SE Texas

TransAmer99 · Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 97 Location: 281 Spring, TX

Welcome to my little corner of the world! Spring (281) is a northwestern suburb of Houston that used to be quite rural, but has undergone a whole lot of growth in the forty-some-odd years since I first lived here. But it's still kinda nice and getting a super-Walmart out here about 5 minutes from the house hasn't been as bad a thing as I originally imagined.

My babies - 'LadyHawk' and 'Gray Ghost':

Wife's baby - 'Olde Yeller' (has been in her family since new):

Club meet at our place last August (2007)

Hope to have a few more show up this year (Aug 2nd 2008 - no rain this time, please! Cool

)
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work in progress...

TransAmer99 · Joined: 21 Jun 2008 Posts: 97 Location: 281 Spring, TX

First off, allow me to apologize for the double-post in the ‘My Baby’ section. My SCC window became unstable and I hit the back button until I got a page that would refresh. Unfortunately, it was the submit page that launched my diatribe of night shots.

Secondly, you know how I lamented above about my area transforming from decidedly rural to run-of-the-mill suburban? Well, perhaps the conversion isn’t yet complete. Allow me to explain:

I am an early bird when it comes to getting to work during the week. Very early. As in days like today when I use the onsite Wellness Center for a circuit-weight workout followed by a half-hour cardio session on the stationary bike, I leave the house at 3:15 AM. At that hour, I literally OWN the roads. Or so I thought. But normally, I can go for miles at a time without seeing another set of headlights or taillights. Sure, occasionally there will be the straggling drunk trying to find his way home long after the bars have closed. And you’d be surprised to know the number of restless souls wandering along beside the road sometimes at that hour. But I digress…

Today, about 8 minutes into my commute, I rounded a ‘farmers forty’ bend to observe a four-legged creature of the bovine variety completely blocking the road! I mean, his hindquarters were blocking the northbound lane and his head, neck and shoulders took up the entire southbound (my) lane. His gonads reached the cattle equivalent of his knees and his horns spread nearly four feet tip-to-tip! So I trounced the binders and steered toward the ditch to my right. As I was passing close enough to reach out the window and grab a handful of bull, I felt the rear end start to slip and I got back into the go-pedal. By then, the animal had lowered his big ugly head and turned away from me, which was a good thing. Had he turned toward me, he’d have gotten a hornful of tee-top! I sped off, marveling at the abilities of traction control, antilocks and LS1 power in late-4th Gen Fbods. I was grateful, one, that I hadn’t been driving by moonlight with the headlights off (as I’ve been known to indulge occasionally) and, two, that I wasn’t going to have to pull any ground beef out of the body panels and wheel spokes of LadyHawk! Digressing once more, I recalled a time 24 years ago along this same stretch of road when my 1983 Grand Prix didn’t fair quite so well in a very similar situation. Then, before subdivisions had begun replacing pastureland, I had ended up slammed into a tree backwards, the result of unpreparedness and over-correction when farmer Brown’s cows got loose on New Year’s Eve…

Back in the present: not ten minutes further along, with my heartrate normalizing and my speedometer indicating a more sedate pace, I saw a family of deer by the roadside, grazing. They appeared in the darkness to be a doe and two fawns. I passed by uneventfully and breathed a silent, thankful prayer to God for all his provisions this morning and every day. No venison or mangled front end today, thank you very much!
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work in progress...

HotWings · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:26 am Post subject:

Doesn't that just make you water tight as a frog when stuff like that happens!

Here's one that happened to me:

I was cranking down a backroad in central New Brunswick one morning, coming home from Ontario. I crested a hill doing about 70mph (110kph) and as soon as I get a clear view down the road in front of me I see a moose. I jumped on the binders and came to a stop 15-20ft away from him. He didn't move. In fact he stood there for another 5 minutes, both of us staring at the other. Then he finally decided to lumber off into the woods and let me proceed.

I always wanted to see a moose, but not as a hood ornament on my truck.
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1978 Firebird
12.80@104.5mph

rkellerjr · Joined: 29 Feb 2008 Posts: 266 Location: Yorktown, VA

Nice spread transamer99! Beautiful place, not to mention what nice automobiles you have Smile

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Rich
1975 TA - http://www.78ta.com/gallery2/main.php/v/rkellerjr/
Video: http://www.zenonline.com/~rkeller/Videos/75showcar.wmv

sir english firebird · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:18 pm Post subject:

Very cool, nice place.

Just following on from the story of coming across things whilst driving.

I used to live in Cornwall (UK) and i had a mate that owned a brewery.
I used to help him out driving deliveries and then i could help myself!

I bought a sat nav as some of the places really were in the middle of nowhere.

I was "hammering" along a quiet country road, turned a corner only to find a whole platoon of soldiers route marching , my heart flew out of my chest as i hit the panic pedal but with the weight of the beer on board this just wasnt going to stop ( i could even see their faces! ).
Almost instinctively they parted and marched right round the van as though it was an every day occurence.
I had now stopped but my heart hadnt, i waited for a minuite thinking about what could have been before i set off again.
Youd have thought i would have slowed down but NO what was the chances of that happening again? Rolling Eyes

I turned the next bend ( still speeding ) well f me if there wasnt another platoon!! same situation i panicked , they moved round me and all was well.

After the second time i did drive alot slower for the rest of the day ! Embarassed

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The V8 made me do it officer!