September 10, 2023

Dear Family:  We do have one birthday this coming Saturday; Laura Schnell.

I can’t wait to tell you all about my fun weekend.  I was invited down to Long Beach, WA., by my brother Jay and sister-in-law Alena.  Jay has mentioned this weekend after Labor Day to me before and this year he mentioned it a few times.  I am so glad that I finally accepted the invitation.

It was the ROD RUN.  The BEACH BARONS car club in Long Beach for 39  years has sponsored this.  I don’t know what I expected but I was blown away. 

I had a gig at Touchmark in the West Hills  Friday from 11-1pm and I left a bit after and got down there about 5:30.  After dinner we drove to downtown Long Beach and there were a lot of hot rods, restored classic cars, and things that looked like they were a mix of something just driving around – dragging the main street.  

My first car was just like this but light green where the pink is.  55 Chevy (with a post) not a hardtop.

Here is a better photos of a 55 Chevy.

This 55 Chevy is a hard top.  They were much more desirable.

We watched them for a while and then drove on the beach and caught a gorgeous sunset.

The next morning we drove north to a huge field that had been donated to the club by a deceased club member.  The field was huge.  I would guess about 30-40 acres.  There were a few permanent buildings; ticket booth, t-shirt and sweatshirt sales building and probably a cub house for the car club.  At the total back of the field food vendors were set up, but there were rows and rows and rows of restored classic cars, altered hot rods, cars that looked classic but had noisy engines and had lots of things done to them and cars that were all mixed up.  There were even cars and trucks that looked like they had taken off the wheels and they were sitting on the ground.  But Jay told me that they had some kind of hydraulic thing that lifted them up to drive.  There were cars of every shape size and description.  All day long while we were walking the field I kept thinking how Judy would have loved to see this.  She and I were experts on 50’s Fords and Chevys.  We knew everyone and some 60’s ones too.  There were even cars that looked rusty like they needed a paint job, but they were intentionally made that way.  I would guess that there were at least 1000 cars there maybe more. They also had a swap meet on one end of the field for old car parts.  I thought about Brad and his cars and Rich and his car some.  It would have been a lot of fun to see them showing off their cars. This wasn’t a car sale like Barrett Jackson.  It was a place for guys (lots of old guys) to show off what they had done to their favorite car from their youth and how they had modified or restored it.   We walked and stayed for about 2 hours. We didn’t even see half the cars in two hours. Then we went home to rest.

At 4pm we went to the Corral Burger (the only burger place for years on the peninsula until McDonald came 15 or 20 years ago).  We set up chairs on the opposite side of the street.  Jay ordered our food and we waited for about an hour for the food.  But in the meantime and for hours after -  it was entertainment central.  I had a great time watching the cruise of cars – thousands of cars.  I began to think how nice it was that these people are interested in something worthwhile and enjoyable to themselves and others and not criminal activities that we hear about on the news everyday.  These folks have poured their hearts into these cars and have kept busy – many for years and years working on them. The town was jammed with people, cars, RV’s, campers, motorhomes, tents, tables, chairs.  The traffic on the Cruise on Saturday was very slow, like 2 miles an hour and there were regular cars mixed in so they could get a feel for the overall experience. It went on all afternoon and evening probably til midnight.  Sometimes you’d see a particular car again, with the grandpa in the back seat and the grandsons driving this time.  With the price of gas $5.75 a gallon on the peninsula I couldn’t hardly guess the amount of money that was poured into just fuel.  It was like we were in another world for a couple of days. 

I’m going to include a bunch of photos.  I would have been snapping photos for hours, but I had to narrow it down to my favorites and ones that were especially interesting.  So I included cars from my youth, early marriage, Scott’s GTO and lots of beautiful cars.  My favorite at the field was a Volkswagen bus that was part pickup but was restored by experts and had windows in the front that opened out, two banks of seats and the back sides of the pickup part dropped down, not just the rear like a pickup.  It was painted a gorgeous pale green. I forgot to take a photo of it.  Jay knew the make and model and I’ve forgotten, maybe he’ll reply and tell us the model – safari comes to mind, but I don’t think that’s it.  Jay said it won the favorite car at last year’s show.  I voted for it this year.  Tons of money was poured into it I’m sure.

My personal favorite of all the ones I saw was a 55 Chevy (not a hard top) that was painted pink and white. This was the exact same model car as my very first car that I bought when I was about 18 or 19.   You’ll see it.  I almost missed the photo.  I think my car payment was either $37 or $67 for about a year.  I can’t remember for sure.  One thing was kind of funny.  Lots of Corvette’s cruised.  Every single one (except one) had an old gray haired guy driving it.  I guess when they retired they decided to buy their fantasy car and relive their youth.

Enjoy:

What is this?  A woody.....

This had a rumble seat - I dont' know the model

A newer Corvette - ugly

Look how close to the ground this Chevy pickup is

57 Chevy Nomad

I have no idea what this is

Is this a Willys woody?

I loved the paint color

Is this a Mercury? or what

NOW THIS ONE IS A GTO.  Scott Field had one but it was gold.  They sold it for $2000 and now it's worth $95000 restored.

This is a 65 Ford Falcon Sprint.  We sold my Chevy after we had one or two children and Rich wanted to buy this from his sister Chris.  We had it a long time.  But ours was blue.

57 Chevy (not a hardtop)  Not yellow!!!

Better of the 57 Chevy Nomad

This is a 53 Chevy.  Mom's was green and I drove it my Junior and Senior year to school sometimes and to work on Saturday's a Schnapp Jewelry Store in Gresham.

I liked this photo of the 50 Ford in the back.  It's modified but I remember those.

 

This is a Ford hardtop 55 or 56 I think.  I didn't see the tail lights.

I couldn’t help but think of all the years of car talking that went on in our family.  I knew all the 50’s cars and Jay knew all the rest.  It was a really fun weekend and I’ll always remember it.  I hope I get to go again. 

I’m looking forward to next weekend.  Brad, Sheri, Riley, Corbin and Cole are coming to town.  We’ll have a brunch Sunday at 11 ish.  Then they’ll all depart.  But before they do, I’ve raised pumpkins for my great grandchildren and I can’t wait to give them out.

Have a wonderful week.  (And thank you Kenlee, Laura, Haley, Kelsy for posting photos of the kiddos on FB and Instagram.   I love it.)

Enjoy Long Beach at Sunset.

9/8/23 about 8 pm - Longbeach Washington

Love Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, Sister and Aunt Suzanne