Hobby Thread - December 7, 2024 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread.

We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it landed on a theme of the road trip for this week. Apparently the Wheel is interested in hearing getting out on the open road. Please make sure you have made a bathroom stop before we get underway.

The road trip has many different flavors. Could be a family vacation to see more of the world, a tour of national parks or wine country or baseball parks, a holiday voyage to spend the holidays with relatives, a spontaneous decision to jump in the car for an irrational but perfectly explainable trip to see a concert or a sporting event. Some road trips have structure and others are much more random. Some are about the destination and others are more about the journey. Some are about sharing quality time with those around you and some are about hating anyone in your limited space with the passion of a thousand suns.

Are road trips a hobby? For the leisure traveler, they are often an integral part of exploring the world and making memories. That counts as a hobby. For those held hostage in the back of a station wagon or minivan for hours on the way to see relatives you do not really know or remember, it may not be much of a hobby. At this point, what does it matter? Either way, there are likely to be stories and memories.

TRex is otherwise occupied this evening, so will be ducking in and out of tonights thread. Look after yourselves and each other.

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Even though it is arguably religion, college football is fair game. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls.

Vacation with the Griswold Family:

The station wagon is a main character in the move. The Wagon Queen Family Truckster was not a Ford production wagon, but five were made by George Barris.

He started with a 1979 Ford LTD Country Squire wagon, then added plenty of fake wood paneling, a Metallic Pea paint job, and doubled the headlights for no good reason.

A total of five Wagon Queen Family Trucksters were built for the original National Lampoons Vacation. Filmmakers needed them all to account for the seemingly neverending string of bad luck the Griswolds encountered on their ill fated cross-country drive to Walley World. An original wagon went on the auction block at a 2013 Mecum auction with no bites on its $35,000 price tag. The same wagon was later snatched up from Hemmings for nearly $40,000. But, the whereabouts of that version and its four siblings are currently unknown.

Movin Right Along with the Muppets:

Road trip games: the license plate game and road trip scavenger hunt are among the most well known (other than punch buggy). In this age of the interweb, printable checklists or variations of things to spot on the scavenger hunt abound. You can always make your own. Did you have a favorite as a youngster? Do you have a favorite as a parent?

Road trip hobbies: do you hobby while en route (presuming that you are not driving)? Apparently road trip knitting is a thing. Do you start knitting at home in the driveway and end up with a scarf or sweater upon arrival? There are many road trip knitting videos and website postings. TRex is not wise in the ways of such things, so here are a few picked at random:

Knitting on the Go: Three Portable Projects for Your Next Road Trip

Travel Knitting: Tips and 7 Easy Projects to Carry

Travel Knitting Project Ideas

Bonus points if you incorporate themes from your road trip into your project.

Take me Home, Country Roads with John Denver:

Home Sweet Home with Motley Crue:

Are you a collector on your road trips? Do you bring home a souvenir from road trips? Do you collect magnets, shirts, snow globes, postcards, etc.? Does anyone collect the pressed and elongated pennies found in places like national park and Disney gift shops?

Roadside novelties and attractions is part of the road trip experience. This Hobby Thread featured Cadillac Ranch recently. Car henge in Nebraska is another great example. An entire website is dedicated to road side novelties across America. What is your favorite? How about the middle fingers of Westford, Vermont?

Have you gotten your kicks on Route 66?

Do you have road trip stop staples? Provisions and food are obvious candidates, but are there other stores that are mandatory stops on a road trip? Maybe something that is not local to you, so it is novel and a special treat? Maybe a place that sells goodies that are not available closer to home?

Over the River and Through the Woods is not really a road trip song but it is a holiday transit song. Include? Do not include? Hmmm... Cannonball Run is not a holiday transit movie but it is a high speed road trip. The Wheel of Hobbies is inclusive and says to include both.

Not a hobby, but it is right and proper to include an acknowledgement of December 7. We remember all who were killed, wounded and otherwise impacted by the attack and the subsequent military actions. (Photo credit: NPS)

Well said from the prayer thread this morning:

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week with a theme of writing? The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

There was a theme in Horde Poetry from the thread last week:

Honorable mention:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If road trips are not your thing and you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com Do not make me turn this car around.

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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