A Look Back - 2003 Alva River Run

[Scream And Fly]

Hard to believe this was ten years ago. Instigator's well-known Vector figures prominently, as well as Skip's Talon and other boats we know very well here. This was a great time.

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[Corona Mike]

Greg, Post That "RARE!!" Picture Of Your Stream Floating! For Those That Think It Didn't Happen, I Was There And Saw It Myself!!:eek::D:D

[oldschoolltv]

the last ten years have flown by, great pics, Matt

[Instigator]

Talk about memory lane....., wow.

That was a fun trip Greg and a great party at the rental ;)

Mike, that was a another weekend after I had moved to Fla.

Those pix's are from my last visit to Fla as an Ohioan.
Seeing these pix's brought up a bunch of memories and the book bellow.

That was a trip down I planned to find a job to be able to move down here.
Brought the girlfriend,dog, folding bicycles, and the Vector behind my 1 ton van.
We started down the east coast and I interviewed everywhere I could get my foot in the door. One stop was at the Fort Lauderdale Yacht Club.
I have a picture somewhere w/the rig parked, the dog tied to the trailer and the gf in the sun in a lawn chair. The Beverly Hillbillies had officially arrived!

Another neat part of the trip was seeing my Fla friends that knew what I was trying to pull off and opened their homes to me as well as their state.
That was something special.
Skips boat is in the picture because he hooked up w/us when ever we were in town and I did my best to repay him for hosting me and the crew when we were down.

Corona Mike is another special one that knew what I was going through and always had a welcoming smile and a hand to shake.

The funny part of the story that many don't know is what happened next.....

Interviewed at and accepted a job w/Terminex in Ft. Myers and bought a house in Cape Coral and moved down shortly after.
During that move, I did three, solo, non stop, round trips from Ohio to Fla in a week.

The gf moved down with me and quickly found it was a mistake ;) Between missing family, friends, dealing w/the Fla heat, pay scale etc, etc it didn't last long.
Once down we sold my van and I bought a beater VW for my job (traveling) and used her pick up for towing the Vector and the Sonic.
When she bailed a couple months in she took the tow vehicle:eek: I missed a lot of things about that woman but I really missed her truck :D

Soon after that, Hurricane Charlie hit. I had no insurance on either boat or any way to move them prior to the storm! If not for the coaching from my Fla Bro's I would have lost both.
Thanks to them I: deflated trailer tires, removed canvas, installed drain plugs, filled hulls w/water, and tied both to my fence.
(got zero damage!)

Then I went to Publix for emergency supplies.

5 cases beer, ice, 2 lbs sand. meat and a loaf of bread. I sat in a lawn chair in my driveway and waited for the storm while I watched my neighbors board windows and haul ass :eek: I've got a pretty good home video I made of the TV news as the storm approached.
Best part is them saying the storm changed it's projected destination of the Tampa area.
The guys says (storm is now 30 mls from me) if you're in Cape Coral, and not some place safe, IT's TOO LATE!
5 mins later I lost power for 3 days, (90+ degrees and 100% humidity all three) and endured 5 days of Marshall law.

A few months later we (Fla) had had a record year for hurricanes (I think 7 in 12 months), 3 people in my area attacked by alligators (2 killed), 3 people in my area hit by lightning (2 killed) and in mean time my jobs turns to **** and I'm now living on charge cards while planning my retreat back to Ohio.
I heard that my Cracker ass buddies were now pooling their funds to send me back to Ohio and take the black cloud w/me!

The last hilarious chapter in failed Fla. attempt #1 was my retreat.

I bought a $1500. e-bay Suburban (250K mls) to tow my junk north and started my trips. Bought it in Punta Gorda just after Charlie had tried to wipe it off the map. I remember there was a 30' sail boat wrapped around their exit sign on the freeway. It was ugly.
One of the last trips north was days before the next nasty hurricane was due. This one was heading for the Orlando area.
Figured since I'm a smart guy I'd get out before it hit.
Then Skip calls to say the storm is headed their way and he had family that was not interested in being there for its arrival.
When I left for Ohio, I hid a key under the mat at my house in the Cape for Skip and family and we passed each other going opposite directions on I-75.

So I bail w/Slick dog and Sonic hooked to e-bay Burb and head north.

I made it 2 hrs before the Burb decided to puke the rear end! Luckily it was 4 whl drive so I locked in the front diff. and made it to the next exit which was Ocala. More luck on my side when coasting into the full service gas station at the base of the ramp!
The owner was a local red neck and assured me he'd have me on the road in a few hrs. He found a rear end at a local junk yard and ordered it.
He then told me it was from a van. I had just changed rears in a van and knew the wheel base was different and it would not fit.
He didn't believe me so Slick and I sat on his curb for 5 hrs while we waited on him to be educated. They already had the old rear out of the Burb so he was then sending it to a dirt track shop/friend of his for rebuilding. Problem was, it was now too late and the shop was closed!
Luckily (I guess) there was a hotel across the street and they allowed dogs. So Slick and I check in.
They inform me the only place to eat is the red neck bar next door. Perfect.
While I'm eating there, the guy beside me is telling me that, A. he lives in his car, B. he is armed, C. he runs some sort of contraband (never said what) D. wanted me to go bar hopping w/him after dinner :p
Wasn't sure which was more dangerous, saying no or going w/him.

While all this was happening, many of the local businesses were gouging the locals trying to flee the storm. I was one of them.

So the next day, Slick and I go p/u the Burb and pay the man. The bill was $2500. and he wanted cash! (you can't make this stuff up)
Upon learning I wasn't a crack dealer so I didn't have $2500. cash on me, he drives me to his bank so he could guarantee the funds coming out of my charge card.!!!
By this time the traffic free, freeway that I was on the day before was now grid lock headed north (zero south bound traffic) ahead of the now due storm.

So after attempt #1, Fla = 1 and Instigator = 0.


Hope you enjoyed the ride.

[RONNIE]

wow thats some story!!

[Instigator]

wow thats some story!!
Ronnie, that story is why I was brutally honest w/you when you were asking about living/working down here.

When I first started researching it, I was being told about a 10% difference in pay (probably closer to 30 - 40% for your area) to what we were used to.
At this point I'd say it's closer to 50% for me and you can do the math for you.
As I told you back then, you really have to want to live down here.
I think my story proves how bad I wanted to ;)

A friend calls Fla the $10. an hr state.
But we don't have state tax :p