Enumclaw Bike Race

I have lived in Enumclaw my whole life.  How many Enumclaw Stage Races have I been too?  ZERO.  Until this past weekend I have never been to the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race.  I definitely have been missing out.  What a really cool event.

The stage race is broken down into 3 events.  Time Trial, Crit and Road Race.  This is a 2 day event running from Saturday to Sunday.  On Saturday the morning starts off with the Time Trial and then in the afternoon and evening is the Crit race.  If you are thinking about watching any type of bike race the Crit is the bike race worth seeing.  On Sunday the final event of the stage race is the grueling road race. Unfortunately for this year Saturday the weather was perfect and on Sunday well it was not so good!

If there is anything I walked away from this event is how the city of Enumclaw and residents need to embrace this event.  I am hear to say that I don’t know anything about bike racing and it is not something that I DVR or record to watch later  on tv.  The Crit race is highly entertaining and fun to watch and you don’t even need to be a bike racing fan.

What is interesting is how I even got involved with the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race.  It started with a simple tweet.  I have had a love hate relationship with twitter.  (Message me on twitter @tysongamblin)  Well I have really picked up my activity in twitter since April.  I have made some great connections and one of them is Mutual of Enumclaw (Message Mutual of Enumclaw on twitter @enumclawinsgrp).  They were tweeting about the Bike Race coming up.  I mention that Gamblin Motors would be interested getting involved maybe have a pace car (twitter handle: @gamblinmotors) *If you want to see more pictures check out Gamblin Motors twitter feed during the bike race some fun stuff.

Next thing later a phone call and a corvette rolling off the showroom floor and off the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race.

The Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race Pace Car

All through twitter I made the connection to get involved with an amazing event.  Everyone kept on asking me what does moesr and the hashtag mean.  People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords or phrases (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search.  So the Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race (MOESR) social media team decided to track all the buzz about the event through twitter.

This was my first Mutual of Enumclaw Stage Race and it for sure will not be my last and I look forward to attending more races in the future.  I know in a few years my little girl is going to take that first place ribbon in the 4 year old and younger bike race (She will be the fastest to the stop sign and back).

Job Relocation, Change Or Whatever You Want To Call It

So it has been an interesting week for me as I have finally made the transition from the Internet Department to the actual sales floor.  In the car business we call the act of selling the sales floor, I really don’t know why the term if called floor when reality the better term would be is lot.  The sales lot.

This transition has been  years in the making but due to the rapid growth with the Internet and learning new concepts and techniques of manipulating websites for Search Engine Optimization it has been very difficult for me to lose my post in the Internet Department.  We have made some giant strides the past couple of years and months in the Internet Department and finally got things under control with a solid game plan of how we are going to attack things for the next couple of months to a year.  No point of having a strategy when there is not a goal or objective in place.

So this week I moved my office from our Main Store location to our Truck Center.  It sometimes is funny how many people in our town and even my own friends don’t understand the lingo of the truck center and the main store.  People in Enumclaw label it this way, the one across the street from Safeway or the new one when referencing the Truck Center (the Truck Center is over 10 years old).  Now the Main Store is called the old store or the the one next to Mazatlan.

So if you ever want to come see me, I am at the Truck Center and this is what I aspire to look like.

Your Local Car Salesman

Tulip Fields of Skagit Valley

I had never seen the tulip fields of Skagit Valley until I started my relationship with Sophia. It is one of the most beautiful sights to see all that color scattered across the fields. Every time we drive up to Anacortes we always drive through the valley as we call the back way. It is always fun to see the fields transform from snow geese to tulips.

Tulip Fields of Skagit Valley, posted with vodpod

I AM BACK

Well, well, well, it has been a while since I have been able to blog.  Well this is not going to be much of a blog post as it will answer where the heck I have been.  I had a job change at work and it has consumed my life much to the dismay to my beautiful wife Sophia!  I have been spending long hours at the dealership (Art Gamblin Motors).  It has involved me changing or trying to change my sleeping habits as I try to get to work before 7:00 AM.  Some people like Sophia have to be at work at 4:00AM, but me being at work before 7:00AM is tough for me!

So, what am I doing now, well I am buying used cars.  It has been a lot of fun thus far but very stressful.  I am searching auction run lists and trying to buy cars with low day supply so they sell quickly.  Football is starting up again and Spring ball is just around the corner.  I am excited to be coaching again this year.  Sophia is still working at the hospital in Enumclaw and things seem to be going great, the Hospital is trying to become certified to have its own nursing school for employees who are trying to get their RN.  This is a huge blessing as Sophia has been applying for Nursing schools.

Well I guess that is the update, I am going to be back with more especially with the new Buick Regal hitting dealership lots and also the rumors surrounding a GM and Google project!

Happy New Year

I have been slacking on keeping up my posts, but 2010 is here.  It is crazy to think that a decade has past since the whole Y2K drama.  A lot has changed for me in 2009.  Here are just a few things that happened for me in 2009: I got engaged, bought a house, got married, bought a car, coached high school football and started a blog.

I really do not think I will ever be able to top what I did in 2009 as it was a lot.  It was thing after another.   What better way to start 2010 then with fireworks.  I had tons of fireworks that I was planning on lighting off when Sophia and I left at our wedding reception but because August was so dry we were afraid to start a brush fire.  So the fireworks have been siting in the garage for the past 5 months collecting dust.  So here is our firework show that I put on at the Martinez home.  I think we woke up some neighbors but who falls asleep before 12 on New Years Eve?

Happy New Year and 2010!

It is a Christmas Miracle

Sophia and Zolie

It has only been a little over a month since the passing of our beloved yellow lab Tinkerbell before we got another dog in the Gamblin home.  We had always wanted another dog but Tinkerbell being the way she is would have not done well with giving attention to someone else (Tink was a jealous dog).

This puppy started 5 years ago when our family made the quest to Eastern Europe to pick my sister Rebekah up from her LDS mission in Hungary.  That is where we were first introduced to Hungarian Vizsla’s.  The best way I can describe a vizsla is a chocolate lab and weimaraner mix.

My dad over the past couple of years has dragged my mom along to dog shows.  Yes my dad has gone to dog shows just to look at Hungarian Vizsla’s.  This Christmas with all us kids home it was Rebekah that put in my mom’s head that getting a puppy for my dad would be a great Christmas present.  We had done this before, getting an animal for my dad for Christmas.  We got my dad a beautiful blue point Siamese cat that we named FU (pronounced Foo and yes, spelt F.U.).  He was excited but quickly said, “I wish you would have talked to me first.”

Jeri holding Zolie before Alan comes home

So just before Christmas my family made a trip up to Blaine, Washington to get our Hungarian Vizsla puppy.  We brought him back to his new home.  We surprised my dad and this time he did not say I wish you talked to me first it was, “these dogs are a lot of work.”  Vizsla’s love attention and they have a lot of energy.  They demand a lot of human contact and are very smart dogs that like to be challenged.   With Andrew leaving for college within the next year my parents will be empty nesters not quite because Zolie will keep them company.

Best Christmas Present Ever

This is considered a Christmas miracle because Vizsla are considered indoor dogs and this is a big step for my parents as Zolie is going to be an inside dog.  With his short hair he only sheds 2 times a year and also he does not stink up a whole house like a long hair dog can.

Click Here to go the breeders website where we got Zolie

Bugatti Veyron

Bugattia Veyron

The Bugatti Veyron is one of the fastest street-legal cars in the world, powered by an 8-liter W16 quad turbocharged engine that is capable of putting out more then 1000-hp.  All this power makes the Veyron capable of going 0-60 in 2.6 seconds and a top speed of more than 250 mph.  On top of this, the Veyron is also one of the most expensive vehicles in the world with a price tag of more than 1.7-million dollars.

Currently, only around 200 Veyrons exist worldwide with 15 of them located in the United States.

In Texas a Bugatti owner was reaching down to get his cell phone and then was distracted by a pelican on the road.  He swerved to miss the Pelican and drove his 1.7 million dollar vehicle into a lagoon.  The crazy part of all this story is there is video evidence of the wreck.  I am sure there will be some investigating on insurance fraud.

1.7 million dollars for a car.  I am still just shocked that someone would spend that much on a car.  If I had that much I would just buy a nice sedan and just hire a personal driver.  Plus I would have money left over.  Check out the pictures and the video of the crash.

Video

Links

Autoblog Bird-Gate Follow Up CLICK HERE

Autoblog Bird-Gate Bird Evidence Click Here

Autoblog Bugatti Veyron Click Here

Green Car Advisor Edmunds Blog Bugatti Veyron Crash Click Here

Salem, Oregon visit and Thanksgiving 2009

Sophia and I made the trip down to Oregon in November to visit big Ryan and Megan for Ryan’s 25 birthday.  Funny to think that Ryan and I are both a quarter of a century old.  As Sophia and I were driving down to Oregon we realized that Ryan’s birthday was our first official date.   We went out to Ellensburg Pasta Factory.  From there it is history.  We met Ryan and Megan in Portland, Oregon at a great restaurant called Henry’s Tavern where we had Ryan’s birthday dinner.

We spent Saturday being extremely lazy.  We watched a lot of football but did get a chance to squeeze in a game of Settlers of Catan.  For Ryan’s birthday Megan got him a grill.  To put his present to good use Ryan and Megan had a big barbecue at their home where both the Loy and Ward families came over.  Kyle, Ryan’s youngest brother is the same age of Andrew and is a Senior in High School.  Due to Andrew and Kyle being so close in age I feel like Kyle at times is my younger brother.  Love the kid.  Kyle had a new addition to the Ward family in his Tattoo as seen below.

James 1:12

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him

Good scripture choice though Kyle.  I just wish you put it on the lower part of your back!

Thanksgiving 2009 at the Sortun’s

Sophia and I spent Thanksgiving at her Bestefar’s home in Kent.  It was a great afternoon of good food, terrible football games and entertaining game of Scattegories which I would have won if we finished but Sophia said we tied.

GM Billboard Advertisements

Check out these billboard advertisements that General Motors has put up around the city of Detroit, Michigan.

Camaro Take Your Pick

What Camaro color do you think looks the best?

2010 Silver Chevrolet Camaro

2010 Red Chevrolet Camaro

2010 White Chevrolet Camaro

2010 Black Chevrolet Camaro

2010 Yellow Chevrolet Camaro

2010 Orange Chevrolet Camaro

The Camaro comes in 8 colors.

1.  Silver Ice Metallic

2.  Black

3. Inferno Orange Metallic

4.  Imperial Blue Metallic

5.  Victory Red

6.  Cyber Gray Metallic

7.  Rally Yellow

8. Summit White

We had an Imperial Blue but we sold it so fast we did not get a chance to take pictures of it.  I have not seen the Cyber Gray Mettalic yet in person but I have seen the remaing 7.  I think the Camaro looks best in Orange but when we got the white Camaro it was a tough decision.  The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro in white is pretty impressive.  But I am sticking with my orange Camaro as I think that is the best color the car comes in.