David Eilers

Day 9 - Mar. 28th: Charging Futility and FC Roundup Day 1

<-- Day 8 - Mar. 27th: Joe's Jeeps | OVERVIEW | Day 10 - Mar. 29th: Red Lobster or Bust -- Day 2 of the FC Roundup -->

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Wayne's FC appears to be bowing as if to say "Welcome to the Round Up!"

Prior to the beginning of this trip, I planned to have a new battery in my MacBook Pro laptop (currently three years old) and a backup charger (mine has lots of black tape holding it together). But, my planning went completely wrong. First, I ordered a battery off of ebay, only to receive a broken one. So, I sent that back and ordered a second one, which turned out to be an imitation, unlike what was advertised. Since my current battery still lasts about 2 hours, I figured I'd survive the trip with it.

For a back up charger, I planned to bring Ann's, along with her old Mac Book Pro laptop. But then, her mom bought her a new Mac Book Pro laptop for her birthday. What I didn't realize is that Apple changed the charger slightly for the new retina displays, meaning her charger doesn't work with mine.

Despite these obstacles, I figured I could make the charger survive. Well, I couldn't. Today, of all days, with us running late to get to the FC Roundup, the charger failed me. So, off to the Apple store I went to buy a new charger, which made us later. You gotta love technology. It never fails to go bad at the worst times . . .

Eventually, we made it to the FC Roundup and had a wonderful afternoon relaxing and talking with folks. There's a bigger turnout than we'd seen from the last two years were were here. Even more people are arriving tomorrow, so it should be great fun. Here's some photos from today:

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This is what it is all about. Hanging out and chatting.
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Note the cut down MB grille on the front of the FJ
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This newcomer is a beautiful build.
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FCs show up in all types of condition.

The most exciting event of the day was Vance backing an FC off a trailer without power or any brakes available. As came off the trailer it began rolling toward the house. A bunch of folks grabbed on to it to slow it down. I heard Canadian Dave threw himself to the ground to act as a human wheel block to stop it (what Canadians won't do for a little glory), but that might have only been a rumor . . .

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It also took a team of people to get it rolling again. It should be an annual event . . .

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At 6:30pm we all prepared to leave in FCs for dinner at Sylvia's Mexican Restaurant.

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There's Ann making sure she had a good seat in Jason's tour jeep.

Everyone seated in this photo was part of the FC Roundup. You can imagine we kept the restaurant hopping for a while.

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Tomorrow it starts at 6AM with a breakfast caravan, so I'd better get to sleep.

<-- Day 8 - Mar. 27th: Joe's Jeeps | OVERVIEW | Day 10 - Mar. 29th: Red Lobster or Bust -- Day 2 of the FC Roundup -->

7 Comments

  1. Pascal
    Canadian go go go! Thank for sharing this trip with us.
  2. Mike Finegan
    WOW, that is such a cool FC170; brings me back to the old days when I'd see one of these proudly parked in front of a service station. (Yes, service stations is what they were called) A lot of extra weight on this FC170 with the tow boom and that super heavy duty push bumper; is it still powered by the flathead six? A lot of low gearing on this baby.
  3. bob in nc
    that new silver one looks bad
  4. deilers
    I will get some pics of the motor for you Mike.
  5. Mike Finegan
    Thanks Dave!
  6. Bill
    This is so cool.... I need to come to this one of these years! Bill
  7. Colin Peabody
    Wayne's tow truck is still powered by a Super Hurricane 6!! Amazing all that weight and still Jeep powered!!

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