Finally the day had come for the start of my three weeks leave from the Army. It had been a very long nine months in the Iraqi desert and I was finally getting some well-deserved time off. (If you would like to know how long those nine months were, just ask anyone that received my rambling letters about the online magazine we were going to start when I came home.) What was I going to do first? Drink a few beers, head home to Pennsylvania, and to visit with P&OM Garage, not necessarily in that order.

      I borrowed my roommate's Ford Ranger to make the 11-hour drive north from Georgia to Pennsylvania. I would have ridden my bike, but I had some war trophies to bring with me. I had just spoken with Keith about the plans for my leave time in PA. "We have a magazine to build!" His response? "Yeah, and I have three shows lined up, starting in our backyard - Carlisle."

      Carlisle Productions hosts many auto shows at the Carlisle Fairgrounds that include trucks, hotrods, and antiques specialties. Carlisle is a down to earth town and home to Dickinson College and Law School. The Dickinson campus is located throughout the downtown area. Any warm Friday or Saturday night is a great time to cruise the strip and take in the sights of partiers and hot people just hangin' out on the sidewalks. Natives have an eye for a supped-up hotrod or a well-designed custom.

      After my long drive north and a short nap, Amy, Keith and I packed his Mazda Protege for our very first photo shoot at Corvettes of Carlisle. We drove twenty minutes, parked a few blocks from the entrance to the fairgrounds and went inside to meet Duval. I was psyched for the shoot and couldn't wait to put my new Canon digital camera to work. The damn camera had better do a killer job, and for the money I paid, should almost have done it by itself. We grabbed the schedule from the ticket booth and rolled on.

      The turnout seemed less than what I expected, but the buildings and food stands were busy. The rain showers had put most of the 'Vettes under cover and the ones we could see were being dried off with towels and shames. Many exhibits were located in the available buildings.