Endgame Roadsigns & Fun Run Flashbacks

 December 17, 2023

    There's not much that makes me happier than a photograph sent to me by my daughter, of her daughter.

Frannie McGoo Painting On The Beach

Not to mention this photo I found while cleaning in the studio yesterday.

Two, young Humor Masters In Training

   Meanwhile, caught this while driving home last night from El Encanto.

Backseat Driver

The Endgame

   I'm approaching a milestone on this long and winding road: my father passed at 75 and I'm about to turn 77 tomorrow. Meanwhile, the drummer for AC/DC just passed. He was 77. Yikes!

   Speaking of road signs. . .

Pit Stop Insights

   For the better part of two decades, my father and I drove the Route 66 Fun Run from Seligman to Kingman, to Topock, and one year, I had jackets made, "Bell On Wheels" for him and his pit crew.

Hell On Wheels Pit Crew and Al's '49 Ford

   Left to right: BBB, Al Bell, Milton Cece (my father's Norwegian cousin from Iowa) and Ray Hader (pit boss). This was taken in Seligman across the street from the Sno Cap Drive-In as the cars for the Fun Run lined up. This guy had painted this huge postcard backdrop and for $20 you could have a professional photo taken. I thought this was a very cool idea and wished I would have thought of it. Later, when my father was ordering more photos for his friends the guy admitted that we were the only ones who bought a photo (there were over 500 cars on the run!). After I found this out, and in subsequent Fun Runs (as I said, we drove in it every year for the better part of two decades) I would quiz the vendors (set up at tables with really cool books on Route 66, classic gas stations, etc.) and they would invariably tell me that they weren't doing jack for sales. I always asked why they thought this was the case and one astute vendor said, "All their money is in their cars."

   Ha. I think that nails it.

"Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt at 75 mph can double your vocabulary."
—Old Easy Rider Saying