What's Next ?

Over the last couple years, the miles have really started to add up on our 2014 Dodge Charger. This is mostly due to numerous 2000 mile trips to Washington state and back, from our Southern Utah home. The same situation was happening with our gray 2013 Charger, which was an all-wheel-drive model. We sold that gray Charger to our son, and replaced it with our current white 2014 we found at our local Dodge dealership.
These are excellent cars for many reasons. They are very comfortable to travel in, very roomy, even with rear seat passengers, and have plenty of trunk space. Our 2014 also has a performance tire/wheel package that provides excellent high speed highway handling. Equipped with the 300 horsepower V6 engine, and 8-speed automatic transmission, it has plenty of power, and also gets over 30 miles-per-gallon highway gas mileage.
I have always been a "car-guy", and the looks and image of my cars are important to me. The Dodge Chargers are among very few 4-door cars that can pull off the "muscle-car" look, especially with the 20" chrome wheels of our white 2014 model.
Now, as the miles are adding up, I'm starting to think about what I might get to replace this car when the time comes. I want it to be something with all the qualities we love about this one. What's next? That may be a tall order to fill.
Car people may want to check out my book; "Grab Some Gears - 40 Years of Street Racing". Just follow this link to read sample pages; Grab Some Gears

Our favorite traveling car,  our 2014 Dodge Charger.

Remembering Our History

Anyone who has ever been a car enthusiast, at any point during their life, has fond memories of at least one vehicle from their past. Maybe the first "special" car or truck they ever owned, or one that just brings back the most memories from the days gone by.
For me, that includes many vehicles I have owned over the years. That's just typical for any life-long "car guy". But for many people, that number may be very few, maybe just one or two. For some, it's a vehicle that was special to someone else, other than just our self. I once owned an old Ford Bronco, pick-up cab model, that my grandfather had purchased new at least 20 years before I bought it from my dad. I only owned it for a couple years before I sold it and moved on to something else, but it still holds some special memories for me.
Just this past week, my son sold the 77 Bronco that was special to his son Caden, who passed away last month after loosing his battle with cancer. They owned that vehicle for less than a year, but it will always be remembered as "Caden's Bronco" by the whole family. It will be one of those fond memories for all of us.
We don't have to be a collector, and keep these vehicles, or put them away in storage, for them to be special to us. We have the photographs, and the memories. All we have to do is remember.

Caden's Bronco, ready to be taken away by the new owner.

Obsessions and Distractions

When we have a hobby we love, it often becomes an obsession, taking up all the time we can spare, every chance we get. Sometimes our obsessions can also be a much needed distraction, when the realities of life start to weigh us down, and we just need a break.
That's what my cars are to me, especially when the stresses of life start to become just too much. A day spent cleaning, detailing, and polishing, can be very good and relaxing therapy. Then a drive in that perfectly clean and polished muscle car can finish off a day well spent.
I always want my cars to look their best anyway, even if it's just a last minute cleaning before a trip, or to clean up after a rainy day. If my cars, or garage, are in need of cleaning, it just adds to the stresses of everyday life, and I surly don't want any more of that.
Our lives have been particularly stressful over the last few months, and those times I have spent with my cars have been a great value to me. A much needed distraction. Now, hopefully, they can get back to just being my favorite obsession.
Readers of my blog, or my followers on Facebook and Twitter, may be interested in checking out my book at: "Grab Some Gears"

My obsession,  my 2015 Mustang GT , in the beautiful country near my home in Southern Utah.

Not Enough Time

When we loose someone we love, we realize that we didn't get enough time with them. Those times we did get, become very precious memories, that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.
 We lost a grandson to cancer a couple weeks ago, and just got home yesterday from the long drive to the funeral and back. I had many hours to think about Caden, and what a great young man he was. We have known for some time that we were going to loose him, and we savored the time we got to spend with him and his family.
The accomplishments he made in the last few months are remarkable, as his family made every effort to make sure he could have every possible life experience he could have in the time he had left. Many others were there to help. Friends, neighbors, church members, class mates, extended family, and countless others were there to join in. The outpouring of love and support was remarkable.
He enjoyed life right up to the last couple days, then said his goodbyes to his family, gave precious gifts to his brothers and sisters, and passed on from this earthly life.
We all miss him greatly. As I think back on the time spent with him, no mater how much it was, it just was not enough time.

Our Caden, just a couple weeks before he passed away.

Missing Caden

A few days ago, my grandson Caden passed away after battling cancer for almost 4 years. He was just 16 years old, and an outstanding young man, leaving a lasting impression on anyone who knew him.
He was just 12 years old when he was sent to Seattle Children's Hospital by Life-Flight plane, and in the weeks that followed, the first cancer was removed, along with 3/4 of his liver. That was the first of many trips to that hospital over the last few years. He bounced back from several surgeries and chemo treatments, and accomplished many mile-stones in his young life. In the last few months we found out he was fighting his last fight. The cancer was back, worse than ever, and there was nothing left that could be done. His time was running out.
We were up to visit Caden and his family in August, and he was still busy living life to the fullest. On the afternoon before we came home, Caden took me for a ride in the 77 Bronco that he loved to drive. Manual transmission, big tires, V8 engine and all, not the easiest vehicle to drive, but he handled it like a pro. That was our Caden.  He will be greatly missed.

Caden  Randy  Dirks     May 15 2001 - October 4 2017

My Masterpiece

Any artist, musician, writer, or performer usually has something in their collection of accomplishments that they regard as their masterpiece. Being a life-long car guy, and lucky enough to have owned many performance cars I've loved over the years, makes it hard to pick out a favorite, or crown one as the "masterpiece" of my automotive hobby. It also depends on what criteria we choose to consider when trying to pin point which should come out on top.
Some of the cars I have owned were more expensive than the rest, some were the fastest and most fun to drive, and these are naturally the Mustang Cobras, and Shelby GT 500 I've had. Others were just very nice all around cars, good looking, fun to drive, enjoyable to take on a trip, and easy to maintain. But, when you also consider the work I put in myself, to make the cars the cool machine they ended up, then it becomes more clear which car should take the honor as my automotive masterpiece. My 1970 Cobra Jet Ranchero.
This was probably the rarest car I've owned. Very few 1970 Ranchero GT's were produced with the 429 Cobra Jet engine, with 4-speed transmission. When I bought the car in the mid 1980's, it only had just over 20,000 miles on it, but needed some engine work, and a lot of body and paint restoration to make it nice again.
I went through the engine completely, doing what we used to call a "blueprint" engine build, and making performance enhancements along the way. It ended up as a 468 cubic inch performance monster, with factory original looks and detailing.  I did the minor body repairs and paint preparation after the engine was installed and break-in tuning was complete. When it came back from the paint shop, I reinstalled the final trim pieces, using new-old-stock trim pieces where necessary.
The Ranchero was a beauty on the streets, an exciting car to drive, and dominated all the street races I found myself involved in. It can easily be considered my automotive masterpiece.
For more of the story, you can check out my book at: "Grab Some Gears"

My 1970 Ford Ranchero GT, with factory 429 CobraJet engine and 4-speed transmission. 

Life's Highway

Life is often described as a road, a path, or a highway. The older I get, and the more twists and turns my life takes, the more I believe this comparison is a good way to describe it. Some recent, and some on-going, family situations have made this analogy even more apparent to me.
We all may have a path of life in mind we plan on taking, but things come up that are unexpected that can change the route very quickly. We find ourselves, or other family and friends, taking a fork in the road, and traveling through some unfamiliar territory. Sometimes we don't know what to expect around the next corner, or over the next hill. And sometimes, we find a mountain instead of a hill, on the road in front of us. Sometimes we can see a storm in our path, that we know we will have to travel through, as our journey continues.
Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. Maybe the road of life is supposed to be an unknown adventure, with many unexpected turns, and mountains to climb, and bridges to cross, and storms to endure. We just have to navigate the path the best we can as we go along, making the most of the trip, and prepare the best we can for those storms we know will happen along the way.
I have wrote about variations of this subject in other posts in my blog before. Being a "car guy" , I usually refer to the car I'm driving along the way, and how that makes the trip more enjoyable for me. But this time I'm talking about the other aspects of out journey of life.  Now I find them a more important part of my thoughts than ever before. Wishing all of you the best outcome, as you travel down your own personal route, along "Life's Highway".

My grandson Caden enjoying the 77 Bronco he loves.