Small Town Veteran's Day Parade

Hawk looking for a snack

Thursday and Friday were rainy days. That was a good thing because our neck of the woods has been very, very dry!

No luck so off he flew. 

Rain means clouds and thick clouds means hit-or-miss internet for us. Generally, it's more miss than hit! I was able to visit a few of your blogs and I was even able to comment on one or two.

I'm catching up now though because the rain has moved on. Just in time too.

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day for a Veteran's Day Parade.

G1 and G2 were asked to bring their mini-sprints and join the parade of a small town a few miles south of where we live.

The local Boy Scouts carried the flags and led the parade - well, after the Sheriff's car and a police car anyway.

This parade had a very special start. When it got to the middle of town, the parade stopped and there was a prayer for all those, past and present, who have served in the military and for their families. Then there was a moment of silence for all those who have given their lives in service to the USA. I do believe you could have heard a pin drop. That was followed by the singing of the National Anthem.

Then the parade resumed. Despite their few numbers, the school band did a wonderful job!

The boys and their cars seemed to be pretty popular with the kids.

There were several veterans who rode their motorcycles in the parade.

Old Saint Nick even made an appearance!

After the parade was over we were invited to the local VFW for lunch. Guess who was in line? George Washington! He looked pretty good for his age too. I'd left my camera in the car and my phone doesn't take very good pictures.

When I got back to the car I remembered I had my small camera in my purse. So I could have shared a picture of George with you. Rats!

Boys' banquet and a Recipe

Last night was the boys' racing banquet. G1 is pretty proud to be the points champion this year.

G2 came in second. His trophy was really nice too.

Both boys got trophies for perfect attendance at the track. Those trophies were just a smidgen taller than me. (I'm 5' 4".) Here's AD with G1. 

And here he is with G2. I think it's pretty cool that G2's AE shirt has the number 9 on it. 

Here's a picture of the boys with their parents. It was a good night. 

G1 won this in the prize drawing. G2 won an air compressor. Congratulations to both boys on their race season!

I haven't posted a recipe in a long time. As I was blog hopping the other day I came across a recipe for

Cinnamon Bun Caramel Corn. It is outrageously wonderful. If you try it, you might want to invite some people over. It makes a bunch!

I found the recipe here. Check out other recipes on the site. There's so many I want to try.

Cinnamon Caramel Corn with Pecans & White Chocolate

aka Cinnamon Bun Caramel Corn 

Recipe from Our Best Bites

12 cups popped popcorn (about 1/2 cup kernels)

1 cup pecan halves, roughly chopped

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1/2 cup (1 stick) real butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 squares almond bark (about 4 oz)*

Preheat oven to 250 degrees

Place popcorn and chopped pecans in a large bowl and set aside. 

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2 liter capacity microwave safe bowl.  Mix well.  Chop butter into chunks and place on top of sugar mixture.  Pour corn syrup over the top of everything.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds and then stir to combine.  Return to microwave and heat for 2 minutes.  Remove and stir and then microwave for 2 minutes more. 

Remove from microwave and add in vanilla and baking soda.  Stir to combine.  Mixture will foam and rise.  Pour caramel mixture over popcorn and pecans and stir very well so everything is well coated.  

Spread popcorn mixture onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.  Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  

Remove from oven and spread out on a large piece of parchment, waxed paper, or foil.** 

Melt almond bark according to package instructions.  Drizzle over popcorn mixture.  When almond bark is hardened and popcorn is cool, break into chunks and enjoy!

*my note: In the package of almond bark that I used 2 squares equalled 4 ounces. Be sure to check your package.
** I thought I could skip this step because the caramel corn was already on foil. Ummmm - no! The caramel corn really does need to be moved to another piece of foil, parchment paper or waxed paper. I used parchment paper.

Is it just me?

I'm not sure what's going on. I visit all my blogger friends most everyday and most generally leave a comment - at least I TRY to leave a comment.

It seems recently that sometimes my comments go through and sometimes they just won't! And it varies from day to day which blogs I can't leave a comment on. It is just too weird.

So - is this happening to any of you?

Enduro Race and Demo Derby

I mentioned yesterday that we missed the big Neewollah parade because G1 and G2 were going to participate in the last Enduro race of the season on Saturday. It was a 200-lap race and the boys didn't fair as well as they did the last time.

This is the car G2 raced. It lasted for 128 laps.

Since the race was the day before Halloween, drivers could "dress" their cars up if they wanted too. This was G1's car. It's the same one he raced the last time, just painted like a patrol car. One of his friends had some old lights they he borrowed. They really worked. Too bad the car didn't work as well.

It only lasted 6 laps and died. G1 managed to get it up to the top of the track. Some of the other drivers evidently couldn't see it even though the lights were still running. G1 got hit 4 times from behind before they stopped the race and pulled him off the track.

This is how the car looked after we got it back up on the trailer. It almost looks like it was in the demo derby that was after the Enduro race.

These are some pictures from the demo derby.

It was pretty dusty.

I really wasn't as close as these pictures appear. I was using my zoom lens.

This car was NOT on fire.

It was a fun day. The only thing that's left of this race season is the banquet next weekend.