At first I was like but then I was like
Last edited by Phatmatt (2010-08-18 11:52:14)
Less than 24 hours before we depart for Atlanta, and this is the state the roof rack is in.
LAST-MINUTE PROP CONSTRUCTION PANIC MODE ACTIVATE!
LAST-MINUTE PROP CONSTRUCTION PANIC MODE ACTIVATE!
Wait, wasn't the roofrack already done and on the chrysler?Boomerjinks wrote:
Less than 24 hours before we depart for Atlanta, and this is the state the roof rack is in.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134 … kstate.jpg
http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/sm … around.gifLAST-MINUTE PROP CONSTRUCTION PANIC MODE ACTIVATE!http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/sm … around.gif
Your thoughts, insights, and musings on this matter intrigue me
It was. We're adding motors to the gear on top, and replacing/repainting pretty much everything so it looks it's best for New York.
We put about 25,000 miles on that rack, and it needed some love.
We put about 25,000 miles on that rack, and it needed some love.
He, I emagine it gets worn, dirty and/or faded after some timeFloppY_ wrote:
Wait, wasn't the roofrack already done and on the chrysler?Boomerjinks wrote:
Less than 24 hours before we depart for Atlanta, and this is the state the roof rack is in.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u134 … kstate.jpg
http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/sm … around.gifLAST-MINUTE PROP CONSTRUCTION PANIC MODE ACTIVATE!http://www.lxforums.com/board/images/sm … around.gif
Your thoughts, insights, and musings on this matter intrigue me
The box -which is ABS plastic- suddenly turned yellow after the california trip, so we have to de-oxidize it and paint it. I wasn't thrilled about that.
make it out of wood and varnish itBoomerjinks wrote:
The box -which is ABS plastic- suddenly turned yellow after the california trip, so we have to de-oxidize it and paint it. I wasn't thrilled about that.
well, our smog is known for doing thatBoomerjinks wrote:
The box -which is ABS plastic- suddenly turned yellow after the california trip, so we have to de-oxidize it and paint it. I wasn't thrilled about that.
Joined the facebook page. If you are ever in Boulder then send me a message and I'll do my best to go see your groups awesome machines.
since you're rolling from Atlanta to Raleigh ..... you'll probably take 85 to 40 but if you want to see some scenery and see where they shot " last of the mohican's " and " red dragon " and other movies ... take 85 to 26 to 40 into Asheville ......... it will add about 4 hours to your trip though
Best pics on BF2S, tbh. I wish I had the patience, know-how and tools to mod my '87 RAM Charger into an off-road ectomobile. I can barely do simple engine work, which basically boils down to cleaning off rust and oil spills and checking the battery and fluid levels.
= too lazy to go out and take a picture of my own trashy one with its primer-only right quarterpanel, faded-to-metal paint job and a droopy felt ceiling that I have to keep out of my face with duct tape.
= too lazy to go out and take a picture of my own trashy one with its primer-only right quarterpanel, faded-to-metal paint job and a droopy felt ceiling that I have to keep out of my face with duct tape.
get a 8 inch lift and some 37inch tires and your good to gounnamednewbie13 wrote:
Best pics on BF2S, tbh. I wish I had the patience, know-how and tools to mod my '87 RAM Charger into an off-road ectomobile. I can barely do simple engine work, which basically boils down to cleaning off rust and oil spills and checking the battery and fluid levels.
http://home.comcast.net/~leesonic/ram5.jpg
= too lazy to go out and take a picture of my own trashy one with its primer-only right quarterpanel, faded-to-metal paint job and a droopy felt ceiling that I have to keep out of my face with duct tape.
If you have no clue.
So our journey actually began several weeks before EAA 3 officially kicked off. In the weeks before we were to leave, I began putting the finishing touches on the Magnum. We rolled the car out in July of 2009, but only now does it resemble the original vision we conceptualized.
The first addition was a set of blacked-out wheels.
Followed shortly by a Setina PB400 pushbar, things really started to cook!
We pulled the hood and handed it over to Stever (one of our Knight Rider guys) who proceeded to pull all the hail dents from the previous spring.
Positively beautiful!
As the side stripes never really jived with me, and because my vinyl guy actually put a lighter shade of red on, he offered to re-do all the pin striping and rear hatch work. It came out look immaculate.
Then it was off to Charles' place to re-run all the wiring for the lightbars using a wildly more efficient relay setup. We drilled some holes to hide the wires in the rear hatch channel, positively SEAMLESS!
And I managed to get the new "Tumbler" lights hooked up to a flasher and three-way switch.
Good stuff.
We then pulled apart the roofrack down it's bare components and started refinishing them. Polishing lenses and tanks, giving fresh paint to the frame, building a new sonobouy, and de-yellowing the ABS plastic box.
We wanted to put our efforts toward having the sharpest, most-pristine Ecto at DragonCon, and we wanted the car to look its best while meeting its destiny in New York City.
Another major goal to accomplish before EAA launch was motorizing the binocs on the roof of the car. This was achieved through a motor sourced by Charles, connected through a mechanism built by Kris. The result was a setup that allowed the binocs to stay rigidly in one position at speed, as well as operate smoothly at up to 80 miles per hour. Technically, we haven't tested it to failure, but I'd be surprised if it didn't work perfectly beyond 100. We also installed a set of neon lights inside the roofrack for accent lighting.
After being mired in setbacks, we finally had the car back together around 4am on Thursday morning. Richie and I decided to push back our departure by an hour and to take regular shifts to compensate for the lack of sleep. Kris and I only managed to test the motorized binocs for a mile or two on the freeway, so the entire mechanism and new construction would meet it's trial by fire on a 5,000 mile road trip.
Richie and I launched EAA3 at 7am on Thursday, and we made our way East. It wasn't long before we hit Kansas and stopped for a few pictures. Already we encountered our first obstacle, vicious cross-wind, evidenced here.
We then proceeded East, we'd been through here before and any sight-seeing would be done on the return trip. For now we just had to get to St. Louis.
Firefly, anyone? AUGH, I MISSED THE GORHAM EXIT!
In the middle of Kansas we suddenly found where all that wind was coming from....
Richie and I kept ourselves amused by counting the conservative religious billboards that practically outnumbered every other kind of advertising along the highway. Billboards are kind of funny to us, in Colorado I believe there is a state beautification law that has kept the amount of roadside advertising to a minimum, so going through places like Wyoming and Kansas and Nevada are absolutely HILARIOUS to us, what with the sheer amount of advertising that appears as soon as you cross the border.
BATTLE OF THE BILLBOARDS!
FIGHT!
Richie, expressing what turned out to be misdirected enthusiasm.
Kansas City, whose skyline was being particularly sinister what with the weather and all.
Also, it was pretty stormy throughout all of Kansas and Missouri, and every time we stopped we were asked about the weather as everyone seemed to think we were storm chasers. At one rest stop, I spied a "Tornado Chaser" shirt for sale, and I bought it to help aid griefing those people even further.
(looks at car) "Are you storm chasers?"
Nope, Ghostbusters.
(looks at shirt) "For real?"
Yup.
(looks at car, looks at shirt, goes cross-eyed)
It was fun.
Back to Kansas City, some dude was cruising around in this badass monstrosity, and we waved, but he just scowled. It's okay dude, you're a douche but we still think your car is neat!
About two hours outside of St. Louis we were treated to an incredible sunset.
We always seem to get terrific sunsets while on EAA trips. Last September there were the big fires in California, which provided ridiculously red sun rises and sun sets. We also saw some stunning light shows in December and in July... positively breath-taking!
After dark, we were treated to an astonishing light show as a rainless lightning storm practically strobed all around us!
That night we stayed in Alton, IL with future-dentist and hardcore prop-collector, ProtoKev. Between his four packs, full-size Vigo, complete lightsaber collection, 501st gear, MiB and Jurassic Park collections, the man is a maniac! Talk about toys for big boys!
We were treated to Steak and Shake, quite the midwestern late-night treat, a first for us!
The first addition was a set of blacked-out wheels.
Followed shortly by a Setina PB400 pushbar, things really started to cook!
We pulled the hood and handed it over to Stever (one of our Knight Rider guys) who proceeded to pull all the hail dents from the previous spring.
Positively beautiful!
As the side stripes never really jived with me, and because my vinyl guy actually put a lighter shade of red on, he offered to re-do all the pin striping and rear hatch work. It came out look immaculate.
Then it was off to Charles' place to re-run all the wiring for the lightbars using a wildly more efficient relay setup. We drilled some holes to hide the wires in the rear hatch channel, positively SEAMLESS!
And I managed to get the new "Tumbler" lights hooked up to a flasher and three-way switch.
Good stuff.
We then pulled apart the roofrack down it's bare components and started refinishing them. Polishing lenses and tanks, giving fresh paint to the frame, building a new sonobouy, and de-yellowing the ABS plastic box.
We wanted to put our efforts toward having the sharpest, most-pristine Ecto at DragonCon, and we wanted the car to look its best while meeting its destiny in New York City.
Another major goal to accomplish before EAA launch was motorizing the binocs on the roof of the car. This was achieved through a motor sourced by Charles, connected through a mechanism built by Kris. The result was a setup that allowed the binocs to stay rigidly in one position at speed, as well as operate smoothly at up to 80 miles per hour. Technically, we haven't tested it to failure, but I'd be surprised if it didn't work perfectly beyond 100. We also installed a set of neon lights inside the roofrack for accent lighting.
After being mired in setbacks, we finally had the car back together around 4am on Thursday morning. Richie and I decided to push back our departure by an hour and to take regular shifts to compensate for the lack of sleep. Kris and I only managed to test the motorized binocs for a mile or two on the freeway, so the entire mechanism and new construction would meet it's trial by fire on a 5,000 mile road trip.
Richie and I launched EAA3 at 7am on Thursday, and we made our way East. It wasn't long before we hit Kansas and stopped for a few pictures. Already we encountered our first obstacle, vicious cross-wind, evidenced here.
We then proceeded East, we'd been through here before and any sight-seeing would be done on the return trip. For now we just had to get to St. Louis.
Firefly, anyone? AUGH, I MISSED THE GORHAM EXIT!
In the middle of Kansas we suddenly found where all that wind was coming from....
Richie and I kept ourselves amused by counting the conservative religious billboards that practically outnumbered every other kind of advertising along the highway. Billboards are kind of funny to us, in Colorado I believe there is a state beautification law that has kept the amount of roadside advertising to a minimum, so going through places like Wyoming and Kansas and Nevada are absolutely HILARIOUS to us, what with the sheer amount of advertising that appears as soon as you cross the border.
BATTLE OF THE BILLBOARDS!
FIGHT!
Richie, expressing what turned out to be misdirected enthusiasm.
Kansas City, whose skyline was being particularly sinister what with the weather and all.
Also, it was pretty stormy throughout all of Kansas and Missouri, and every time we stopped we were asked about the weather as everyone seemed to think we were storm chasers. At one rest stop, I spied a "Tornado Chaser" shirt for sale, and I bought it to help aid griefing those people even further.
(looks at car) "Are you storm chasers?"
Nope, Ghostbusters.
(looks at shirt) "For real?"
Yup.
(looks at car, looks at shirt, goes cross-eyed)
It was fun.
Back to Kansas City, some dude was cruising around in this badass monstrosity, and we waved, but he just scowled. It's okay dude, you're a douche but we still think your car is neat!
About two hours outside of St. Louis we were treated to an incredible sunset.
We always seem to get terrific sunsets while on EAA trips. Last September there were the big fires in California, which provided ridiculously red sun rises and sun sets. We also saw some stunning light shows in December and in July... positively breath-taking!
After dark, we were treated to an astonishing light show as a rainless lightning storm practically strobed all around us!
That night we stayed in Alton, IL with future-dentist and hardcore prop-collector, ProtoKev. Between his four packs, full-size Vigo, complete lightsaber collection, 501st gear, MiB and Jurassic Park collections, the man is a maniac! Talk about toys for big boys!
We were treated to Steak and Shake, quite the midwestern late-night treat, a first for us!
Last edited by Boomerjinks (2010-09-14 00:12:26)
lol
Umm... Does this guy have a Stuntman Mike-box built in his car?Boomerjinks wrote:
we still think your car is neat!
The next morning we set out early for Huntsville and Atlanta.
Richie, where the hell are we?
I will say this, Tennessee was probably the prettiest state we drove through.
I passed out in the passenger seat and we missed an exit, officially failing my shotgun-seat role as Rabbit. We detoured south back into Missouri and across some very rural backroads, but were rewarded by getting to drive over some incredible bridges.
BAAAARGES
Our trip through the backwoods was made even better after we discovered that the region we were traveling through was actually named Blandville, poetic justice is alive and well.
Arriving in Alabama, we discovered a climate entirely alien to us. The humidity we encountered absolutely ridiculous, never before have I seen rain falling up. Alabamans, you need to fix that shit.
Seriously, the entire time we were there I didn't know if my pants were soggy or if I was just continuously shitting myself. Ugh.
Anyway, we made it to Huntsville and U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
We met up with gbMatt, who promptly began lecturing me about jumping fences to touch exhibits and how I would "get in trouble" or some nonsense. Feh. Judd, another member of GBfans met up in costume for some pictures with the car.
The rocket center was, well, pretty amazing. I've never really seen any sort of full-scale shuttle or manned spacecraft aside from the Titans and Redstones at certain other museums, it really was a sight.
Playing around on one of the umbilical arms.
Richie, succumbing to one of my stupid ideas for a stupid picture. Stupid.
Shut this off, shut these all off.
Yup. We're gay for shuttles.
Probably the best part of the whole place, the Space Monkey Graveyard. Memorials to monkeys who helped us edge closer to manned space flight. People leave bananas on top of the markers, amazing.
Also there was the first Blackbird of the trip. Technically an A-12 Oxcart, this is the plane I had to hop the little fence to get up close to.
We said our good-byes and bugged out for Atlanta and DragonCon, pushing hard to arrive before registration closed at 10pm. If we didn't make it, we'd have to register in the morning and that would interfere with the parade line-up.
The Ecto pulled into the Sheraton loading area at 9:52pm, I bolted out of the car and ran in to register. There was no line by that time, so I was in there maybe four or five minutes. After that we headed out in search of the GBfans members who were currently dining at a downtown chinese place. We found them and started a ruckus on the side of the street, running lights and sound as loudly as possible. Soon we were joined by the Georgia Ecto, built out of a 2007 Dodge Magnum.
Around this time we had our first encounter with police. Several cops on foot had walked past the cars at this point, some even stopping for pictures. Eventually a crown vic rolled up and the officer asked to speak to whoever owned the car. I walked over and he proceeded to tell me that the lights on the car were illegal. I asked if I should cover them, or deactivate them, or what I should do to best comply with the local laws. The cop gave me the annoyingly vague advice of "be careful." The hell? Anyway, after that we picked up Kris at the airport, got situated in our hotel room, and headed back downtown for some cruising. It was late and I managed to somehow get confused at an intersection and made an illegal right turn. I was promptly pulled over by an officer who gave me a dressing-down, but did not run my license or registration. Weird.
The next morning we washed the Ecto and joined up with the other guys for the parade. I didn't take hardly any pictures for the rest of the con, but here are some that were found online!
Saturday night was off the fucking chain! We started ferrying people back and forth between hotels just for fun. Pulling into the Marriott every 30 minutes we were greeted with some form of the following....
http://flic.kr/p/8yfJip
I also managed to get with two of the other Ectos for an impromptu photoshoot out near the old Olympic stadiums (Turner Field now, yes?) I thought the results were pretty neat.
Wild stuff.
Sunday I actually got to do con stuff, and that was great. Too much to explore for one day -I'll have to come back- but it won't be for several years, unfortunately. While heading out for lunch I came across this group of donkin' hip-hop car enthusiasts (is there really a name for these guys?) cruising super slow through Atlanta with their 24" wheels and stick on vents and spinners and floaters and bumpers and thumpers.
I took it as my solemn duty to keep pace with them for their entire route through the city and play "White and Nerdy" out my roof speakers the entire time.
Also, Lady Stig!
Hop on in!
Sunday night the remaining gbfans members headed to the Vortex, several miles from downtown, to try their famous quadruple bypass burger. I had a lesser form, 1/2 lb burger, 6 strips of bacon, 6 pieces of cheese, with two grilled cheese sandwiches instead of buns. It was glorious, though I didn't finish the whole thing. Very tasty.
Monday morning we set out with two new people, AJ (who founded and runs GBfans.com) and Chris, another friend. We drove to Raleigh to drop Chris off, and then Richie, AJ, Kris, and I proceeded to our next stop in Washington D.C.
Thanks to AJs advantageous viewpoint from the Westin, we managed to catch the Mach 5 for a few pictures.
Then we were on our way.
The Carolinas were fairly pretty.
I'm sorry, I think this is worth a picture.
By sunset we'd made it to Richmond, where I hopped another fence and fondled another Blackbird.
Shortly before midnight we'd made it to the outskirts of D.C. where we set up camp on the floor of an old friends apartment. Thanks, Lacey!
Tuesday morning we were up and out to visit the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian Air and Space annex. But first, breakfast at the local super marchet!
Anyone else thinking "Oh Hai Thar?' K, nevermind.
Here we got to see the Enola Gay, the shuttle Enterprise, and the record-setting Blackbird, among other enormously historic pieces of history
.
Kris was flipping his shit the whole goddamn time.
The mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind!
There are some tiny planes!
There's R2!
There's a tiny TIE fighter!
Here's a missile that is fired from a submarine, flies through the air, then goes back underwater to fuck up another submarine. Christ, I love engineering.
This is kind of lame.
But this is KICKIN RAD!
At the UH center we met up with George, another GBfan member. Wherever we went we offered to meet up with people and he is one of the guys quick enough on the twitter feed to pin us down to the right location at the right time. He perused the museum with us and even gave offered crank knobs as gifts.
This sums up the whole thing quite well.
From the Udvar-Hazy center we booked it over to Langley, where we had the balls to snoop around the CIA headquarters to see if I could spy the A-12 on display there. From an access road around back I managed to see the vertical stabilizers, but nothing beyond that. You win this round, Central Intelligence Agency!
We headed into D.C. and looped around the main sites, settling on the a parking spot smack in the center of the mall. We left the car for about two hours as we explored the main Air and Space Museum.
It was my third time, so.... the usual.
After the A&S I experimented with getting as close to the White House as I could in a car market "radioactive." Turns out the answer is "about a block." Just southeast of the parade grounds we were intercepted by three Secret Service vehicles.
We were greeted with a less-than-friendly "Do you have any idea where the hell you are?" My credentials were taken, as were the IDs of everyone in the car. Several of the cops really pushed at the "bad cop" thing, but we could hear them chuckling over how "fucking badass" the car was. Eventually we were asked to step outside and sit on the curb and dogs were called out. The dogs never came, but several plain-clothes specialists did come out to inspect the Ecto. I gave one officer a walkaround, detailing what each of the roof parts were made from and how they were put together. The specialists laughed at the cops, saying "Oh yeah man, that's some WMD!" then proceeded to take pictures for their kids. One officer began harping on a lower-ranking cop for saying the words "radioactive materials" over the radio. "They're freaking out up there," he growled while thrusting a finger directly at the White House.
After about a half hour, we'd all checked out and wished a safe trip, the majority of the agents were fairly amused, but I wouldn't be surprised if our names are all on some list somewhere.
Our first sign indicating a direction to New York!
Of course we had to stop in Philly to run the Rocky steps!
No time for cheesesteak, unfortunately
We entered New Jersey and were completely stumped by the gas station laws there. Apparently you guys aren't allowed to fuel your own cars? We had a guido assistant there to fist-pump ours for us, pretty funny.
We crossed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn and unloaded at our hotel off of 3rd and Union. Not a bad place, tiny, but better than I've had in New York before! Four guys to one two-bed room? WE CAN DO IT!
From there we set out to do quick drive-bys of the areas we wanted to visit over the next two days. Times Square, the NY public library, Ladder 8, and...... 55 Central Park West.
More tomorrow!
Richie, where the hell are we?
I will say this, Tennessee was probably the prettiest state we drove through.
I passed out in the passenger seat and we missed an exit, officially failing my shotgun-seat role as Rabbit. We detoured south back into Missouri and across some very rural backroads, but were rewarded by getting to drive over some incredible bridges.
BAAAARGES
Our trip through the backwoods was made even better after we discovered that the region we were traveling through was actually named Blandville, poetic justice is alive and well.
Arriving in Alabama, we discovered a climate entirely alien to us. The humidity we encountered absolutely ridiculous, never before have I seen rain falling up. Alabamans, you need to fix that shit.
Seriously, the entire time we were there I didn't know if my pants were soggy or if I was just continuously shitting myself. Ugh.
Anyway, we made it to Huntsville and U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
We met up with gbMatt, who promptly began lecturing me about jumping fences to touch exhibits and how I would "get in trouble" or some nonsense. Feh. Judd, another member of GBfans met up in costume for some pictures with the car.
The rocket center was, well, pretty amazing. I've never really seen any sort of full-scale shuttle or manned spacecraft aside from the Titans and Redstones at certain other museums, it really was a sight.
Playing around on one of the umbilical arms.
Richie, succumbing to one of my stupid ideas for a stupid picture. Stupid.
Shut this off, shut these all off.
Yup. We're gay for shuttles.
Probably the best part of the whole place, the Space Monkey Graveyard. Memorials to monkeys who helped us edge closer to manned space flight. People leave bananas on top of the markers, amazing.
Also there was the first Blackbird of the trip. Technically an A-12 Oxcart, this is the plane I had to hop the little fence to get up close to.
We said our good-byes and bugged out for Atlanta and DragonCon, pushing hard to arrive before registration closed at 10pm. If we didn't make it, we'd have to register in the morning and that would interfere with the parade line-up.
The Ecto pulled into the Sheraton loading area at 9:52pm, I bolted out of the car and ran in to register. There was no line by that time, so I was in there maybe four or five minutes. After that we headed out in search of the GBfans members who were currently dining at a downtown chinese place. We found them and started a ruckus on the side of the street, running lights and sound as loudly as possible. Soon we were joined by the Georgia Ecto, built out of a 2007 Dodge Magnum.
Around this time we had our first encounter with police. Several cops on foot had walked past the cars at this point, some even stopping for pictures. Eventually a crown vic rolled up and the officer asked to speak to whoever owned the car. I walked over and he proceeded to tell me that the lights on the car were illegal. I asked if I should cover them, or deactivate them, or what I should do to best comply with the local laws. The cop gave me the annoyingly vague advice of "be careful." The hell? Anyway, after that we picked up Kris at the airport, got situated in our hotel room, and headed back downtown for some cruising. It was late and I managed to somehow get confused at an intersection and made an illegal right turn. I was promptly pulled over by an officer who gave me a dressing-down, but did not run my license or registration. Weird.
The next morning we washed the Ecto and joined up with the other guys for the parade. I didn't take hardly any pictures for the rest of the con, but here are some that were found online!
Saturday night was off the fucking chain! We started ferrying people back and forth between hotels just for fun. Pulling into the Marriott every 30 minutes we were greeted with some form of the following....
http://flic.kr/p/8yfJip
I also managed to get with two of the other Ectos for an impromptu photoshoot out near the old Olympic stadiums (Turner Field now, yes?) I thought the results were pretty neat.
Wild stuff.
Sunday I actually got to do con stuff, and that was great. Too much to explore for one day -I'll have to come back- but it won't be for several years, unfortunately. While heading out for lunch I came across this group of donkin' hip-hop car enthusiasts (is there really a name for these guys?) cruising super slow through Atlanta with their 24" wheels and stick on vents and spinners and floaters and bumpers and thumpers.
I took it as my solemn duty to keep pace with them for their entire route through the city and play "White and Nerdy" out my roof speakers the entire time.
Also, Lady Stig!
Hop on in!
Sunday night the remaining gbfans members headed to the Vortex, several miles from downtown, to try their famous quadruple bypass burger. I had a lesser form, 1/2 lb burger, 6 strips of bacon, 6 pieces of cheese, with two grilled cheese sandwiches instead of buns. It was glorious, though I didn't finish the whole thing. Very tasty.
Monday morning we set out with two new people, AJ (who founded and runs GBfans.com) and Chris, another friend. We drove to Raleigh to drop Chris off, and then Richie, AJ, Kris, and I proceeded to our next stop in Washington D.C.
Thanks to AJs advantageous viewpoint from the Westin, we managed to catch the Mach 5 for a few pictures.
Then we were on our way.
The Carolinas were fairly pretty.
I'm sorry, I think this is worth a picture.
By sunset we'd made it to Richmond, where I hopped another fence and fondled another Blackbird.
Shortly before midnight we'd made it to the outskirts of D.C. where we set up camp on the floor of an old friends apartment. Thanks, Lacey!
Tuesday morning we were up and out to visit the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Smithsonian Air and Space annex. But first, breakfast at the local super marchet!
Anyone else thinking "Oh Hai Thar?' K, nevermind.
Here we got to see the Enola Gay, the shuttle Enterprise, and the record-setting Blackbird, among other enormously historic pieces of history
.
Kris was flipping his shit the whole goddamn time.
The mothership from Close Encounters of the Third Kind!
There are some tiny planes!
There's R2!
There's a tiny TIE fighter!
Here's a missile that is fired from a submarine, flies through the air, then goes back underwater to fuck up another submarine. Christ, I love engineering.
This is kind of lame.
But this is KICKIN RAD!
At the UH center we met up with George, another GBfan member. Wherever we went we offered to meet up with people and he is one of the guys quick enough on the twitter feed to pin us down to the right location at the right time. He perused the museum with us and even gave offered crank knobs as gifts.
This sums up the whole thing quite well.
From the Udvar-Hazy center we booked it over to Langley, where we had the balls to snoop around the CIA headquarters to see if I could spy the A-12 on display there. From an access road around back I managed to see the vertical stabilizers, but nothing beyond that. You win this round, Central Intelligence Agency!
We headed into D.C. and looped around the main sites, settling on the a parking spot smack in the center of the mall. We left the car for about two hours as we explored the main Air and Space Museum.
It was my third time, so.... the usual.
After the A&S I experimented with getting as close to the White House as I could in a car market "radioactive." Turns out the answer is "about a block." Just southeast of the parade grounds we were intercepted by three Secret Service vehicles.
We were greeted with a less-than-friendly "Do you have any idea where the hell you are?" My credentials were taken, as were the IDs of everyone in the car. Several of the cops really pushed at the "bad cop" thing, but we could hear them chuckling over how "fucking badass" the car was. Eventually we were asked to step outside and sit on the curb and dogs were called out. The dogs never came, but several plain-clothes specialists did come out to inspect the Ecto. I gave one officer a walkaround, detailing what each of the roof parts were made from and how they were put together. The specialists laughed at the cops, saying "Oh yeah man, that's some WMD!" then proceeded to take pictures for their kids. One officer began harping on a lower-ranking cop for saying the words "radioactive materials" over the radio. "They're freaking out up there," he growled while thrusting a finger directly at the White House.
After about a half hour, we'd all checked out and wished a safe trip, the majority of the agents were fairly amused, but I wouldn't be surprised if our names are all on some list somewhere.
Our first sign indicating a direction to New York!
Of course we had to stop in Philly to run the Rocky steps!
No time for cheesesteak, unfortunately
We entered New Jersey and were completely stumped by the gas station laws there. Apparently you guys aren't allowed to fuel your own cars? We had a guido assistant there to fist-pump ours for us, pretty funny.
We crossed the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn and unloaded at our hotel off of 3rd and Union. Not a bad place, tiny, but better than I've had in New York before! Four guys to one two-bed room? WE CAN DO IT!
From there we set out to do quick drive-bys of the areas we wanted to visit over the next two days. Times Square, the NY public library, Ladder 8, and...... 55 Central Park West.
More tomorrow!
Last edited by Boomerjinks (2010-09-14 00:04:45)
get a job
Is that a Dan Aykroyd signature on your visor?
yesReciprocity wrote:
Is that a Dan Aykroyd signature on your visor?
Not sure if srs.11 Bravo wrote:
get a job
Anyway, it gives lie to the 'people don't have time for shit like that anymore' workaholic ethic.
Yea.........
Jersey gas laws...
Jersey gas laws...
EE (hats
Awesome, great photos and report.
Wednesday morning we were up and ready to hit Manhattan. Since there aren't any self-service manual carwashes - apparently, fucking anywhere- in the five boroughs, we washed the Ecto off by hand, shining the wheels and scrubbing bugs off the lights. A quick re-attachment of the satellite dish and we were good to go.
Surprisingly, the construction traffic we encountered coming to Brooklyn the night before had completely disappeared, and we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge in a matter of minutes. Yep, playing "Judgement Day" out of the roof. Come on.
Since it was completely covered in scaffolding (curse you, fall in NY), we skipped the NY public library and starting visiting the usual sights.
Here we stopped for the breakfast of champions, cart food!
I'm probably just retarded, but I seem to be incapable of ordering mediterranean or greek food. I always seem to get some form of gyro, no matter what I order. I'm not complaining, at all. Anything the guy behind the counter produces is a little slice of heaven wrapped in tin foil, but it just feels like there is no point in me actually looking at a menu and ordering something. It always comes out in the shape of a gyro, even if I'm ordering shwarma or kafta kebab or shish kebab. It's getting to the point where I am not going to even bother with the pictures of the food at one of these carts or here at Ya Halla in Denver, I'm just going to say to the cook, "You pick what I am about to eat, I have no say and I'm going to fucking love it anyway."
After breakfast we made our way to Ladder 8 in Tribeca.
If you recall, this firehouse was used as the exterior location for the headquarters in both Ghostbusters films, though the interior was actually a separate location in another firehouse in Los Angeles.
The engine was gone so we waited around, exploring the nearby shops and streets, enjoying the wonderful weather. Fun fact: the blue fenced-in area under construction at the bottom of the picture was the location of the gas station used in Zoolander. Freak gasoline fight accident.
Also, there was this lady, who was walking her dog down the street as he peed on the tires of every single emergency vehicle parked there.
God I love New York.
About a half hour later the engine returned and backed into the station. We asked the firefighters for a moment of their time, knowing full-well how sick of Ghostbusters these guys must be. We introduced ourselves, stated we were from Colorado, and he chief replied with a dismissive "don't dent the rig."
Green light, GO GO GO GO!
We backed in, left the engine running, and started snapping pictures. In an ironic twist, just as we parked, a film location tour bus pulled up and offloaded about 60 people. What was supposed to be a quick little thing immediately turned into a fiasco of hilarity. The firefighters had to be thinking, "ya give 'em an inch...."
We did our thing for ten minutes or so, trying our best to avoid confirming or denying rumors of Ghostbusters 3 to the tourists. We loaded up, switched everything on, and blew out of there moments later, not providing any answers. Also, let's run some red lights!
Kind of an epic thing.
Surprisingly, the construction traffic we encountered coming to Brooklyn the night before had completely disappeared, and we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge in a matter of minutes. Yep, playing "Judgement Day" out of the roof. Come on.
Since it was completely covered in scaffolding (curse you, fall in NY), we skipped the NY public library and starting visiting the usual sights.
Here we stopped for the breakfast of champions, cart food!
I'm probably just retarded, but I seem to be incapable of ordering mediterranean or greek food. I always seem to get some form of gyro, no matter what I order. I'm not complaining, at all. Anything the guy behind the counter produces is a little slice of heaven wrapped in tin foil, but it just feels like there is no point in me actually looking at a menu and ordering something. It always comes out in the shape of a gyro, even if I'm ordering shwarma or kafta kebab or shish kebab. It's getting to the point where I am not going to even bother with the pictures of the food at one of these carts or here at Ya Halla in Denver, I'm just going to say to the cook, "You pick what I am about to eat, I have no say and I'm going to fucking love it anyway."
After breakfast we made our way to Ladder 8 in Tribeca.
If you recall, this firehouse was used as the exterior location for the headquarters in both Ghostbusters films, though the interior was actually a separate location in another firehouse in Los Angeles.
The engine was gone so we waited around, exploring the nearby shops and streets, enjoying the wonderful weather. Fun fact: the blue fenced-in area under construction at the bottom of the picture was the location of the gas station used in Zoolander. Freak gasoline fight accident.
Also, there was this lady, who was walking her dog down the street as he peed on the tires of every single emergency vehicle parked there.
God I love New York.
About a half hour later the engine returned and backed into the station. We asked the firefighters for a moment of their time, knowing full-well how sick of Ghostbusters these guys must be. We introduced ourselves, stated we were from Colorado, and he chief replied with a dismissive "don't dent the rig."
Green light, GO GO GO GO!
We backed in, left the engine running, and started snapping pictures. In an ironic twist, just as we parked, a film location tour bus pulled up and offloaded about 60 people. What was supposed to be a quick little thing immediately turned into a fiasco of hilarity. The firefighters had to be thinking, "ya give 'em an inch...."
We did our thing for ten minutes or so, trying our best to avoid confirming or denying rumors of Ghostbusters 3 to the tourists. We loaded up, switched everything on, and blew out of there moments later, not providing any answers. Also, let's run some red lights!
Kind of an epic thing.
Last edited by Boomerjinks (2010-09-14 09:20:10)
thanks, for sharing the story and the pictures.