A visit to cousin Dave's
News, Auto ·Saturday April 16, 2016 @ 19:30 EDT (link)
On this trip back to Canada we had the chance to visit my cousin Dave and his wife Danielle at their place in Wellandport, a sprawling property which features a number of vehicles in various build states (like the field cars, used, when it's drier, in time trials around the track), a well-equipped garage and outbuildings, and the residence, all of which have been extensively upgraded by my cousin, including the installation of a kitchen where there was none. He can be seen in the first image in the stack at left, on his tractor, which while a little older, is in fine working order and has the power to pull trucks out of mud or haul a wagon with four of us (my parents, Honey, and I) in it.
Emily and her boyfriend Johnny (parents own a vineyard which he manages) joined us for dinner, delicious burgers. Dad and David got to playing various stringed instruments (guitars and a banjo) later. I started and then borrowed Losing Joe's Place, one of the Gordon Korman books I hadn't read, to finish later at home (and now have, and need to make sure it goes back to Canada on the next trip). It was the usual Korman fare, but I didn't like it was much as I Want to Go Home or the (early) McDonald Hall books.
Later on I headed over to Shaphan and his wife's place for a college and careers bonfire (Honey didn't want to be around the smoke), where I talked with Jesse and others about chainsaws, since I'd just gotten the DeWalt for clearing the path to the range, and learned I wasn't the first person to get one stuck temporarily…. I also talked with Jamie, and with Andrew, who was working with my cousin to build remote control into a (regular, normal-size) car, which sounds like a fun project and I wish I was closer to participate.
Books finished: Confronting Reality, Warbreaker, Debt of Bones.
