posting started 2/9/11
Charlie, WB8NSL had been having difficulty getting into the Union Repeater as he was driving along. When he stopped for gasoline prior to his arrival at the Farley Flophouse, he discovered ice had built up on his antenna.
Charlie arrived at the Farley Flophouse around 2 PM on
Saturday. Our adventure has begun!
Here is a close up of Charlie's smile! He was happy to be off the road
and no longer driving in the ice and snow.
Here Charlie contemplates his next domino play. He is hoping to make a
play that will score points.
Sadly (for Charlie) his efforts to find plays that added to his score were
not fruitful and Keith won hands down!
We started Sunday morning off by talking with "Da
Bear" (Don) KE8NK in WV on 80 meter CW.
After chatting with the guys on 20 meters and 40 meters
Charlie salutes Hoss showing all the IOOK the "I Like Hoss" mug!
Keith salutes the IOOK with his IOOK mug!
Sunday evening we met for dinner at El Cazador - a Mexican
restaurant in Englewood.
L to R - WD8CJD, WA8ZWJ, N8KXM, AB8CO, KC8UAW, Sandi. Charlie took the
photo.
Monday morning early Charlie, WB8NSL and I left Union and headed south.
At one point in time, after we turned west in Nashville and headed towards Memphis, Keith saw John, N5AAA's APRS home station ID on the rig in the van identify with his N5AAA-1!
When we got a number of miles west of Nashville we had been
driving in rain off and on since we had left home. We discussed how the
longer we drove the harder the rain became. About the time we were driving
along in a "Frog Strangler" Keith commented to Charlie "At least
it isn't snow!". Well, that was a BIG mistake. Before very many
more miles had passed under our wheels it became sleet. A number of miles
later it became a very heavy wet snow! ARGH! Of course, traffic
slowed down from the 70 MPH speed limit to 25 to 30 MPH and we were seeing
numerous cars in the ditch or along guard rails.
As you can imagine, the driving was VERY intense.
This went on for a number of miles. It seemed like hours. Finally,
as we got closer to Memphis, the snow was not as intense and we got back up to
50 MPH.
After a while longer we managed to get back up to the 70
MPH speed limit and still were able to meet Max, K1MAX for lunch around noon
(Central Time) east of Memphis at his local IHOP. We had a dandy visit.
From there we continued heading west and ended up about 5:30ish in Texarkana, TX for the night. Charlie and I enjoyed dinner at an Applebee's near the motel and after a game of cribbage and some discussion on our routes for today's travels, we went to bed about 10:30PM.
Tuesday morning we got on the road and the sun was shining
and the temperature was rising. We continued west in hopes to meet Tom,
WN5TL for a late breakfast in Tyler, Texas. As it turned out, Tom had
other commitments that had come up at the last minute but he told us, as we
chatted on the local ham radio repeater, about a great place to have our
breakfast. It was a small restaurant inside of a Mexican Mercado (market
place) right along our route. Tom told us if we were lucky the person
behind the counter would be able to speak English. That was not the
case. But we still managed to order our Chorizo and Egg tacos and a side
of beans and rice that was to die for! We got to see tons of tortillas
being made!
We don't know what those things are in the upper counter -
they looked like giant elephant ears that you see in a carnival.
It was a really neat place to visit and I feel sure we will go back!
On the way through Corsicana we stopped at the Collin
Street Bakery, a favorite stop along the way!
Along the route we cross the dam for Lake Whitney.
The weather was BEAUTIFUL!
You can see "Whitney" on the support in the top
left of this shot.
The temperature got up to 61 this afternoon!
Delightful! Here the display shows 60 degrees as we head South.
We arrived at the Hosscienda (Lazy K Ranch) just outside
Valley Mills, Texas around 1:30 PM. We enjoyed a nice visit with Hoss,
Margareth and Max (the dog) this afternoon.
Charlie and I took Max for a nice walk as well!
This is one of the attractions we saw along our walk.
:-)
This evening we ate dinner at the Bunkhouse BBQ.
The owner, Rick, greeted us with a big smile and we had a
delightful dinner!
Here Charlie and Max relax after dinner.
Here's Keith in front of the laptop where he spends a lot
of time at the Lazy K Ranch!
Keith is enjoying an after dinner cigar and a shot of Chivas Regal Scotch!
Life is good!
The forecast is for a chance of snow this evening into tomorrow. The long range forecast is for things to warm across the nation next week! We all sure hope that is correct! Time will tell!
We seem to have dodged the bullet here near Valley Mills, TX. We did have some very light rain overnight but no snow! It is cold. The temperature was 19 with a wind chill of 4 degrees. Brrr.
Margareth made French Toast using pecan bread for breakfast! Mmm Mmm!
Dinner will be home made Borsht! Life is tough here at the Lazy K Ranch!
Oklahoma got hit with yet more snow last night.
Joseph, WA5FLT in Calumet, OK sent the following this morning via e-mail.
Joseph says "Here are a couple of today's snow
pictures. I hope I got the right ones, pulled them directly off of the
camera without viewing them."
"At this time the sun is out, it is 11 degrees and the
wind is blowing the snow at around 25 mph. Drifting is a problem."
"73, Joseph"
Jim, W5JCS in Stillwater, OK sent the following: "Heavy snow last night ended about ten this morning. It is difficult to tell how much we received in the night. It is so cold outside, 12F, I don't want to go outside."
Rick, KK8O in Galion, Ohio sent the following: "Right now it is 8.9 F. here and it is supposed to get colder until Friday and then it MAY get a little warmer. I hope it does as we have the Mansfield Mid Winter Hamfest Sunday."
The sun is shining in Central Texas and the current temperature is 28 degrees! We are already warming up!
In the afternoon Charlie had a chance to visit with Callie.
After our delightful Borsht dinner, we played radios and had a pretty good conversation with a number of the IOOK'ers on frequency. Of course the two biggest topics of discussion were the weather and the Yuma Hamfest! Hmm - somebody slipped up. We don't have any photos from the radio session! ARGH!
Charlie gets his dog fix with Max while Callie watches from
above. Margareth is snug under her blanket.
Hoss is keeping warm too!
============================================================================
We awoke to record low temperatures this morning. The sun is now up and the temperature is 17 degrees.
Keith was surprised to find out that a lot of the local schools are either closed or on delay because of the cold temperatures. What's up with that?
============================================================================
Last Sunday (that would be Day -1), while we were making our final preparations for our trip, another Mini Gathering was going on in California.
Here are the words from Charlie, NN3V's fingers:
The Poway, California chapter of the IOOK celebrated a Mini-Gathering on Sunday, February 6th, 2011.
In attendance were NN3V (Charlie), N5AAA (John), and their YL's, Elinor and Jan (KA9VQS) respectively.
W3TOM (Tom) and his YL (Debbie - KA3VNF) were scheduled to attend, but due to schedule difficulties, were unable to participate.
The Mini-Gathering began with a celebration at NN3V’s QTH with an appropriate amount of fine snacks, and the enjoyment of a fine bottle of California bubbly flavored with almonds.
During the visit to NN3V’s QTH, John and Charlie were able to enjoy putting Charlie’s new Yaesu FT-5000DXMP through its paces.
After the QTH celebration, the group headed to Islands restaurant to enjoy a fine dinner and much enjoyable planning for the upcoming journey to the Yuma hamfest.
Respectfully Submitted by IOOK Vice President, Charlie, NN3V
============================================================================
Today we ran some errands after a breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits...er...a...jalapeno bread! Mmm Mmm!
This small stone building has stood beside Highway 6
between Valley Mills and Clifton for many years. The gasoline pump has a
handle so the gas can be pumped by hand!
Also while we were out we got the oil changed in Keith's van. After we got back to the house Hoss brought out some old photos. After a lot of discussion and such we ended up scanning in some of the photos and Keith created a posting called Hoss History. To see those photos, you can click on the box below:
The afternoon was spent enjoying old times. Margareth is preparing lasagna for dinner! We have 41 degrees and sunshine! Beautiful!
We are now enjoying some vintage IOOK DVD's!
===========================================================================
We started the day off with cool temperatures (20 degrees) but before long it warmed up nicely with the high getting up into the mid 50's!
We went to McGregor to the Coffee Shop this morning for
breakfast. What a great offering of Mexican style breakfasts to choose
from!
This sign tickled our innards!
Hoss is caught mid sentence telling a whopper, most
likely! Har!
Hoss poses for a snap shot once the story has been unwound!
After breakfast we headed into Waco to run errands. After stops at Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Drug Emporium and Wal-Mart we headed back to the Lazy K Ranch!
It was absolutely gorgeous this afternoon. However,
according to Hoss, the temperature, at 55 degrees, was still five below
"fit for human consumption!"
We watched a couple more "classic" IOOK DVD's this afternoon and then we went back to the Bunkhouse BBQ for a splendid dinner!
It is a tough way of life, but the IOOK does travel on it's stomach, so, some sacrifices must be made!
This photo was sent from Jim, W5JCS today. This is
from a couple of days ago when Stillwater, OK got hit again with more record
breaking snow and then even more recently they got hit with record low
temperatures! Let's hope that all this snow is gone and the temperatures
are a lot warmer when Charlie and Keith get there towards the end of the month!
At least Jim has the good fortune to have a "real" snow
shovel! :-)
============================================================================
This was a shot of a billboard taken on our way to the
hamfest this morning.
Yes, I know it is a crappy photo but we just love the fact that "You can
smell our pits from miles away!"
This is where the Georgetown Hamfest takes place.
This is the building where the hamfest takes place.
As soon as we arrived at the hamfest, Hoss purchased a cup
of coffee!
WB8NSL & WA5ZAI
Door prizes for the hamfest...
We found RON! Yes, we had another shot with Ron's
eyes open but it was blurry!
L-R WA5ZAI, AA5RT, WA8ZWJ
This was a neat display of tubes that was for sale on one
of the tables.
Here are Ron, AA5RT and Charlie, WB8NSL behind one of Ron's
tables.
Charlie took this shot of this gentleman (one of the
vendors) because of his shirt.
Here is a close up of the shirt.
The first e-mail that Charlie receives at WB8NSL@yahoo.com
with the correct meaning of this design will receive a special prize at the
Dayton HamVention!
Here are Hoss (WA5ZAI), Charlie (WB8NSL) and Ron (AA5RT)
behind Ron's other table.
Keith took this shot for Mike, N7LMJ who is really into
audio!
This one too!
The hamfest was well attended!
Here's Charlie, WB8NSL and Keith, WA8ZWJ
These antennas are designed, built and sold by Tom,
K5VH. Shown here are the 2m Super Wheel, the 70 cm Super Wheel and a 6
meter Tripole Antenna. These are all set up for horizontal polarization.
Hoss chats with Ken, KC5RPF who "saved" Hoss's
butt once by charging the battery of old Clyde the pickup truck by taking the
battery to his house, charging it, returning it and installing it so Hoss could
get home from the hamfest!
Here is an 80 meter antenna that was for sale.
Los Tres Amigos!
Here's Hoss chatting with Paul reminiscing about old packet
BBS and forwarding days!
The Stagecoach Inn is a historical site.
Info on the history of the Stagecoach Inn.
Here are Don and Keith in front of a tree that is over 500
years old that the building was built around.
The Stagecoach Inn
Don and Keith
The four of us enjoyed a dandy lunch and visit!
The temperature warmed up into the upper 60's today! Delightful!
We spent the afternoon in R&R mode. We also watched a DVD from 1994 of the installation of Hoss's HF beam on top of the tower. That video also included a house tour of the HOSScienda which was shot shortly after Hoss and Margareth had moved in. It wrapped up with an introduction to Margareth's menagerie!
R&R being taken to the maximum!
Hoss and Keith enjoyed watching "The Alamo" on TV. :-)
============================================================================
We have bright sunshine and during our radio playing it got up to 55 degrees so, it was only 5 below for Hoss's being fit for human consumption!
Here's Hoss acting as net control for the 20 Meter net.
Keith gets his chance to transmit during the 20 Meter net.
Here is a pretty rare shot of Charlie operating phone (SSB)
on the 20 Meter net!
Here's Keith as net control for the 40 Meter net. The
band conditions were terrible. We had more guys in the ham shack than we
had check ins on the net! ARGH!
Hoss looks at the photos on the IOOK web site while we
continue to try for check ins on 40 Meters.
Here's Hoss in his relaxed transmission mode during the
late 20 Meter net. Delightful!
Later this morning we had the pleasure of Ron, AA5RT and Joanne joining us for a visit and lunch!
Here are Joanne and Hoss
Here are Joanne and Ron, AA5RT. By the way, the RT
stands for Radio Trader!
Here we are ready to start lunch with Flat KBob looking
on! Look who has his fork poised and ready to begin!
Ron has a new to him HHR!
Ron has done an N8KXM type quality installation!
All the wires are hidden and the radio is actually under
the seat! Nice job Ron!
What a delightful day! The high got up into the mid to upper 70's! Yee haw! The sunshine was beautiful!
============================================================================
Charlie and I started the day off with our morning walk.
Here are a llama and a donkey - notice we had a light fog
this morning.
Here are the roses that Hoss ordered for Margareth for
Valentine's Day.
Here are Margareth and Callie with the flowers, candy and
card she received for Valentine's Day.
This evening we ate dinner at the Crawford Coffee
Station! I had my deep fried jalapenos and jalapeno and cheese hamburger!
Charlie and I just love this wagon on the building next to
the Coffee Station!
I just love this collection of fishing baits.
More fishing stuff...
This was a beautiful sunset we saw on the way home this
evening!
We had another beautiful day here today with sunshine and the afternoon temperature up into the mid 70's!
============================================================================
We awoke to temperatures in excess of 50 and sunshine with some light clouds this morning.
Here are some more animal friends that visit with us along
our morning walks.
After this morning's walk we headed into Waco so Hoss could get a haircut.
After Hoss had his ears lowered we went to the Texas Ranger
Hall of Fame.
In the early days, the Texas Rangers also served as
surveyors.
Here is an assortment of surveying equipment.
Here is an old Colt that is set up for you to disassemble
and then put back together.
Hoss handles one of the early Colt revolvers that weighed
nearly 5 pounds empty.
The original Colt model 1911 that many weapon designs have
copied.
Thompson submachine gun
During Prohibition alcohol and gambling were the largest
concerns of the Texas Rangers.
After leaving the Hall Of Fame we went to Buzzard Billy's
where the specialties are Cajun style offerings!
As you can see, the restaurant is on the Brazos river.
Here are a couple of outboard boat motors hung on one of
the beams overhead.
Today, while we were in town, Margareth took a fall while she was walking Max. Her knee is hurting her, but, there does not appear to be a lot of swelling. I imagine that tomorrow she will have some black and blue show up.
We were honored to have Miss Annie come out and join us for
a while this afternoon. Usually she is simply a darting image that passes
through as she goes to or from the food bowl.
Hoss picked up pizza for dinner so Margareth would not have to fix dinner with her injury. Good pizza!
The temperature got almost to 80 this afternoon! Delightful!
We guys head towards Yuma tomorrow morning at oh dark thirty.
============================================================================
We got away on time and stopped in Lampasas at the Country
Kitchen for breakfast.
These two good old boys are still playing poker after all
these years!
Here's a look forward on the Vice Presidential Highway in
west Texas. Not much traffic out here!
Looking backwards shows not much traffic that way either.
Riding along here's Charlie, WB8NSL.
And now here's Hoss, WA5ZAI!
Here's Keith, WA8ZWJ aiming our vehicle towards Yuma!
The sight of these numerous windmills in west Texas always
are an impressive sight!
Wow! Sunshine and 92 degrees! Delightful!
We arrived at La Posta De La Mesilla in Las Cruces, New
Mexico for dinner. It was here that Joseph, WA5FLT from Calumet, OK met
us!
Here's ZWJ at La Posta!
Billy The Kid was tried in this building.
Just as we were getting ready to get a table for dinner
Chas, KA5UPM met us for dinner. Chas lives in El Paso, TX.
Here's WB8NSL and KA5UPM!
We had hoped that Dave, K3CRF from Nebraska would join us for dinner as well. However, he had a change in plans and was unable to make the trip
Here's a bit of history about La Posta.
A dandy dinner was enjoyed by the gang!
Hmm, is that a trumpet that guy is trying to play?
Here's Joe with his Yuma 2011 folder full of all the info
he needs for the trip and hamfest. Nicely organized!
After dinner, Chas headed back towards El Paso and the four of us headed towards Lordsburg, NM for the night.
===========================================================================
This is a look at sunrise from the motel Thursday morning.
Some impressive scenery along the way towards Yuma...
We called Jim, AE8R as we passed through Tucson, AZ but never heard him. Shucks!
Here's a shot of WA5FLT
This is a neat rock formation at one of the rest stops
along the way.
Upon our arrival in Yuma, we were greeted by some IOOK'ers
who were already there!
L to R - KA9VQS, KB8FJB, N5AAA and W8TVC
Keith presents Joseph with a shirt he had ordered
After checking in at our motel, we headed to the hamfest
sight. Our first Yuma Hamfest volunteer to see what BJ, Jack, KC7DUU's XYL.
Here are some more volunteers!
Once we had checked into the hamfest we headed to our space
and suddenly Jack, KC7DUU arrived!
Another one of the friendly volunteers.
We began working on putting the banner together
Here's the banner installed for the weekend! Let's
say YAY for the IOOK!
Another volunteer...
Here is an aerial shot provided by N0BIX. The red X
indicates where our booth always is located.
When we got back to the motel we found Dave and Big Al
soaking up some sunshine!
Charlie, NN3V surprised us by arriving from Poway, CA
Thursday afternoon! We were not expecting him until Friday
afternoon. You can imagine our pleasure and surprise!
Ron, W6KJ and his wife arrived from Yuba City, CA.
We had a before dinner gab session!
Thursday dinner was at the Cocopah Casino. Fantastic!
========================================================================
Breakfast was at the Cracker Barrel! We had great
service and good food!
The first person we saw at the hamfest was Jack, KC7DUU!
another volunteer...
Keith tests the flea market radio once he found out why it
wasn't working.
Here's a Harrier Jet providing the IOOK with Vice
Presidential Air Cap!
NN3V talks with a potential customer...
Joseph, WA5FLT and Hoss, WA5ZAI
Charlie WB8NSL
Charlie, NN3V has prepared a new warranty for our
booth. If you can't read the fine print, ask Charlie!
This is too funny!
Here is Tom (W3TOM) and Debbie's (KA3VNF) camper and
"toad".
John (N5AAA) and Jan (KA9VQS) arrive after getting new
levelers installed on their camper.
Hoss chats with one of the volunteers...
Charlie took this shot of this pooch with an interesting
hair cut.
John, Tom and Charlie discuss the Heathkit keyer.
N5AAA, W3TOM & NN3V
More Vice Presidential air cap!
Before we left Dayton, Lou, N8KXM gave Keith, WA8ZWJ a
couple of items to deliver to Jack, KC7DUU that Jack had accidentally left at
Lou's during HamVention last May. So, this shot documents that
"Farley Freight" did deliver the package in Yuma! Thanks
to WB8NSL for making the delivery and documenting the delivery.
another volunteer!
another volunteer...
Dave, W8TVC
another volunteer...
Big Al, KB8FJB
Ron, W6KJ
I think Jack was giving this guy a warning for speeding in
the flea market.
More stories being swapped!
We don't have a lot of shots with customers in the
booth. When we had customers, we got busy.
Ron Karimi (no call) arrived from Bull Head City, AZ!
Ron is Hoss's son.
Here is the Yuma Hamfest brochure.
Did you notice the typographical error?
It's LUNCH TIME! ANIMAL style!
The IOOK is being introduced to NJ6T, Ti-Michelle.
L to R - Flat KBob, NJ6T, W8TVC
NJ6T
Here are some more volunteers...
Here are some indoor vendors...
According to Joseph, "The operator of
the DX Store is Jim Shryne, N6DHZ." n6dhz@dxstore.com
N5AAA fills in the info on his prize tickets.
The good news is that every inside booth was sold!
This is the Yuma County Emergency vehicle! Very
impressive!
WB8NSL entertains the group while we wait for the hamfest
to officially close so we can head to dinner.
L to R - NN3V, WB8NSL, KB8FJB, W8TVC
Joseph visits with Ti (pronounced Tee).
WA5FLT & NJ6T
another volunteer...
Chas, KA5UPM
Yep, Chas told us at dinner at La Posta that he had decided to join us for
the hamfest. He drove over today.
Tom, K8BTE
more Vice Presidential air cap
John, KF8KK
KF8KK, WA8ZWJ & K8BTE
W6KJ, NN3V, WA5FLT & W8TVC
It's time for dinner!
Jan, KA9VQS models John's hat
N5AAA & WB8NSL
WA5ZAI & KA5UPM
W8TVC and Jo Anne, N6YLO (Ron, W6KJ's XYL)
W6KJ & KF8KK
Debbie, KA3VNF
K8BTE and NJ6T
KB8FJB & NN3V
Ron
W3TOM & KA3VNF
WA8ZWJ & WA5FLT
After dinner, Ron, W6KJ tells the group a little bit about
Ti-Michelle, NJ6T. It is ZWJ's fault that the shirt Ron had purchased for
her was not in Yuma for him to present to her. So, Ti was assimilated into
the IOOK!
Ti has been quite active in the ARRL for many years. Included in the offices she has held are Assistant Section Manager Emergency Coordinator, Section Manager of East Bay. She is a well known and popular ham who currently lives in her Winnebago in Yuma. She has attended hamfests all over the country and is active on D-Star.
She does plan to attend the Dayton HamVention in May if all goes according to plan!
Here's our newest IOOK Vice President, Ti-Michelle, NJ6T
As you can easily see, a fun time was had by all!
The young lady behind Keith is Augusta (Auggie). She
was curious about the IOOK and her curiosity got the best of her and she just
had to ask about our group!
=======================================================================
Breakfast this morning was at the nearby IHOP.
Breakfast is over and we are off to the hamfest! Who
is the first one we see? Yes, it is Jack again!
We had some rain this morning. That is something that
is very rare for Yuma.
Here's our buddy Ralph, K7YUM! he has the local
UHF repeater that has EchoLink on it!
Our thanks to Ralph for the use of his machine and it's EchoLink!
Here's our newest IOOK'er, NJ6T.
Here W8TVC and WA5FLT talk with EchoLink to Lou, N8KXM.
Charlie, NN3V chats with El Presidente, KBob, KG7SB (ex
W8JUK) via EchoLink.
Tom, W3TOM talks with KBob.
John is working on something on the roof of the motor home.
The job is completed successfully!
More Vice Presidential air cap.
Doug saw KBob's call sign on Flat KBob (W8JUK).
Here's Doug with Flat KBob!
Jack introduces us to his brother Hank, KD7SUE.
Lunch at In-N-Out again!
The rain this morning nearly filled the barrel. The
guy was really surprised when he came to dump the trash. They added a can
and decided they would come back later to dump the one with all the water.
Chas, KA5UPM won an hourly prize! It was a dual band
base type antenna! Yee haw!
Keith chats with Woofie, KE4H via EchoLink!
Matching campers - N5aaa (left) and W3TOM (right)
Jack in his IOOK wear - ready for the Buzzard's BBQ.
Jan poses with KBob!
W3TOM lowers his solar panels. Yee haw!
The hamfest is over. The van is loaded. We sold
pretty well. Keith is taking home 3 empty tubs!
And now, here's the Buzzard's BBQ!
WB8NSL & W8TVC
KB8FJB & Ron
WA5ZAI
N5AAA & KA9VQS - Get a room you two!
NN3V & Flat KBob
WA8ZWJ & KA5UPM
WA5FLT & K8BTE
KF8KK
N6YLO & W6KJ
Wil, K0WAS and NJ6T
W3TOM & KA3VNF
BJ, KD7WBH
Here Jack addresses the attendees at the Buzzard's BBQ.
KBob seems to have enjoyed his BBQ dinner.
You can imagine our surprise that the moist towelette has
BBQ scent!
Bob, N0BIX called N5AAA on his cell phone. The phone
got passed around to the IOOK to chat with N0BIXie. Charlie was one of the
last to chat.
Charlie won one of the new Yuma Hamfest T shirts!
That was the only IOOK prize won at the dinner this year.
Now is a good time to begin planning to attend next year's
Yuma Hamfest.
We promise that if you decide to attend the hamfest next year a fun time will
be had!
=====================================================================
Breakfast was back at Cracker Barrel. Here's Ron and
Hoss.
Chas and Charlie
Jo Anne and Ron
Ron's T shirt
Jan and John
Tom and Debbie
Tom and Keith
Charlie and Keith
Joseph and Tom
Jack
After breakfast Jack ran home and picked up an item for
the "Farley Freight" to take back to Dayton for Lou, N8KXM. So,
the Farley Freight will not be deadheading back to Dayton!
Big Al and Dave were 12 miles ahead of ZWJ & gang when
we contacted each other on 146.415 simplex. We did not catch them until we
got to just past the I-8 and I-10 interchange.
We were nearly to Tucson when we caught up with Chas on his
way to El Paso.
Here is Joe chatting on 146.415 simplex with us as we pass
him somewhere in New Mexico.
Here's a shot of ZWJ's Maroon van after we passed Joe,
WA5FLT.
These flags were part of the display at the Texas welcome
center.
This shot was taken by WA5FLT on his way home after we
separated our paths.
He did not stop overnight. He arrived at home at 4AM!
We arrived in Ft. Stockton, TX about 10:30PM. Keith was in bed shortly after 11PM!
==================================================================
This fuzzy shot of the sunrise also shows a string of
numerous wind mills in operation.
More wind mills...
We stopped for a late breakfast at the Branding Iron in
Menard, TX.
Charlie catches a few extra zzz's as we motor along.
Hoss helps keep Keith awake and alert as we continue along
the Vice Presidential highway in west Texas.
Keith enjoys a cigar as we continue towards Valley Mills,
Texas.
Yes, the temperature got up to 85 on our way back to the
Lazy K Ranch.
We arrived at the Lazy K Ranch outside Valley Mills, TX at 2:30 PM! Man, our butts were tired!
Hoss presents Margareth with several Avocado's that
Charlie, NN3V had picked from his Avocado tree in Poway, CA.
Thanks Charlie!
================================================================
This is one of the neighbor's horses in Hoss's pasture
beside the house. We saw this horse when we headed out for our morning
walk.
Now, don't fall off your chair, but, that shot is the only photo taken today!
Keith spent the day working on photos and posting the shots from the hamfest. We had a nice day with the high into the mid 70's.
===============================================================
This morning we started our walk in 57 degrees and by the time we got back it was into the mid 60's with a light fog in the air.
The following shots are some more of our animal friends who
come to visit with us during our walk this morning.
Here are two more horses in Hoss's pasture.
We met the gang in Waco today for a Chinese lunch!
We were pleased that Wil, WB5YFX could join us for lunch!
L to R - Joanne, WB8NSL, WA8ZWJ, WB5YFX, AA5RT, WA5ZAI, Margareth
A chandelier shaped like a boat!
Here are the guys underneath a large photograph of a ship
in the restaurant.
WB8NSL, WB5YFX, WA8ZWJ, WA5ZAI, AA5RT
We enjoyed a delightful visit and wonderful buffet!
In the parking lot ZWJ made a purchase from YFX.
Thanks Wil!
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The gang was up early this morning.
Here is the well known "Sign In Board" at the
Lazy K Ranch - also known as the HOSSienda.
Yes, Charlie and Keith did sign the board before they left.
Keith and Charlie hit the road about 6:30AM and headed north towards Oklahoma.
We drove through some really heavy rain in southern Oklahoma but by the time we got to Oklahoma City the weather had turned nice.
The guys arrived at Joseph, WA5FLT's place shortly after
noon and they got the fifteen cent tour prior to heading out for lunch.
Front of the new house
This is the base of the new free standing tower near the
house.
Charlie got his dog fix (he was going into Max withdrawal)
by visiting with Boomer!
Joe and Cathy's new place has a nice porch that nearly
surrounds 3 sides of the house!
This is outside of the kitchen and off the Florida room.
Here's a shot of the back of the house and tower from the
southeast.
Here are additional towers that Joseph intends to put up
this summer.
This is looking at the back of the house from the
northeast.
Notice the nice patio/porch area outside the master bedroom on the right.
The new place has a full service automatic back up
generator system!
Here are Charlie and Joseph in what will eventually be his
ham shack.
Joseph is sitting in his chair and messing with photos on
his laptop.
We went to El Reno for lunch. There we met Neal,
N5KCO.
Cathy came from work and joined us for lunch!
Joseph, WA5FLT and Cathy
Here we are at El Charro! A dandy Mexican Restaurant
that Joe and Cathy go to 2 or 3 times a week!
Al, AE5CJ joined us back at Joe's.
AE5CJ and N5KCO in Joseph's dining room
L to R - WA8ZWJ, AE5CJ, WB8NSL, N5KCO
After a delightful visit Charlie and Keith headed on towards Stillwater, OK.
We found out through the grapevine that Stan, N5JFQ had a surprise in store for Keith and Charlie that was foiled by the fact that instead of heading back towards Oklahoma City from Calumet, we headed north. Hey Stan! Better luck next time. If you are not familiar with the kind of surprises that Stan can deliver in the Oklahoma City area, you need to go back to last year's Yuma Trip photos and laugh out loud! (http://iook.org/photos/yumatrip2010.htm)
We arrived at Jim, W5JCS's place at about 5:45 PM.
Jim, W5JCS
Here are Charlie, WB8NSL and Carolyn (Jim's mother) and
Keith, WA8ZWJ.
The evening we had a delight dinner and visit at Joseppi's
Italian restaurant here in Stillwater.
L to R - WB8NSL, WA8ZWJ, Paige, Tad (KC5DPT), Carolyn, W5JCS
After dinner, Jim, Charlie and Keith went to Jim's Man Cave
for some additional visit time. Here we got to see some of Jim's
collection of mature radios.
Jim in his Man Cave easy chair!
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This morning we had hoped to begin the tower project.
However, the house bracket Jim had ordered had not arrived. Plus the
weather was a bit cold (at least cold for Oklahoma).
Here Jim is standing about where the hole will be dug for the tower base.
"Why me, Lord?"
The house bracket is promised to be here tomorrow.
Here are some more "mature" radios.
Jim searches the Internet and exchanges e-mail with his
brother regarding the house bracket.
While Carolyn is in the grocery the guys took a short side
trip to Eskimo Joe's!
A great old Motorola Radio sign inside Eskimo Joe's!
After a chat with Joseph on the phone, we found out he had an extra house bracket. We drove to the other side of Guthrie, OK and met Joseph mid way between his place and Jim's to pick up the bracket so we can get an early start on the tower project tomorrow.
This shot documents the exchange of the house
bracket! Joe saves the project!
After picking up the house bracket we went and picked up the remainder of hardware needed for the tower project. We will be ready to start bright and early in the morning!
This evening Carolyn fixed us a delightful dinner!
L to R - WA8ZWJ, WB8NSL, W5JCS and Carolyn
We went to the well known Braum's Ice Cream place for
desert. Yes, Keith had sugar free!
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This morning shortly after 7AM Joseph showed up to help us
with the tower work today.
Charlie, Joseph and Keith headed to IHOP while Jim went to the rental place to make arrangements for the post hole digger and then join the guys for breakfast. Well, time went by and we finally called Jim and found out he had been trying to contact us to let us know that the digger would be delivered SOON. So, we paid for our coffee and went back to Jim's.
Here the digger is in place and just starting to make the
hole - OK, this digger is a bit bigger than some post hole diggers we are
familiar with. The auger is 24 inches in diameter! Specifications
state that a 24 inch round hole 4 feet in the ground with 6 inches of gravel
will do nicely!
The ground here in Stillwater is a VERY heavy clay that
sticks to the auger. So, we periodically had to remove the dirt manually.
Here Jim is very intense in running the digger!
Without the digger, it would have taken all day to dig this hole!
After the auger is removed steam comes out of the hole from
the friction!
We moved the bags of concrete from the front to the back.
In the midst of moving concrete bags, the house bracket
arrives via UPS. Here Jim hands over the bracket to Joseph to replace the
one he gave us yesterday. Notice the bracket already installed under the
spouting between Jim and Joe?
After the hole is dug and the digger has been picked up,
the gang heads back to IHOP for breakfast!
Miss Oklahoma State stops by to visit with us while she is
promoting a special fund raiser.
Breakfast is over and now we clean out the bits and pieces
of dirt (clay) out of the bottom of the hole.
The retainer framework is screwed into steaks to secure it
against movement.
Bottom of hole with pea gravel...
Bottom of hole with a bit larger gravel on top of the pea
gravel...
Tamping the gravel down..
We have erected two sections of tower and placed the bottom
into the hole and we are beginning to secure the tower to the house bracket and
level things up.
Keith drills a path for the ground rod that will help hold
the base of the tower from moving while we pour concrete.
Securing the ground rod to the tower leg...
It is time to start mixing concrete.
Making progress....the day has warmed up some. the
sun is trying to peak out.
Jim listens to KBob as he makes a suggestion about
spreading the concrete.
It looks like KBob's idea must have worked.
Time to screed off the top.
KBob makes another comment that Jim listens intensely to.
KBob looks on approvingly after Jim has smoothed out the
one corner KBob had mentioned!
Time for pick up and clean up...
Jim has a BIG smile. He has planted an actual
tower! Maybe if he adds water and fertilizer it will grow?
Here's one TARD but happy crew!
Way to go Jim!
Before too long, Liz and Stan, N5JFQ arrive to visit and
take in dinner.
Stan told Keith about how he was watching our road progress from his squad
car on APRS.
Hey Keith,
I'll send ya a couple pics I showed you earlier. This is my view of the Dell laptop mounted in the scout car. This is how I was closely
watching your APRS progress as you were driving around town.
This view on my laptop is our regular police mapping program. It shows the location of each officer as they move around and their GPS location is returned to a server. It's fun to watch it during a pursuit. If you look at the single unit in the upper left quadrant that's my car, L216. As you can tell I use mapping on the mobile laptop quit a lot.
This is your actual track in the ZWJ land cruiser as you were arriving in Stillwater Thursday afternoon. It's a close up view of the laptop screen. The tracking shows how Joe Garland sent you north around town and eluded my watchful eyes on you guys.
Thanks to Stan for sharing the technology available for use by the Oklahoma City police department. Man, the wifi set up in Oke City is awesome!
We ate dinner at the Hideaway Pizza House. Charlie
was intrigued by the collection of miniature kites on display.
Here is the group shot from the Hideaway!
L to R - WB8NSL, WA8ZWJ, Bill - N5TU, Stan - N5JFQ, Jim - W5JCS, Liz,
Carolyn, Dan - K5FVL, Cathy
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Here's a short wave receiver at the head of Jim's bed for
late night listening.
Jim laments over the fact that it is time for Keith to
leave.
Jim asks Charlie to stay another day. Charlie
considers it, and then decides to ride with Keith rather than walk back to West
Virginia!
Here are Keith and his cousin, Bob Hughes. Keith and
Charlie arrived at the Hughes Farm outside Nevada, MO at about 2PM Sunday
afternoon.
Bob and Sue invite the kids and their families over and we had one heck of a visit and dinner! There were 14 of us!
Here are Mom and Dad!
Sue and Bob Hughes
Here's Lara's family...
Here's Lincoln's family....PLUS ONE! Har de
har!
I guess Landon really likes getting his photo taken.
Charlie, Bob and Keith finished the evening with a rousing game of 3 handed Cribbage.
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This is Bob's room where Charlie is sleeping.
This is the guest room where Keith is sleeping.
This morning the guys headed to Sheldon to empty a cart
full of corn.
While we guys were going to Sheldon and back, Lincoln had
several semi's scheduled to pick up and transport corn from his place. One
of the semi's had a little problem negotiating the corner and had to be unloaded
so they could get it out of the ditch.
Notice the back left wheels of the tractor rig are off the ground....
Here Bob and Lincoln chat...
Here's a shot of the grain auger that was used to move the
grain from one truck to another.
Once the grain was out of the trailer, they hooked a farm
tractor up to the semi to help pull it forward and get the trailer out of the
ditch.
No, the semi could not pull itself out of the ditch because the trailer body
was rubbing the trailer tires plus the traction problem that was caused by the
wheels being off the ground.
After running some more errands and catching lunch in town,
Bob, Charlie and Keith stopped by cousin Ronnie's.
Ronnie Hughes
Here's Ronnie's wife, Janet!
Janet Hughes
Charlie took a group photo of us!
L to R - Janet Hughes, Keith Farley, Bob Hughes, Ronnie Hughes
The sun is out and it is gorgeous! Here is Bob and
Sue's place.
We went into Nevada to a relatively new Mexican Restaurant called the Iguana Azul! Great food and service!
Another couple of rousing games of Cribbage were played
this evening!
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This morning we headed out to Springfield, Missouri to the
home of Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World!
We had to look at this bass boat on our way in.
Fishermen, Hunters and Other Liars! Indeed!
Hmm - I think Charlie is afraid that this bear is getting a
little fresh!
ROAR says the bear! EEEEAAAAAA says Charlie!
Keith tries his hand at a deer hunting game. No, we
didn't have any deer to be cleaned!
Bob takes a few shots but no luck either.
After Bass Pro we headed to Lambert's, home of the hand
thrown rolls...
None of the thrown rolls ended up on the floor during our visit! They ended up in our tummies!
Here's a mural at Lambert's.
Anyone who leaves Lambert's hungry is doing so of their own choice.
Lambert's goes above and beyond the call of duty to make sure you get filled up!
After we got back to Bob's we found out that Lincoln was
loading beans up near Walker. So, we went to see this operation.
This long plastic bag is filled with soy beans.
Yes, it is the largest bean bag you have ever seen! Bob says they can
store up to 10,000 bushels of beans in one of those bags!
Inside the bag is a special device that picks up the beans
and shoves them into the auger.
The empty bag rolls up behind the auger.
The auger machine pulls the tractor backwards as the bag is
emptied.
Once the beans have been moved into the cart, the cart is
then unloaded into the semi to be taken to market.
Check out the size of the tires on the cart!
The bag gets cut in front of the auger as it proceeds up
the bag.
"Play in the dirt" is a way of life for Lincoln!
Bob has been playing in the dirt for many years!
We three guys finished off the evening with another game of cribbage. The final standings were:
Bob won 2 games
Keith won 2 games
Charlie won 0 games
Sorry Charlie!
Charlie and Keith want to express our thanks to Bob and Sue for their wonderful hospitality!
Wow! Our visit has really gone by fast!
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Charlie and Keith were up early and out the door at Bob and Sue's shortly after 6AM Central time.
Here's a shot of the sunrise when we stopped for gas.
Notice the $3.19 price on the sign for regular?
We arrived at Ruby Tuesday's shortly after 11AM Central
time to meet Bob, N0BIX. We exchanged photos and we gave him the photo
files that we had accumulated from our trip.
We had a nice lunch and a dandy visit!
Here's Bob ready to head towards home.
Keith and Charlie arrived at the Farley Flophouse shortly after 8PM Eastern time after 2 gas stops, several "necessary" stops, lunch with N0BIX and a late dinner at the local Long John Silvers.
Marian was away at a meeting and arrived shortly after we
did. Marian was glad to see us!
After getting Charlie's stuff out of the van and into his car we played with copying trip photos and visited with Marian some before turning in for the night.
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We were up and at 'em fairly early this morning and Charlie was on the road headed towards Pennsboro, WV shortly after 7AM this morning. Yes, he had ants in his pants and was anxious to get home and see his granddaughter, Emma!
During our trip we traveled 5,629.1 miles.
Our driving time was 87 hours, 45 minutes and 60 seconds.
The average driving speed was 61.9 MPH.
Throughout the trip, we had thought that Hoss got hammered with the highest price gasoline at $3.49/gallon. However, Wednesday afternoon, when Keith had to pay $3.55/gallon, we had to revise our thinking! ARGH! I feel sure that will make Hoss smile!
The photo contributors for this web page were:
N0BIX
NN3V
N5JFQ
WA5FLT
WA8ZWJ
WB8NSL
A special thank you goes out to Bob, N0BIX for finding the typos in this web page and letting me know so I could correct them.
Thank you to all the IOOK'ers who attended the Yuma Hamfest.
Thanks to everyone we encountered along the trip that helped make each day a special gift.
Thank you to Mike, N7LMJ for providing the IOOK with the web space for the IOOK web page!
Charlie and I want to especially thank Hoss and Margareth, Jim and his mother, Carolyn, and Bob and Sue Hughes for their wonderful hospitality! You made us feel as though we were at home in your home.
Charlie and I have had a really fun time. I feel that this was the best Yuma Hamfest yet! It seems amazing to me that each day we had the opportunity for a new and different experience and there is no question that each day brought more fun and fellowship into our lives!
Now I will go out and unload the van and wash it. Yes, we did pick up a bunch of mud in Missouri. :-)
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If you haven't done so already, it is time for you to begin thinking about HamVention and making your plans to attend. This year we will celebrate the 30th Annual Gathering Of The Faithful!
More IOOK related HamVention information will be forthcoming.
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Best wishes to all!
Respectfully submitted, Keith, WA8ZWJ
no more to come...
