Black Rhino still alive....

Finally!  After a couple of years, Black Rhino Project has been officially published in the July edition of Diesel World Magazine.  Shared throughout social media, online magazines, and other outlets, we have finally seen it in print.  We thank all our sponsors on this build.  It has truly been a dream fulfilled for me and the MSA Team to build a mini Semi-truck.

Scrapin the Coast 2015 - LittleLin Photography

With our son having a baseball tournament, we felt it best our daughter, Sofia, came with me to Scrapin the Coast.  That turned out to be great.  Of course, she's 5, so the heat and typical kid complaints were there.  But she's become quite the little photographer.  After begging and begging, I let her use the Nikon D7000 at my sister's wedding several months back.  I was very surprised at the photos she took.  Since then, I've let her take several pics at the events we've visited, and the results have been astounding.

Sofia took photos at Nitto Tire's Inaugural Auto Enthusiast Day Texas.  So well, that Nitto's Driving Line Magazine did an article and published her photos online.  (Link Here)

If you were at the event, you might have noticed her taking photos through the sunroof of a lifted blue 2015 GMC Sierra Denali or while walking around.  Some photos were guided by me.  Some she took on her own.  And with a little photo editing from me....these were the results.  Enjoy.

Rest here: LINK

Scrapin the Coast 2015 - Rolling Down on Friday

So in preparations for the long haul, we closed the shop Friday and spent quite a few hours on Thursday prepping vehicles.  It was settled that we would leave at 6:00a, but thanks to my heavy sleeping, I didn't wake up until someone called to check on me at 6:05.  The delay put us at a departure time of 6:45a after getting my 5 year old daughter up and ready as well.

The roll down was quite nice.  Black Rhino (2014 Ford F350 Dually) and Titan (2015 GMC Sierra 2500HD) both drove quite nicely, with the exception of some rough roads in Mississippi.  We only stopped 4 times, including one for lunch, and arrived in Biloxi, MS around 3:00p.  The setting was beautiful.  The beach was covered in almost a white sand, and cruising down Beach Blvd, you could smell and feel the breeze coming off of the Ocean.  However, we had to find a car wash.  We were still at the edge of a tropical storm when we left Conway and the trucks needed a good exterior detail.  The location I picked out the night before took us to a residential neighborhood and wasn't even there.  The next nearest one was kind of a shady location, but we didn't want to drive all over Biloxi searching for car washes.  So we went ahead and stopped there.

Doing a solid wash, we headed towards the Coliseum to roll in and do a final detail.  This was our first time to the event.  To our surprise, judging is immediately following registration.  I knew about the roll though judging, but I thought it happened later.  So we detailed as quickly as we could while waiting in line.  Not our best job, but hey....  We know for next time.

We then pulled over to the American Force Wheels booth, and got Black Rhino set up.  Pretty cool to be right in front of the entrance.  We then packed everything into Titan and headed to the hotel to get checked in and relax a little.  

We called the front desk asking for a recommendation for a restaurant.  After all, we were on the coast, and what's better than to get local, fresh seafood.  The recommendation was a place called Shaggy's.  Sounded local...so we went to check it out.  First impression when we arrived was this is a happening place.  Sitting up high as you would expect from a coastal structure, we parked and walked up to what seemed like a touristy seafood joint.  The wait time at 7:00p on Friday...1 hour and 15 minutes.  Determined to try out some local food, we signed up and waited.  Walking down the back patio, the stairs led straight to the beach.  You could walk, play...the location for the restaurant was awesome.  My daughter got her opportunity to play on the beach, and she did so without reserve.

When we were finally called, we sat and glanced at the menu.  For the prices, the food wasn't bad, but nothing seemed fresh.  Everything was fried with the exception of the oysters on a half shell.  A bit disappointing, honestly.  I was looking for fresh shrimp, maybe crab or fish that's a "fresh catch".  Options were pretty much oyster, fish, shrimp, or chicken....fried or in an alfredo pasta.  So disappointed.  We probably should have grabbed a menu.  I usually don't like to because when you're hungry and read the menu during a long wait...that just makes the wait miserable.  Perhaps, I'll just leave that to spots we already somewhat know the menu.

Spent the remainder of the evening cruising around Beach Blvd...enjoying the area.  The show begins tomorrow...