53PontiacSD
Well-known member
Off subject. Is that a flat on the beautiful truck? Or no sidewall tires?
Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The "Glendora Garage"
- Thread starter Dan in Pasadena
- Start date
Workspaces sized between 265 and 485 squarefeet.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Definitely no flat.
What you're seeing is the brown butcher paper under the grinder and it makes it look like the tire is flat. They're 235/55 x 17 tires so not ultra low sidewalls either. I'd have liked 60 series but I got a deal on them so no complaints. I'd have my vintage Torq Thrust knockoff 15 inch wheels on it if possible but it's not. The C4 Corvette rotors won't allow a rim smaller than 16's and since there isn't much size availability in 16's I went with 17's.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Today was low performance. Washed the Jeep & the Fiat. 10 years old and the Fiat still shines nicely. It's a fun little car, sorta like a go kart if you don't expect too much. I've driven an Abarth and that is REALLY a fun car. I wish we'd bought one. Then I took the Fiat to get smogged and while I was out had a lunch special at a local Italian joint.
Pretty soon the Fiat may not be the toad anymore. But it still gets 35 MPG+ so it's staying awhile. I've ordered parts to tow the Gladiator and we're doing a 500 mile shake down in a couple weeks. We'll see how the Class C RV does. Should be fine everywhere except maybe on the Grapevine. But if it's much of an issue I'll just move over and drop down to 35-45 MPH.
Pretty soon the Fiat may not be the toad anymore. But it still gets 35 MPG+ so it's staying awhile. I've ordered parts to tow the Gladiator and we're doing a 500 mile shake down in a couple weeks. We'll see how the Class C RV does. Should be fine everywhere except maybe on the Grapevine. But if it's much of an issue I'll just move over and drop down to 35-45 MPH.
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
If the nose on the Fiat was a little more inspired, it'd be a really cool little sbox.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Part of the uninspired look of the front end is the baseplate protrusions & brake connections I need to repaint black to make them recede from view.
But I get your point, it’s more than a little horse faced. But it feels “tossable” when you get the revs up a little. Reminds me of an immaculate silver ‘78 Honda Civic 5 Speed I had back in the day. It had even less power but was lighter. Had significant torque steer but that made it seem responsive and “quick” - it wasn’t!
But I get your point, it’s more than a little horse faced. But it feels “tossable” when you get the revs up a little. Reminds me of an immaculate silver ‘78 Honda Civic 5 Speed I had back in the day. It had even less power but was lighter. Had significant torque steer but that made it seem responsive and “quick” - it wasn’t!
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Your additions don't detract from it. It looks like Hitler puckering up.
Jayman17
Well-known member
Dan, my nephew had an Abarth for awhile and It was a fun car to drive
Jay
Jay
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Yeah, back when I ruined the engine in this one and before I found someone to do a swap at a reasonable price I thought about an Abarth. I drove one and was impressed with the fun factor. But I hated the idea of junking this otherwise nice clean car. The Abarth was a theft recovery so it had a Salvage title. I opted not to get it, oh well.
racer-john
Well-known member
Nice car, Dan. I 'specially like the MPG, but what are those two "things" sitting in front of the grill?
Boostingaz
Well-known member
Tow kit so it can be pulled behind a motorhome. Probably a blueOx or the like.....
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
You mean the two round pipe looking things, right? Connection points to the Roadmaster baseplate under the plastic nose. Two big heavy metal "things" that go in, turn 90* locking them into position. Then a bar looking thing that attaches the two together and the Falcon 2 tow bar connects to the RV hitch.
Sounds more complicated than it is. We towed it 6300 miles round trip in 2019. SoCal to the tip of the Florida Keys along the southern coast and back via a more center-of-the-country route. Easy tow, I couldn't really feel it.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Dan, that looks like you had all the comforts of home on that trip. We took the opposite trip in 1955, from New York to LA via Route 66 and then up the coast into Canada. We had the reverse setup, with the car towing the living quarters -- a massive 15-footer for the four of us. Dad had no mechanical skills so he went to Sears to have a trailer hitch installed on our '53 Olds 98. I found a picture of the hitch in the 1954 Sears catalog (https://christmas.musetechnical.com/ShowCatalog/1954-Sears-Spring-Summer-Catalog). It's the 'T' hitch and Dad opted for the $7.50 Chrome plated one. They drilled a hole in the bumper for a threaded hook and hung one end of the hitch from it. The other end of the hitch bolted to a hole they drilled in the cross-member behind the bumper. The installer added two 1/8" multi-hole diagonal straps, mainly for decoration.We towed it 6300 miles round trip in 2019. SoCal to the tip of the Florida Keys along the southern coast and back via a more center-of-the-country route. Easy tow, I couldn't really feel it.
We made it all the way across the US, with side trips to all the national parks near Route 66. We even made it over all the mountain passes, including Cajon Pass. I don't know exactly where it was but probably just outside Barstow, when Dad slowed for a railroad crossing. There was this loud bang that shook the car, along with the horrible sound of metal tearing. We all thought someone rear-ended the trailer. Got out and the trailer was fine except the tongue was almost touching the ground (hanging from the cross-member bolt. Raised it up with one of the scissor jacks we used to level the trailer and put the dolly on the hitch. Three of us walked alongside while Dad drove across the tracks and then the half-mile to the huge building on the right that had a sign "Custom Trailers and Hitches." The guy looked at the hitch, then the New York plates on the rig and couldn't believe we made it out of our driveway in New York. In an hour he had welded and bent up a massive bolt-on hitch made of 1/4-inch thick 2"x3" C-channel that went across two cross-members. Reese, eat your heart out. That hitch held up for more than 35,000 miles of towing, including the dirt road to Alaska.
Because the Hydramatic transmission and big V8 in the Olds had no fluid coolers beyond the radiator, Dad hung a canvas water bag from the hood ornament before we reached the Mojave Desert. The bag continuously seeped water and it cooled as it evaporated. Some of the cool water was supposed to reach the radiator. That worked well when Dad's parents crossed the US in the 1920s in a Model T (radiator is out front) but it didn't work very well on the radiator buried behind the massive grill on the Olds.
Made it across the Mojave and all the passes without overheating but the road to Sequoia National Park did us in. Dad, in his white T-shirt has his hands on his hips, demanding to know why our 18-month-old car overheated. I'm in the blue shirt, same pose, providing moral support. My brother has backed off from what he believed was a soon-to-explode engine. Pretty sure most of the water is from the spring on the side of the road.
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racer-john
Well-known member
Very nice MotorHome.You mean the two round pipe looking things, right? Connection points to the Roadmaster baseplate under the plastic nose. Two big heavy metal "things" that go in, turn 90* locking them into position. Then a bar looking thing that attaches the two together and the Falcon 2 tow bar connects to the RV hitch.
Sounds more complicated than it is. We towed it 6300 miles round trip in 2019. SoCal to the tip of the Florida Keys along the southern coast and back via a more center-of-the-country route. Easy tow, I couldn't really feel it.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
When I was looking through the Sears catalog I came across some spectacular accessories for our cars. Back in 1954 Sears was the Amazon of consumer products. Where else could you buy a $20 15-jewel Swiss movement self-winding watch to mount on your steering wheel. Or a steering column mounted oil level indicator, connected to the dipstick in the engine.
Because my parents survived a head-on collision in 1952, Dad had green seatbelts (to go with the green plaid seatcovers) installed in the Oldsmobile at the same time he had the hitch installed. Back then, seat belts weren't even a factory option, except for Nash Motors, which started offering them in 1949.
Because my parents survived a head-on collision in 1952, Dad had green seatbelts (to go with the green plaid seatcovers) installed in the Oldsmobile at the same time he had the hitch installed. Back then, seat belts weren't even a factory option, except for Nash Motors, which started offering them in 1949.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Bob, Thanks for the interesting stories and the catalog excerpts. The $20, 15 jewel movement watch in 1954 got me wondering: $20 in 1954 (I was born in December) is worth $211 today! Not a "huge" some of money but not like we regard $20 today. Looks like you are about 10 years older than I am judging from your little boy photo.
There were so many things available by catalog in those days. In fact, nearly anything. As you know but some of the younger guys here do not, you could buy a house via Sears catalog or even a car - an "Allstate" - briefly in the 1950's. The "JC Higgins" on the water bag got my attention. For many years in my teens and 20's you'd see those canvas waterbags at swap meets or garage sales for a dollar or two. Interesting how things just slide into the past without us really feeling it until they are gone.
My dad's purchased-new, black 1955 Chevy two door hardtop Belair to bring me home from the hospital was "just an old car" when he gave it to me in 1970 when I got my license. The equivalent of someone giving their kid a 2007 Chevy today. In fact, not even that good because we felt cars were "used up" after 100,000 miles then. Today that number is much much higher. I am still pursuing that car today knowing the terrible mistake I made in not wanting it. Oh well, I guess it's time for the old guys to stop reminiscing about their past. It just doesn't seem so long ago no matter how much I think of it.
There were so many things available by catalog in those days. In fact, nearly anything. As you know but some of the younger guys here do not, you could buy a house via Sears catalog or even a car - an "Allstate" - briefly in the 1950's. The "JC Higgins" on the water bag got my attention. For many years in my teens and 20's you'd see those canvas waterbags at swap meets or garage sales for a dollar or two. Interesting how things just slide into the past without us really feeling it until they are gone.
My dad's purchased-new, black 1955 Chevy two door hardtop Belair to bring me home from the hospital was "just an old car" when he gave it to me in 1970 when I got my license. The equivalent of someone giving their kid a 2007 Chevy today. In fact, not even that good because we felt cars were "used up" after 100,000 miles then. Today that number is much much higher. I am still pursuing that car today knowing the terrible mistake I made in not wanting it. Oh well, I guess it's time for the old guys to stop reminiscing about their past. It just doesn't seem so long ago no matter how much I think of it.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Thanks John. We've made good use of this one doing the cross country trip after I retired. We originally had an 11-1/2 ft. Lance 1181 camper on my 2008 Chevy 3500 crew dually 4x4 and really enjoyed it including towing our boat to Tahoe, etc. Later our eyes got bigger than our brains and we traded the Lance for a 36 ft. 5th wheel and that thing was like towing a condominium. Worrisome, and a pain in the posterior. One of our grand daughters was born about that time so we ended up parking it for most of 5 years 250 miles north of us using it as a granny flat. This rig has been much easier to use.You mean the two round pipe looking things, right? Connection points to the Roadmaster baseplate under the plastic nose. Two big heavy metal "things" that go in, turn 90* locking them into position. Then a bar looking thing that attaches the two together and the Falcon 2 tow bar connects to the RV hitch.
Sounds more complicated than it is. We towed it 6300 miles round trip in 2019. SoCal to the tip of the Florida Keys along the southern coast and back via a more center-of-the-country route. Easy tow, I couldn't really feel it.
captain14
Well-known member
Just think of all the cross country trips people used to make without a cellphone. Some people nowadays can’t make it to the corner store without holding their lifeline to society in their hands as they drive!
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
I’ve commented on this before: when my now 8 & 4 year old grand daughter are teenagers they’ll say something like, “You mean if you weren’t at that ONE PLACE in the world NO one could reach you?”
It sounds funny now but no, if not at home or if no one knew where you were and the phone number there, you could not be reached!
I was a “Source Inspector” early in my career. I went from industrial company to company performing inspections and called a locator service to tell them where I’d be if someone needed to find me. Seems archaic now.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Dan, my parents spent months preparing for our first cross-country trip in 1955 and they calculated where they would be each day. They then gave the Post Office a bunch of Post Office locations to forward the first class mail. They had utility bills forwarded to my uncle, along with the royalty payment for Dad's book. It was the first year the book went on sale and we needed a couple of hundred dollars to make it home from western Canada. Uncle Harvey knew where we would be so he could send a telegram because no one knew out of state phone numbers back then. My parents thought it was a mistake when his telegram indicated the check was for a year's salary.
Dad also prepared for contingencies, like not having enough cash to buy gas or food. He bought some American Express Travelers Checks that banks across the US would cash and a Diners Club card (before AMEX offered them) for the food, which meant we could get something to eat but only at a fancy restaurant. For emergency gasoline and oil change money he got a Gulf Oil credit card. Back then, Gulf was a big nationwide chain of stations. They also had stations in Canada so Dad figured it was the card we might need most near the end of the trip. Back then, credit cards were pretty crude and made of paper.
The gasoline credit cards went into a machine that printed the multi-layer receipt with carbon paper between the sheets. Here's a Gulf Oil machine from back then:
The metal plaque attached to the card had all your information on it and there was another plaque with the retailers information.
You couldn't wave your phone at that kind of machine and if you weren't careful, the retailer could put two multi-layer receipts in the machine. Easy to forge your signature on the second receipt.
Dad also prepared for contingencies, like not having enough cash to buy gas or food. He bought some American Express Travelers Checks that banks across the US would cash and a Diners Club card (before AMEX offered them) for the food, which meant we could get something to eat but only at a fancy restaurant. For emergency gasoline and oil change money he got a Gulf Oil credit card. Back then, Gulf was a big nationwide chain of stations. They also had stations in Canada so Dad figured it was the card we might need most near the end of the trip. Back then, credit cards were pretty crude and made of paper.
The gasoline credit cards went into a machine that printed the multi-layer receipt with carbon paper between the sheets. Here's a Gulf Oil machine from back then:
The metal plaque attached to the card had all your information on it and there was another plaque with the retailers information.
You couldn't wave your phone at that kind of machine and if you weren't careful, the retailer could put two multi-layer receipts in the machine. Easy to forge your signature on the second receipt.
Jayman17
Well-known member
Bob, love the old stories and photos you post. That photo of the credit card machine made me chuckle, haven’t seen one of those for a lot of years. What book did your dad publish?
Apologies for the mini hijack Dan
Jay
Apologies for the mini hijack Dan
Jay
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Jay, No apology needed. We're all "friends that haven't met yet" here. I enjoy the stories as much as you.
I worked at Sears from 16 til 22, high school & college. We used the same credit card machines. When we first went from the mechanical cash registers to the electronic machines where you (manually) entered the stock numbers for everything you sold we had customers b!tch about, "...only Sears would do their accounting on their customers time!" I even remember seeing the cardboard-ish credit cards a time or two early in my days there. It's funny now to realize my earliest days working were the last days of some throwback processes.
It has bugged me that Sears terminated their catalog business - the very foundation of their success - so near the beginning of online purchasing that has made Amazon a juggernaut. If they'd had just a few senior management with vision they should have foreseen the impact of internet shopping and adapted their warehousing and nationwide shipping capabilities to meet the change. They had the infrastructure, the customer base and financial might to have easily overtaken any upstart. Such a tragedy but I remember in business school (MBA for non-business undergrads - 10 years after my BA while married w/ 2little ones - UGH, so tough in hindsight) they told us EVERY business has a birth, growth, decline and end. We laughed at the idea of this happening to a mega corporation like Coca Cola for example, but then Tylenol nearly went under while we were doing the program!
Anyway, I LOVE discussing these old memories we share. Pep Boys (was it a nationwide chain?) just closed their retail car parts and accessories stores and I was shocked to see it. But it makes sense. When I was 10ish the Pep Boys my dad used was a tiny storefront with a single repair bay in the back. The building is still there and I've seen it go through dozens of tenants over the decades. Watched Pep Boys grow to be huge with 8 or 10 repair bays at most of their stores and now the retail store is gone! I wonder if the repair operation will last much longer?
I worked at Sears from 16 til 22, high school & college. We used the same credit card machines. When we first went from the mechanical cash registers to the electronic machines where you (manually) entered the stock numbers for everything you sold we had customers b!tch about, "...only Sears would do their accounting on their customers time!" I even remember seeing the cardboard-ish credit cards a time or two early in my days there. It's funny now to realize my earliest days working were the last days of some throwback processes.
It has bugged me that Sears terminated their catalog business - the very foundation of their success - so near the beginning of online purchasing that has made Amazon a juggernaut. If they'd had just a few senior management with vision they should have foreseen the impact of internet shopping and adapted their warehousing and nationwide shipping capabilities to meet the change. They had the infrastructure, the customer base and financial might to have easily overtaken any upstart. Such a tragedy but I remember in business school (MBA for non-business undergrads - 10 years after my BA while married w/ 2little ones - UGH, so tough in hindsight) they told us EVERY business has a birth, growth, decline and end. We laughed at the idea of this happening to a mega corporation like Coca Cola for example, but then Tylenol nearly went under while we were doing the program!
Anyway, I LOVE discussing these old memories we share. Pep Boys (was it a nationwide chain?) just closed their retail car parts and accessories stores and I was shocked to see it. But it makes sense. When I was 10ish the Pep Boys my dad used was a tiny storefront with a single repair bay in the back. The building is still there and I've seen it go through dozens of tenants over the decades. Watched Pep Boys grow to be huge with 8 or 10 repair bays at most of their stores and now the retail store is gone! I wonder if the repair operation will last much longer?
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
PS to Bob, I've wondered if high school text book authors made much off their books or it was more of a side line because they had a passion for their subject of expertise? Was your dad's book used for long in schools? Did he make much money from it, adjusted for the times of course?
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Joey (black poodle) along with "Fe" (Fee, Fi, Phee, Phi? Short for Phoenix) and little Max - I call him a "Lhasa Asso", he SUCH a yapper - are ready for this week's trip. Our RV hasn't been moved for almost 3 years. Took it out, washed and waxed it - WAAY dirty & dusty. A big job but it needed doing. I may post a few pics from the trip later this week so I'll remember where we went/what we did years from now.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Looks like fun, Dan.
My new motorhome is back at the Dealership with a 5-page list of warranty issues- after our first and only trip…major electrical problems.
My new motorhome is back at the Dealership with a 5-page list of warranty issues- after our first and only trip…major electrical problems.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
UGH, but I can relate. They bang these things out so fast using the lightest weight components possible that things frequently break. I don't think they hire the most experienced people either. I could be wrong but I see screws driven crooked and just sketchy looking work when you get behind a drawer or an appliance.
Best of luck with yours and be demanding. Make them make it right!
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Dan, my father and mother both taught high school in Queens, New York and in 1950 didn't make a whole lot of money. My father was concerned about the cost of sending his two boys to good universities so he discussed writing a book with a fellow teacher. They discovered the only high school geography and or economics text was last updated in 1934 and the author was dead. Imagine the changes in the years leading up to and following World War II. They wrote a couple of chapters and submitted them to different publishers. Allyn and Bacon offered to work with them to publish it. They decided to include lots of photos, charts, and maps in addition to the text. They also had to publish a teachers' guide and workbook. It took all of both authors' spare time for five years to write, re-write and respond to editors' comments. My mother taught business classes, including typing so she typed all of the drafts with two carbon copies of each double-spaced page. We moved from Flushing (in Queens) to North Babylon, further east on Long Island in 1952 and Mom started teaching grade school classes. Over 24 years she taught younger and younger kids, starting from sixth grade and ending with first graders for most of those years.
The year the first edition came out, all of the cartography, chart and photo companies had to be paid in full before any royalty payments so that was the smallest royalty check they received. It was about $7,000 for each author that year. Adjusting for inflation that's about $74,000 each today. Most years it approached $200,000 each in today's money. One of the beauties of this kind of textbook is that it must be revised as the world changes. Things like colonies that became independent nations and nations that changed their names. Facts also changed over the years, like which nation produced the most grain.
My father passed away in 1968, right after finishing a major revision that included photos he took in Russia in 1967 (50th anniversary of the Russian Revolution). His co-author died in 1976 and Allyn and Bacon subcontracted a revision in 1981. My mother received smaller and royalty checks until about 1996. Many school districts purchased new copies of old editions because of the students wear and tear, thus the long period of continuing royalties.
EDIT: My parents spent the royalties on travel and wonderful experiences and neither invested nor saved any for the future. Dad retired in October 1968 and elected 100% of his pension for as long as he lived and 0% to my mother. He planned to take out a huge life insurance policy just in case but didn't get around to it so when he died in November 1968 at 55 he never collected a dime of his pension or a penny of his Social Security. I am trying to make up for him by living way beyond anyone's expectations. In 3 years my IBM pension will have paid me more to not work than they paid me to work.
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don long
Well-known member
Have a great trip Dan and we'll look forward to hearing of your adventure
captain14
Well-known member
Yes have a great trip Dan. And it’s a first trip out of town for the two new garage dogs also!
Pep Boys still operates here on the East side of the country. There are several in this area. I would have to get on the their site to count the number of stores still in operation. Store front and 8-10 service bays providing service I assume until closing time at 8-9 PM.
Pep Boys still operates here on the East side of the country. There are several in this area. I would have to get on the their site to count the number of stores still in operation. Store front and 8-10 service bays providing service I assume until closing time at 8-9 PM.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Thanks for the trip encouragement, guys!
Wow, Bob. Your father passed at only 55? So very young. I imagine he smoked like most people did in those days? My dad smoked liked a chimney. Mom said he was opening his 4th pack per day by the time he had his major heart attack at age 46 in 1970. He shouldn’t have survived that one. No clot busting drugs in those days, no bypass surgeries, nothing. But he suffered a whole series of smaller heart attacks and strokes til he passed at age 66 in 1990. And he was in bad shape the last years. He looked muscular like Adonis from a lifetime of brick laying but couldn’t raise his hands over his head to shampoo his hair cause of insufficient blood flow. My mom had to do it for him seated in a plastic chair in the shower. God save us all from the long goodbye - at least that’s my wish.
Wow, Bob. Your father passed at only 55? So very young. I imagine he smoked like most people did in those days? My dad smoked liked a chimney. Mom said he was opening his 4th pack per day by the time he had his major heart attack at age 46 in 1970. He shouldn’t have survived that one. No clot busting drugs in those days, no bypass surgeries, nothing. But he suffered a whole series of smaller heart attacks and strokes til he passed at age 66 in 1990. And he was in bad shape the last years. He looked muscular like Adonis from a lifetime of brick laying but couldn’t raise his hands over his head to shampoo his hair cause of insufficient blood flow. My mom had to do it for him seated in a plastic chair in the shower. God save us all from the long goodbye - at least that’s my wish.
53PontiacSD
Well-known member
I guess I missed the route you're taking. If you wander down I 40, into Amarillo, call me and leave a message. Maybe we can do dinner. I'll pm you my number.
53PontiacSD
Well-known member
If you come into Amarillo down I-40, give me a call. I sent you a pm
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
I just responded. This trip is fairly local. Only about 500-600 miles total. North to a little town called Buellton to use as a base for going to Solvang (touristy, Danish town) and Chumas Indian casino so my sister & brother-in-law can gamble. Then up to Pismo Beach, Morro Bay, Cayucos and back home! About a week long trip.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Have a great trip Dan.
Motorhome looks great all shined up.
Motorhome looks great all shined up.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Dan, my father quit cigarettes at around 45 and took up slim cigars. He also drank more than his fair share of Martinis and ****** Marys. His first heart attack was his last. He made it to the hospital but was in a coma and never came out of it. His brother was two years younger and quit smoking at 40. A year after my father died they discovered cancer in his lung that was enmeshed in his spine. He died a month after he turned 56. Their father died nine years before I was born at 53 and his father died at 50. My male cousins keep a close eye on me, being the first male in 5 generations on my father's side to live to 77. My maternal grandfather lived to 78 but he might have lived significantly longer if his prostate cancer had been diagnosed before it spread to other organs. At least I dodged that bullet. Like your father, my chain-smoking father-in-law lingered in misery in his final years and passed at 78 in a nursing home.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Dan, on a brighter note, the motor home looks wonderful. I traveled with my parents for whole summers, three in a car towing a small trailer and one in just a car going from motel to motel and eating every meal in a restaurant unless we had to cover some ground. Those days we stopped at grocery stores for sandwich makings and drinks. In my adult life we camped for a couple of years on a 19-foot speedboat, with a tent setup on shore (a gas stove on a boat isn't a real safe thing). Mostly we went on cruises or stayed at resorts. If I had a choice I would travel in a motorhome to avoid the strange and questionable beds and menus that offer nothing but unhealthy options. If you are forced to eat out long enough, soup and a salad is a wonderful break.
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Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
Hi Bob, I'm sorry about relating relative's health related issues. It's a downer one way or another because Father Time is undefeated and always will be. A guy that worked for me for over 18 years - older than I but reported to me used to say, "I don't want to be the healthiest guy in the graveyard". We're all going to die of something so I TRY (not always successfully) not to think of it.
Thanks for the kind words on the motorhome. In the end we were unhappy with the giant fifth wheel, just too damn big. When it came time to make a change we pivoted to the Class C quickly. Didn't want as big anymore. My sister & BIL had had a large Class A and also sold once their kids got bigger. We wanted no bigger than 25 ft (ended up with 26). But I should have researched it a little better. Thor is a good name coach but we bought the E350 chassis and should have gotten the E450 - minimal difference but tows better though a little worse mpg. Got the toad hooked up today. RV was on about 1/4 tank so I filled it up. Pump auto stopped @ $100. I restarted and it shut off a 2nd time at $100! HOLY MOLY. This was THE cheapest ARCO near us at $5.49/gal.
Thanks for the kind words on the motorhome. In the end we were unhappy with the giant fifth wheel, just too damn big. When it came time to make a change we pivoted to the Class C quickly. Didn't want as big anymore. My sister & BIL had had a large Class A and also sold once their kids got bigger. We wanted no bigger than 25 ft (ended up with 26). But I should have researched it a little better. Thor is a good name coach but we bought the E350 chassis and should have gotten the E450 - minimal difference but tows better though a little worse mpg. Got the toad hooked up today. RV was on about 1/4 tank so I filled it up. Pump auto stopped @ $100. I restarted and it shut off a 2nd time at $100! HOLY MOLY. This was THE cheapest ARCO near us at $5.49/gal.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Dan, no worries. I think back to that first trip across the US and it always makes me smile. We were a pretty geeky family and my geek-out was anything car related. When we got to Wisconsin they were having a gas war and regular was 18¢ a gallon [$1.91 in today's money]. Most of that trip we paid around 25¢ a gallon [$2.65]). Two years later we drove to Alaska and gas was 50¢ a gallon [$5.05] on the Alcan highway. Dad made a mistake not filling the car up when we got to Fairbanks. We wanted to see Mt. McKinley [Denali] and thought getting there by train would be cool. They loaded our Olds on a flatcar and when they unloaded it Dad noticed we were real low on gas. When he asked where we could buy gas he was told a bush pilot flies in with 5-gallon jerry cans twice a day. Dad paid $1 a gallon [$10.10] and hoped the weather would clear (the mountain hadn't been visible in the previous three weeks). The Olds V8 guzzled gas so another $50.50 would have been a real waste if all we saw was clouds. We lucked out and had a spectacular morning view of the mountain covered in fresh snow the next day.
I suspect our European and Down Under Garage Journal folks are having a good laugh. Gas in the Netherlands is $9.78 a gallon and in the UK it's $8.30 a gallon. Australia is better off with $5.95 a gallon gas while New Zealand is $7.42.
The Greatest Generation endured the Great Depression and then rationing during World War II. Most of them would have been thrilled to own one car and afford to put any amount of gas in it. My parents drove across the US during the war and because he was in the Army, was given enough ration stamps to make the trips between assigned posts. This lucky guy owned one of the last new cars manufactured the year we went to war (1941 Chevy Sedan).
I suspect our European and Down Under Garage Journal folks are having a good laugh. Gas in the Netherlands is $9.78 a gallon and in the UK it's $8.30 a gallon. Australia is better off with $5.95 a gallon gas while New Zealand is $7.42.
The Greatest Generation endured the Great Depression and then rationing during World War II. Most of them would have been thrilled to own one car and afford to put any amount of gas in it. My parents drove across the US during the war and because he was in the Army, was given enough ration stamps to make the trips between assigned posts. This lucky guy owned one of the last new cars manufactured the year we went to war (1941 Chevy Sedan).
kaymccampbell
Well-known member
Judy's grandfather was the lead carpenter on the Champlain canal. Dunno why they called it that as he was in charge of all maintenance on any structures, bridges and locks included, on the canal, concrete, wood, and steel. He got unlimited gas and tires, since sometimes he would drive 400 miles in a day. He also got a dispensation on the national speed limit. He could drive 50mph for work, outside of villages. Somewhere we have his old ration cards, special federal licence, and his log book he was required to keep. I think they say X on some of them.
xtremek
Well-known member
Why the change in toads?