Monday, September 12, 2011

Vacation

Got back from the Gunblogger's Rendezvous late Sunday night/Monday morning. Still getting stuff put away, but wanted to start this post, even if I don't finish for a bit.
The post below is not all that we did, it is only hitting the highlights.  We were actually doing more than it appears. 

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A pretty good time was had by all. We got there Thursday afternoon, and met up with the rest of the group at Cabela's, who was kind enough to give us a tour and a $20 certificate. We got together afterwards, and listened to some speakers, saw some new equipment and goods displayed and explained by manufacturers, and went to dinner. Afterwards we got together again and mainly visited until the wee hours of the morning.

Friday after breakfast we spent several hours at the range. Since there was quite a variety of firearms there, a lot of time was spent shooting one another's ordinance, and getting familiar with different types. For example, Rick of Traction Control had a nice little full-auto Uzi with a silencer that was a hoot. My wife got to shoot a Ruger 45 Long Colt, got to fire a Glock for the first time, and had an especially good time shooting Skip's .308; she had never shot a center-fire rifle or used a scope, and she quite enjoyed doing some precision long-range target practice with a firearm suited for game hunting and military shooting.  An amazing person to watch was Molly, a young lady in her teens who can shoot better than most grown men I've seen; she was a joy to watch.   My shoulder was acting like it belonged to someone else, so as I had thought, I couldn't shoot worth a damn.  I am basically having to learn all over again from scratch with my shoulder in its present configuration.

Pic 1: Rick with his Uzi
Pic 2: My wife doing her sniper shooting
Pic 3: Molly



























More time that night listening to people who are helping to keep the Second Amendment alive in this country, and more milling and such until late.

Saturday after breakfast was steel shooting, but I was hit with sciatica bad, so wasn't able to go. Felt a little better after lying down, so we played tourist and went out to lunch and to the National Automobile Museum in Reno. I have uploaded a few pictures to my Flickr account; you can go to it from the sidebar if you would like to see them.

We had raffles and drawings for some firearms and a lot of sporting equipment that night. Visited until late.
Left after breakfast on Sunday. There was a cowboy shooting contest for those who desired to attend, but we had to start on our way home.

One of the reasons the GBR takes place (other than like-minded people getting together and having fun) is to raise money for the Project Valour-IT program to help some of our wounded soldiers. We managed to raise a fair amount ourselves, and some of our sponsors added to this also.

This was my first visit to the GBR, and I must say it was awesome to find how friendly and helpful everyone was, and how much they went out of their way to make my wife and me feel welcome and have a good time.  I hope we can make it again next year, if possible.

Pic 1 and 2:  Couple of candid shots of us milling about.
Pic 3: Caleb displaying his awesome hat-wearing skills.  He is a top competition shooter, and was in the first season of Top Shots, if you are familiar with the show.
Pic 4: The person standing is Alan Gura, whose name you may know if you are familiar with the famous Heller decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment was an individual right, rather than a collective right.





























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After leaving Reno, we went to Carson City, and visited the
Nevada State Railroad Museum; there are also some pictures from there at Flickr.

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 Should be something of interest to someone in here; I was in sort of a disjointed mood for music here.

"Rocky Top" by Chet Atkins
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
"Alone" by Heart
"England Swings" by Roger Miller
"Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
"Hellhound on My Trail" by Robert Johnson
"Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
"I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After
"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart










8 comments:

Borepatch said...

Gunpowder and Lead is another of Miss Labmert's (err, Mrs. Shelton's) oeuvre that may be more apropos.

[In english, it kicks butt]

NotClauswitz said...

Glad to see you made it, sorry I was unable to!! But it's just a great time with all the folks I see you met!

Guffaw in AZ said...

Looks and sounds like a great time! Sorry I missed it. Maybe next year.
gfa

James Higham said...

Mozart and Ten Years After are quite a combination, Bob.

BobG said...

Borepatch: I like quite a few of her songs; she has more moxy than most of the female country singers these days.

DirtCrashr: hope we can both make it there next year.

Guffaw in Az: that would be great.

James: I tend to like odd combinations, depending on my mood.

MauserMedic said...

Lucky dog.

Kevin said...

A very memorable weekend. It was a pleasure meeting you. Hope to see you next year.

BobG said...

MauserMedic: I felt lucky I was able to go this year.

Kevin: it was a good weekend; my wife and I quite enjoyed ourselves, and found it a pleasure to meet and talk with you also.