I didn't get much sleep on the flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt, but technically my day was also first about to end, when I landed in the german morning sun.
I was a bit worried about the arrival and condition of my back pack, as I had to check it in at the counter in San Francisco. But after a while at the bagage band in Frankfurt, it poped up from underground and I could proceed to my final check in.
I went by the counter, where Devrim was at work, and I got to show him a couple of pictures, while he printed out my boarding pass. He then walked me to my gate, and before we said goodbye, I wrote him the link to this blog.
Then I walked through security, found my gate, and that leads me up to now, where I'm sitting and typing this, as I'm waiting to board the last flight for me this time around.
I want to thank all the people, who in some way made this trip possible.
I will blog again, when I have cleared customs in Copenhagen, and when I'm setteled in my new appartment.
Thanks for reading!
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
torsdag den 19. april 2012
Wednesday 18th - the shortest day of my life!
I left Sean and Alisons house as quiet as I could, and the cab was ready to pick me up at 4:25 am.
I then checked in and as I was there early, I sat and waited for around 2 hours. Not much happens at that time in the morning...
The 4,5 hours flight to Charlotte was not upsetting, I got a couple hours of sleep, and when we landed, it was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, already here my day was three hours shorter. I got on my flight to Frankfurt, and after 8 hours, I was in Frankfurt, where it was around 7:30 in the morning. That made wednesday the 18th of April 2012 the shortest day in my life, counting only around 15 hours!
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
I then checked in and as I was there early, I sat and waited for around 2 hours. Not much happens at that time in the morning...
The 4,5 hours flight to Charlotte was not upsetting, I got a couple hours of sleep, and when we landed, it was around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, already here my day was three hours shorter. I got on my flight to Frankfurt, and after 8 hours, I was in Frankfurt, where it was around 7:30 in the morning. That made wednesday the 18th of April 2012 the shortest day in my life, counting only around 15 hours!
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
onsdag den 18. april 2012
Tuesday 17th - shopping and preparing home journey
It was kind of weird getting up at Sean and Alison's, without drinking my morning coffee with Sean. I'm gonna miss those mornings, but I might start drinking my morning coffee before leaving home, instead of at work.
I wanted to cook Sean and Alison a meal before leaving as to say thanks, so I went with Alison to Canyon market on Diamond Street, a very kuul little urban market with alot of ecological and enviormental aware products. Alison has some allergies, so I had to consult with her in order to pick out the right foods to cook. We ended up with a pair of ribeyes, two butternut squashes, a bundle of kale and some spinatch and prociuto to mix with a little of another kind of squash, Alison had back home.
Back home, Alison had some lunch before she had to go to work for about 4 hours, and I started baking these great tasting Chébé breads for me to bring to the airport. Alison gave me a jar of her processed pistacios, which she makes from all neutral pistacios, then she soaks them in salted water for a day, spreads them out on a baking plate, and bake them at the lowest temperature for about a day. That proces makes the otherwise hard digestable skin of nuts go more soft, and it holds the nutritions in the nut.
When the bread was in the oven, I ordered a taxi to take me to the airport in the night, as I was supposed to leave their house at 4:30 am, in order to get to the check-in at the airport in time. After that I started blogging, as I haven't been doing it so regularly up untill then, and as I was in the middle of blogging about saturday night, Alison was back home - the 4 hours had gone by so fast! So I finished up, and did the dishes, as I had promised her, before she left, and when Sean got home a little later, we started cooking. Alison baked the butternut squashes and sauted the other squash with the prociuto and spinach, Sean grilled the ribeyes, and I washed and riped the kale in to pieces to cook it, before applying some gee (clearified butter) and some yeast.
It was a feast! Every little mouthfull wtasted so great! The grilled ribeye steak had the right amount of grill to it, the sauted squash with the spinach and prociuto was a fantastic combination of vegetables and smoked meat, the kale with the yeast tastes freshing, and the baked butternut squash was sweet enough to make dessert.
After dinner I packed up my things, and we then saw the Gene Winfield movie, I bought at Vintage Ford. A good movie, telling alot about the man, that are still going strong with work days up to 18 hours a day at the age of 84!! Impressive, to say the least!
After the movie it was kind of weird to have to say goodbye without actually leaving the house. But I saw no reason for Sean and Alison to get up in the middle of the night just to send me in the cab, so we had our goodbyes at a little to eleven o'clock. I am going to miss them alot, I really think highly of them, helping me out and around in the area. The trip would not have been anyway near as good without them! I thank you guys alot!!
I went to bed for about five hours, before getting up again.
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
I wanted to cook Sean and Alison a meal before leaving as to say thanks, so I went with Alison to Canyon market on Diamond Street, a very kuul little urban market with alot of ecological and enviormental aware products. Alison has some allergies, so I had to consult with her in order to pick out the right foods to cook. We ended up with a pair of ribeyes, two butternut squashes, a bundle of kale and some spinatch and prociuto to mix with a little of another kind of squash, Alison had back home.
Back home, Alison had some lunch before she had to go to work for about 4 hours, and I started baking these great tasting Chébé breads for me to bring to the airport. Alison gave me a jar of her processed pistacios, which she makes from all neutral pistacios, then she soaks them in salted water for a day, spreads them out on a baking plate, and bake them at the lowest temperature for about a day. That proces makes the otherwise hard digestable skin of nuts go more soft, and it holds the nutritions in the nut.
When the bread was in the oven, I ordered a taxi to take me to the airport in the night, as I was supposed to leave their house at 4:30 am, in order to get to the check-in at the airport in time. After that I started blogging, as I haven't been doing it so regularly up untill then, and as I was in the middle of blogging about saturday night, Alison was back home - the 4 hours had gone by so fast! So I finished up, and did the dishes, as I had promised her, before she left, and when Sean got home a little later, we started cooking. Alison baked the butternut squashes and sauted the other squash with the prociuto and spinach, Sean grilled the ribeyes, and I washed and riped the kale in to pieces to cook it, before applying some gee (clearified butter) and some yeast.
It was a feast! Every little mouthfull wtasted so great! The grilled ribeye steak had the right amount of grill to it, the sauted squash with the spinach and prociuto was a fantastic combination of vegetables and smoked meat, the kale with the yeast tastes freshing, and the baked butternut squash was sweet enough to make dessert.
After dinner I packed up my things, and we then saw the Gene Winfield movie, I bought at Vintage Ford. A good movie, telling alot about the man, that are still going strong with work days up to 18 hours a day at the age of 84!! Impressive, to say the least!
After the movie it was kind of weird to have to say goodbye without actually leaving the house. But I saw no reason for Sean and Alison to get up in the middle of the night just to send me in the cab, so we had our goodbyes at a little to eleven o'clock. I am going to miss them alot, I really think highly of them, helping me out and around in the area. The trip would not have been anyway near as good without them! I thank you guys alot!!
I went to bed for about five hours, before getting up again.
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
Monday 16th - shipping problems, the Walt Disney store and a closed garage door
Monday I went back to the morning ritual of having a cup of coffee with Sean, before he left for work.
After that I started trying to figure something out with shipping of my brakes. First Alison was kind to drive me to the postal office, but the suitcase was too heavy and exceeded their limit. But I got to send a few postcards. Alison then drove me home, took off for work, and I went online in search of a cheap way of shipping the parts back home. Well, let's just say, I could have bought two sets of brakes, if I lived in California! The first shipping price was around $1000 with UPS, I then tried their freight department and got a price of only $310. To make sure, I called their service phoneline, but they told me, the cheap price is for business to business only, so I couldn't use the $310 shipping as a private person. I then tried FedEx, but they wanted $1400! Being desperate, I tried GLS, whom I have shipped something with inside Denmark, but they only ship in Europe. So I ended up with a combined shipping of UPS and ShopUSA being the cheapest way, as that would cost me a little less than $600. But as I don't have the money for that ontop of buying the parts, I had to ask Sean, if I could leave the brakes at his place for a while, and have him helpng me ship them to me, when I'm back in Denmark.
So kind of down, I went by BART to go to the Union Square, to go and visit the Walt Disney store, as I was getting Tina and Michael a pressent for being so helpfull with the money transfer. But that place is really nice and filled with a lot of Disney merchandise.
After that I went by Sean's work, Melrose motors, as he had told me about a guy in that neighborhood, who builds 4-banger engines and who has a lot of rare speed parts for them as well. But when we walked over there, the garage door was closed and the guy didn't seem to be there. So we went back to Seans work, and started talking about his projects and plans.
Sean has, besides the Nova, a '56 Chevy pick up truck at the garage at home, he wants to get finished, a '52 Chevy at work, that used to be a four door and is now being chopped up for parts for Steves '52, and he recently bought a '26 tudor body, for which he has different plans of what to do. He bought the front end of a early '50s Ford 1/2 ton pick up with a flat head truck V8 and transmission, which he is thinking of using, but he also have a 390 Cadillac V8 and a NOS (new, old stock- an old part, that has never been used) Iskendrian '505' camshaft for the Cad engine. Then he needs a good frame, but he got some frame pieces laying around, which he might weld together to make a frame of his own. Oh yeah, he also have a '70s styled Honda powered chopper, he bought of a friend, who build it for some local bike show. I mean, it's like this everywhere over here- if you have one, you usually have more than one! And Sean seems to be productive, so I guess, he will have both cars finished in a few years, and the bike sooner, as he is going to comute back and forth to work in the winter. Looking forward to see them, once they are finished!
We then went home, made dinner and then we saw the movie 'Boys of Bonneville', which is about Ab Jenkins effort for making the Bonneville salt flats into a place for land speed records, and later his son Marv, who spend his last days restoring the farthers old racecar- a fantastic movie with amazing people!
After that I told Sean and Alison, that I was going to sleep in as to get some sleep prior to the flight, and we went to bed.
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
After that I started trying to figure something out with shipping of my brakes. First Alison was kind to drive me to the postal office, but the suitcase was too heavy and exceeded their limit. But I got to send a few postcards. Alison then drove me home, took off for work, and I went online in search of a cheap way of shipping the parts back home. Well, let's just say, I could have bought two sets of brakes, if I lived in California! The first shipping price was around $1000 with UPS, I then tried their freight department and got a price of only $310. To make sure, I called their service phoneline, but they told me, the cheap price is for business to business only, so I couldn't use the $310 shipping as a private person. I then tried FedEx, but they wanted $1400! Being desperate, I tried GLS, whom I have shipped something with inside Denmark, but they only ship in Europe. So I ended up with a combined shipping of UPS and ShopUSA being the cheapest way, as that would cost me a little less than $600. But as I don't have the money for that ontop of buying the parts, I had to ask Sean, if I could leave the brakes at his place for a while, and have him helpng me ship them to me, when I'm back in Denmark.
So kind of down, I went by BART to go to the Union Square, to go and visit the Walt Disney store, as I was getting Tina and Michael a pressent for being so helpfull with the money transfer. But that place is really nice and filled with a lot of Disney merchandise.
After that I went by Sean's work, Melrose motors, as he had told me about a guy in that neighborhood, who builds 4-banger engines and who has a lot of rare speed parts for them as well. But when we walked over there, the garage door was closed and the guy didn't seem to be there. So we went back to Seans work, and started talking about his projects and plans.
Sean has, besides the Nova, a '56 Chevy pick up truck at the garage at home, he wants to get finished, a '52 Chevy at work, that used to be a four door and is now being chopped up for parts for Steves '52, and he recently bought a '26 tudor body, for which he has different plans of what to do. He bought the front end of a early '50s Ford 1/2 ton pick up with a flat head truck V8 and transmission, which he is thinking of using, but he also have a 390 Cadillac V8 and a NOS (new, old stock- an old part, that has never been used) Iskendrian '505' camshaft for the Cad engine. Then he needs a good frame, but he got some frame pieces laying around, which he might weld together to make a frame of his own. Oh yeah, he also have a '70s styled Honda powered chopper, he bought of a friend, who build it for some local bike show. I mean, it's like this everywhere over here- if you have one, you usually have more than one! And Sean seems to be productive, so I guess, he will have both cars finished in a few years, and the bike sooner, as he is going to comute back and forth to work in the winter. Looking forward to see them, once they are finished!
We then went home, made dinner and then we saw the movie 'Boys of Bonneville', which is about Ab Jenkins effort for making the Bonneville salt flats into a place for land speed records, and later his son Marv, who spend his last days restoring the farthers old racecar- a fantastic movie with amazing people!
After that I told Sean and Alison, that I was going to sleep in as to get some sleep prior to the flight, and we went to bed.
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
Sunday 15th- pier meet and cruize San Francisco
Sunday morning I got up to check out from the fancy hotel room and eat breakfast, before Sean picked me up at around 9 o'clock. Again a great breakfast, had a bowl of oatmeal and an omelet with tomatos, spinach and ham with toast on the side.
Sean picked me up at the now half empty car lot, and we took off. This was my first ride in the Nova, and I'm starting to really like that car! The sound from the three carburators, the headers and the exhaust system makes a great symphomy!
We went out to a small, local meetup, arranged by the carclub 'Los Boulevardos', and after a while, the cars started cruizing in to the parking lot, that otherwise was filling up with the cars of Saints fans, as there were a baseball game going on close by. There were some really cool looking cars, and even a guy had come down from Vancouver to visit and have his VW van striped by a local painter, who also had done the impressive work on a '60 Lincoln, I had seen in a magazine back home.
After hanging out there for a while and my fourth cup of coffee that morning, Sean and I went to pick up Alison close by, as they would take me round San Francisco to see the area surrounding the bay. It was a nice tour, although the weather was a bit cloudy and foggy. Sean and Alison took me up to the place, where they held their wedding ceremony at the beach, and the spot was beautiful! With the good wheater, they had that day, I can see, why they have such good memories from that day.
After a couple of hours of driving around, we headed back home, and Sean and I saw the movie "The road to Bonneville" with the two Deuce coupes from the 'Rolling Bones shop', which I had never seen. It was fun to see, and must have been a blast taking that long trip in those old cars! I'd like to be able to trust my cars that much one day, that I'd have no troubles to go on a long trip like that.
Then we had dinner, talked for a while, and went to bed.
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
Sean picked me up at the now half empty car lot, and we took off. This was my first ride in the Nova, and I'm starting to really like that car! The sound from the three carburators, the headers and the exhaust system makes a great symphomy!
We went out to a small, local meetup, arranged by the carclub 'Los Boulevardos', and after a while, the cars started cruizing in to the parking lot, that otherwise was filling up with the cars of Saints fans, as there were a baseball game going on close by. There were some really cool looking cars, and even a guy had come down from Vancouver to visit and have his VW van striped by a local painter, who also had done the impressive work on a '60 Lincoln, I had seen in a magazine back home.
After hanging out there for a while and my fourth cup of coffee that morning, Sean and I went to pick up Alison close by, as they would take me round San Francisco to see the area surrounding the bay. It was a nice tour, although the weather was a bit cloudy and foggy. Sean and Alison took me up to the place, where they held their wedding ceremony at the beach, and the spot was beautiful! With the good wheater, they had that day, I can see, why they have such good memories from that day.
After a couple of hours of driving around, we headed back home, and Sean and I saw the movie "The road to Bonneville" with the two Deuce coupes from the 'Rolling Bones shop', which I had never seen. It was fun to see, and must have been a blast taking that long trip in those old cars! I'd like to be able to trust my cars that much one day, that I'd have no troubles to go on a long trip like that.
Then we had dinner, talked for a while, and went to bed.
Keep 'em kruzin!
Dannerr
Saturday - Booze, Broads and Hot Rods (that is, what it's called!)
Saturday was the big day for my first car show, where I would stay at the same hotel in which it was held. I got up in my nice two roomed hotel room, and I went down for the complimentary breakfast, which was in this small indoor jungle, kind of like a growth garden with lots of plants, waterfalls and fountains - very fancy, compared to the freeway hotel, I had been staying at in Vegas. As I was eating my breakfast, a lady walked by me and said "Hey, rocker!" with a smile on her face, so I could see, she was there for the show as well. Then she paused, and said "Well, you're not from around here!" I asked, who she could tell, because I thought I looked a lot like the others here for the show, and she told me, I must be european, because I was using my left hand for my fork and my right hand for my knife. I hadn't noticed before she said it, but all around me people were doing it opposite! I think it was kuul, she noticed, and as I left the eating area, I bid her and her husband a good day - but I got to see them later.
The carshow didn't start until 1 o'clock, so after breakfast, I went up to my room and slept for another hour. Then I got up and got ready for the carshow.
The Booze, Broads and Hot Rods show is held by a local all girls car club named the Bombshells, who turned out to be really great hosts! It was held at the hotels parking lot, right next to the San Francisco bay, so as we walked around the cars, we could enjoy the ocean view - it was great! I immediately ran in to Sean, who had drove out there in his '63 Nova four door, a real kuul beater with a 250cui straight 6 out of a '69 truck with three carbs on a Offenhauser intake and with pipe headers, which he drives without the bonnet, as it had overheated on a trip back to his parents, so he left there, and after a while his father scrapped it, so now it's just hoodless! Looks so kuul that way!
Besides Sean's rodded Nova, there were a lot of really fine cars there, and people were nice and friendly, so we really had a good time, looking at cars. Especially there were a '28/'29 pheaton, which I liked, a wild looking '30 coupe with slicks and spindle mounted front wheels from California Hot Rods by Mike Smith, and a really kuul, patinized model A roadster on '32 frame with wide five wheels. Sean told me, the owner is one of the men behind one of the endurance races near by, and he drives the cars without mercy! I like cars like that, that are build to be driven and gets driven as they are build to!
In the evening there were several bands playing, I especially liked Roddy Jackson - I still have the hick-ups! He put on a very good show, and it turned out to be the husband from the couple, who I talked to at the breakfast.
After that, I went up to bed and went to sleep, as I have arranged with Sean, that he would pick me up around 9 o'clock in the morning to go to a local car get-together at one of the piers of San Francisco. What I didn't know was, that the last band was one of Eddie Angels bands, so I missed Eddie Angel, who is a really great surf guitarist, playing. Instead I just went to bed.
But that's life out here, there is always more to see and more stuff to do!
The carshow didn't start until 1 o'clock, so after breakfast, I went up to my room and slept for another hour. Then I got up and got ready for the carshow.
The Booze, Broads and Hot Rods show is held by a local all girls car club named the Bombshells, who turned out to be really great hosts! It was held at the hotels parking lot, right next to the San Francisco bay, so as we walked around the cars, we could enjoy the ocean view - it was great! I immediately ran in to Sean, who had drove out there in his '63 Nova four door, a real kuul beater with a 250cui straight 6 out of a '69 truck with three carbs on a Offenhauser intake and with pipe headers, which he drives without the bonnet, as it had overheated on a trip back to his parents, so he left there, and after a while his father scrapped it, so now it's just hoodless! Looks so kuul that way!
Besides Sean's rodded Nova, there were a lot of really fine cars there, and people were nice and friendly, so we really had a good time, looking at cars. Especially there were a '28/'29 pheaton, which I liked, a wild looking '30 coupe with slicks and spindle mounted front wheels from California Hot Rods by Mike Smith, and a really kuul, patinized model A roadster on '32 frame with wide five wheels. Sean told me, the owner is one of the men behind one of the endurance races near by, and he drives the cars without mercy! I like cars like that, that are build to be driven and gets driven as they are build to!
In the evening there were several bands playing, I especially liked Roddy Jackson - I still have the hick-ups! He put on a very good show, and it turned out to be the husband from the couple, who I talked to at the breakfast.
After that, I went up to bed and went to sleep, as I have arranged with Sean, that he would pick me up around 9 o'clock in the morning to go to a local car get-together at one of the piers of San Francisco. What I didn't know was, that the last band was one of Eddie Angels bands, so I missed Eddie Angel, who is a really great surf guitarist, playing. Instead I just went to bed.
But that's life out here, there is always more to see and more stuff to do!
Friday - a ball started rolling in Sacramento
Friday morning i again joined Sean for morning coffee, before he was going to work.
The plan for the day was to go to Sacramento to pick up some parts for one of my Jalopies club mates named Mikael at the SoCal speed shop, then go to Sacramento Vintage Ford and maybe stop by at Blue collar customs, if I found the time.
I headed out of San Francisco, and as I drove through Berkley, I saw one of the freeway exits was called Gilman Street, on which there is a old and famous punk rock club, driven by volunteers - one of the places, I was supposed to visit with Louise in the original plan. I promised my self, if i could make the time, I would stop in on the way back.
As I landed outside the SoCal shop, I was once again surprised over the size of it over here. I was not as surprising as Vern's, but still amassing to see all these parts at one place. I know, it's just a store, but still, that place is worth a visit, if you are the least bit into building old hot rods and kustom cars. Behind the counter was this guy named Paxton, and we got to talking about our different projects. He is trading out a lot of his stuff, as he wants to sort of start over with a hot rod. He gave me the address for Blue Collar Customs, so I could go there after Vintage Ford. I also got to talk to another behind the counter, who owned a very kuul, topchoped Ford '49 shoebox sitting outside the shop on the main street. At one point, Paxton asked me, if I wanted to go with him to a nearby custom shop, as he was heading over there to talk to one of them. I said yes, and drove after him in the rental. When we got there, it turned out to be Sacramento Kustoms, who are building customs on a lot of late '40ies, early '50ies cars. They had a topchopped '49 Cadillac, I liked in particular. Can't say why, it just flows right! As I was there, Mikael texted me and asked, if I could pick up some magazines for him, so I said goodbye, and went back to the rental car. Then my eye caught a kuul '56/'57 Chevy pick up truck in the shop next to the custom shop, and I went inside to see, if that was another custom shop. Well, it was, of sorts, as they are building customized woodings for kitchens and stuff like that. Besides the '56/'57 truck, which had been torn appart to start the renovation, the owner of the wood shop had a nice and completly finished '58 Chevy truck, painted blue and white, sitting in the back, which was now for sale, as he should use the money for the '56 project.
I went back to the SoCal shop, called Mikael to make sure he got the right magazines (might have woken him, as it was around 11:20 pm danish time - sorry, Mike!), and then started talking to the guy with the shoebox. He told me, if I was in to this, I should go and see Vintage Ford, and I told him, I was on my way there now, and then he said, that I should try to stop by Blue Collar Customs on the way, as it was only a two block detour. So I made a detour, and drove there next.
Arriving at Blue Collar Customs, I got up to a gate, that almost looked locked, and I got flashbacks to my Tuesday at H&H. But it was open a little, so i called out and walked in. Inside I met 4 guys working on their client projects, they do amazingly good body work, as they do make all new panels to fit, instead of hammering in the old panels, and using a lot of filer to compensate for missing spots. If you do not know BCC, they are the guys who build the '56 Ford truck crewcab for MetallicA's lead singer, James Hetfield. That car was in the shop for a little refurbishing, and I was so lucky to get to hear it running! Hetfield had just had a '36 custom delivered to him monday, and that car is not filled anywhere, but just painted in clear coats! I saw a few pictures, and it looked awesome!
We got to talking about engines, and they told me, that they uses an oldtimer real close, he had been doing 4-banger work, and he might still have a banger in for rebuild. But as the time was late and I still needed to go to Vintage Ford, I passed the opportunity and headed out of there and on to Vintage Ford.
I had expected a rather large store at Vingate Ford, but again, I didn't expect this. That place was huge, all filled with parts in the back and a lot of old Ford merchandise in the shop. You could find a lot of stuff there, and you could spend a lot of money too! I tried to pace my self, but had to have a newly released dvd, starring Gene Winfield and his builds. As I was leaving, the nice lady behind the counter told me, that as I am in to old, fast four cylindered Fords, I should come back next morning, as the local F.A.S.T. chapter was doing a meeting on their parking lot that Saturday morning. But unfortunately I had agreed to turning in the rental car that evening, and I was also going to another car show in San Francisco next day - but I would have liked to see all those hopped up 4-bangers in hot rods and hill climbers. I left, and drove back.
As I was about to pass the Gilman exit, I decided to drive of and see, if I could find 924 Gilman Street. And it was actually kind of hard to spot, as the only thing revealing it was a couple of flyers in their window - besides those, it looks like all other houses in that neighborhood. I went inside to hear, what was playing Friday and Saturday night, which was some local punk rock bands that evening, but next day they would have a show with some punk-ska and psychobilly bands from the Bay area. I thought of going Saturday, but I didn't, as this was supposed to be a couples-thing for me and Louise, and I didn't wanted to be reminded about she recently breaking-up with me.
So I left, and went back to Sean and Alison's to unload Mikael's and mine SoCal and Vintage Ford purchases, and then I drove out to the airport to deliver the rental car. From there I took the hotel shuttle to the Embassy Suites, where I checked in to my room and went to sleep in order to be ready for the show next day.
The plan for the day was to go to Sacramento to pick up some parts for one of my Jalopies club mates named Mikael at the SoCal speed shop, then go to Sacramento Vintage Ford and maybe stop by at Blue collar customs, if I found the time.
I headed out of San Francisco, and as I drove through Berkley, I saw one of the freeway exits was called Gilman Street, on which there is a old and famous punk rock club, driven by volunteers - one of the places, I was supposed to visit with Louise in the original plan. I promised my self, if i could make the time, I would stop in on the way back.
As I landed outside the SoCal shop, I was once again surprised over the size of it over here. I was not as surprising as Vern's, but still amassing to see all these parts at one place. I know, it's just a store, but still, that place is worth a visit, if you are the least bit into building old hot rods and kustom cars. Behind the counter was this guy named Paxton, and we got to talking about our different projects. He is trading out a lot of his stuff, as he wants to sort of start over with a hot rod. He gave me the address for Blue Collar Customs, so I could go there after Vintage Ford. I also got to talk to another behind the counter, who owned a very kuul, topchoped Ford '49 shoebox sitting outside the shop on the main street. At one point, Paxton asked me, if I wanted to go with him to a nearby custom shop, as he was heading over there to talk to one of them. I said yes, and drove after him in the rental. When we got there, it turned out to be Sacramento Kustoms, who are building customs on a lot of late '40ies, early '50ies cars. They had a topchopped '49 Cadillac, I liked in particular. Can't say why, it just flows right! As I was there, Mikael texted me and asked, if I could pick up some magazines for him, so I said goodbye, and went back to the rental car. Then my eye caught a kuul '56/'57 Chevy pick up truck in the shop next to the custom shop, and I went inside to see, if that was another custom shop. Well, it was, of sorts, as they are building customized woodings for kitchens and stuff like that. Besides the '56/'57 truck, which had been torn appart to start the renovation, the owner of the wood shop had a nice and completly finished '58 Chevy truck, painted blue and white, sitting in the back, which was now for sale, as he should use the money for the '56 project.
I went back to the SoCal shop, called Mikael to make sure he got the right magazines (might have woken him, as it was around 11:20 pm danish time - sorry, Mike!), and then started talking to the guy with the shoebox. He told me, if I was in to this, I should go and see Vintage Ford, and I told him, I was on my way there now, and then he said, that I should try to stop by Blue Collar Customs on the way, as it was only a two block detour. So I made a detour, and drove there next.
Arriving at Blue Collar Customs, I got up to a gate, that almost looked locked, and I got flashbacks to my Tuesday at H&H. But it was open a little, so i called out and walked in. Inside I met 4 guys working on their client projects, they do amazingly good body work, as they do make all new panels to fit, instead of hammering in the old panels, and using a lot of filer to compensate for missing spots. If you do not know BCC, they are the guys who build the '56 Ford truck crewcab for MetallicA's lead singer, James Hetfield. That car was in the shop for a little refurbishing, and I was so lucky to get to hear it running! Hetfield had just had a '36 custom delivered to him monday, and that car is not filled anywhere, but just painted in clear coats! I saw a few pictures, and it looked awesome!
We got to talking about engines, and they told me, that they uses an oldtimer real close, he had been doing 4-banger work, and he might still have a banger in for rebuild. But as the time was late and I still needed to go to Vintage Ford, I passed the opportunity and headed out of there and on to Vintage Ford.
I had expected a rather large store at Vingate Ford, but again, I didn't expect this. That place was huge, all filled with parts in the back and a lot of old Ford merchandise in the shop. You could find a lot of stuff there, and you could spend a lot of money too! I tried to pace my self, but had to have a newly released dvd, starring Gene Winfield and his builds. As I was leaving, the nice lady behind the counter told me, that as I am in to old, fast four cylindered Fords, I should come back next morning, as the local F.A.S.T. chapter was doing a meeting on their parking lot that Saturday morning. But unfortunately I had agreed to turning in the rental car that evening, and I was also going to another car show in San Francisco next day - but I would have liked to see all those hopped up 4-bangers in hot rods and hill climbers. I left, and drove back.
As I was about to pass the Gilman exit, I decided to drive of and see, if I could find 924 Gilman Street. And it was actually kind of hard to spot, as the only thing revealing it was a couple of flyers in their window - besides those, it looks like all other houses in that neighborhood. I went inside to hear, what was playing Friday and Saturday night, which was some local punk rock bands that evening, but next day they would have a show with some punk-ska and psychobilly bands from the Bay area. I thought of going Saturday, but I didn't, as this was supposed to be a couples-thing for me and Louise, and I didn't wanted to be reminded about she recently breaking-up with me.
So I left, and went back to Sean and Alison's to unload Mikael's and mine SoCal and Vintage Ford purchases, and then I drove out to the airport to deliver the rental car. From there I took the hotel shuttle to the Embassy Suites, where I checked in to my room and went to sleep in order to be ready for the show next day.
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