I didnt even get a drivers license until I was 28 Years old after I got a Divorce. My Husband had done all our driving.
The best vehicle I ever owned- wasnt the only New one Ive ever bought. That was a bright shiny Silverado with a Crew-Cab. It wasnt my very First Car either. That car was an economical used Chevy hatchback which died on the way through Oregon. It sure was not even the prettiest a person. I obtained Her immediately after I had to take the Bus the rest of the way from Oregon to Tacoma where I had been heading. She was a sexy Red White Impala convertible. She had been mistreated and used a Quart of oil everywhere She went. I had begun to start thinking about selling Her. I wanted to get yourself a Pickup I needed since moving to the Country. But somehow I think She sensed it. She blew a rod right before I used to be going to trade Her I think it was just to let me know I couldnt toss her aside for another.
Then came the new Man in my life. He was definitely the best He was a 1966 Chevy Apache. Red preistaxieugene oregon He had his original shady green paint job but it was faded and rusty in spots. There was a Standard Transmission Four on the Floor and a manual choke. He had straight sides a long Box with wood floorboards between smooth metal strips a Tow Ball and Sixteen Inch Tires. He was mine all mine.
At first I did not think too much about it. Although I was happy to have a Pick-up to move a Refrigerator or anything else carry wood or take camping with my Two little girls. My Saint Bernard rode along with us in the back. I didnt understand then WHY- if I was in Tacoma on Friday or Saturday nights the guys out cruising would pull up to Baby Boy rev-up their Engines and give me a beep-beep Later someone finally told me that the guys had wanted to race because I had a Hot truck. It made me laugh. I Didnt really know about that sort of thing. I just cared that nothing actually failed to be working. My fella was also pretty good on Gas. Gas had gone up from 19 cents to 26 Cents a Gallon and it cost over 5.00 to fill up so I was happy I obtained good mileage. I always kept straight anti-freeze in the Radiator and it never lost a drop. I put top grade oil in it. But I guess the truck failed to care too much about that since it hardly used any oil.
We had rented an aged Farmhouse south of Tacoma on Mudd Lake. It was Sasquach country. Funny a few of my Tacoma friends were afraid to visit upon dark because of that. Some area people had claimed to have seen traces of Them. But they did not bother me and I failed to bother them. If theyre had been any around as far as I know they never bothered anybody.
I had never been so cold in my life as on the First winter night on that Farm. I had all our blankets piled on my Girls and I sat in a chair with my feet in the oven of the electric stove with some coats on top of me. Next Day we obtained a Wood Stove that heated the whole Two story farmhouse. We found out we could get short pieces of 2 x 4s Free from the local Lumber Mill. People came from all over to load up their Car trunks and Pickups with the wood. One particular Man I met was building a whole house stacking the little pieces together like bricks. My Baby Boy carried a lot of wood that winter. No matter how cold it was though he always started. I credit the manual choke for that. Ive never had an automatic choke that worked nearly as well. I could really depended on Him.
I first got to know my neighbors when I used to be riding across the pasture a single day with a full load. I stopped a minute to look at some nesting ducks and . . . bloop bloop bloop we were stuck in the mud almost to the top of the Tires. I hadnt learned- you cant drive on a pasture upon its been raining. Frank from down the road a bit was coming home and saw me. He beeped waved and kept on going He came right back again with his tractor and pulled me and Baby Boy out of the mud.
Following I learned about soft ground heavy loads I found we could go anywhere. We could do hills and cross streams and go just about everywhere the very best Jeep could go and I loved it. My little girls used to like riding around clam digging at the ocean having a picnic and feeding chipmunks and such. So there we would go with my map in hand off for another adventure.
There are a lot of National Forests in Washington State. When you are driving through them sometimes it seems as though there is a new an individual every 10 miles or so. Thats how it was one day when we obtained lost. This Day In late afternoon I noticed we were down to about a quarter of a tank so I headed for the next town to Gas up. It was Sunday. But the next Town on the map was not a town but a lumber camp. Closed I talked to my Baby Boy as we glided up down hill once hill through the forests mostly in neutral. We passed no less than Three closed lumber camps that turned out not to be towns. I was telling Him how important it was to find a place to get Gas so we could get home. Finally I caught sight of an actual town. So we coasted down the mountain to it. We rolled up beside the outside Gas Pump just as I heard the last sputter and the Pickup died. Whew My Baby Boy came through for us again.
Tacoma has a lot of hills much like San Francisco. We were all packed and ready to head again to our aged Home in Denver. With a small U-Haul Trailer filled with my Oak Furniture we headed off from Tacoma. As we started down a hill an aged woman with a cart was suddenly straight out in front of us. I had to SLAM on the brakes. The Truck stopped on a dime. But the trailer heavy with furniture pulled the ball off the bumper. The chains held it good enough that it just swung around and smashed into the side of my Truck. My poor Baby He was battered yet unbowed. Just after U-Haul fixed us up with another Hitch we were off again to our outdated homestead in Denver.
Some of the highways in the Idaho highlands had a lot to be desired. We made our way on a narrow winding road up a long steep grade pulling our little U-Haul. When we reached the top there was a Semi- trailer jack-knifed on the curve stuck there and entirely blocking the road. We would have to back again down. Below us in the valley I could see a Farm. As I started backing down the precarious road my oldest girl kept squeeling- eeh eeh eeh It was hard to keep a grip. I stopped pointed out the Farm in the Valley below and told my girls as I put them out of the truck to follow me down the hill and if the truck went over the Cliff to walk down to the Farm and tell them what had happened. I managed to again down about a mile to a wide enough spot to turn around. We made it again to Denver without any more harrowing adventures.
A lot of people do not like riding behind a loaded pickup Truck especially an older a single. They will pass you then begin to go slower than you had been going before they passed. Now when you are driving a Standard you need to keep up your speed on the highway when you are climbing a steep grade or you will be left trying to inch up a grade in first gear going way too slow.
We had to move down to Fort Huachuca Arizona when I was stationed there in the Army. I used to be on the way with a Full-Load heading up the steep slope of the highway over Raton Pass. There were Two lanes most of the time. A sports car passed me then slowed down so I had to pass him again. It was a Porsche. Evidently he could not stand being passed by an aged Pickup. When he pulled up beside me and started to hit it the curves were coming faster. I hugged the curves but he couldnt without slowing down and I left him in the dust. I found out thenthat the kids were right- I had a Hot Truck. I took out a Porsche on Raton Pass with a full load. Id guess he had never been beaten in an up-hill race by an aged pickup before. I cant say I was not proud of my previous Baby Boy.
In the early Eighties all the Truckers used CBs to keep track of the Smokies. So if you were in a hurry to get somewhere you just fell in among the Semis and Rolled. Thats what I did when we went from Ft. Huachuca to visit my folks in San Diego. Baby Boy could go all the way at over 100 miles an Hour without even breathing hard. He was not even put off by the high winds on the climb over the craggy mountains you hit before you get into San Diego County.
For a over Twelve A long time we rode him long and hard like a good Horse as they say. Then 1 day there was a snowstorm. I used to be heading into Denver alone from the Fort. Visibility was bad. Traffic was stalled along I-25 north. We had been stopped along the side of the road awhile. Then a large Truck came swirling and cars twirling through the snow crashing into us. Baby boy was tuff a Heavy Metal kind of Guy. I failed to get yourself a bump or a scratch. But he was injured beyond saving. He gave his life for me.
Epilogue-
I acquired the brand new shiny Silverado with a crew cab. I do like my Chevys finest. They always start. But this Pickup was never quite as good or as strong or as faithful as my Baby Boy. Although I did talk to Him sometimes too. He never answered me with the same love I used to get. Neither did the Jeep Wrangler that I had always wanted.
Ive gotten another Chevy Apache since then with a short box. Thats Her in th picture Shes a Good Girl but very different. Upon Baby Boy there will never be any better.
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