Traveling Man

Last week was my busiest travel so far this year. I covered a lot of miles in a very short amount of time.

It started here in Portland after my weekly Wednesday Crosspoint auction gig. From there, I headed to the airport for my 3pm flight to California; a quick stop in Oakland and by 930pm, I had landed in Ontario. An early get-up Thursday morning to catch my shuttle ride to Riverside got me to the Highline Sale. From there, I caught a ride with my friend Rod for the four-hour drive to Vegas. I happened to be staying at the same hotel where the Mecum Motorcycle Auction was held, so I caught a glimpse of that. As luck would have it; three of the best professional motorcycle racers from the 70's and 80's, Gene Romero, Jay Springsteen, and Don Castroon were all on-hand for a VIP Q&A session. It. Was. Awesome!

I was up early again Friday morning to work the Manheim Nevada auction. My lane started at 9am sharp. I had 150 Kia's to sell. I sold 100% of them. By 1045am, I was jumping back on the airport shuttle to McCarran Airport, where I caught the 1230pm departure back to Portland. My plane touched down at 230pm; from there, I headed home to do a quick repack. My next stop was Rosalia, Washington; where I am a judge for my long-time friend, Jay's annual hot rod bash. So I took off from Portland again and did the six-hour drive up to Spokane, Washington. I made it to my parents' house at 10pm and pretty much, went straight to bed. An early get-up Saturday morning, so I could join my parents for their weekly breakfast meet-up at Denny's. I took the long way around Spokane to Rosalia, driving the old highway which winds through the Palouse. Once in Rosalia, I judged 70 cars to come up with the best in the bunch. It sure was hard to pick a winner. After the show and a quick bit of socializing, I headed back to Spokane to have a visit with my parents and to spend the night. I was up very early Sunday morning for my six-hour drive back to Portland.

What a whirlwind of a week - 4 states in 72 hours!

Car Show in the Palouse

My old friend, Jay Scholz recently invited me to his annual party and car show in his hometown of Rosalia, Washington. Rosalia is located south of Spokane in the rolling hills of the Palouse. The Palouse region is where most of nation's soft, white wheat; brewing barley; and lentils are grown amongst the soft, rolling hills.

This particuliar car show is sponsored by Jay's hot rod shop, Rose's Garage; where they specialize in all forms of automotive customization. If you want to see some examples of Jay's work, check out his website at www.rosegarage.com.

It really was great to reconnect with my old friends from the days when I worked in the Palouse at the local grain elevator, in order to pay for my college tuition. While I was at the show, I was recruited to be one of the judges. About 60 cars were up on display, with half of them signed up to be judged. There was great assortment of cars and it was a tough job to pick out the best one. But someone had to do it and I was happy to oblige.

Looking down mainstreet.

Looking down mainstreet.