We passed 100,000 Total Pageviews :), and the Final Ride

I noticed a couple of days ago that we passed 100,000 views.  That's pretty exciting - thank you all for stopping by to check my posts, and helping to bring us over the 100K mark.  Never when I started this blog did I think I'd have so many readers and followers. 

Welcome to our new followers:

Kerri, who is a single mom, and hopes to someday become a fulltimer - she's looking for the right rig.
Michael and Dee, who have a beautiful Jayco Seneca 35GS motor home.
Lana, who is planning a move from Houston to a life on a farm, with a cabin in the woods.  Sounds good to me!
Jim - who doesn't show a blog or any other information.  Jim, if you've got one, let me know, okay?

Because it's been so uncomfortable to use my computer in bed, I've just lately gotten caught up on my regular blog reading, and haven't had a chance to read much past your most recent posts, but I will, I will... 

Welcome to you all - I really appreciate you following along with Katie and me as we continue having adventures in The Palms. 

Today I drove The Palms down to the Kaiser building in San Diego, to the Plastic Surgery department, where a nurse took out my 16 staples.  I've never had that done before, and was a little apprehensive about it, but it didn't hurt at all.   The nurse said everything looks good, so I'm almost done with check-ups.  I have an appointment with the surgeon who did the operation on Friday, January 27th, and assuming all goes well, I should be released after the 27th.

It was really nice to get back into The Palms.  I had gone shopping after I left the ER in Blythe, and rather than putting everything away (except for fridge and freezer stuff) I put the grocery bags in the shower to keep them safe, and today I finally went through them to see what I had. I cleaned up a little clutter - I had stored my hats, mittens, gloves, and assorted other things in Katie's crate on the passenger seat of the rig, and when my son, Tom, brought Katie home, he put all those things on the couch so he could bring Katie's crate with them.  So I got all those things put away, and The Palms is again in good shape.

I enjoyed driving her again, 1/2 hour to Kaiser and 1/2 hour back.  Pretty short trips for The Palms.  On the way home I stopped at a Super Cuts. I was already weeks, maybe months, past due for a haircut, and after laying around in bed for two weeks, boy! did I need a haircut!  It was driving me crazy.  Luckily I got a good hairdresser, and I was really pleased with the cut she gave me.  Nothing like a good haircut to make you feel better, right, ladies?

When I first got here to Tom and Trish's house, Tom told me about a friend of his whose father had died, and he asked Tom if he could borrow one of his cars for the funeral.  Tom was getting it ready, polishing it up, etc. for Reese to pick up the next morning.

I thought it was a really touching story, so I asked Tom to e-mail me some photos of the car.  He also sent along an explanation, which just touched my heart.  I've edited Tom's text just a little, and here it is with the photos:

1968 California Special Mustang

 
"This is the car that my friend, Reece, drove his Dad's ashes in to the funeral service at Point Loma this week. Full military honors - he fought in the Korean war.

"He and his Dad had restored a 65 Mustang fastback when Reece was 15. It was his first car, so he thought it would be fitting to give his Dad his last ride in a vintage 60's Mustang. (Reece regretfully sold the 65 about 14 years ago).

"This is a 1968 California Special Mustang. A rare one-year, California Ford dealer-only limited production Mustang with only about 4000 being produced in 1968. There are said to be less than 2,000 left today.

"This car has the original 302 motor with a C4 automatic transmission, power steering, disc brakes, air conditioning, power door locks and a whole lot of chrome under the hood!"

Isn't that a sweet thing for Tom's friend, Reese, to do for his father's last ride?  A really nice "human interest story."

Tom was going to sell the car on E-bay, but after getting it ready for Reese, he's decided to keep it for a while.  Tom has been an entrepreneur since college, currently owning and operating five different businesses, one of which is restoring classic cars.  Most are 67-68-69 Camaros, but he does have other cars he's restored through the years, including some Mustangs. 

As a side note, the morning of the funeral, Tom was driving along the freeway with one of his employees, and the guy said, "Do you still have the California Special?"  Tom said, "Yes, why?"  The employee, who had worked on that car for Tom, said, "I just saw one driving in the opposite direction - it just passed us."  Then Tom explained that the car he just saw was his California Special, and explained the situation.  Weird, huh, that with all the freeways in San Diego, they would actually pass each other?

I was showing Tom some of the blogs I read, and when I showed him Denise's blog, and her Harley, Tom said, "I have the same one."  (I think the handlebars are different, and maybe some other things, too, but it's the same model?)

I asked him to send me photos of the motorcycle, so Denise could see it - here it is:

These are taken at the shop in his office building - he "stages" the vehicles, usually in front of his house, when he puts them up for sale.  He's not ready to sell the Harley yet.

Denise, Tom thought your Harley was beautiful!  And of course, IT IS!  :)

See?  Even if you're in bed all day, there are still some interesting things that happen.  (Well, I'm doing some walking at least a few times a day to get back some strength, not laying in bed ALL day.)

From Me and My Dog, have a great Wednesday evening, everyone!  :)