The 888 Fatboy Chocolate World Tour
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Day 1: I received these and I was surprised how well they fit! They’re not the most comfy pair to actually work in due to the top block, but I really love the slim legs with sneakers.
So here I am in them in my backyard. My wife and I own 33 mostly wooded acres on the Maumee River in Ohio. I am pretty far upstream so you can only kayak/canoe or troll out from my place most of the season unless the water is up. There is good fishing behind our house though, as there is a nice deep hole from some long ago dredging.
I am currently working on extending the yard further out into the woods and making the ground I’m standing on into a large entertainment area with a fire pit, so I will keep an update on that and do all of the work in the chocolate 888’s! I will be using the river rocks for the fire pit, although I’m sure it will be nowhere near as amazing as the one in Brock’s family’s cabin (like holy shit dude lol). I’ll also be using some of the river rocks for other landscaping around our house.
So here my wife took some photos of me getting ready to till and level the area before going further!
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After that, we went to my sister’s house — she’s out of town so we are checking on her animals and such. We collected some eggs, fed the cows, dogs, and cats, then headed home for some beer.
I don’t normally have 3 growlers of beer on hand like this, but I am part of our small town’s Economic Development Corp., and we hosted an “After Hours” event the evening before so I got to take all the leftover beer home [emoji847]
This beer is from a small brewery in a town just west of here — Hicksville, Ohio. It’s ok, everyone laughs at the name! But Two Bandits Brewing has become a local favorite for their creative rotating menu, as well as staple beers such as Dead Frog and Killer Bee. They brew lots of other beers too, and have recently expanded to the building next to their current facility to begin bottling their beer. Many of their beers are unfiltered, high ABV (my fave), or different in general and they have a cool motorcycle theme going on in their bar. I will go there while I’m still on tour! [emoji6]
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@madmoses !! Awesome start man! Great photos!
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After drinking some beer from Two Bandits Brewing Co. I decided to work some more before dark.
Here’s the yard in the woods looking toward the house. The ring there is the connecting ring from two big tractor tires on a big farm tractor (there’s a farm machinery dealer in my town and they gave it to me [emoji1303]) I’ll use it to stack river rocks against for the fire pit, and then surround it with something nice for the seating area. If anybody has any good recommendations, feel free! I’m thinking perhaps smaller pea gravel to match the river rock? There will be a short retaining border to make it look finished and I’ll use the surrounding trees to help break it off as well.
I made some passes on our family’s cub tractor with a tiller implement that my dad has had forever. It’s been well used and loved and has served us well making many trails, gardens and the like.
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Day 2 was a busy one, but I wore the 888’s to work with the IHSH-174. I had to leave work early and change into a suit (I’ll get a pic from my wife’s phone later), and make a 2.5 hour drive to Columbus, Ohio for my wife’s cousin’s wedding at Confluence Park.
They had lots of great beer there for free, including Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, one of my favorites, so my wife made the drive home. [emoji6]
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Day 3: Sherwood, Ohio: Population 827
This is my hometown — here is where Ohio 18 meets US 127. Not even a “one stoplight town” we just have a flashing red light here.
On the corner are our village grocer, 2 gas stations, The Apache Dairy Bar - our local ice cream parlor and sandwich shop, and our business.
While taking these photographs a guy I know pulls up to the stop sign and asks “what are you doing out here man, trying to sell yourself?” lol!
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Oh, you want to go downtown?
Sherwood and many of the surrounding villages are railroad and canal towns that have moved on and the world has somewhat forgotten; but not us.
My dad tells me stories of all the businesses that used to be here — from a hardware store and butcher to a watchmaker, a few hotels and more, Sherwood used to be a bit more bustling than it is now.
Although it may not be what it once was, we still do well here and I’m proud to call this my favorite downtown to take a walk through, albeit brief.
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This is the old grocery store in town that has been converted to apartments and a laundromat by a family friend who is actually now my brother’s father-in-law.
Some of my earliest memories are going shopping here with my mother and her getting me a chocolate malt every time.
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Luke! Already killing it man! Nice work!
Can’t wait to see more.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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This was Moats Ford, our hometown Ford dealer for over 100 years. That’s my F150 King Ranch sitting in front of it! (I just bought it actually)
My wife’s good friend and college roommate’s father has purchased this property and will be transforming it into an industrial/automotive themed restaurant that also serves locally made beverages like those brewed at Two Bandits just west in Hicksville, and also 4KD Crick Brewery just east in Defiance, Ohio.
He is calling it Iron Horse Brews! So I’ll be all “IH” when I’m in there lol. He hopes to brew his own beer as well once he gets established.
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This plot of grass is where I went to elementary school and where my grandfather went all the way through high school as a Sherwood Ranger. He was number 55 on the basketball team and was a tall and strong farm boy and basketball star — I sadly never knew him as he passed away in a tragic accident when my dad was 11. But I know an old man who was in elementary school when my grandpa was in high school — he told me when the school bus would get stuck in the snow my grandpa would get out and push it out by himself, and that he was the strongest boy he knew. My dad tells me the same thing, and if I could have dinner with one person dead or alive in all of history, it’d be my grandfather.
Our school district is the 2nd largest in the state of Ohio as there is no major town, only small villages. Each had its own school but they were all torn down, and my 4th grade year I was one of the first students to attend the new school.
Now this spot is used for farmer’s markets or other local events, like the upcoming 127 yard sales aka “the world’s longest yard sale”. This is one of the busiest times of year in Sherwood as people come from all over to buy our junk, lol!
The playground has changed completely since I went to school here, but my dad bought a lot of the equipment at auction when they tore the school down, so some of it is at my sister’s and brother’s houses - which is cool that it has stayed in my family.
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The old school grounds are right next to Sherwood Cemetery, the place where my grandfather and the rest of my family are buried, and where I will hopefully one day be laid to rest in Iron Heart denim with my wife and children around me.
Across the street is the church in town; not the one I regularly attend but I did go to vacation Bible School here as a child, and have lots of summertime memories here as a kid.
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Next we have the Crystal Fountain Auditorium, aka the Spiritualist Camp. Before my day, my old man tells me there was somewhat of a commune here, or “spiritualist camp” for quite some time. I’ll ask him if he knows much else or ever spent any time there, lol.
Nowadays it is owned by the village and used as a hall for events. The woods behind is known as Sherwood Forest by locals and has walking paths throughout.
All of these photos were taken in the 888 fatboy’s and an IHSH-16!
I forgot a few places but will continue my hometown tour soon. For now it’s time to get to work on the fire pit area!
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Great start. Love the hometown tour
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Next it was some skid steer work with the good ol’ Case 1845C, my favorite skid steer. I grew up running the ones with the hand controls so I prefer those over the foot pedal ones.
I use the forks to stab tree roots and small trees and brush. I also scrape bad areas to level, and then use a bucket to back blade as needed, then till to level. It’s a pretty effective method and I have miles worth of trails on the 33 acre property, and made lots of them this way growing up. I’m currently working on perfecting a 1 mile loop for my wife to run, and also for four wheeler riding!
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I don’t have a bike yet, but this is Ruby, a Can-Am Outlander 800XT, and my trusty steed. She’s served me well for a number of years now and has made it through anything I’ve put her through here in Ohio and northern Michigan.
Here’s a few trail shots, I didn’t think to go down to the river since I wasn’t working down there. Tomorrow! Lots of deer and turkey on my property…
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