MEMORIES OF A ‘SMALL TOWN SATURDAY NIGHT’

Had I not been standing right beside Pheebe when it happened I wouldn’t have known why she started acting the way she did.  We had stopped alongside the trail Friday night & I was debating whether to turn back because of a bunch of bothersome bugs.  Pheebs was poking around in some grass & an old downed pine branch.  Saw her lunge forward then quickly recoil back frantically pawing at her nose.  Immediately saw a couple Bees buzzing around her head.  We quickly made a short run for it & the Bees did not follow.  Home we quickly went & Kelly gave her an antihistamine pill.  It must have worked because she stopped itching her face & suffered no ill effects either last night or today from the possible/probable Bee sting.   This morning Kelly noticed a paper wasp like nest on the ground under the pine branch where Pheebs & I had stopped the night before.  By the way it was 3 years ago today we brought our little Pheebers home:))  

PHEEBE’S VERY FIRST DAY AT OUR HOUSE 3 YEARS AGO TODAY

Been having us some super fine weather this past while & with today's 70F temps & a gentle warm breeze it just made for a relaxing day around the house with a bit of yard puttering.  I did check the water levels in our 4 coach batteries this morning & all was well.

 

Sitting here at the computer on another passive Saturday night I remembered back to a time when Saturday nights were not quite so passive.  In 2009 I wrote a little piece about my old home town of Tavistock Ontario & called it 'Small Town Saturday Night'. 

THE HOUSE IN TAVISTOCK WHERE I LIVED DURING THE ‘SMALL TOWN SATURDAY NIGHTS’ ERA
ARCHIVE MEMORY::  It was back in the late 50's & very early 60's that I was living in the little farming community village of Tavistock Ontario Canada & times were a whole lot different from the way they are now. Especially on Saturday nights because that's when the farm guys rolled into town. Kind of like the old west when the cattlemen would ride into town on a Saturday night, hit the saloons & shoot up the bars.
Tavistock at the time had a population of around 1200 people with 3 grocery stores, a drug store where the Greyhound bus even stopped at, 4 gas stations, couple hardware stores, a bank, 2 butcher shops, 2 bakeshops, a clothing store, a local newspaper, plus an assortment of other little shops & business’s. The local restaurant & hang out was called Joe's Place & the 2 big booming hotels were called the Arlington & the Oxford. It was the Arlington & the Oxford hotels that mainly contributed to the exciting & wild side of Tavy Town’s Saturday nights.
It was a different world then with different ideals, ideas, morals, & ways of doing things. By late Saturday afternoon the local farmers, having finished up in the fields & barns climbed into the tub for the Saturday night special, shined up their best boots, & slipped into their best Wrangler jeans. With a clean shirt & some extra bucks in their pockets they loaded up the wife & kids in the car & headed into town for groceries, a stop at the hardware store, ice cream at Joes & a few beers at the Oxford.
Saturday nights were alive with people on the streets. Cars lined the curbs on both sides. Groups of people standing on sidewalks talking & laughing. Like I said, it was a different world. Joe's Place was the hub for everyone from kids to grandparents. A large squared off horseshoe lunch counter with about 20 stools made for standing room only. Two bowling alleys in the back were action packed with thundering bowling balls & flying pins. Four pool tables in an adjoining room were never vacant with all available chairs on the sideline filled. Hank Williams, Hank Snow, & Eddie Arnold boomed out of the old jukebox at Papa Joes. Tavistock on a Saturday night was alive……..and then came the entertainment.
It was the young farm guys with their Dad's car or their own jazzed up set of wheels that really livened things up. Early to mid 1950 Fords & Chevys were popular with the guys.  These were hard working kids who had spent the week out on the land in the hot sun, planting, ploughing, digging & tending cattle. They were up at the crack of dawn doing chores & just getting themselves wound up tighter than hot snare drum at a Gene Kruppa concert. By the time Saturday night rolled around these guys were headed for town......... & boy were they ever!!
It was usually the shrill sound of squealing car tires that first brought heads around to the fact that another action packed Saturday night was underway. Late 40's & early 50's flat head Fords were popular as were the Chevy's & Dodges. Fender skirts, moons, wheel spinners, dice on the mirrors, whatever these farm kids could fancy up their cars with they did. Patsy Cline, Johnny Horton & Marty Robbins boomed out of their big single bass dash speaker car radios. The beer was in the trunk, the girls were in the passenger seats, & the cars were layin rubber up & down the main street. Like so many other small towns on a Saturday night in those days…….Tavistock was alive!!
I was too young for a driver's license then & alcohol was hardly even a thought in my mind yet as I watched all the shenanigans from the sidelines. Four main roads & a street all converged in the center of town so all the cars racing around had to pass through that single Octopus like intersection over & over. On the south side of the street on one corner was an old store called Pepplars that had long since gone out of business. This was a favorite spot for my young friends & myself to sit & watch the goings on. From here we could keep an eye on both hotels & instantly spot the fights as they broke out later in the evening. Occasionally one of us would walk up the street to Joes Place to bring some pop back for everybody but I hated doing that because of the farm guys hanging around the doorway at Papa Joes.
I was afraid of these guys because some of them were always spoiling for a fight. They were bigger, stronger, & older. With a few beers or a quick coke under their belts they were looking to make a name for themselves by pounding out some of Tavy’s town kids. I got pushed around a few times & knocked to the sidewalk once so I had a real dis-like for these farm guys & their dorky hayseed country music but I sure envied them roaring around town in their souped-up cars. With big rumbling duel exhausts, windshield visors, wide whitewall tires, sexy looking girls, cigarettes in their mouths, sunglasses & long red scarves on the mirrors, these guys were cool. And seemingly no fear of authority whatsoever. They were the Blums, the Zehrs, Ramsyers, Rubys, the Benders, Baechlers, the Schmidts, & many more. They were our farming community. They were our young Saturday night half bad buckaroos. 
The only authority in town at the time was an aging retired Ontario Provincial Police officer with a black 1960 Dodge car & flashing red light. His name was Peter Grant but we all called him Peter Gunn. He was a good man & did his best to rein in the young bucks but there were just too many for him. By the time he got to where the squealing tires were another fight had broken out in one of the hotels & by the time he got that under control in one hotel parking lot there were squealing tires & dust flying back over at the other hotel.  Yep, it was Saturday night in a small Ontario town about 50 years ago & I was there as Jim Reeves, Frankie Laine, & Johnny Cash laid down the treasury of memories that I would learn to love so much  many, many, years later:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  My job is in the Aerospace Industry, and it's always been a challenge to explain what kind of work I do.  At one gathering, I tried several unsuccessful attempted explanations before deciding to be as generic as possible. When the subject came up while I was talking with a group of guys, I replied simply, "Defense Contractor."   
The men nodded, and as the conversation went on, I silently declared victory to myself. Then, one of them turned to me and asked, "So, what do you put up mainly? Chain-link?"

IT WAS ALL GOOD NEWS AT LONDON’S UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL TODAY

By 9:45 a.m. this morning we were on the road heading for University Hospital in London Ontario.  Kelly had an appointment with her liver specialist at 11:30.  We took the Sunfire because we knew the day could get hot & we wanted the option of A/C coming home.  We were in the Doctor’s waiting room 15 minutes early & had a 40 minute wait.   It was after 12 before Kelly got in to see the Doc.  He right away asked her about Arizona & she was surprised that he remembered her connection with the South-West.  All news from the Doctor was good & he told her she could be a poster girl for the medicine URSODIOL because it is working so well for her.  All her numbers looked good.  Ursodiol does not cure the liver problem Kelly has but it does slow it down.  He told her she didn't need to bother having blood tests over the winter while in the States & said he would see her again in April.  All good news:))

KELLY’S BIG ‘GOOD NEWS’ SMILE COMING OUT OF THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE

  

AND SHE LIKES TO KEEP HER SUNFIRE CLEANED UP & HAPPY TOO
I am always aware how fortunate we are every time we have occasion to visit a hospital.  And it was always brought home to me first hand when I used to be in & out of so many nursing homes & care facilities a few years back with my mobility van job.  Just way too many poor souls in such unfortunate medical circumstances.  Despite all my complaining sometimes I really have nothing to complain about compared to so many.  Reminds me of the old saying, 'I complained I had no shoes........until I met the man who had no feet'.
We are both very pleased with our 04 Pontiac Sunfire's performance & I am surprised at how much torque it has.  Like a jack rabbit off the starting line.  And for a couple old gear jammers like Kelly & I it sure is nice having an automatic transmission for a change.  Last auto tranny we had in a vehicle other than our RV’s was our 99 Dodge Mini-Van which we sold back in 2010.  Only problem with the Sunfire I see is it's lowness to the road.  Not an easy entrance & exit vehicle especially for me but I did enjoy driving it to London & back today.  Oh, & it has a good old knobs & dials radio.  Now how nice is that compared to these new touch screen woodpecking finger blunting touch screens………………….10-4

We left the hospital in London's noon hour rush & all's I can do is shake my head every time I'm in any large city & see the volumes of traffic congestion in those crowded places.  Living in the relaxed rural countryside like we have for the last nearly 20 years sure has shielded us from the realities of those stressful mass civilization places.
 
GROANER'S CORNER:(( The teacher of the earth science class was lecturing on map reading.  After explaining about latitude, longitude, degrees and minutes the teacher asked, "Suppose I asked you to meet me for lunch at 23 degrees, 4 minutes north latitude and 45 degrees, 15 minutes east longitude?"  After a confused silence, a voice volunteered, "I guess you'd be eating alone."
---
Q. How many ears does Mr. Spock have?
A. Three. The left ear, the right ear, and the final front ear.  (Groan)
---
There were two guys on a motorcycle driving down the road. The driver was wearing a leather jacket that didn't have a zipper or any buttons.  Finally he stopped the bike and told the other guy, "I can't drive anymore with the air hitting me in my chest."
After thinking for a while he decided to put the coat on backwards to block the air from hitting him. So they were driving down the road and they came around this curve and wrecked. The farmer that lived there called the police and told them what happened.
The police asked him, "are either of them showing any life signs?"  The farmer then said, "well, that first one was 'till I turned his head around the right way."

PHEEBE RUNS WITH THE ELK….WELL AT LEAST I THINK THEY’RE ELK

PHEEBS IS DOING ABOUT 150 MPH DOWN THAT FENCE LINE & I’M GUESSING THESE MIGHT BE ELK OR A CLOSE RELATIVE

We were a couple a happy campers rolling south in the Sunfire on highway 21 for Grand Bend this morning.  Destination was Ron's FOUR SEASONS PERFORMANCE Auto-Marine-RV.  We had some money to pick up:))  Always nice to see Ron & all that great positive energy he puts out.  The saying, 'if it doesn't rain it pours' sure took on meaning when Ron told us he had 3 separate buyers for the rig on the last day it was for sale before the Grand Bend couple picked it up Wednesday night.  We are so happy to have that Winnebago sale behind us finally.  And a big thanks to Ron for doing all the leg work.  We both said on the way home we hope our Triple E Commander is our last RV.  We don’t need or want any more buying & selling RV stress.  We've had our fill of that this past year & a half.  Hopefully we got it right this time eh..........:))

 

 

THE OLD & THE NEW

Back to Bayfield & Kelly headed off to a couple Banks in Goderich to deposit some money & pay off a few bills.  Always a nice feeling doing that.  I was curious to see how the wind turbines were coming along so Pheebs & I headed up that way to have us a look.  One of the turbines under construction is close to the road so we stopped beside a bean field for awhile & watched workers assembling the boom of a super big mega crane. 

PHEEBS HUNG OUT AROUND THIS BEAN FIELD WHILE I WATCHED THE CRANE ASSEMBLY FOR AWHILE

I saw 2 giant red cranes fully assembled in the K2 wind turbine yard last week & wondered at that time how they move those things on site.  Today I found out.  Watched as flat bed trucks each carrying a long crane arm section would arrive on site, position itself in the right spot & wait for a smaller yellow crane to lift off the larger crane section.  The section was then carefully swung into position as 2 workers maneuvered it into place & drove in large steel pins to affix the sections together.  Those guys plus the crane operator sure have to know what they are doing. Watching through binoculars it was interesting to see the hand signals going from one of the workers way back to the crane operator.  Moving tons of hanging steel just inches at a time.  I expect they will have the big mega crane assembled some time next week & it won't be long before they lift up the big propeller assembly to the top of the main tower.  Big crane will be disassembled, moved a quarter mile down the road & reassembled again.  Whewww, makes me tired just thinking of all that work.

THESE LONG CRANE ARMS ARE DISASSEMBLED & DRIVEN TO CONSTRUCTION SITES ON LARGE FLAT BED TRAILERS

A TRUCK BACKS IN A SECTION OF THE LARGE  CRANE ARM TO BE ASSEMBLED

  

YELLOW CRANE LIFTS THE SECTION OFF THE TRUCK AS WORKERS GUIDE IT INTO PLACE

 

THE RED CRANE OPERATOR’S STATION IS JUST TO THE RIGHT OF WHERE THE ARM JOINS THE MULTI-WHEELED CRANE TRUCK

I SUSPECT A BIT OF MAINTENANCE GOING ON WITH THIS TURBINE…BIG HATCH OPEN & SOMETHING IS ABOUT TO BE WINCHED UP FROM THE GROUND

Just up the road from the wind turbine site is the hobby farm with all the different types of animals.  Pheebs likes to stop there & see the Llamas and Alpacas.  Today we spotted half a dozen Elk & were able to pull off the road right up close to them.  Pheebs was going bonkers to get out of the Jeep & say hello.  She raced right over to the fence running around in excited circles.  The Elk right away came to the fence to see her.  Pheebs would race along the fence line at top speed & the Elk ran right alongside her on the other side of the fence.  Pheebs would burn a grass chewing U-turn & head back up along the fence line with the Elk turning sharply & racing back up right beside her.  They all had a fun time together.  I didn't see any smooches going on through the fence but they were pretty close a few times when Pheebs would stop & stick her nose through the fence.  Long time readers will remember all that cow smooching back in late February & early March of 2012 when we were boondocking just just south of NORTH RANCH near Congress Arizona.  And mentioning North Ranch...thanks for that Custer/Congress route Mike:))

THESE GUYS WERE FASCINATED WITH THE PHEEBS AS SHE EXCITEDLY RACED AROUND SHOWING OFF

 

PHEEBS IS SAYING, ‘CATCH ME IF YOU CAN YA BIG TURKEYS’

ARCHIVE MEMORY::  Think I wrote this back in 2009 & entitled it 'Numbers On Our RV Bin Doors'……………  I have found that RV storage space & traveling is a good example of theory & practical application.  The trick is in keeping your theory practical.  Coming from a 5th wheel to a motorhome we were overwhelmed by all the extra storage space suddenly available to us.  Seemed like acres & acres of room to lose every imaginable thing you could think of.  I could see right off the bat that the rig had a far bigger capacity for storing things than my brain did.  I knew there was no possible way I was going to ever remember where everything was.  In my younger days I had worked for a few stores like Eatons & Sears in warehouse capacities so knew the importance of inventory, labeling, & organization.  Figured I would put that knowledge to use. First thing I did was to get some of those small sticky-back numbers & starting from the first bin on the passenger side I gave each bin a number from 1 to 13.  Thirteen was the bin closest to the front on the driver's side.  I then got myself a 3 ring binder & began recording everything I put into each bin.  I even inventoried the toolbox so I knew what was inside without having to open it.  I was pretty pleased with myself for being so orderly & my system worked flawlessly............ for about a week!!

Everything looked well & good sitting at home in the driveway but within a dozen days of traveling my whole inventory was pretty much upside down.  Didn't take me long to forget about making changes to the inventory book as I rearranged things.   Going from a nice neatly organized  stationary bin arrangement in the driveway to the reality of the road with it's many last minute overnight stops, weekly campsites, & monthly stays, it was inevitable I would forget to record the dozens & dozens of changes along the way.  I was already behind the 8 ball after the first week & despite my efforts at trying to update my changes I just fell further & further behind until I finally didn't even know where my inventory book was anymore.  So much for my logical theory!!  For full timers this isn't as great a problem because they live with their stuff each & every day but for we Snow Birds it's kinda difficult with that long 5 & 6 month dry stretch in between travels.  Just when I'm getting my head wrapped around to knowing where things are while traveling it's time to head home in the spring again.  Six months later when it's time to hit the road once more I'm lucky if I can remember where I've even left the Motorhome!!   And, one last thought about storage.  That first year with the motorhome we jammed anything & everything into the rig's bins we could think of.  And why did we do that?  Because the space was there & we felt we had to fill it with something.  I am still mentally inclined that way & have to keep telling myself, "no, you do not have to fill that space!!"   This past year heading south we probably had a good 25% of our storage space empty with nearly the same percentage numbers coming back.   We're getting better:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A DEA officer stopped at a ranch in Texas and talked with the old rancher. "I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs."
"Okay, but don't go in that field over there."
The DEA officer verbally exploded saying, "Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me!" Reaching into his pocket, he removed his badge and proudly displayed it to the rancher.
"See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish, on any land! No questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?"
The rancher nodded politely. "I'm sorry," and with that he went about his chores.
A short time later, the old rancher heard loud screams. He looked up and saw the DEA officer running for his life with the rancher's big Santa Gertrudis bull in hot pursuit. The bull was gaining ground on the officer with every step and it seemed just a matter of a few more steps before the officer would be gored.
The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs: "Your badge! Show him your BADGE!!"

‘YAHOOIE LOUIE’ WE SOLD THE WINNEBAGO ‘AGAIN’…..WHAT!!!!

Donned my garden gloves this morning & got myself right at some backyard projects.  Ferns to be dug up & re-located, yard waste to the dump, some gravel to load up in the utility trailer, some trimming, an outside electrical cord to be reburied, sweep out the carport, sweat like crazy then hop on the Honda & head on down the highway for a nice cool-off.  That bike ride was the best part of my day.

YES IT CAN BE SAID WE HAVE QUITE A JUNGLE AROUND US HERE:))

 

 

Remember a few weeks ago on July 18th when my posts title was 'Sold The Winnebago.'  Well for all intents & purposes that was true.  A fellow & his wife looked at & liked the Winnie so struck a deal with Ron at FOUR SEASONS PERFORMANCE to buy it.  It was all done on a goodwill handshake.  Things are still kinda done like that in these here parts sometimes.  That's when I wrote my ‘in hindsight premature July 18th post’.  The buyers were to return the following Saturday morning to pick up the rig.   Ron did the safety check & drove the Winnie Wagon to a neighbouring county to have it E-tested. (mandatory emissions test)  On the day the folks were to pick it up Ron had dusted it off & shined it up for them.  He had it sitting in his driveway all set to go.   Ron waited all morning for them to come.  Morning turned into afternoon but……they never showed up.  Didn't answer his phone calls either.  In other words the deal had fallen through.  It was a pretty disappointed Ron who called us with the news late that afternoon.  And needless to say we were extremely disappointed too but as Ron, as well as Harry from STORMRUNNER RV SALES & SERVICE said, “this is sometimes not an unusual happening in their type of business” .About a week later the fellow phones Ron back saying they had run into some kind of a medical problem but still wanted the Winnebago & would be over the following Monday morning to do the paperwork & pick it up.  Ron phoned us saying the deal was back on & we were all pretty excited again.  The following Monday came.....& went.  Nobody showed up.  Huge disappointment for our side again so you can imagine how Kelly & I have been feeling the past few weeks.  We were beginning to have visions of having to winterize the Winnebago & leave it sitting in our driveway here all winter only to have to go through the whole selling thing again in the Spring.  Ron bolstered our sagging hopes with his ever present positive & confident manner saying, “don’t worry guys it will sell”.  In the meantime Kelly had placed an ad on RV Auto Trader as well & 3 days ago we had a call from a serious buyer.  We went back & forth on the price a bit but he was way below our bottom line.  He sent an email Tuesday morning with his final offer & we were sitting in the living room agonizing over what to do.  We didn't want to end up having the Winnie sit here all winter but we weren't prepared to give it away either.  As we were discussing what to do…….the phone rang.  It was Ron's ever cheery, always upbeat voice on the other end saying, "hey guys I think I got your coach sold."  He cautioned us not to celebrate just yet so we didn't.  As it turns out a local couple had been in to look at the rig several times, took it for test drive, loved it & said, 'we'll take it."  Ron just called us a few minutes ago & as I am sitting here typing this tonight the couple is at Ron's picking up their Winnebago:))  We'll slip down to Ron's in the morning to settle up.  I didn't put anything in any of my posts the last few weeks about the July 18th Winnie Wagon deal falling through because, well........just because.

GROANER'S CORNER:(( "Reflections On Government Today"  Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount. However, Government often tries other strategies with dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Saying things like "This is the way we always have ridden this horse."

4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

5. Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.

6. Increasing the standards to ride dead horses.

7. Appointing a team to revive the dead horse.

8. Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.

9. Comparing the state of dead horses in today's environment.

10. Change the requirements declaring that "This horse is not dead."

11. Hire contractors to ride the dead horse.

12. Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.

13. Declaring that "No horse is too dead to beat."

14. Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.

15. Do a CA Study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.

16. Purchase a product to make dead horses run faster.

17. Declare the horse is "better, faster and cheaper" dead.

18. Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.

19. Revisit the performance requirements for horses.

20. Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.

21. Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

I’M CAREFUL TO MAKE SLEEPING SOUNDS & NOT WAKING UP SOUNDS, PLUS………'CLUNKERS’

I usually finish up my daily post somewhere around 9 ever night.  Into my PJ's, out to the living room & stretch out in my recliner for some TV time.  Kelly's in her recliner & Pheebs is all stretched out on her very own couch.  Same one we had in Winnie The Bago over the winter.  As is routine Kelly heads off to bed somewhere around 9:30 or 9:45.  I hang on until 11.  TV off, stove light off & a small night light on.  I shuffle off down the hall to bed with the Pheebs trotting right along behind me.  She waits until I have flopped onto my bed without hurting myself then lays down on her special doggy mat right beside my bed.  That's how we end each & every day here in Bayfield.  Morning starts for us usually somewhere between 5 & 6 a.m. & again it is pretty much routine.  I roll over onto & bump into a snoozing furry object.  Well sort of snoozing.  No need to open my eyes because I know it's the Pheebs.  She always climbs on my bed sometime in the night when I'm sleeping.  But now begins the fun.  If I want to sleep in a little longer I have to be careful to make only sleeping sounds & not waking up sounds.  A waking up sound could be a deep breath & that's just exactly what Pheebs is waiting for.  If I'm not quick enough to get a cover pulled over my head my day starts with a whole bunch of slurpy doggy smooches on my face & an over exuberantly happy bouncing little Pheeber Buns on top of me.  We go through this every morning & our frolicking lasts for nearly a minute sometimes before she lets up & I am able to roll out of bed & onto my feet.  What a super great way to start every day I’d say:))

 
  

OUR WET SUMMER HAS PRODUCED SOME EARLY ‘PUFFBALLS’ SUCH AS THIS EATABLE ONE NEAR OUR HOUSE (NO WE DIDN’T EAT IT)

OH GEE I WONDER WHERE THIS FELLOW LIKES TO EAT
Kelly noticed we still had last year's calendar on one of our wall & in taking it down she casually flipped though it.  With the words, "well we sure had a different summer last year" she pointed out last summer’s Doctor appointments, a couple emergency room visits, blood work appointments, tests & procedures in both the Goderich & Stratford Hospitals.  Big change this summer from last summer.   However, we are off to London's University Hospital this Friday morning where Kelly has an appointment with her liver Specialist.  Far as we know it will just be a routine check-up to bring her up to date on how her auto immune problem is doing.  As I said, it's been a much better summer for both of us on the medical front.  My hip pain cleared up just over a year ago & other than the everyday stiffening arthritis in my legs & the fact I am overweight I'm doing fine.  And of course Pheebs is always her happy little self as well.  Motorcycle is running good, Kelly loves her Sunbird, we finally have an RV we are totally happy with & the Jeep continues to be my all time favorite vehicle. 

Now speaking of vehicles I am reminded of a post I wrote back in 2007.  I looked up that post a short while ago & updated it.  A few guys out here might find it kind of interesting because It's all about cars, pick-trucks, motorcycles, RV’s & stuff.

1959 TRIUMPH TR3 
ARCHIVE MEMORY:: (Updated:: August 2014)   ‘A Lifetime Of Old Clunkers And Some Nice Ones Too’………………….Yup that's really me in the Triumph TR3 above:)) Originally wrote this article in response to some postings on the 50+ forum one time by some guys talking about all the different cars they've had over the years. It got me thinking back to seemingly simpler times & ways of doing things. Once I sat down with a pencil & paper & began putting to-gether a list of remembered vehicles I was truly surprised at the sheer number of vehicles that have passed through my hands.  And trying to remember them all sure has been a great exercise for clearing the aging cobwebs out of my brain. Hard to recall exact years of the vehicles but I think most of them are right or very close.  One of the reasons for so many vehicles was that years ago you could buy a used car from a buddy for fifty bucks or off a lot for a couple of hundred. Sometimes you just traded stuff. All my vehicles were used except for a 73 Mazda 808 & an 85 Pontiac Fiero. Didn't need expensive insurance (if any) back in the 60's, no costly safety checks, & sometimes ya got away with an expired drivers license for awhile too. And sometimes you didn't even bother changing over the ownership before you sold it again. Oh dear!! To the best of my knowledge here are the vehicles I've had. I probably have forgot a few VW Beetles here & there.  Loved those things & ya could take em anywhere.....& I did.  As far south as Sarasota Florida, east to Halifax Nova Scotia, & west to British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.  Well, here’s my line-up…………………………………………………………………..
1 - 1961 Volkswagon Beetle (my very first car. but being a smart-aleck teen-age male, I wrecked it:((
2 - 55 Ford (red & white with big rust holes in the floor))
3 - ?? Ford Falcon (blue....hit a parked car with it & that was the end of that!!)

4 - 62 Mini-minor (red & the starter button was under the drivers seat)
5 - 59 Triumph TR3 2 seater sports car (burgundy with racing stripes) Picture at top....

6 - 61 Mini-Minor (red)

7 - 64 VW Beetle (white, bought it in Halifax Nova Scotia & drove it back to Tavistock Ont.)

8- 59 Vauxhall (creamy beige & was owned by a quiet little old Mennonite lady)

9- ?? VW Carman Ghia (red & white but a female friend ran into a telephone post with it...no injuries)

10 - 58 Jaguar sedan (dark blue & what a wreck)
11 - 62 VW Beetle (no first gear & red)

12 - 59 VW Camper Van (pink & white & had the word, "VanGo" painted on it)
13 - 64 MGB (red with big paste-on hippy flowers covering all the rust holes in it)
14- 62 Ford Falcon (gray & primer) Yup, I sprayed the whole bottom half with cans of primer!!
15- 56 Austin Healy 2 seater sports car (red) Because of alcohol I foolishly wrecked this car too.  Wished I had this Austin Healy back..................................
16- 60 Pontiac Parisian (robins egg blue & what a tank)
17- 59 Volvo Coupe (black) Nice car but could never get it running right.
18- 61 Chevy Biscayne (brown/tan & drove it to Ottawa & back once )
19- 63 VW Beetle (beige) Rolled this one down an embankment because of black ice in British Columbia.
20 -73 Mazda 808 (new & lime green) Nice car but Al's drinking shortened it's life too:((
21 - 85 Pontiac Fiero (new & red) Took this car back to the dealer after 6 months!!
22 - 62 Volkswagen Camper Van (orange) Toured Canada's east coast in 86 with this wonderful old blister:))
23 - ?? Mazda pick up truck (brown & a hard to steer vehicle)
24 - 73 Oldsmobile Cutlass (customized super sharp car & burgundy)
25 - 74 Ford Econoline Van (beige & brown with a big bed in the back)
26 - 84 Pontiac Firebird complete with T-bar sunroof (sharp car & white)
27 - ?? Chevy Malibu (maroon) Just had it painted, sold it to a neighbor & she rolled it over:((
28 - 82 Honda Civic (gray & one of the best running little cars I ever had)
29.-89 Mazda pick up truck (white & had been my Dad’s before he died) Took this one to Arizona to have a look at the Grand Canyon in 1992)
30- 79 Dodge Converted Camper Van (brown & not one of my better deals)
31- 74 Mazda Rotary Engine....Wagon (gray & a total bust...never did get it running)
32- 85 Honda Civic (gray & another great Honda product)
33 - 92 Dodge Caravan (burgundy. nice van but it had some issues)
34 -97 Dodge Ram pick up (really nice truck & burgundy) Bought for us by my Uncle Harry:))
35 - 93 Ford Ranger pick up (silver gray, bit of a beater but I liked it)
36 - 79 Dodge Centurion Class C RV (white & old but it was our first RV)
37 - 95 Ford Gulf Stream Class C RV (white & took this to Big Bend in Texas but it had some problems)
38 - ?? Dodge Dynasty (maroon & my Mother's car)
39 - 2000 Chevy Silverado p/u truck (really sharp white truck but only owned it for about 2 months)
40 - 2004 GMC Sierra 4x4 p/u truck (tan colored & loaded with way too many options)
41 - 03 Damon Challenger Motor Home RV 33' Chevy Workhorse (took us to the south-west & back for 6 years)
42 - 03 Hyundai Santa Fe  (silver gray & was our first tow vehicle for a couple years)
43 - 99 Dodge Caravan (really liked this all purpose van)

44 - 2006 Jeep Wrangler TJ (present vehicle & my all time fav)

45 - 2012 Chevy Sunseeker 23' RV Class C (too small & we only had it about 3 months)

46 - 2011 Ford Winnebago Premier Access 26' RV Class C (nice unit but again.....too small)

47 - 2004 Pontiac Sunfire (really clean & mint condition)

48 - 2003 Triple E Commander 36' RV Class A Chevy Workhorse (love it & it is our present RV)

MOTORCYCLES
?? Suzuki 650cc motorcycle (black, but totalled it in an accident)
84 Yamaha Virago 750 motorcycle (red) Traded it in the following Honda
02 Honda Shadow Aero 1100 motorcycle (present bike - purple & gray)

I’ve grouped the above RV’s here……….
1979 Dodge Centurion 17 Class C

1996 Prowler travel trailer... 24' Nice clean unit

1995 Ford Gulf Stream 24' Class C 
2005 Rockwood 5th wheel.... 28' Nice clean unit

2003 Damon Challenger 33' Class C

2012 Chevy Sunseeker 23' Class C

2011 Ford Winnebago Premier Access 26' Class C

2003 Triple E Commander 36' Class A 
 

GROANER'S CORNER:((  An artist asked the gallery owner if there had been any interest in his paintings on display at that time. "I have good news and bad news," the owner replied. "The good news is that a gentleman inquired about your work and wondered if it would appreciate in value after your death. When I told him it would, he bought all 15 of your paintings."  "That's wonderful," the artist exclaimed. "What's the bad news?"  "The guy was your Doctor."