<– Day 23 – Apr. 11th: Vintage Cars and Campers | OVERVIEW | Day 25 – Apr. 13th: Port Why-Knee-Me –>

Dan Horenburger and I in front of his Streamline FC Motorhome. See more pics here: http://thefcconnection.com/dan_horenberger_fc_motorhome.htm

Our home for Friday and Saturday night was the Thousand Oaks Hampton Inn. Thousand Oaks was great in part because they had some good food stores. The local Whole Foods had some sliced bison meat they sold in a warming bag (kind of like they do with chicken). Since Ann avoids beef most days (beef protein sensitivity) having some Bison was a treat for both of us!  Not only do they have food, but this small community seems to have more shopping per square foot than most. There are shops everywhere, but not many houses (that we can see) to support them all.

Saturday we did a big loop. The drive north and west on 23/118 was particularly beautiful, due to the beautiful rocky and hilly terrain. The remainder of the drive (especially 101) was full of traffic.

On Saturday, after sleeping in late (due to being awakened by someone walking very heavy in the room above us at 4:30am), our first adventure was a meeting with Dan Horenburger, who has collected an amazing collection of Forward Controls. It was a unique treat to have him share their history with us.

Dan explained that he was brought home in an FC after being born. Clearly he caught the Willys Sickness within just a few days of his birth, the poor guy. By his mid-teens he purchased and rebuilt his first FC. By then there was no turning back, so instead of medication or therapy, he embraced it. Since then he’s spent many years searching for unique vehicles. Fortunately, his professional (carousel restoration) allowed him to travel far and wide to search for them. As you will see he’s been successful.

Here are some of the Fire FCs he owns:

He also has this rare Mobile Driller attachment on the back of an FC-170:

Continue reading →

<– Day 21 – Apr. 9th: Day 2 at Disneyland | OVERVIEW | Day 23 – Apr. 11th: Vintage Cars and Campers –>

On Thursday we drove down to meet a friend of my mothers and her husband on Balboa Island.

Today we drove to Balboa Island.

They took us out to Ruby’s on Balboa pier:

Even we couldn’t pull of this photo. It’s from this magazine: http://newportbeachmagazine.com/taste-of-the-town/

We gorged ourselves on hamburgers, fries and chocolate shakes. The best part of the day was getting some of the down low information on my mother from her longtime friend. And, as Mom reads that previous sentence, she is wondering just what Karen told me . . . lol 🙂

<– Day 21 – Apr. 9th: Day 2 at Disneyland | OVERVIEW | Day 23 – Apr. 11th: Vintage Cars and Campers –>

<– Day 20 – Apr. 8th: California Adventure w/ Mrs. Soggy Bottom | OVERVIEW | Day 22 – Apr. 10th: Balboa Island and Pier –>

Most of this week Ann and I stayed with Josh and his wife Quinn. Josh is a long time friend of mine that I haven’t seen in nearly four years (and had yet to meet Quinn and their new son Jacob). So, we spent a couple evenings having a few drinks and catching up (yes, probably more important than even eWillys!). I even got a chance to do some cooking: poached salmon in a mushroom stock with rice pilaf for dinner and some eggs benedict with hollandaise made, in part, from a vinegar/shallot reduction (best hollandaise I think I’ve ever made from scratch — sorry, no pics).

On Wednesday April 9th Ann and I made it back to Anaheim for day two of our Disney adventure, this time on the Disneyland side. It was a good day and we stayed until the very end to watch the water show and fireworks. I can’t imagine the coldest of hearts doesn’t feel their inner child peak out as disney music booms from the speakers while the water shows, dancing, and fireworks fire up the imagination. Here are a few pics:

Welcome to Disneyland!

Me about to ride the Thunder Train.

Ann with the Matterhorn in the background.

After a thorough exploration of the park, I concluded there are no jeeps on the premises. However, during the Jungle ride, I am pretty sure I spotted an upside down Mighty Mite. Though I couldn’t positively prove this was the case, after Googling it, I discovered there are pics of a Mighty Mite from the Disney World Jungle Cruise on the G503 site. I guess I’ll just have to go back and investigate more . . .

<– Day 20 – Apr. 8th: California Adventure w/ Mrs. Soggy Bottom | OVERVIEW | Day 22 – Apr. 10th: Balboa Island and Pier –>