- Date:
2024-08-29 -- 2024-08-31
Labor Day Weekend 2024
We drove to our AirBNB in Gastonia, North Carolina on Thursday for a planned 3-night stay for the Shelby Hamfest.
Carol Ann's clothes blend in with the comforter on the bed.
We arrived at the Shelby Hamfest on Friday morning.
The Anderson Mountain Repeater Group offered free donuts and drinks. This was generous.
I spoke with Rich, W6GHZ, for 30 minutes or so regarding his microwave repeater network in California in the mid-2000's.
Since buying overpriced sandwiches made by a fat dude with no gloves in 2023, Haocheng and I have brought our food to all of the hamfests we've been to. We eat well and save money. I bought the pictured blue Igloo cooler at the Orlando Hamfest earlier in 2024.
The vantage from our lunch spot. The outside temperature was in the 90's, and frankly the hamfest was lame. of a 3-day fest, I had my fill of it by 12:30 on the first day. We drove back to the AirBNB, and cancelled the third night, which was fully refunded by the seller since it was more than 24 hours in advance.
Radios on the bed. Haocheng and I communicated talkaround at the hamfest using 900MHz. The VHF Motorolas were convenient for listening to the talk-in repeater. Unlike the Dayton Hamfest, the talkin was pretty tame with very little autism.
I hate to say it, but every year most hamfests are getting lamer. My biggest attraction has historically been good deals on used equipment in the boneyard, but every year this equipment is more expensive, and it's way too outdated to be useful any more.
These boomers shuffle the same equipment from hamfest to hamfest.
After speaking with my mom and getting some addresses and phone numbers, I called up my cousin James - who just so happened to live 0.7 miles from our AirBNB.
Once at his house, we were greeted by three dogs, who took an interest in us.
James and Beth meeting Carol Ann for the first time.
My new buddy
James showed me the infrastructure he built to support a huge saltwater aquarium in his living room. I was able to keep up with his explanation for a few minutes, but beyond that it was too unfamiliar for me to understand. I respect the level of organization and over-engineering that he built in. There are several failover mechanisms as well as comprehensive mobile telemetry.
The protein strainer - essentially a septic tank for an aquarium.
Family nostalgia
James's 3D printer - the Bambu Lab P1S. I have been considering the purchase of one myself. It was very neat to see this printer in action.
Haocheng is still holding this dog. I wish my dogs liked to be held like this.
Family shot at Cheddar's: Carrington, James, Beth, William
Carrington with Carol Ann
Carol Ann and me at the AirBNB on our second and final night.
The main open area of the AirBNB. This house is occupied by it's owner, and he rents the master bedroom. Staying here was our trial run of having a non-exclusive rental unit. The exclusives we saw online cost ~$450 for 3 nights minimum. This one was ~$180 for the same duration, but since we cancelled the last night, we actually only paid ~$120 total for 2 nights. Oh yeah. We would definitely do this again. The accommodations were great.
You can slide the lockbox right off. Pretty funny. After our second night, we packed up and drove to Greer for a visit with Laurel's family.
Molly the dog. Very friendly.
Laurel bought delicious donuts for us from a local store. This was the first donut with bacon I have eaten. Delightful and healthy.
Family Photo: Zeddie, Molly (dog), Kyle, Laurel, Carol Ann, Paul, Haocheng
Haocheng and I stopped to change Carol Ann at the first rest stop past the Georgia state line. While she was doing that I shot some photos.
Violators will be prosecuted.
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It would have been better for this cutout to have a matte finish -- or it would have been better if I would have learned how to use a flash properly.
Arriving back home on Saturday, August 31.
This was a successful impromptu family vacation!
