shipped to him for distribution to various people.

Karma...... did I mention it before?



The last two weeks have been busy in the nomance and personal spaces.

Katy saw her older daughter graduate this week.

Great going for being a single parent for 16 years. Her daughters are certainly headed in the right direction. With the younger just starting at Bournemouth University.



Last weekend she planted the water feature bed with a few plants.





CLICKY LINKY:

Katy's Quirky Water Feature. - YouTube

My week was a bit rough so Friday night saw two of these being swiftly dispatched. Honey Brandy and Pepsi Max. Pint at a time.



Not sure it fixed anything. But certainly tasted great.

On Tuesday on the way home from London I saw this lot in a skip outside my local station. The South Eastern Railway Hotel pub is being converted into over priced flats. So all the original wood and fittings get ripped out. There certainly were planks with borer beetle too.

Anyway.........

Time for the guessing game.

Why would I skip dive these out of a dusty skip?



Saturday morning the last of Nicolas stuff got collected from garage and loft.I am thankfull I had the sense to do two full carloads earlier this week for her. She has a surprise waiting at her place with all the stuff I took there on Wednesday and Friday nights. NOT MY PROBLEM. I am sure she will search sort it ruthlessly and dump what she does not need.
Saturday morning she was over by 08.15 and I took her into garage loft, thankfully found one more bag I had forgotten the other night. Then room to room and cupboard to cupboard in house to let her pick over stuff again despite us previously "sharing" stuff. Took what she wanted and was hers in kitchen etc. Left a load of lovely white Sunday best crockery behind that mate Martin will take over. Into loft and brought last of her boxes down then let her look as well to make sure she had it all.
Packed her car in rain and she asked me again if I was coming over to help her unload and get stuff in her loft. I said no, (as she has a perfectly capable 6'6" ex military boyfriend) I had already asked Jeremy the cat sitter to help her. Puts that one firmly away. Last step probably now just divorce at some point.
I hope that will be a painlessexperience for both of us.
Then finished up raking back yard in the rain, which was a mess and then showered, packed car and went shopping etc. Then to Katys place overnight. With me cooking us dinner. Its nice to give back to her. She has just been so kind to me since Nicola left and I met her. A really lovely friend.

As Nicola was gone by 10.15 and Katy was not going to be home before 6pm and it was raining......
What better to do then than get the pressure cleaner out the garage and clean up the planks?





Once done I took them into the house to dry again when the heating comes on.



Plan is to try cut two sections from the long piece and one each from the shorter ones. Sand them down a bit but keep all the wear and scars.
Then create a frame from more still to be found scrap wood.

Once this is done the bits of crazy stuff I brought home this year and last year that makes people shake their heads will be mounted on the board and hung inside the house as a reminder of two awesome toad trips.

Crazy??

Yes.

Do I care ??

Watch this space.


Probably not the best position in a post to be looking for a favour.

I am looking for someone who is returning from the USA to the UK as soon as posdible that would be prepared to bring along a parcel of new replacement brake shoes for my truck.

I did not think about it while in the US in October.

Anyone who can help. Please PM me.


In other news..........

Got this in the post this week.

More about it later.

[flashed]

Those boards cleaned up nicely ,the knives look cool too and the water feature with the plants was even cooler.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Those boards cleaned up nicely ,the knives look cool too and the water feature with the plants was even cooler.

Thank you mate.

Pity I did not get more boards.


Well I called a local UK spares outlet for American cars.

The price for one set of shoes excluding delivery is £53.35

Total price for a full set then for me in England would be £122.00 or $152.00

This is a lot more than the approximately $48.00 plus local tax in the USA.

Looks like I am going to have to find a way of getting them from the US.

[realvc]

Greetings Rian
Glad you had such a fine trip and made it back home all safe and sound.

If your brake shoes are not worn into the metal they might be rebuilt. The bonded style or the riveted style can be relined with new brake pads. There may not be anyone in your area that does this type of work. Clutch rebuilders for big trucks can usually reline brake shoes too. Just a thought.

Back in the day you could buy just the linings and rebuild them yourself if they were the riveted style.

There are several companies that offer ling materials and rebuild brake shoes in the UK. They may be pricey though.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by realvc

Greetings Rian
Glad you had such a fine trip and made it back home all safe and sound.

If your brake shoes are not worn into the metal they might be rebuilt. The bonded style or the riveted style can be relined with new brake pads. There may not be anyone in your area that does this type of work. Clutch rebuilders for big trucks can usually reline brake shoes too. Just a thought.

Back in the day you could buy just the linings and rebuild them yourself if they were the riveted style.

There are several companies that offer ling materials and rebuild brake shoes in the UK. They may be pricey though.

Hallo Vince

Thank you for the advice.

I think my brake shoes are now sorted put.

So it looks like TRUCK TIME is coming back to Grizz Towers very soon.

Tom who is a UKGSER forum member and was working in Roseville, Minneapolis last week for his company, managed to get his driver to take him along to O'Reilly's on the way to work on Friday before racing to the airport as snow was forecast.



Brake shoes as purchased.

Pic sent through by Tom on Friday morning meant that rather than pay $152.00 in the UK for a full set the were costing $48.00 plus about $20.00 for postage.



On Saturday I had a load of stuff to do like dusting, vacuming and cleaning all the windows as I do not have a woman here anymore.

One of the things to happen was that JohnnyBravo "Engineer Extraordinaire" was popping over to pick up the race car pump that my host Dennis had gifted him with.

Update on his thread at last page.

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thre...rm-infestation

Coffee, garage, extended visit was great.

Take a look at the size of the man.

Yes he takes up quite a bit of vertical real estate.



One of the best parts of the visit was that JB had brought me a piece of his home made Biltong (beef jerky)
The point to which it had been dried is exactly where I love mine to be.

Along with that stunning Case knife that Donnie in Arkansas had given me on the road trip.



Unless you know what emotional value a good knife holds for a guy like me, this will mean very little to you.
The knife makes me happy.
A great tool.



Slivers you can shine a light through.

NOMMMM......



One of the other things this weekend was to tidy up the garage and move the truck over a bit.



Katy arrived by 4pm which was a great time to shut shop early.

We were off to have dinner with some good friends and late to bed.

Sunday was still ahead of me.

[flashed]

Glad you got your brake parts and the jerky looks tasty.

[realvc]

Glad to see you got the brake thing worked out.

[JJ's Sierra Grande]

whew, finally got all the way to the end. Seen your comments on others threads and finally got over to yours a while ago. What a treat!! I should have been in bed about three hours ago but it was better than a good book, just couldn't shut it down. You show the real side of America not what the tv news shows. I've been down there three times this year for short trips and always experience the same attitudes as you describe. And the pics from Clems and the rest of your trip, just fantastic. thanks for bringing us along.

one question, what pier is that in the background of the pic of your lady friend and her daughter?

[Palf70Step]

Glad the brakes thing worked out Rian. Also really good to see a glimps of the truck again!

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Glad you got your brake parts and the jerky looks tasty.

Certainly was.

I make good stuff, but JB certainly makes it 10/10

Originally Posted by realvc

Glad to see you got the brake thing worked out.

Vince when it keeps money in my pocket/mortgage it's a good thing.

Originally Posted by JJ's Sierra Grande

whew, finally got all the way to the end. Seen your comments on others threads and finally got over to yours a while ago. What a treat!! I should have been in bed about three hours ago but it was better than a good book, just couldn't shut it down. You show the real side of America not what the tv news shows. I've been down there three times this year for short trips and always experience the same attitudes as you describe. And the pics from Clems and the rest of your trip, just fantastic. thanks for bringing us along.

one question, what pier is that in the background of the pic of your lady friend and her daughter?

Hi mate, thank you for the reply.

That pier is in Bournemouth

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Glad the brakes thing worked out Rian. Also really good to see a glimps of the truck again!

Truck still makes me smile every time I see it.

[clemdaddy]

Was that a truck in your shop? I thought I saw one stuffed back in the corner kinda covered in cobwebs.

Time to get back on track and focus my friend. Life has taken a turn for the better and now its time to walk over to the tool box and grab some wrenches…

Thanks for a really cool visit buddy, I'm as happy as Harley.