Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT My Mini Garagemahal

[gearhead1960]

That plate is awesome!

...heh, heh yeah, me like my IPAs!

 

[fouckhest]

...heh, heh yeah, me like my IPAs!

We would get along well!

 

[gearhead1960]

We would get along well!

Let’s throw in some Milk and/or Bourbon Barrel Stouts!

 

[gearhead1960]

Do use Untapped?

 

[fouckhest]

Let’s throw in some Milk and/or Bourbon Barrel Stouts!

Do use Untapped?

I am more of a Coffee stout/porter guy if its going to be a darker beer.

Back when I first got into drinking craft beer I tried, but my attention span doesn't lend itself to keeping up with it, unfortunately.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

It is worth looking into, especially since you are going to be up there soon, might be able to either find someone staying there or stop by and see if you can check out one of the new places.

Thats super cool if you found houses, especially if the driveways are decent. We stayed up above the gas station at the base of the dragon (entrance by the dumpsters at the end of hell bender, up to the right on the hill), place was amazing, but was tough to get in/out of in low cars.

As for Internet and TV, the internet is always so dependent upon the number of people in there. It has gotten better, we usually do a Wed-Sunday trip and late Friday and Saturday its horrible just b/c there are so many people there. I think the TV was decent if I remember, but we typically dont stick around the cabin much at all, either either, drive, drink or sleep (no mixing of any) LOL

The area between the two houses is almost like a car park. We will have 11 cars all safely parked between the two houses with only double parking like 2 or 3 of those cars. We increased our trip to Wednesday - Sunday as well this year so we could have a relax day in the middle. So many guys are dads these days and they were like I just want to chill a bit away from the family haha.

Our houses both have Starlink as of last year which was really nice improvement. We are not at the houses much but nice to normally catch up on the day of college football Saturday evening is really my only care for the TV or maybe watch Thursday night football if the game is decent after it is dark out. Never been one for doing night runs up there.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Do use Untapped?

I used to check in everything and then it just started feeling like too much work. I still use it to look things up before I purchase anything but that is about it.

 

[fouckhest]

The area between the two houses is almost like a car park. We will have 11 cars all safely parked between the two houses with only double parking like 2 or 3 of those cars. We increased our trip to Wednesday - Sunday as well this year so we could have a relax day in the middle. So many guys are dads these days and they were like I just want to chill a bit away from the family haha.

Our houses both have Starlink as of last year which was really nice improvement. We are not at the houses much but nice to normally catch up on the day of college football Saturday evening is really my only care for the TV or maybe watch Thursday night football if the game is decent after it is dark out. Never been one for doing night runs up there.

Oh nice, that is awesome, that sounds like a great setup. Funny, couple of the guys that usually stay with us have kids, and it seems to be a common thread, LOL! Although, I use that same excuse for work, just tell people I'm going to be in the mountains, I might have cell service for an hour, maybe once or twice a day when we hit a town, otherwise, don't expect me to check in.

 

[loganb]

Yeah, the buttons and "****" is a little too much for me. I, for one, like a clean appearance with a minimal amount of badging. When I bought my Mini, they offered a "Stealth Mode" option which eliminated most of the non branded badges. I opted for this and then removed the "CLUBMAN" from the barn doors. Makes for a very clean appearance and lack of recognition (needed for the 3 digit blasts)....here's a few pics...and the shift knob is good for at least an extra 5mph, maybe 10.....

That shifter is awesome!

 

[fouckhest]

Snuck in a little work time before the wife and I went out for a not fancy anniversary dinner, cheap draft beer and a plate of nachos at a local watering hole! Gotta love a woman that doesn't see the value in a over priced fancy dinner!

Slapped a second coat of paint on the backer/trim boards yesterday after lunch, then grabbed my impact driver, a handful of leger lock screws and got things secured.

I secured the hinges first, then went and got the support bar and got it up into place
House side
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Fence side
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

With a little luck, should hit a BIG milestone today, (my BIL is getting into town today b/c tomo is my MIL's bday), BIL is a big dude, going to get him to help me install the panels, hoping to not have to remove the boards, so fingers crossed, this project is nearing the end of the road!

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Oh nice, that is awesome, that sounds like a great setup. Funny, couple of the guys that usually stay with us have kids, and it seems to be a common thread, LOL! Although, I use that same excuse for work, just tell people I'm going to be in the mountains, I might have cell service for an hour, maybe once or twice a day when we hit a town, otherwise, don't expect me to check in.

Funny about work. A work friend joined us for the trip for the first time last year. He and I are the only ones who support a large segment of things at work. My boss has known that when I go on this trip I likely won't be reachable. It wasn't till like 3 weeks ago he put together that we are both on this trip. Gave him some panic. I love the limited cell service at this place and tell work I just won't be available. You can call me in an emergency but I might not see it for 24hrs. I kind of want to start planning more trips like it in that regard. Just be off the grid.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Hoping things go as planned and we get to see some finished photos of this project this weekend. It should look fantastic.

 

[fouckhest]

I kind of want to start planning more trips like it in that regard. Just be off the grid.

LOL - that is great! I totally agree, between the trip to the dragon and the week my wife and I go out west to snow ski, its great to just check out and go off the grid.

Hoping things go as planned and we get to see some finished photos of this project this weekend. It should look fantastic.

I'm excited to say the least!

 

[gearhead1960]

I used to check in everything and then it just started feeling like too much work. I still use it to look things up before I purchase anything but that is about it.

I use the scan feature with makes it very easy....

 

[gearhead1960]

That shifter is awesome!

Yeah, I love it! Funny thing about it was it was a freebie from Cravenspeed. I had bought the short shifter & knob for the Mini and the replacement clip to hold the shifter in place turned out to be a crappy design by Cravenspeed. When they break (which mine did twice as well as many other's), makes shifting almost impossible. They did an emergency re-design and shipped them out ASAP. As part of a goodwill gesture, they offered me a custom cap for the knob.....and you see the result. One issue (not for me) is there is no shift pattern anywhere in the car. The manual transmission being it's own anti-theft device, make's it even more of a challenge for anyone else.... .

 

[fouckhest]

Great Success...ish!

My BIL showed up earlier than I expected and it just so happened to be right at the beginning of my lunch hour, so I grabbed my axle grease, put some in the hinges, stuck the ball bearings in them with a little electrical tape to hold them in the socket end and we walked them up from the garage to their home. This was certainly a time when extra (and strong) hands make light work.

Still a couple "kinks" to work out with my roller supports and how to keep them in place, but I'm going to call it a success for now!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Will likely mess with it a little more this evening and this weekend, but should be nearing the finish line.

 

[fouckhest]

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

We enjoyed some nice weather on Saturday, I was able to inch the gate a little closer to being 100% complete. Started by getting the "filler" boards installed after a brief consultation from SWMBO on the design aspect. Decisions were made and the nail gun and pancake compressor were enlisted for some work.

All the filler boards are the leftovers/drops from the fence project, so while not all the same length, they are pretty similar. Random was the name of the game, overall, I am pretty happy. I need to get at a minimum one more board for the far left panel, undecided if I will add boards to the very top opening or not

Pretty much finished product
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Next step was to install the latch, if you look hard enough you can see it in the center a little more than half way up, nothing fancy, just a standard farm fence latch
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

With that done I grabbed the caulk guy and made sure to seal up around the hinges and anywhere that I had drilled into the house. Nothing photo worthy...with that done, it was time to get cleaned up and ready to fire up the grill and deep fryer for my MIL's bday cookout. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on the back porch, and then a little bon fire in the evening to cap of a nice day!

Sunday brought cold, wind and rain, so made for a good "shop cleanup" day. I got started on that, found a pair of ceiling speakers that a buddy gave me ~4yrs ago when building the garage, I had run the speaker wire a couple months ago, I believe on a similar bad weather day, so this was a perfect time to finish up that project.

Laser level was brought out, found a good spot in the first ~1/3 of the garage for the speakers to live, coordinated that with a good spot in the attic that was accessible, center hole drilled to make sure it looked good, got out the trusty compass, drilled some start/stop holes with a paddle bit, then put the drywall saw to work
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Fast forward
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Finished product, they work as advertised, no complaints and will be a solid addition for our couple yearly GTG's we host in the basement/garage
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

While on a roll of knocking out easy little projects, I've been wanting/needing to get this speaker up/off the ground, so took a page from @rattle_snake and the Speed Metal Garage and hung it up in the corner with a simple eye bolt and hook in the ceiling joist
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

To wrap up the day/afternoon I went back to cleaning up my work bench, I need to spend more time on that as its gotten embarrassingly out of control, but made some good progress to get started.

This will will be busy getting ready for our trip this weekend, so shop work will be non-existent, but will be a different kind of busy.

Hope everyone has a great week!

 

[Trapps]

Looking good!

That speaker hung up in the corner, Interaudio?

 

[fouckhest]

Looking good!

That speaker hung up in the corner, Interaudio?

Thanks, It is! I've had that set of speakers since 1994ish, they've served me well!

 

[Trapps]

I had a set in my dorm room way back when; I thought they looked familiar. They withstood all manner of abuse and survived a long time while always putting out decent sound.

 

[fouckhest]

I had a set in my dorm room way back when; I thought they looked familiar. They withstood all manner of abuse and survived a long time while always putting out decent sound.

Yeah, these things are beasts, they served me through high school, did 5 long years in college, many house parties, then they were house speakers for a while and have been my basement speakers for the past several years.

It will be a sad day when they finally stop!

 

[madison069]

It's always a rewarding feeling when knocking out the little projects.

 

[Metallitubby]

I also love the Joyce Kilmer road that they run the SCCA hilclimb on

Where I came in 3rd place, mind you.

 

[fouckhest]

Where I came in 3rd place, mind you.

Congrats to you good sir/fine wheel man!

 

[fouckhest]

Hope everyone had a good weekend, after a long 10ish hr drive home yesterday and a long 10hr day today at work catching up, I am finally able to try and catch up on all the GJ fun.

We had a great weekend, I am more than gracious and fortunate to have generous friends that are both trusting and well generous. I was able to borrow a buddies truck and a different buddies trailer to make the 500+ mile trip up to Ohio to see my dad and bring home a bit of a family heirloom/new play toy.

Last week was a blur to say the least, between getting the fence finished up last weekend, Monday night after work I went and grabbed the trailer, great little custom built unit for g-body 911 track cars, tows so nice
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Tuesday night, got the Cayman out and went and traded it to my buddy letting me borrow his truck, very overkill, but well, now I need a new truck LOL
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Fast forward, the wife, our rescue lab and I hit the road and we headed north for a weekend in NE Ohio with the underlying play to bring home a new date night/play car that my dad built in ~2000ish when I was in College....we arrived to his "retirement project" called a horse farm (I am still confused), but we settled in for a few days of hanging out with him and my aunt and uncle that were also in town

Here is a quick snap of said farm....
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

While visiting as anyone does while having coffee and scrolling FBMP I stumbled across these cabinets, which seemed like a good deal and <30min away, we jumped in the truck and went for a ride, I will call these old Doman storage cabinets a score for $60 for the pair and they have quite a few dividers in them still (shockingly)
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Saw some super cool old police cars on our way home from picking them up, they had "Cleveland something Museum" stickers on them, guessing there was a car show or something
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

That was Satruday day time, after that we started preparing a family dish that I grew up eating which is eccentrically a perogie except a stuffing rather than potato filling that is served in chicken soup....so Saturday afternoon I made stuffing while my wife made chicken soup.
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Sunday started off with our daily farm walk with the dog, he found a horse friend we visited everyday, then we set out to go meet Mathias / @zanyad for a couple beers and enjoyed some beautiful fall weather sitting outside and chatting, much appreciate him reaching out for that, always great to put a face with just a name and words!!! Once we wrapped up there, we headed to get some last minute supplies to keep our cooking going, then home to load up the treasure I drove 10hrs to pick up.

I now introduce the Dune Buggy as we called it once my dad finished it in the early 2000s (always been bummed he built it while I was in college and we didn't work on it together), I remember it being a blast to drive and I cant wait to get it back on the road!

Picking up at the storage unit
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Cool fall photo at the farm with the rig and dog while we were loading up and getting the seats removed b/c we were driving into unavoidable rain on the way home
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Also, while in town, my aunt and uncle brought me this treasure that accompanies the Esso Tiger that I have in my shop, the gas station my grandfather owned also rented u-hauls, apparently this was a display that my cousins kids played with for years and when they saw I had the tiger, they said I deserved to have this for a decoration until the next person needs it!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Once that action was all done and everything was secure in the back of the truck, it was time to get back to finishing the family dish we were making and get ready for dinner...these are the "Maldasha" (Mol-dosh-Ah), which I've been told there are several translations, but basically "pocket of junk"....tasty junk! LOL

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

As served with chicken soup, great for a cold football sunday afternoon meal!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Fast forward, we were wheels rolling at 530am, home by 3:15pm, big stuff unloaded by 430pm with buggy in the garage with its friends to dry out
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

All-in-All, great trip, always good to see family, it was a great bonus that my aunt and uncle were there, they had 2 daughters that were like sisters to my brother and I, with them now being in their later 70s, its great to interact as adults, hear stories that you wouldn't as a kid! Oh, and now I need to figure out what kind of 3/4ton pickup truck I need to buy b/c the wife didn't really complain about the 10hr drive and normally she is fussy at hour 4....so yeah, time to start researching/shopping. I've been thinking/planning to sell the Cayman, but this really sealed the deal.....the next, never ending question, Chevy/GMC 2500 or Ford F-250? Will be diesel, 4x4 and standard bed....

 

[zanyad]

Was great to meet you, wife, and dog.

 

[Trapps]

Meeting out of state GJ'ers for the win!

 

[madison069]

That buggy brings back memories of building them back home. We had a sand hill area to play with buggies, sand rails, 4 wheelers, dirt bikes and so on. So finding those around town was easy. Back then we got them for cheap, but I’m sure now days folks wants too much to just piddle with. What engine does it have?

It’s good to have friends like that, too bad mine are back in Texas.

Food looks good! I’ll have to look into the Maldasha!

Regarding which truck to get, I suggest test driving a f-250 before committing to one. I have a 2012 F-250 Lariat 4x4 with the 6.2l gas engine. I love my truck, but my wife says it’s a rough riding truck. Chevy are known to have softer suspension the Ford, but I wouldn’t trade my Ford. I also recommend steering from the diesel. It’s just getting to be too much of a headache to keep up if you’re not towing full time. My 6.2l is reliable but it’s not easy on gas, that’s really my only complaint with the 6.2L.

 

[loganb]

Love the addition to the driveway fleet...looks like a lot of fun!

On the subject of trucks....im going to get GJ shunned here...but unless you're regularly pulling trailers that are over 10k lbs....the ride on the half ton should be better. I'm also in the not a diesel camp for pickups....just too much extra stuff they have to throw at them and with all the high pressure fuel systems now you can't look at a fuel system without blowing $3k bucks. Save the money on the truck, get the big gas engine...suffer a bit at the pump but have a more reliable and less costly maintenance experience.

I personally prefer the interiors and ride on the GMC over the Ford, but the engine recall GM is working thru has put a significant hurting on their supply of the 6.2L gasser and doesn't sound like that limited supply will change for awhile

 

[fourmotioneer]

Maldasha looks like Maultasche, which is Swabian for mouth pocket or mouth bag. It uses the term for an animal mouth so it sort of fits what you’re describing. Maultaschen are from Swabia - what is the origin of the Maldasha?

 

[SilverJimmy]

I think the best truck out there now would be a Ford F-250 with the Godzilla gasser. It has the power to pull what you want without the downside of the diesel maintenance nightmare. Simple oil changes that you can do yourself (not 15+ quarts of oil!) and no DEF system to worry about, which is a ticking money bomb just waiting to explode!

 

[zmotorsports]

All-in-All, great trip, always good to see family, it was a great bonus that my aunt and uncle were there, they had 2 daughters that were like sisters to my brother and I, with them now being in their later 70s, its great to interact as adults, hear stories that you wouldn't as a kid! Oh, and now I need to figure out what kind of 3/4ton pickup truck I need to buy b/c the wife didn't really complain about the 10hr drive and normally she is fussy at hour 4....so yeah, time to start researching/shopping. I've been thinking/planning to sell the Cayman, but this really sealed the deal.....the next, never ending question, Chevy/GMC 2500 or Ford F-250? Will be diesel, 4x4 and standard bed....

Mike, looks like a great trip. Also, great to meet out of state GJ members.

As for a truck, with your mechanical aptitude and love for working on things, I would recommend a 2004-2007 Ford with the 6.0 Powerstroke. Yeah, that will definitely keep you on your toes.


Honestly though, I don't think there's anything out there in the last several years I would consider. I doubt you'd need a diesel based on your intended uses and with the gas engines putting out some very good numbers over the past decade and a half, I would look more towards a 2008~ish through about a 2014 with the 6.0 V8. Great ride and solid engine and trans combo. With routine maintenance I have seen this combination easily go 300k. Finding a clean body and chassis may be a bit more difficult, but if you're not in a hurry, they're out there.

Meeting out of state GJ'ers for the win!

Exactly.

 

[fouckhest]

Was great to meet you, wife, and dog.

Absolutely, great to meet you as well, Mathias!

Meeting out of state GJ'ers for the win!

Absolutely!!!

Maldasha looks like Maultasche, which is Swabian for mouth pocket or mouth bag. It uses the term for an animal mouth so it sort of fits what you’re describing. Maultaschen are from Swabia - what is the origin of the Maldasha?

I was just sounding it out, looking up that spelling looks to be correct and this is what the google AI comes back with, so this may just be my specific families take/evolution of the recipe b/c it seems pretty wide open. I always grew up being told that it was a farmers/peasant/poor peoples food b/c you could quickly use up stale bread, onion from the garden and other things to quickly make a hearty meal. But interesting the snip below says that my spelling is just the pronunciation...

Regarding which truck to get, I suggest test driving a f-250 before committing to one. I have a 2012 F-250 Lariat 4x4 with the 6.2l gas engine. I love my truck, but my wife says it’s a rough riding truck. Chevy are known to have softer suspension the Ford, but I wouldn’t trade my Ford. I also recommend steering from the diesel. It’s just getting to be too much of a headache to keep up if you’re not towing full time. My 6.2l is reliable but it’s not easy on gas, that’s really my only complaint with the 6.2L.

I personally prefer the interiors and ride on the GMC over the Ford, but the engine recall GM is working thru has put a significant hurting on their supply of the 6.2L gasser and doesn't sound like that limited supply will change for awhile

I think the best truck out there now would be a Ford F-250 with the Godzilla gasser. It has the power to pull what you want without the downside of the diesel maintenance nightmare. Simple oil changes that you can do yourself (not 15+ quarts of oil!) and no DEF system to worry about, which is a ticking money bomb just waiting to explode!

Honestly though, I don't think there's anything out there in the last several years I would consider. I doubt you'd need a diesel based on your intended uses and with the gas engines putting out some very good numbers over the past decade and a half, I would look more towards a 2008~ish through about a 2014 with the 6.0 V8. Great ride and solid engine and trans combo. With routine maintenance I have seen this combination easily go 300k. Finding a clean body and chassis may be a bit more difficult, but if you're not in a hurry, they're out there.

Thanks for all the comments guys, going to lump the truck stuff all together. @zmotorsports you would bring up the infamous 6.0L

I am not set on a diesel, it would certainly be overkill, but it seems there is a running joke about "overkill" around these parts I think the big selling feature for me is the 3/4 ton truck for the space alone, the wife was rather content the whole trip, so that to me is worth the compromise of a little ride quality, parking, etc.,while around town. I work from home and likely will for a while, so whatever I end up with wont get a ton of miles. The nice thing about towing with this versus trucks in the past (which the last truck I towed with would have been a mid-2000s 1/2 ton chevy) was simply the get up an go on/off the interstate and being able to keep up with traffic, which I expect could/should be the similar enough with a 6L gas engine.

If/when a purchase becomes serious, I will likely re-evaluate, but I am thinking that will be next spring/summer, at the earliest. One big topic for me will be the Ford vs GM, I've always been a GM guy, I was raised that way, my dad always had GM vehicles, but now he has an F250 he bought new a couple years ago, has ~45k on it and says he loves it, now he is pulling goose neck 8horse trailers, dump trailers, etc., so much better use case for sure. I will have to do some research, I don't plan to go too deep into the towing thing, but I want to make sure if the wind happens to blow me in the direction of towing an enclosed trailer that I don't put myself in a position where I need to buy a new truck b/c the trailer is at the limit, but I'm just speculating at this point.

Luckily being in the south as long as I shop kinda local, I should be able to find a rust free unit, just have to find the right spec! When the time comes to get serious I will certainly raise the topic again.

 

[Bob Heine]

I now introduce the Dune Buggy

Mike, the first time I saw a Meyers Manx in a car magazine (around 1964) I wanted one. Our two small children would have fit in the tiny back seat perfectly. Being a responsible father, I even had car seats for them but Liane didn't think it would be safe when we hit a bump. To be honest, my inability to weld metal back then ended the dream.

I see your father went the extra mile and installed the Manx side pods. They really make it look more finished.

 

[fouckhest]

Mike, the first time I saw a Meyers Manx in a car magazine (around 1964) I wanted one. Our two small children would have fit in the tiny back seat perfectly. Being a responsible father, I even had car seats for them but Liane didn't think it would be safe when we hit a bump. To be honest, my inability to weld metal back then ended the dream.

I see your father went the extra mile and installed the Manx side pods. They really make it look more finished.

Hi Bob, thanks for stopping by! Its funny you mention the side pods, he LOVES those things, I remember him talking about them when he built it and even when we were removing the seats to keep them out of the rain, he was commenting on how few buggies you see actually have them.

I am very excited to get it fixed up and back on the road. I really need to get it to the shop so they can get me back to square one and make sure its ready for some spring time cruisin!

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

That looks like a great truck for a road trip. Those buggies always looked fun. Like larger street legal go karts.

Are you just kidding about the Cayman being for sale, or will it actually be going for a truck?

 

[Trapps]

I’m on my 6th or 7th F150 over 20+ years. Read ‘this guy is biased.’

If your plan is to tow, an F150 with a V8 is very capable. I tow regularly and sometimes some heavy loads ( 7k lift on a 2.5k trailer) up to 200 miles, granted this is a few times a year and I’m in Michigan (flat and only ~600ft above sea level). Anecdotal for sure, but I’ve never had an issue and I’m averaging 20k miles year.

If I towed that heavy regularly I’d want an F250.

I don’t, but I still want an F250.

 

[SilverJimmy]

F-350 is my default! Go BIG or go to the back of the line! I have three 1 Ton pickups, everything about a 1 ton is better, bigger brakes, bigger axles, bigger payload….

 

[111R]

Hope everyone had a good weekend, after a long 10ish hr drive home yesterday and a long 10hr day today at work catching up, I am finally able to try and catch up on all the GJ fun.

We had a great weekend, I am more than gracious and fortunate to have generous friends that are both trusting and well generous. I was able to borrow a buddies truck and a different buddies trailer to make the 500+ mile trip up to Ohio to see my dad and bring home a bit of a family heirloom/new play toy.

Last week was a blur to say the least, between getting the fence finished up last weekend, Monday night after work I went and grabbed the trailer, great little custom built unit for g-body 911 track cars, tows so nice
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Tuesday night, got the Cayman out and went and traded it to my buddy letting me borrow his truck, very overkill, but well, now I need a new truck LOL
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Fast forward, the wife, our rescue lab and I hit the road and we headed north for a weekend in NE Ohio with the underlying play to bring home a new date night/play car that my dad built in ~2000ish when I was in College....we arrived to his "retirement project" called a horse farm (I am still confused), but we settled in for a few days of hanging out with him and my aunt and uncle that were also in town

Here is a quick snap of said farm....
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

While visiting as anyone does while having coffee and scrolling FBMP I stumbled across these cabinets, which seemed like a good deal and <30min away, we jumped in the truck and went for a ride, I will call these old Doman storage cabinets a score for $60 for the pair and they have quite a few dividers in them still (shockingly)
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Saw some super cool old police cars on our way home from picking them up, they had "Cleveland something Museum" stickers on them, guessing there was a car show or something
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

That was Satruday day time, after that we started preparing a family dish that I grew up eating which is eccentrically a perogie except a stuffing rather than potato filling that is served in chicken soup....so Saturday afternoon I made stuffing while my wife made chicken soup.
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Sunday started off with our daily farm walk with the dog, he found a horse friend we visited everyday, then we set out to go meet Mathias / @zanyad for a couple beers and enjoyed some beautiful fall weather sitting outside and chatting, much appreciate him reaching out for that, always great to put a face with just a name and words!!! Once we wrapped up there, we headed to get some last minute supplies to keep our cooking going, then home to load up the treasure I drove 10hrs to pick up.

I now introduce the Dune Buggy as we called it once my dad finished it in the early 2000s (always been bummed he built it while I was in college and we didn't work on it together), I remember it being a blast to drive and I cant wait to get it back on the road!

Picking up at the storage unit
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Cool fall photo at the farm with the rig and dog while we were loading up and getting the seats removed b/c we were driving into unavoidable rain on the way home
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Also, while in town, my aunt and uncle brought me this treasure that accompanies the Esso Tiger that I have in my shop, the gas station my grandfather owned also rented u-hauls, apparently this was a display that my cousins kids played with for years and when they saw I had the tiger, they said I deserved to have this for a decoration until the next person needs it!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Once that action was all done and everything was secure in the back of the truck, it was time to get back to finishing the family dish we were making and get ready for dinner...these are the "Maldasha" (Mol-dosh-Ah), which I've been told there are several translations, but basically "pocket of junk"....tasty junk! LOL

Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

As served with chicken soup, great for a cold football sunday afternoon meal!
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

Fast forward, we were wheels rolling at 530am, home by 3:15pm, big stuff unloaded by 430pm with buggy in the garage with its friends to dry out
Untitled by fouckhest, on Flickr

All-in-All, great trip, always good to see family, it was a great bonus that my aunt and uncle were there, they had 2 daughters that were like sisters to my brother and I, with them now being in their later 70s, its great to interact as adults, hear stories that you wouldn't as a kid! Oh, and now I need to figure out what kind of 3/4ton pickup truck I need to buy b/c the wife didn't really complain about the 10hr drive and normally she is fussy at hour 4....so yeah, time to start researching/shopping. I've been thinking/planning to sell the Cayman, but this really sealed the deal.....the next, never ending question, Chevy/GMC 2500 or Ford F-250? Will be diesel, 4x4 and standard bed....

The Cayman is a keeper in my opinion but understand about too many vehicles and the need to thin the herd.

 

[fouckhest]

That looks like a great truck for a road trip. Those buggies always looked fun. Like larger street legal go karts.

Are you just kidding about the Cayman being for sale, or will it actually be going for a truck?

Thanks, I can remember coming home freshman year of college when dad first finished it and it was exactly a street legal go kart, more grip than power, so it was super fun to just rip around turns.

I've been noodling on the Cayman sale for a while, this more or less sealed the deal for me. I'm not going to get into any kind of rush, but this trip more or less sealed the deal for me.

I’m on my 6th or 7th F150 over 20+ years. Read ‘this guy is biased.’

If your plan is to tow, an F150 with a V8 is very capable. I tow regularly and sometimes some heavy loads ( 7k lift on a 2.5k trailer) up to 200 miles, granted this is a few times a year and I’m in Michigan (flat and only ~600ft above sea level). Anecdotal for sure, but I’ve never had an issue and I’m averaging 20k miles year.

If I towed that heavy regularly I’d want an F250.

I don’t, but I still want an F250.

F-350 is my default! Go BIG or go to the back of the line! I have three 1 Ton pickups, everything about a 1 ton is better, bigger brakes, bigger axles, bigger payload….

My last "tour" of towing was back in the 2012 time frame, I think, and towed with a 2006 F-150 and a 2002 1500, at that time the 1500 was WAY better of a tow rig, the F150 seemed to always be hunting for gears. All that said, living in SC, if I want to go anywhere north for a car show, I am going to hit VA/WV mountains, which is where this truck really shined, which is reinforcing the desire for a 3/4 ton rig, whatever flavor that might be.

I knew the gas vs diesel topic was going to come up, and while the diesel is certainly the all out tank, I know from some guys that do track days regularly, they all had flocked to the for v10 back in the day b/c you could drive/maintain/rebuild for less than you could deal with the maintenance of the comparable diesel. I don't think I will end up towing more than 10k lbs in the foreseeable future, so that certainly supports the use case for the gasser. Aside from the "size" of the truck, the ability to easily upgrade to an enclosed trailer should I get into doing a couple hilclimbs/track days/HPDE's a year, is in the back of my mind and I don't want to have to deal with upgrading trucks b/c my hobby focus shifted slightly.

As always, appreciate everyone's feedback! Now to drive myself crazy for the next 6months truck shopping LOL