Aloha Adventures

Some pics from our December Hawaii trip.  Sadly, Lahaina wasn't available to us for obvious reasons, so we decided to try Paradise Bay on the Windward side of Oahu.  Good things... the view...

Also the remoteness and quiet was appealing.  And we had our own cabin.  Sadly, while most of the cabin was fine, the kitchen area was ridiculous.  Poor lighting, no counter space, no electrical outlets for the coffee machine and toaster, so we were disappointed with an otherwise fine resort.

Worrying about places to eat, we did find a few good restaurants.  Wonderful Thai at Chao Phya in Kaneohe.  But the amazing place was Haleiwa Joes, overlooking the Haiku Gardens (wedding events).  Great food, great service, amazing views...

The resort also featured a couple added attractions... very friendly chickens...

And Uncle Danny entertained us every night with rather excellent ukelele and vocals.  His Hawaiian 12 Days of Christmas was hilarious.

 Walking around the area, I discovered a wonderful way to repurpose old surfboards...

Very close to the resort was the Valley of Temples, essentially an expansive cemetery featuring several structures and representing multiple religions.  Of special note was the Buddhist temple, a replica of the famous temple in Kyoto.  We took a brief tour which was well worth our time.  Here's the temple with Ms. Buddha herself.  And I bought the t-shirt.

On our way back to the airport, we stopped at the famous Pali Overlook.  I took this panorama photo.

An enjoyable trip.  I always wanted to see the East side of Oahu.  Next year, Turtle Bay on the North Shore.

I'm Getting a New Car For Xmas!

 

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

 Recently I had a chance to visit the Peterson Auto Museum in Los Angeles.  Lots and lots of cars, but these got my attention the most.

First, a concept car from Alfa Romeo, based on the aerodynamics (and possibly Sci-Fi) of the mid-50's:

Less Sci-Fi but every so graceful, three from the 30's, a De Lage, a Delahaye, and a Bugatti:

Such elegance.  Autos today seem so gross in comparison.

Zandvoort--and the Historics

Mention Zandvoort to someone and they have no idea what you are talking about.  Zandvoort is a town on the coast of Netherlands known as a beach vacation spot.

More importantly to me, a famous race track.  Zandvoort has hosted sports car racing since the '50s, and is now the host of the Dutch F1 Grand Pris.  But I was there for the historic sports cars...  three days of racing cars pre-2000.

I'm not sure how to start this blog entry.  There were so many historic cars.  I finally gave up taking pictures, I was overwhelmed.  This yearly Zandvoort event is the absolute granddaddy of historic racing.  Cars from all over Europe, particularly the Brits.  Let's just start with some vintage BMWs and a row of MGs...

Some of the oldest cars, an alfa and some I couldn't identify...

A rare Maserati racer and a newer McClaren...

There were a couple Shelby Daytona coupes that wiped out the competition in their class.  Here's one of them, and also, in a different class, a Lotus Elan, one of my favorite cars.

Posche, BMW and Mini had big tents setup, with swag available.  At the Porsche tent, I was invited to have my photo taken.   How could I refuse!

And if you needed more proof I was there...

There was a race for enduro cars, prototypes.  Here's one...

The most popular races were the F1 and F2 cars of a more recent vintage, late 70's to 2000.  Here are some examples (by the way, they were LOUD!)...

This formula car used the famous (and in my mind the greatest engine of all time) Coventry-Climax four cylinder DOHC with dual Weber carburetors.

James Hunt's Hesketh was also on display, and ran in one of the races...

Before the next race was snack time!

My favorite cars, and I just couldn't believe the site of all the entries, so many, so many, were the 60's and older F1 cars.

Amazing to find a classic Maserati F1 car... look at that engine!

Built by the Maserati brothers, the OSCA was pure bread racing machines.  If you never heard of OSCA, find out more here.

And then to find shark nosed Ferraris!!!  

Well, that's just a sample of the cars I saw.  Three days of vintage wonder and exciting racing.  But Zandvoort had other charms.  Like dinner with Dutch friends...

The town itself had a few quirks.  I avoided the casino, I wonder why...

And name another town where you can find one of these shops!

As a beach town, the views over the North Sea are wonderful.  And the beach is lined with restaurants.  And the sunsets are beautiful.

One bucket list item off the list.  But the event was so great, I want to go back again.