well, this was picking at my mind this morning and I wanted to share something with you guys cause it seemed so bizarre that anyone else would have similar experiences with the Ol' man... when I was young, my dad would make a trip every friday night to the HESS or Texaco station in our '46 Nash or the '53 MGTD to fill up the car.... what we would end up doing was go on a mini family friday night cruise to a gas station about 10miles away just for the mere joy of getting out of the house and going for a friday night cruise.... he was never big on the car show scene, always thought that cruising was more fun...(I don't blame him one bit!) I wonder if you guys ever had a similar experience or story.... this is probably a dumb thing to do but it was on my mind when I started thinking of the famous HESS trucks we all got as kids for christmas. do what you must with this thread, there's even probably a similar thread out there about the same thing (which I couldn't find BTW)...but I wanted to share an traditional experience with you guys......
My dad wasn't a big car nut- they were just transportation for the most part to him, although he did enjoy seeing an antique and even drove my '46 a couple of times before he died. My five year old daughter, on the other hand, will be able to post on this subject in a few years. She and I have played with everything from Corvettes to old trucks since she's been born, and for the past three years or so, "our" thing to do on my days off is to drive "Rusty the '46" to the local general store- an antique itself- and buy two bottles of Dr. Pepper in the little glass bottles and a hershey's bar. We then ride around a loop of old dirt country roads anywhere from 5 miles to 12. We do this if it's rain or shine,sometimes twice a week, and she will remind me if I forget. We've been know to dwaddle away time with a fishing pole and a picnic basket at a little lake that we pass on that dirt road, and there's usually bluegrass, Merle Haggard, or the like playing on the old cassette deck hidden in the glove box. In the spring, we'll stop to pick jonquils growing on the roadside, and any other flower she thinks is cool to take back to Mama. If there's a better way to enjoy a day, or an old ride- I haven't found them. And if she grows up to treasure these little trips half as much as I do now, that old truck will never leave my family. He's already earned his keep a million times with the memories created for me. My next goal is to locate a little camper trailer for us to extend that time a bit more......
The Jalopy Journal
