Thunderstorms, floods and tornados did not show up to spoil my day at British Car Field Day. Rather, it was a calamitous fault with my camera, a Canon Powershot S70. It just stopped. There I was, taking photos, looking through the viewfinder, click the shutter and nothing. It was just dead. Batteries were exchanged, buttons pushed, nooks and crannies examined, but still the camera was lifeless. If anyone has any recommendations, please feel free to email me. If you’d like to help repair/replace the camera, Bessie and I would be eternally grateful. Donate…

Fortunately, I happened to have a backup camera, if you can call it that. My Samsung SCH-U520 was able to capture the vintage cars, after I fixed a fault with the memory card (dust). If you’ve ever used a camera phone, you’ll know how difficult it can be. The megapixels are low, the display inaccurate to true photo dimensions and the lcd screen is barely legible in the sunlight. Considering these point & shoot limitations, the photos turned out adequately. View Photos…

British Car Field Day was a marvelous show as always. The number of classic Minis was extraordinary. There was even a Mini Traveller hiding on the outskirts of the show. Oddly enough, a Kaiser Darrin showed up. I had a marvelous time meeting with so many British car enthusiasts and friends of Bessie.

Fellow MINI owner, Tom has been fighting off Multiple Myeloma. To show our support, MINIs from across Wisconsin and Illinois rallied together to send their best wishes for his recovery. Together we spelled out “HI TOM” in MINI Coopers, with quite a few to spare. The show of support was overwhelming. We wish you the best, Tom! You’ll be motoring with all of us again soon! View Photos…

On our many escapades we hardly ever have reason to complain. Desserts are a hard thing to get wrong. Jenny, Emily and I took a trip to Paciugo for gelato. Jenny and I were called “Gelato Snobs” by Emily. With all of gelato’s we’ve tasted, yes, we are gelato snobs.

My first brush with Paciugo’s was through their website. It was fun to view their calvacade of unusual flavors. Their website also conveniently listed what flavors each location currently offered. Or so I thought. Amarena Black Cherry Swirl sounded delicious and sure to please this cherry-loving fiend.

Imagine my disappointment when the in-store flavors weren’t the same as listed on the website! This proved difficult to change my focus and choose something else. Presentation of the gelato was basic and mechanival, unlike the creative small gelato shops. I ended up with Chocolate Sorbet, Caramel and Cinnamon. Chocolate sorbet was not what I expected, but I neglected to try it first since the staff seemed less than enthusiastic about giving samples. The portions were very generous, but the container was runny with gelato when served. Cinnamon was delicious, Caramel basic and Chocolate sorbet icy and bland.

Jenny had Pink Lemonade in her mix. She found it too sour to eat it all and ended up disposing of most of it. The soy-based strawberry gelato Emily tried was not able to mask the soy flavor.

The Cinnamon was delicious, if nothing else. View Photos…