I'll go over to the Freight House parking lot in Stillwater tomorrow night and if any one else shows up that will be great. Otherwise I'll just have a nice time people watching. I'll try to be there the last Wednesday of the month all summer if anyone wants to drop by and talk cars, or whatever.

Yeah, I've been into motorcycles and cars since I was a child. My Dad owned a gas station/garage in Duluth so I grew up around the things. Raced just about everything with an engine at one time or another. Right now I'm down to just one two-wheel-drive Russian Ural sidecar rig.

And my "drug of choice" is adrenaline so you can imagine what my life has been like.

Sheldon

 

Doyen I might be able to make that one, IS it like a car get together or just want to meet up? My car is also a mess no center console and missing a pillar pod lol but I would be more then happy to show up and talk cars if I am free, Just don't want people to see my beat up ride lol and think im some rice junkie who tears everything apart.

 

It's all good, Jonny. If anything those of us trying to put a get-together together aren't judgemental types. We're minnesota nice!

 

Oh Yeah... Come by. No need to worry about car not ready yet as that will just give us more to talk about.

Hope to see some of you there.

Sheldon

 

I guess I'll have to swing by as well then. Upset the car hasn't been fixed yet after hitting the deer but it'll be a good opportunity to meet some of the MN members and I don't want to pass that up.

BTW, I'd like to dedicate this 88th posting to my fav driver. Go Lil' E, go!

 

Awesome so is that four of us? someone should create a new thread just so everyone can see it. I am going to pick the pillar up tomorrow so you can all come back here and brag how you got to see it before anyone else lol

 

Welp, I get off work at 6:30 pm tonight, so I'll be there @ around 7:30pm. I'll also bring my big-*** cameras, a few flashes and a tripod.

Can't stay later than 8:30, but I do want to shake some hands and "shoot the bull".

 

The first Minnesota X-Fires get-together was a success!! There were 4 cars; 5 humans; one roadster, one SRT-6 Coupe, two Limited Coupes.

I arrived at about 6:15 and by a bit after 7:00 I was still sitting there alone, watching the traffic on the river, the bridge lifting for the paddle-wheelers, people watching and worrying that I was going to be there alone. Then two other Crossfires rolled in, and soon after another followed. Four Crossfires lined up in the parking lot was a great sight to behold.

An absolutely wonderful bunch of people. Watching the eyes light up as they talked about their X-Fires was incredible. Lots of stories, a bunch of laughter and perfect weather. It couldn't have been better. I really enjoyed myself, more than I have in a long time. Maybe next month more can join us. We are going to try to do this every last Wednesday of the month, at least till the snow falls on MinneSNOWta. So the next gathering of the X-Fires at the river in Stillwater will be Wednesday June 25, 2008.

Photos were taken and hopefully they will soon be posted soon.

Sheldon

 

Sheldon,

Congrats on a Great Start!

It's good to see a XF Gathering in one of my favorite States!
(All my Summers were spent there growing up, when I lived in Wisconsin)

Hope to get up there this Summer, I'm still trying to sell a Home in Perham, after 2 years on the market.

My Best to you all on the next GTG.

Bill (SF)

 

I hope everyone had their Crossfires under cover during yesterday's ridiculous hail storm. Both of mine were safely garaged. We had golfball-sized hail.

 

It was crazy the hail looked like snow sitting on the ground...Safe and sound aswell.

 

Unfortunately my sidecar rig is torn apart in the garage so the Crossfire was outside. I was engrossed in work on my computer and didn't know there was a storm coming till it hit and If I'd been paying attention I could have at least put my heavy cover on it. We had enough dime-sized hail that you could have plowed it with a truck and a tree with about an 18" trunk fell right across the road missing my wife's Buick Rendezvous by about a foot and my Crossfire by about six feet. And to make the possible damage worse there is an old birch tree over my driveway that the woodpeckers have been using for nesting and the whole top is dead and in other storms chunks have fallen off of it. Soooo... you can imagine what it was like when, even before the hail and rain stopped I went out to feel the hood and trunk of my roadster. No visable dents!!! I was so very relieved. I'll be finishing up the work on the sidecar rig tonight so my baby can get back in his cave.

Sheldon Aubut
http://www.sheldonaubut.com

 

That's very lucky! The hail was hitting my garage so hard that little wooden splinters from the plywood roof fell on my cars.

 

Unfortunately, my Crossfire was outside during the hail storm. I just moved to St. Louis Park, MN and my garage is still filled with boxes from the move. The thing is, the storm came in so quick that I don't think I would have been able to get my car moved into the garage anyway. I have never seen a hail storm like that before and I don't think my Crossfire will ever be the same. I tried counting the dents on my hood and stopped at 150. It didn't break any windows, but it shattered both tail lights and the hard plastic at the base of my windshield. I haven't got an estimate yet, but it ain't gonna be pretty. My poor car looks like a black golf ball. It might be time to trade it in on that Bugatti Veyron I've had my eye on...

BTW. That's a quarter in the picture!

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I wonder about all of the Crossfires on dealer lots. I'm sure the guys at Carousel Porsche had a busy morning, too.

 

I'm also sorry to hear that. That's really a terrible way for an XF to go but at least you have a sense of humor about it. I hope your insurance will pay you the $$$ or fix it good as new.

St. Paul didn't get any hail, but I did end up garaging the car and putting the beater under one of my stoutest trees just in case. I didn't want to take the chance.

 

So it's that time of the month again... No, not a bad thing. Last wed of the month is this week so I figured I'd send out a reminder to all the MN XF's about this months meet. Where should we have it. Does wed work for everyone or should we do it a different day this month so more members can be present?

 

Sorry guys, I will not be able to make it this week. Work has been very busy. I am being shipped to DC Metro for 12 months and I need to prep all of my responsibilities for handoff.

I'm also taking delivery of some capital equipment for my personal shop/garage (getting a full sized vertical mill) so it is going to be a very crazy week.

Have a good time!!

 

Thurday or Friday night would be better for me. What's the weather suppose to be like tonight?

 

I think this month we should postpone it until maybe mid-July. Reason, we pretty much dropped the ball on when we were gonna meet up and this way, we can give people a few weeks to plan and decide on a day that will work for everyone.