Wednesday, January 18, 2012

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!  :)

13 comments:

  1. Surprised to hear that you are driving already. Glad that things are going well.

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  2. You are certainly right that it feels wonderful to get a good haircut. Sometimes it's difficult when you are rarely in the same place for very long.

    Glad you are feeling better.

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  3. I'm glad you're doing much better and that the hospital is behind you. Before you know it you'll wandering all over again.

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  4. You are really doing great. So good to get those staples out. And that is a neat story about your son's car. Keep on walking and getting stronger.

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  5. I too was surprised that you are driving already. Just can't keep a good woman down!! Glad to hear you are doing well and hope you and Katie will be able to get back on the road soon. How nice of your son to lend his car. that's a true friend.

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  6. I'm so glad to hear you are doing better, and driving already! Oh yeah, fresh haircuts are terrific :)

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  7. I was also surprised to hear you are driving already. Good for you.

    Glad to see you blogging also!

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  8. We missed your posts during your illness. Glad to hear you are out and about a bit, your making good progress. Nice of Tom to do that for his friend. Beautiful looking Mustang.

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  9. Glad to hear you are getting better. You are right sometimes just getting up and moving makes you feel so much better than laying around, especially for someone like you that is used to activity.
    Yep neat car. I had a 1967 Shelby Cobra(wish I still had it, could pay my house off) and a 1970 Mach I

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  10. So glad to see your post and that things are slowly getting back to normal. Just take it slow, no lifting, at least that's what they told me after mine a couple of years ago. As full-timers we shouldn't be in a hurry anyway, right?

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  11. I have been so wrapped up in my own knee surgery recuperation and I am still trying to catch up on my blog reading. Here I find you have been through sutgery also! So glad you are doing much better and nothing more serious.
    Happy belated birthday to you. We are about the same age, btw, as I will be 67 in June.
    Loved the article about the car. Have you seen the movie, "Elizbethtown"? I think you and your son might enjoy it. It is about a son taking his father's ashes on the journey they didn't get around to taking when the father was still alive. I't a fantastic movie.

    Love the pictures of your little chipmunk several posts back. And Katie with her toys, so cute!

    Let's hope we both have a heathy year ahead of us in 20-12 :)

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  12. So glad you are on the mend. Congrats on getting the staples out. Every day will certainly get better now. 16! I had 12 and thought that was bad. Ouch.

    Let’s see if I got this right. You drove yourself to get the staples out and you went shopping after leaving the ER in Blythe. You are an amazing woman, Barbara. HugZ!

    That is a sweet story about Tom and the California special. Great pics too. Thanks for sharing. Makes me double-double wish I still had my ’69 GTO Judge. ;)

    I tell Sassy (Denise) all the time that she is my other heroine (you were 1st, grin). Great pics of the Softail. I used to have a Road King and had thought by the time I get another one I’d have to settle for a trike. Once again, Denise is my hero…. Am thinking maybe a Heritage…. Thanks for sharing.

    Feel better and better. HugZ to Katie too, D

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  13. LOVE LOVE LOVE that '68 Mustang. With that and his gorgeous Heritage Softail, your son sure has good taste !! LOL

    His Heritage is only slightly different than mine. Yes, The handlebars are different and he has the whitewall tires which I'd love to have. They look so nice on the Heritage.

    So nice to see pics of both the car and the bike.

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Thank you for your comments - we LOVE them!