Boat Drags

This weekend we really were missing the country and good old redneck activities so we decided we should do something about it. I checked online and found that there was going to be an enduro race in Madera (2hrs away) and we decided to go. The enduro consists of demolition quality cars racing on a track that has soap and pumpkins smashed all over it. The race goes 100 laps one direction, and then goes 100 laps the other direction. There are no rules..no stops for crashes...and lots of carnage.

There were a lot of interesting people there, but not the redneck hicks I was hoping for.


Notice the yellow trike is actually half of a car.
There were a bunch of trikes that took a couple of laps for some unknown reasons. There were a bunch of custom trikes and a few even had wheelie bars and some did a few wheelies.

Some of the actual racing (done by professionals). I use that term loosely because the second place driver in the race was a 14yr old kid. He beat a lot of people and it was amazing.

Some of the sprints

Some scenes from the pumpkin smash. Notice the 4' tall gaudy trophies.
Burnout...stuck on the infield.

For the grand finale..Boat drags. This is not boat racing, but it is cars racing around the track with boats tied to the back. The last car with the boat attached wins. Needless to say this was a great time and crazy crashes were everywhere.

Lined up for the race

Fireworks were fairly impressive.

Another parting shot.

I have attached this video of the boat drags for those of you who would like a good laugh.

Indiana in the fall

So last weekend we went out to the great state of Indiana, a state I have not seen in about 9 years. Brenda's sister and her family live out there and we thought this would be a great time to go and see them. Here are the Voyagers arriving by canoe. It rained all day Friday, but cleared up for the feast on Sat and Sun. It was very muddy and a bit cold, but that is just the taste of the midwest Brenda and I wanted.

There also were some Scot's in the area so they had a caber toss for fun as well.

Dan is a woodworker and he has the booth at the Feast of the Hunters Moon. This is a get together to celebrate the French Voyagers history of the area. Dan has a booth where he has kids turn a giant wheel and the wheel turns a lathe. The kids get a chance to pick out a figure for Dan to turn on the lathe and then he makes it and gives it to them.

Part of the requirement to work in the booth is that you had to dress in the period clothing. So Brenda and I got to partake and dress accordingly. I told them all I needed was a loin cloth, but for some reason they insisted that I wear the knickers.

Baking some Bread.

There was a blackpowder reliability test and the guy firing right now is just wearing a loin cloth. He was so hardcore.

Dan also had another guy at the booth who turned some wood toys for the kids and gave him some breaks.

Abby was very happy...and I am holding her, so I guess she likes me.

Here are the girls.

Finally the last day we had time to go for a walk around the neighborhood and found a pumpkin patch.

Great time was had by all and we are so glad we went out to Indiana.

Brenda with her cloak and the girls.