GRAND TORINO

We went to a Shelby Fest today in Hermann, Missouri.  It was cloudy but comfortable.  Luckily it started to rain around 1430 when the show was almost over.  Not sure why this 1968 Grand Torino was in the Show but I thought it was good that it was there so I could take pictures for Qaptain Qwerty since he likes that movie, Grand Torino.

After walking around, we were hungry and decided to go to a BBQ place for late lunch/early dinner.  Ralphie got a beef brisket sandwich and I had a pork sandwich.  We share half of our sandwiches, and I liked the beef brisket better than the pork.  Ralphie liked both the beef and the pork.

There were over 100 cars on display and these were the two I liked the most.  This was the 6th year since the Show started.  The proud owners of these "toys" came from as far as California, Minnesota, Texas to nearby Iowa and Illinois.  This year I decided not taking any photos of a group of men standing around looking (and drooling) over the engine and talking about the car as if it was the most beautiful thing they ever saw!

Have a good weekend and enjoy whatever you are doing!

IS QAPTAIN QWERTY AT THE INN?

 I could not come up with something clever to post for these photos.  I leave it to QQ as he is the smart one in the family - haa haa!

Knock, knock
Who is there?
Da Qaptain.
Which one?
Captain Wohlt that is who.

YOU WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND IF YOU WERE NOT A CAR GUY (OR GIRL)

 Since we are not going to Hermann for the ShelbyFest, I thought posting these photos would give the readers who are car guys and gals something to look at and for those who could not care less (like QQ) about the Shelby or any muscle cars - well, this is what usually takes place when you are at a car show.  There are mostly men who would spent hours drooling over other men's cars.

I don't remember who told me that "A car is like a woman - she is beautiful and she usually belongs to someone else.  So look but don't touch!".  (Unless you want to get a bloody nose and killed if you let the blood dripped on the clean engine.)

I tagged along with Ralphie to a few car shows, especially to those classic vehicles.  There are many of them during the summer.  I built up a good knowledge and decided to surprise my husband while we were walking around the show, I casually pointed at one vehicle on display and said, "Wow, that is a 1958 Fairlane 500 Skyliner with the retractable hardtop".  I kept my "Poker face" only for a second then burst out laughing when I saw the beyond relief "Are you my wife?" surprising look on my husband's face - to this day we still laugh about this!

Can anyone tell me what these men are looking at?  These are strangers who did not know each other but now they became best friends and could spend hours talking about "their" restoration project, whether to put in a 5.OL or 4.6L engine block, what kind of suspensions or paint work and let's not forget the wheel bolt pattern.

WILLKOMMEN ZUM OKTOBERFEST

These are the photos from our Sunday Drive to Hermann, Missouri last weekend.  The town was not as crowded as expected being that it was Oktoberfest.  It could be because it was already 1300 by the time we got there.  The first thing we did was visiting our vacation home.  Well, we wanted to purchase the house, made an offer but the owner refused.  She did not have a horse or pony, so we could not threaten her that we would do harm to her beloved animal.  Besides, would that be illegal to put a bloodly head of a horse in someone's bed while he is sleeping?  

This would have been the view from our bedroom windows overlooking the Missouri River!

This would have been the view of downtown Hermann from our dining room!

We drove the T-bird to Hermann with the top down.  It was sunny and comfortable.  CP mentioned that he planned to put the hard top on to get ready for winter.  I need to check the storage room and stock up on supplies.  Last week while looking out the backyard, we watched the squirrels gathering nuts or whatever food he could find, my husband commented that it must be hard on the little guy.  "But he never had to worry about getting a job, working for a terrible boss/company, mortgage, debts, kids' college education or saving for retirement", I responded. 

This morning was a bit chilly with temperature in the 40s.  It got up to high 50s and was sunny most of the day.  Freeze warning has been issued for tonight.  I checked the weather in Gardiner, Montana and they already got snow there.  I called my Mom earlier and she told me that there is sufficient food and water in the house.  Let's hope "Sandy" won't cause major problems to the areas in her path.

SUNDAY IN THE COUNTRY

Beautiful white cloud in the blue sky made our drive to Hermann in the T-bird (with the top down) so pleasant. The temperature was in the mid 80s which made it very comfortable while letting our hair blowing in the wind.

We know we should enjoy the comfortable sunny weather before the extreme heat wave comes back. Autumn will soon follow and the long winter will soon arrive (it is always long when you are confined inside because of the snow and freezing temperature). The bright side is only 55 more days until the NHL 2011-2012 season begins - are you counting?

BENJAMIN AT THE WURSTFEST

Last Saturday we took Benjamin to Hermann, Missouri for the Wurstfest. As mentioned in previous posts, Hermann is one of our favorite towns when driving the T-bird for weekend/day trips. In fact, we like the town so much that we have been trying to find a nice 2nd/weekend home here. My sister CH visited Hermann when she came to St. Louis in 2005. We had lunch at Hermannhof Winery, then went on a tour of the winery and CH purchased a bottle of wine to take back to New York. The line at the Hermannhof Festhalle was really long. It must be at least 100 people waiting to sample and/or to purchase the sausages from six different purveyors (a fancy name for suppliers of food or sausage makers). We decided not to wait and went down to the waterfront. The boat ramp was submergered under water. We saw a large object in the river (bottom photo), turned out it was a dead tree (above bottom photo), probably the entire tree, including the roots, fell into the river. The weather people predicted rain but it turned out to be a nice sunny day. For more information about Hermann, visit http://www.visithermann.com/ or http://www.hermannmo.info/ to read about the early history of Hermann.

DAYS BEFORE & AFTER CHRISTMAS

Monday, December 28th - Am I the only person who was not too thrill about going back to work after four wonderful days of Christmas? The office was quiet with most of the employees taking off this week and the phone only rang a few times. I was able to work on "I wish I had time" projects, organized the files for next year and even started on publication for the first quarter.
Sunday, December 27th - The snow started last night, continued with strong wind, making the drive to church a bit scary when the truck started to slide when we tried to turn into the parking lot. We were planning to drive to Hermann but decided to stay home which I did not mind at all since there were so many football games I wanted to watch. My husband could not believe that I cheered for the Colts and not the Jets. It may sound crazy but with two more games left, I wanted to the Colts to have a perfect season 16-0 but the Jets rallied to win 29-15. I was happy to see Adam Vinatieri back on the field kicking! Of course, I was very pleased that my Patriots beat Jacksonville 35-7 and Aaron Rodgers & the Packers won 48-10 over the Seahawks but I was sad that my NY Giants loss to Carolinas. Not a happy Sunday in the Manning family!

Saturday, December 26th - We decided to get out of the house and enjoyed a nice breakfast at Sunny Street Cafe. A walk around the mall, without particularly looking for any after Christmas bargains, my husband found a pair of corduroy pants and I decided to treat myself to a nice sweater. Passing by a Hallmark store, we could not resist and joined many others who purchased 50% - 70% off Christmas cards, getting ready for the next mailing!

After lunch, we saw "Sherlock Holmes". It has been almost a year since we last saw a movie (the drive-in movies on Route 66 did not count). It was rather enjoyable, mostly because of the fresh warm buttery popcorn, not so much because of the movie!
Christmas Day, Friday, December 25th - Since we went to bed so late after midnight Mass, we did not get up until almost noon! Actually, at around 7:20 a.m., we got out of bed, went into the kitchen, had coffee and toasted bagels, watched the snow falling and went back to bed after we finished the bagels. The rest of Christmas day was spent on watching our favorite movies, "The Nativity", "It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story". We took naps between meals and I did manage to read all the Route 66 books I have borrowed from the library last weekend.

The Day before Christmas, Thursday, December 24th - My husband got up around 6:30 a.m. to start making the filling for the pierogies. We decided to make three dozens with different filling, traditional sauerkraut with mushroom, mushroom and chopped onion, and ground meat with mushroom. CMP also made an apple pie and a pumpkin pie. After breakfast, I helped with making the pierogies, fold and pinch them close, boiled, placed on cookie sheets, and stored in a container after they cooled. We took a long afternoon nap since we planned to attend midnight Mass after dinner. It was a very productive and fun day working together getting ready for Christmas.

WATCHING THE TRAINS GOING BY

As mentioned in previous posts, one of our summer activities on the weekends is driving to Hermann, a small charming town on Missouri River, about an hour drive from where we live (West St. Louis County). According to the tourism brochure, Hermann was founded in 1836 by the German winegrowers in search of the ideal location for their vineyards. They found a site bounded by hills and bluffs on three sides and the Missouri River on the north which was similar to the Rhine River region in Germany. In addition to the famous family-owned wineries, there are many bed & breakfast inns with the view of the Missouri River, many fine restaurants with authentic local cookings, gift shops and antiques places.
A favorite pastime while we are in Hermann would be watching the trains going by from the bridge at the end of town while enjoying the nice weather and a bag of kettle korn. Life is good when you slow down to be in the moment!

COUNTRY MOUSE CITY MOUSE

I think of my brother Qaptain Qwerty (VL) whenever I see homes with plenty of space, front yard with roomy driveway, backyard offers lot of playground for his son and of course, the luxury of his own garage! I worry about VL that whenever he is unable to park the old van in front of his house or within his own street and has to walk home, especially in the evening when it is raining or snowing (dark and stormy nights). I wonder if VL would be happy living in these homes or he would prefer a more modern home. Would VL appreciate the front porch where he would relax, reading and enjoying a cold drink on a lazy warm summer day? Most of the small towns have high speed internet services, some even with wireless connections, so VL would not feel disconnected to the world wide web. I took the photo below when I saw the red scooter because I thought of my nephew JL and all his toys, the white picket fence compared to the rusted iron fence at VL's house and the roomy garage instead of the narrow aisle VL had to share with his neighbor. I thought of my visit in July of 2000 when my husband worked to remove the rusts, then painted the fence while my Dad tried to help by handing CP the necessary tools. Dad complimented CP being such a handyman and how much we appreciate his help. It was my last visit seeing Dad walking around before being confined to his bed, unable to even take a few steps without feeling tired since the chemotherapy took tolls and he was given only three months to live.

JL loves train. I would be so happy taking JL on the train rides from Kirkwood to Hermann or just sit on the bench by the river, watch the trains go by as we share a large bag of kettle corn and drink root beer floats. Last Christmas we sent a train set the week before our visit. It was one of my favorite moments watching CP and JL put the train together on the tracks and sharing JL sweet laughters when the train blew its whistle coming out of the tunnel. It is true that having (in my case loving) a child will forever change your life. Whenever I see trains, I automatically think of JL, wishing we did not live so far apart so I could see JL often and all the fun we would have riding the trains, playing in the parks, learning together at the Science Center, taking JL to school, picking him up from different activities and turning JL into a hockey/football fanatic!

I left New York City when I moved to Michigan, but NYC was never taken of my heart. I love NYC with all its city glamours, East Coast conveniences (like direct international flights or cruise ships leaving from Brooklyn), the subway and most of all, being near my family. If I had to, I could adjust to living in NYC again. But I also have gotten used to living in the Midwest and its spacious surrounding. Driving became the only transportation and having more than a few cars ahead of me is considered traffic jams! While QQ decided on another van to replace the old broken van, my husband is comtemplating what features he would add further to his T-bird (photo above). We never had problems with parking our vehicles, the T-bird is always in the garage, my 6-year old Mazda in the driveway and the 10-year Ford truck (CP winter vehicle) has its place on the street in front of the house. The truck still runs pretty good and handy for carry stuff or when CP does not want to get the T-bird dirty.

I guess there is a trade off when comparing living places. City has its own convenience and small town has its charm. Everyone feel comfortable and makes the best of where they live. Whether the person lives in a house with neighbors all around (photo above) or in the middle of nowhere (photo below), the people and the love that filled the house would make it a home. For a city mouse that has turned country mouse, I enjoy my current town with all its pluses and minuses. I only wish NYC was an hour drive from St. Louis!

SUNDAY DRIVING IN THE COUNTRY

My husband and I enjoy visiting Hermann, a charming town on the Missouri River. We love the great view of the river from the bluff at the end of town. From there we could also see downtown dotting with small shops, historic homes, churches, bed and breakfast inns and restaurants that serve down-home cooking. Hermann is part of the River Heritage region and well-known for its many wineries.
I wrote about Hermann and its Wurst Festival (March 26, 2007). The town of Hermann is about an hour from St. Louis. According to the tourism brochure, Hermann was founded in 1836 by the German winegrowers in search of the ideal location for their vineyards. They found a site bounded by hills and bluffs on three sides and the Missouri River on the north which was similar to the Rhine River region in Germany. In addition to the famous family-owned wineries, there are many bed & breakfast inns with the view of the Missouri River, many fine restaurants with authentic local cookings, gift shops and antiques places.

Here are a few photos from our Sunday drive in the country. Perhaps we could all slow down and for just a few minutes appreciate the serenity of an open field, the red barn against the blue sky, the white cloud, the bright red leave or a walk in a freshly planted vineyard.

How about sitting down on the swing in this front porch, pour yourself a glass of home-made lemonade, sit down and relax. Forget about the fast car, the modern lives that full of every possible convenience, time-consuming yet meaningless activities and just for once enjoy the moment of breathing and living.

IT'S AMERICAN FOOTBALL

Week 9 of the NFL season and I finally am able to talk about the games. I was not a happy camper after Tom Brady got hurt against Kansas City Chiefs in the first week (Sunday, September 7th). It was supposed to be the beginning of another great football season and my favorite quarterback injured his left knee, so bad that it required surgery and would miss the remainder of the season. Technically it was the whole season as Brady got hurt in the first quarter. Then I was really depressed when the Patriots suffered an eviscerating loss 13-38 to the Miami Dolphins (0-16 last season) in Week 3. (I learned the word "eviscerating" from reading the sports section.)

"It's American football", the stranger said, looking at me as I was watching the New York Jets v. Kansas City Chiefs game. We had to make a rest stop at a McDonald on the way back from a Sunday drive in Hermann. I responded, "Ya, (Brett) Farve just made a short completion, the ball is at Chiefs 18". The stranger walked away, a puzzled look on his face. He turned around giving me a second look. Only much later I realized what happened, the man thought he had to explain American football to me, little did he know that he just encountered an Asian woman who is a sports fanatic.
That was not an isolated incident. During a business meeting on Monday morning, started with the men talking about Sunday games. One person commented "Let's stop talking about football in front of a lady." as he saw me walking into the room. To which I responded, "I don't mind as long we don't talk about the Detroit Lions or what happened to Tony (quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys) Romo's pinkie." Again, the person had a stunned look that I had such knowledge about NFL teams and players. Just like the time when my husband came into the house after his Sunday morning golf league and heard me yelling, "Go for it". He shook his head in resignation when I told him the excitement because Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) was going for a 2-point conversion to tie the game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
To understand my love of sports, please read entries "NFL Playoffs" on January 16, 2007 and other 2008 posts on January 19th and February 3rd.
These photos were from the Rams v. Giants game on Sunday, September 14th. We left when the score was 27-13, with only 7 minutes left in the 4th quarter. We got home and saw the final was 41-13. Two weeks later, the Rams fired coach Scott Linehan after the loss to the Buffalo Bills. The next day the Oakland Raiders fired coach Lane Kiffin. Yet coach Rod Marinelli of the Detroit Lions still has his job even as the Lions currently at 0-8!

With Brady being out, I guess it would be alright for me to cheer for Eli Manning. After all, the Giants are my hometown team!

The 42 years old punter, #18 Jeff Feagles (photo above) getting off the field after the warm up. I did not realize that a person could still get a job in the NFL after 40. I guess it does not require much physical to be a punter or a kicker.

I always like to take photos of cameramen at work - capturing them while they are capturing other people in action.

Of course, the highlights of any football games, to the delights of the male fans, were the performances by a group of talented, highly intelligent, lovely young ladies. It was a welcome distraction especially when the team you are cheering for had not scored a touch down, your receivers keep dropping the ball and your quarterback either got sacked or throwing incomplete passes or worse interceptions.