<– Day 9 – Mar. 28th: Charging Futility and FC Roundup Day 1 | OVERVIEW | Day 11 – Mar. 30th: Phoenix’s Mystery Castle –>

It was a busy day at the FC-Roundup. There were more trucks, more people and plenty of visitors. The weather was a little warm, but I know I relished the heat after our cold winter in Pasco.

The morning started for some of us with a 6am breakfast FC convoy, which I did alone as Ann decided she’d enjoy sleeping a little while longer. We all met over at Jesse’s. Thinking Jason’s tour jeep was going to be filled, Craig Brockhaus jumped into the rear. I was thinking the same thing, so I jumped up next to him. It turned out we were the only two in the back two rows. Certain someone would tell our wives that we were seen taking a romantic ride in the back of the tour jeep, Craig made the smart move to shift to the other side.

We made it to breakfast at Fast Eddies without a single jeep breaking down. That could be a record! For the trip back to the event, Jesse offered to give me a ride in his M-667. Well, wouldn’t you know but that two-timing Craig wasted no time inviting Dan Devries into the back of the Tour Jeep for the ride home. I feel so cheap now . . .

After a quick trip back to the hotel to pick up Ann, the two of us met up with Colin Peabody for a wide ranging chat. He had some good suggestions for Route 66 stops, so we’ll be including some of those on the early part of our trip toward California.

Just before we left, Colin showed us his DJ-3A Surrey. It’s a beautiful vehicle that he enjoys immensely.

The door-prize giveaway started just after lunch. Jason and Greg combined forces to provide several really cool customized signs. We were all drooling. I implored my wife to use all her witchy powers (after all, she is the descendent of John Ketcham). But, no matter what she tried, she could not win me a sign!  I doubt her heart was truly in it, because she didn’t think we’d be able to take it home. But, I had a solution and that solution was to come up with a plan once I won the sign. Alas, that didn’t happen. Here are a few of the signs.

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<– Day 8 – Mar. 27th: Joe’s Jeeps | OVERVIEW | Day 10 – Mar. 29th: Red Lobster or Bust — Day 2 of the FC Roundup –>

Wayne’s FC appears to be bowing as if to say “Welcome to the Round Up!”

Prior to the beginning of this trip, I planned to have a new battery in my MacBook Pro laptop (currently three years old) and a backup charger (mine has lots of black tape holding it together). But, my planning went completely wrong. First, I ordered a battery off of ebay, only to receive a broken one. So, I sent that back and ordered a second one, which turned out to be an imitation, unlike what was advertised. Since my current battery still lasts about 2 hours, I figured I’d survive the trip with it.

For a back up charger, I planned to bring Ann’s, along with her old Mac Book Pro laptop. But then, her mom bought her a new Mac Book Pro laptop for her birthday. What I didn’t realize is that Apple changed the charger slightly for the new retina displays, meaning her charger doesn’t work with mine.

Despite these obstacles, I figured I could make the charger survive. Well, I couldn’t. Today, of all days, with us running late to get to the FC Roundup, the charger failed me. So, off to the Apple store I went to buy a new charger, which made us later. You gotta love technology. It never fails to go bad at the worst times . . .

Eventually, we made it to the FC Roundup and had a wonderful afternoon relaxing and talking with folks. There’s a bigger turnout than we’d seen from the last two years were were here. Even more people are arriving tomorrow, so it should be great fun. Here’s some photos from today:

This is what it is all about. Hanging out and chatting.

Note the cut down MB grille on the front of the FJ

This newcomer is a beautiful build.

FCs show up in all types of condition.

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