My history with cars (and trucks)

I got my drivers licence in 1964. My first car was a 57 Chevy. I drove to high school. Gas was 30 cents a gallon. We hung out at the A&W drive in and had car hops serve us. In 1965 I bought my first Volkswagen. It was a 1957 small window. I built a big engine for it. It was fast. I later traded it for a 1959 coupe and transplanted the motor to it. When I got out if the air force I resurrected the 1959. Later in college I got a 1968 bug. I drove that for years till I got my first Datsun pickup. That was followed by a Toyota SR5 king cab. Then I got a Nissan Hardbody. That was followed by a Saturn sedan, then a Saturn coupe with all the options. I traded that for a Saturn Vue and also got a 1993 Isuzu Rodeo LS 4x4. I sold the Isuzu and bought a Toyota Dolphin motorhome. I bought another Nissan and sold the Vue and the motorhome. I still am driving that Nissan truck. I've also bought and sold a Nissan Versa. A lot of cars. A lot of miles. A lot of memories.

Drag racing

Life experiences. Staging my 1957 Chevy Bel Air coupe at the dragstrip. A quick burn out to warm the slicks. Watching the lights, first yellow, the rpms come up. Second yellow rpm hours toward redline. Green foot slips off the clutch, the car lurches forward. First gear to 8000 rpm, then second, then third, then to fourth watching as rpm builds toward 8000. Past the timing lights and on the brakes. It takes some room to slow down from 120 mph of more. Then a quick check of the gauges to make sure the motor is okay then back to the pits. My Chevy had a 283 v8 bored 1/8th over for 301 cubic inches. An Isky roller cam (very noisy at idle), 11 to 1 forged pistons, boxed rods, two c series AFB Carter carbs on an Edelbrock manifold. Doug Thorley headers exiting into the front wheel well just behind the tire. Steel flywheel with a scatter sheild around the bellhousing backed by a Borg Warner T10 four speed trans. Synchro rings had been brazed together so they wouldn't pop off. Rear differential was 4:56 to 1. ( the car used to be doing close to 5000 rpm at freeway speeds) redline was conservatively set at 8000 but capable of quick bursts to 9000 plus. I owned that car for one year till I blew the engine racing from a traffic light. It was fun while it lasted. On a Friday night of cruising I would get 8 to 10 mpg. I ran Chevron Custom Supreme gasoline rated at 104 octane. That stuff cost 39 cents a gallon. Average gas prices in 1965 were around 30 cents.

Drag racing part two

Life experiences. Standing on the starting line of Lions Dragstrip in Long Beach as the top fuel dragsters l as much down the dragstrip. You feel the pounding of the engines and the smell of nitromethane fuel. As they disappear down the track the smell of burning rubber and hit oil fill your nostrils. You step aside as the next pair of dragsters stage. I could usually be found at Lions on Saturday night, either on the starting line or just behind the guardrail with the photographers. I remember one night having to quickly duck behind the guardrail as a top fuel dragsters had a blower explode. The blower sailed right over my head and into the stands. Back then they did not have the safety standards they have today.

Motorcycles

If I was younger there are some things I would like to do. I did it once in my life, that is throw away all the trappings of civilization, and get on a motorcycle and just ride. My parents used to worry because I wo Hi

uld get on my motorcycle and they wouldn't see or hear from me for weeks on end. In my early years I spend a lot of time in hospitals. And the few times I was out of the hospital I would take off on my motorcycle. I had a devil may care attitude because what I was suffering from had a high probability of ending my life. My first journey by motorcycle took me to Yuma. From there I rode to Quartzsite and from there to Prescott then over to Jerome, then Sedona, then Flagstaff, then Page, Jacob's Lake, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Hurricane, Mesquite Arizona, Las Vegas, Boulder City, Boulder Dam, Searchlight, Vidal Junction, Rice, 29 Palms, Palm Springs, then home.

You can see from that list I did travel. I would camp and cook my own meals. I would repair flat tires, and watch fabulous sunrises and sunsets. I was one with the road.

I have logged over 250,000 miles on motorcycles. I ride through most of the Western United States. I visited most all the national parks and monuments.