Saturday was a day of reunions! We got to see our old 1957 Chevy Pickup at a car show and then we went to a family picnic where we got to see all of my Aunts & Uncles from my Dad’s side of the family.
My Dad’s youngest brother, (Uncle Alan) invited us to come up to his house (near Florissant, CO) for a picnic/BBQ that he tries to hold annually. Alan was also our realtor, you may remember him from some of my previous blog posts about selling the house. He not only got us into the last couple houses we bought, but also got us out of them too. 🙂
But first – we stopped in Woodland Park on our way to the family reunion/picnic. The annual “Cruise Above the Clouds” car show was being held. We used to take our 1957 Chevy Bel-Air to this car show every year from ~2006 until I sold it in 2013. I was hoping to see the Bel-Air at this car show, but instead, I saw our ’57 Pickup that I owned from ~2009, but sold in 2011! This was the first time we’d seen it anywhere since it was sold.
The Woodland Park car show is normally held within the town park and on the adjoining streets. However this year, the park was undergoing some major reconstruction, so the cars were scattered around on the surrounding streets and nearby parking lots which made for some serious hiking.
I recognized our old ’57 Chevy Pickup right away! It had a newly re-upholstered bench seat and the bumpers were re-chromed, but otherwise it looked pretty much the same. The current owner was nowhere to be found, but I was able to ascertain from the window placard that it wasn’t the same person I sold it to back in 2011.
Here’s a picture of the truck when I put it in a car show in Springfield, CO back in 2010. It won a ‘top-ten’ trophy/placard back then.
We had our grandson Kaan with us for the day, so I had him pose for a picture in front of the truck.
And here’s an old picture from 2009 for comparison:
The new chrome bumpers look good. But the truck still needs a new paint job, which is one of the reasons I decided to sell it.
This is an old picture (below) for comparison.
The new bench seat (below) also looked good. When I owned it – it had a couple of ugly tan-colored bucket seats with little armrests. I also put in a new clutch, pressure plate, and had the 3-speed transmission rebuilt. I was really hoping to talk to the new owner, but he was nowhere to be found… he must have been wandering around checking out the other cars/trucks.
Here’s a couple more old pictures that I dug up. These were taken in 2010 when we towed the truck to a car show in Springfield, CO behind our old Class-C motorhome.
There were a lot of Chevy pickups at the car show this year. We must have seen six or seven mid-fifties trucks. They must be gaining in popularity again. For example, here’s a yellow ’57…
and here’s a ’59 for sale that needs some minor work…
I loaded up on a few new t-shirts… they were selling event T’s for $15. I bought one, and then they threw in a couple more from the last two years’ events. What a great deal, especially since I’ve worn out some of my old ones.
After walking through the whole car show area, we still didn’t see my old ’57 Chevy Bel-Air 🙁 So I texted the new owner and he responded right away that he was at a different car show in Colorado Springs today… oh well, maybe I’ll get a chance to see it again another time. We’ve stayed in touch since he bought it in July of 2013. Here’s a picture of the new owner when he picked it up with his trailer… what a sad day (for me).
Anyway… enough of the trip down memory lane with the cars…
We left Woodland Park and headed on up to my Uncle’s house for the family reunion picnic.
The aspen trees are already getting their fall colors.
My uncle lives between Florissant and Divide. Therefore, he likes to call his neighborhood “Floride” 🙂 Get it? The back of his property borders the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument.
Uncle Alan set up a tent and had a campfire going alongside the dirt road leading up to the house on his property. This is the usual spot for his annual picnic, but he has to transport all the food, utensils, chairs, etc., from the house which is still a good distance away – too far to carry stuff by hand, so he uses a little trailer hooked up to his ATV.
Alan cooked some hot dogs on the campfire while his son-in-law Nick grilled up some hamburgers and hot dogs on the BBQ grill.
We all milled around, talked, and enjoyed our food in the great outdoors. The weather couldn’t have been any better.
Here’s some pics of our Hobden family gathering: Note: My dad was the only one of the Hobden clan that couldn’t be here, because he (and stepmom Elaine) were at a campout in their Coach with the FCRV group this weekend.
And a few more pics…
My dad’s brother Russell (below right) and his wife DeEtte (below left) drove all the way from Lamar, CO to be here. I don’t get to see them very often and it’s always great to catch up.
Kaan tried to find some treasure with the metal detector until the batteries died 🙁
We toured around the property a little bit on Uncle Alan’s ATV. Kaan always enjoys that 🙂
And Kaan tried out all the swings that Uncle Alan has set up around the house…
It was great to see all my Aunts and Uncles (from my Dad’s side of the family) and we always look forward to these get-togethers.
Before it got too late, we helped clean up, and then said our farewells to head on back down the pass. Here’s a view of Pikes Peak from the Woodland Park side.
Check back soon, my next post includes some new Alpine Coach’s that arrived at the Elks Lodge on Sunday…