It's a no go . . .

She's not known for her beauty - but this has been a good rig. 

Luxury? no 
Status car? definitely not
Running? errr, no

The reliable green bean (otherwise named the mommy missile by Sten's friends), came to a stall the other night.

This Escort wagon is was a rocket ship. She's been with me for two personal visits with the sheriff (thanks for the tickets, officer) and has gone many miles this summer.  For all her faults (no electric windows/door locks or cruise control) - she has an enormous plus.  You can pull away from the gas pump with a smile on your face instead of tears streaming down your cheeks. 

So for now - I'm back to Katrina. 
Hello status car
Hello luxury
Hello cruise control
Hello tears at the gas pump. 

Scott has threatened to get a Prius - but then I'd have to get an Obama bumper sticker and I just can't make that leap.

Dad's Sweet Ride

Dad & Mom have a "little thing" for vintage travel trailers. It's way uncool to pull one with a modern truck, so they have been searching, for a retro tow rig. Voila! This 1960 Ford will definitely work, complete with stylin' canopy (the windows on the other side are not broken). Of course, the boys at this house have some grand plans for it as well - I think it may include swapping the engine out with a powerhouse that will leave people scratching their heads wondering what old contraption just blew past 'em.

A change in Plans

Yesterday, we headed into town to take Milah to track and were diverted from the main highway onto a little curvy country road due to an accident. We were zipping along perfectly, when the truck suddenly lost power and stopped, blocking a lane. Uuuuhh, that's a problem - especially when all the highway traffic had been detoured to this particular road.

Milah and Maren were flagging traffic with their heads poked out the back window, while I'm frantically calling and occasionally turning the key hoping it fires. While numerous familiar faces drove by, Maren went to relieve herself. I asked her to find a hidden area - but she walked up the hill, that overlooked the scene, behind a teeny tree and could easily be spotted by passersby (Hello Maren - if you can see the cars - they can see you). Scott showed up and towed us up the road a bit and the tow truck came to haul the beast away. Although we really like this truck, it seems to be very cantankerous - and is beginning to be highly unreliable. Yeah, it's a Ford, keep your comments to yourself - thanks.

Just as the taillights of the tow truck dissappeared around the corner, a man pulled out of his driveway near us and took a right onto the road. For some reason, he cut the corner too sharp and buried the front of his new Ford pickup in a DEEP ditch. I thought, "We're never gonna make it home tonight!" "Un-be-liev-able", was the look on Scott's face. The man threw it in reverse, but his one back tire was off the ground probably 10 feet. He then slammed it in 4 wheel drive and drove out of the ditch. Eyes widened, our mouths dropped to our chests and we burst out laughing. We quickly hopped in the Jeep and headed down the road (very carefully)- we'd had enough action for one evening.

Update: the culprit was a bad fuel pump. We have started drafting a letter to Ford to explain our predicament and have discovered that we have owned 24 different Fords throughout the years (some were Company rigs, and not all were perty new ones). Ford has never let us down, but apparently this last one was grown in Florida because it is a LEMON!

Before and During (not quite after)

Sten is the 4th owner of this truck and Susie's dad, Chuck, was the 2nd owner of this truck back a few years ago . . .

Sten has the mistaken notion that some have been anxiously awaiting an updated picture of his rig. He has removed the winch bumper, the running boards (this is so his vertically challenged mother cannot ride with him), the mudflaps, the canopy, the bug guard, the nasty carpet and the first layer of grime that covered the entire truck. His immediate plans include: installing a 4 bbl intake and carburetor and some headers. He has other grand schemes including a paint job and eventually swapping the chassis for a diesel. These, of course, will have to wait until he makes the "big bucks" haying this Summer. At our local NAPA store, he has quickly learned the phrase, "Charge it". I think we might have him start hitting those Radiator Boy's account instead!

New Wheels . . .

Dad and Mom have been searching for a new car as they are down to one car when Dad is not working. Always the bargain hunter (a polite way to say he's a tightwad), Dad found a lady that was desperate to wiggle out from under her lease, and made him a deal that he couldn't refuse. I offered to trade him two of our old beaters for their sweet ride but he didn't budge. They are going to need to take a college course on how to operate all the on board systems. One things for sure, I'll keep that baby warmed up while they're gone to Switzerland - I heard that it's simply not good for those cars to sit for too long.

Boys will be Boys

These two are trouble. Will introduced Scott to an online auction and they were the high bidders on some good loot - most of it in Seattle. It looks like a trailer load of rusty metal to me, but they were excited. The herculon piece of equipment below is a milling machine that is used in parts making - it's a heavy dude - weighing about 14,000 pounds.

Rednecks R Us

Last night, the High School held their annual car bash, bonfire, and exhaust competition. Sten was eager to enter the loudest rig that we have, and won 3rd place at 103dB. It was a chilly night, so we were glad for the fire. Small town culture, I guess (or lack of).

Truck Update

A dream come true . . . after much sweat, scratching of heads, and an occasional throwing of tool, the truck is complete. This truck is going to be busy - washing windows for starters.

I feel that we are in the middle of a critical transplant procedure. Today, the service bed is being transferred to the "new" truck. All lines have been cut and will need to be reattached. The transplant team is dirty, tired, hot and a little on edge with anticipation.

Anxious family members

The Operating Room

The "surgeons" in their grubby scrubs

It's a Guy Thing?!

Grandpa Lester's Old Farm Truck

Scott says this pic is a bit embarassing, as the air compressor is mere inches from the flat tire, hmmm

Bed 1

Scott has been waiting for months to tackle this "fun" project . . . it looks like a nightmare to me, but he is over the moon excited. He is going to cut the bed off truck 1, attach the longer frame of truck 3 (from an F550), and install the bed of truck 2 on top of it all. This will give him a complete service truck with the bucket, a space for tools and room for the generator and air compressor. Bed 1 will then be transferred to truck 2. All of this manuevering will retire Grandpa Lester's old farm truck, which is bittersweet, until you have to drive the beast. Stay tuned for updates - I'm sure that you're on the edge of your seat! Yeah - don't bother with any cracks about how it takes 3 trucks to make one decent Ford either. Sort of reminds me of an old Johnny Cash song (it was a '55, '56, 57) . . .

Truck 1

Truck 2

Truck 3

Does any of this make sense?