Today is July 8 and you know what that means! Only one month until Worldwide Optimus Eight Day (WOED) on 8-8-8 when worshipers gather everywhere for a fun-filled day of everything Optimus 8, also 8R, clones and variants like 9s 99s 199s and 111s. August 8 also happens to be Barb's (like the wire) birthday so we're taking the train to Flagstaff and Wislow where there will be a massive WOED extravaganza. I'm taking my entire collection of Optimus 8s - yes, both of them! - I'll post photos and commentary. If you haven't already been drawn into your local WOED festivities and haven't planned your vacation around one of the international events being held on every continent plus Great Britain, New Zealand and Bermuda, don't wait! Now is the time to plan your event. If you miss this one, no big deal, the next WOED will be on August 8, 3008. I've been practically begging for participation so, show of hands, who's going to play? L8R Gary
Me and my first Optimus stove (an Optimus 8R), will be chugging along with everyone out here in Colorado. Tim
Nice one, Prime Us Keep on reminding us. I am getting a bit senile in my old age and need reminding often.
Thats a Friday - I'll have to make sure they're fettled up in advance! One I won't be firing up will be the gift from Optimus of one of the last 8R's to be made. I've got two 8's, one not used in ages & one untested so better get my finger out. Re Wislow - do you mean Winslow? If so good antique shop there that has vintage stove potential. I was ligting my stove on the corner in Winslow, Arizona - & such a fine sight to see, its a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me! 8)
I can't tell you why but I've got a peaceful easy feeling that even though I'm a new kid in town as far as stoves go, if we take it to the limit with this WOED, and remember we can't have too many hands, it'll be a long run of stoves and the place will be lit up like the centre of the universe. Now who needs to get out more
Yup, that Wislow, er, Winslow. Ross, an unfired gift from Optimus is a treasure. If you start fettling your old 8s now, then you're probably finished fettling by now. As you know, they usually don't need much. Okay, I'll cover Flagstaff, Winslow and the Grand Canyon, and I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari, Tehachapi to Tonopah. Anybody up for Machu Picchu? So far, nobody has signed-up for Brooklyn, Birmingham or Berlin and I haven't heard from Brazil, Borneo or Burkina Faso, and thats just the "B"s. Where will you be celebrating WOED? L8R, Gary
With luck I?ll be firing up at home which is just under a mile from here which is walking distance from this tree which is probably the most photographed tree in England ever since it appeared in a blockbuster movie in 1991.
It is indeed Paul. The lake is http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=cawfields+quarry&sll=54.975906,-2.470351&sspn=0.011305,0.026436&ie=UTF8&ll=54.976037,-2.450123&spn=0.04522,0.105743&t=h&z=13]Cawfields Quarry[/url] and you can see the way the Roman masons sliced away the hill and carried on digging to make a lake which is a favourite spot for SCUBA divers. I live on the northern edge of Haltwhistle which lays claim to being the geographic centre of Britain. Where possible the builders used the natural landscape and followed the high contours for natural defences. Their high point to high point three pole navigation also means that the wall crosses the country in a series of straight lines. The tree is a sycamore and the site is of course Sycamore Gap. It was here that Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman rescued the young poacher near the beginning of the film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Sadly the pics aren't mine but are from Google images but it IS in my back yard 8) 8)
Yours or not, great pictures Bill of a great area. My area has the Brecon Beacons on my doorstep, another beautiful part of the country. Its good to see that you enjoy what's there for you, I'm still amazed at the amount of local Welsh people I speak to who have never spent a day walking the hills so close to home, I guess the old saying "Familiarity breeds contempt" is true http://www.earth-photography.com/Countries/Wales/BreconBeacons_photos.html http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk/wm/bb/bb.html I go for overnight trips to the base of Corn Du, its a lovely spot
Might the photo you show be from the same place as this, but from the other direction? It's from one of our detours during a two week drive we made through England and Scotland with my Chevy Van some years ago. The hill with it's steep slope and that little lake look very similar to me, but on the other hand... In some aspects it don't! Maybe this scenery with steep cliffs and a small lake comes up at more places along the wall? If I don't remember wrong, this was not far from the ruin of an old Roman temple dedicated to Mithra, of all characters. (The old Romans wasn't afraid to adapt gods from other cultures.) CC
Yes Rick we really are lucky in the UK having such a choice of National Parks which means wherever you live in the UK at least one or two are within reasonable striking distance. Mind you, sometimes the traffic congestion in the south east means proximity doesn?t equate with speedy access, but that?s the price the urban dwellers must pay for their other conveniences. I?m really fortunate in that I?m less than half a mile from the Northumberland National Park and only a short drive from the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. Car boot sales and local charity shops are also good stove/lamp sources in these areas being predominantly rural and in many areas still relying on private generators and, like us, prone to frequent and lengthy power cuts in the winter. That was how I originally became interested in paraffin lamps and subsequently stoves - our first winter here had us snowed in for five days, most of that time without power - hence the oil fired gravity fed AGA and of course my stoves and lamps. That is my official statement and can be quoted at any time to SWMBO as my reason for having so many stoves and lamps Yes Christer I think it?s the same spot from a different angle and yes it?s not far from the underground Mithraic Temple in the centre of http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=55.035604,-2.220429&spn=0.002822,0.006609&t=h&z=17] this [/url] map/photo near a place called Hotbank and just west of a classic high point direction change in the route of the Wall. The original altar is now in the Hancock Museum at Newcastle and the one in the temple is a reproduction. I?m guessing you came by sea to Newcastle? I hope you found the natives friendly
I have always found the natives friendly anywhere on your little island ! No doubt about that. You are correct. We came via Newcastle, but on that trip we firstly went south to London and then back up north via Derby where we stayed at some friends. I think the road up to Scotland would be the same anyway when following the main route? Or is there a more western, big one? Here's the 'checkpoint' at the border if anyone recognises that. It's not very far north from the previous photo from the wall. I still have no Idea of where that was, but it's actually a ten years younger (and probably also pounds...) me to the right, taking a sip of a Talisker to celebrate the entrence to the sacred land of Whisky (even if I know that the Irish might have a different opinion to that statement, and of course even add an "e" to the spelling...)
Ah the Water of Life Christer 8) The place where you crossed the border is called Carter Bar and is not too far from here. It's close to where the army training grounds are and the reservoir which provides a lot of the drinking water to the north east UK. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=redesdale+northumberland&sll=-36.701458,145.520782&sspn=0.505385,0.845947&ie=UTF8&ll=55.353062,-2.481365&spn=0.044795,0.105743&z=13] Here [/url] is the map/aerial photo
Thanks Bill! It all makes sense to me. I recognise the place 'Jedburgh' in that map. That's the first Scottish place we ran through to our path up to Edinburgh. You're a lucky man! The borders where you live is truly a nice and scenic place! Cheers, Christer
