April 17 th.

I have mentioned before that I like things that include the number 7, and especially the number 17. So, today is pretty special for me, for several reasons.
As most of my readers know, I am a huge Mustang fan,  and April 17 is National Mustang Day. This is the day the first Mustang was introduced to the world in 1964, a date most Mustang enthusiasts are well aware of.
On a more personal level, Jackie and I made our first trip to Hawaii today, April 17, and we flew from Las Vegas on Hawaiian Airlines flight 17. How’s that for fate?
I’m loving this.  Also, I like to make my blog posts on dates that end in 7, so this is perfect, April 17 th. is a pretty good day in my book.

Darwin and Jackie in Hawaii on April 17, 2018

Flying

For many people, flying is a routine mode of travel. Whether for work, or vacation, many people fly all the time. But for me, it doesn't happen very often. In fact, I haven't been on an airliner in the last 20 years.  Actually, it has probably been more like 30 years.
I haven't been on a plane since the increased security checks have gone into practice, so I haven't had that experience yet. And, the having to arrive at the airport two hours early to accomplish all that is something new to me.
I am used to traveling by car. I'm pretty good at that. I know how to pack my luggage for a car trip, and how to get everything packed into the car just right, so all the stuff we need is along for the trip, and easy to find when we need it. Not quite the same as traveling by plane.
We are in the process of getting ready for a trip to Hawaii in a couple weeks. Jackie and I have never been there, and we're really looking forward to the trip. All the plane reservations, and rental car reservations, were a new experience for me. But, now that all that is completed, it turned out to be not near as hard as I imagined. All the good advice from our family made it pretty easy. I think it's going to be great. I'm a long way from being an expert, but I'm working on it.

North shore of Oahu. (internet photo)  I'm looking forward to checking it out. 

Just The Other Day

In the past few days, I spent time doing some clean-up on many of the photo files on my computer. As I was looking through some of the hundreds of photos, I ran into many I hadn't seen in awhile, and I as looked them over, it kind of took me by surprise, how many years ago they were taken. It felt like "just the other day" when actually it was years ago.
I've noticed that more and more in recent years, as I have gone through hundreds of photos while getting ready to move, and then again as I have tried to get things organized in the new home. We have so many old photos, and I got rid of hundreds of bad, or meaningless ones, in the process, and still have hundreds.
I guess that is just a side effect of getting older anyway, but I have noticed time after time, as I look over these photos of my life, I'm often shocked by how many years have gone by.
That's one of the reasons that I am proud of the effort I put into writing my book, and documenting some of my life experiences for a time when I can't remember so well what it was like to have lived it. My book contains about 40 color photos, and now I think that was a good thing, though, in reality, it wasn't "just the other day".
Anyone who may be interested can check out my book and read sample pages by following this link; Grab Some Gears

My 1999 Mustang GT,  just the other day,  . . . actually,  it was almost 20 years ago.

The Lucky Car Guy

For almost as far back as I can remember, I have always loved cars. Growing up on a farm and ranch is South Dakota, I started driving all kinds of vehicles at an early age. I had school and farm permits to drive on the roads and highways at age 14. My brother and I had motorcycles, and we got a jeep for Christmas, around this time in our lives. When I was 16, my mom got a new 1966 Mustang, and I was lucky enough to get to drive that, once in awhile.
I had a 64 Falcon Sprint when I got married, and went into the Air Force. A couple years later, we got our first Mustang, a yellow coupe, with a 289 V8. Those were the first in a long list of cool vehicles we have owned over the last 50 years. I truly have been "The Lucky Car Guy".
I have known a lot of car enthusiasts over the years, but many of those people who loved and admired cars, never got to actually own and enjoy driving very many of the cars of their dreams. Some of them had a special car at an early age that they loved and remember, but, had to sell it to make way for the usual life and family concerns. I was lucky enough to have many special cars and trucks, all through the years of raising kids, holding down a job, and living the modest life of the typical working man.
 Over the last 30 or so years, the level of performance cars I have owned has increased, however, many of the best racing experiences I have wrote about in my book, happened while I still had kids at home. My kids are grown and have had families of their own for many years now. The most high performance Mustangs I have owned, happened after all the kids were no longer living at home. I guess that's the way it should be. When it's all said and done, all things considered, I think most enthusiasts would agree, I have been a "Lucky Car Guy". 
Anyone interested can check out my book by following this link: Grab Some Gears

"The Lucky Car Guy" ,  with the 2007 Shelby GT 500 I owned a few years ago.

The Road of Life

"The Road of Life" for me was always measured in the cars I have owned along the way. Being a car guy, and writing a book about my racing years, that is usually the way I have most often found to express my ideas of what is meant by life's highway. But, yes, there is a lot more to it than just the cars we drive along the way. It has more to do with the people who share the trip with us.
This being primarily an automotive related blog, I have touched on this subject many times before, and usually centered on the car theme. When the idea crosses my mind, I often associate it with the cars of a certain time in my life. But in recent years, things have happened that put it into a different perspective. We loose people, and that is the end of the road, for their earthly life.
A theme I see repeated by many of my automotive enthusiast friends is "Life is too short to drive boring cars" and I think many of us feel that way. I think of the car enthusiasts among the friends and family that we have lost in recent years, and I know that their enjoyment of the vehicles they loved had a real value, and added to their enjoyment of the years they had in this life. Our cars do play a part in making us who we are, and can add to our happiness in this life.
Anyone interested in knowing more of my story can check out my book, just follow this link; Grab Some Gears 

My 2015 Mustang GT , the car I am currently enjoying on this section of my "Road of Life".

My Dad

My dad and I were seldom on the same page on many subjects in our years together. In many ways, he was a hard man to get along with, and often in a bad mood, as I remember those days. But now, in retrospect, and looking back from the perspective of an old man myself, he did a lot for me. For all his faults, he taught me a lot that I didn't appreciate at the time.
He was an excellent welder, electrician, and mechanic, and he taught me some of those skills at an early age. Those things I learned from him played an important role in my professional career, at several junctures, through the years. He was also the inspiration for my love of cars, though I didn't realize that fact until years after he was gone.
My dad was a farmer all his life. He was also an excellent fabricator, often making modifications and improvements to many pieces of farm equipment. If something was broken, he would fix it, often making improvements, and making it a better piece of equipment than it was when it was new. The stuff he worked on was always well finished, cleaned and painted, and looking better than new, when he got finished working on it.
The times I remember best, and when he taught me the most, during my teen aged years, were also the years we got along the worst. I guess that is just normal for a father and son, but I didn't realize it at the time. He actually did a lot for us in those days.
After 17 years together, the love of his life, my mom, left for greener pastures. He was never the same again. He spent the remainder of his life a lonely and broken man. He died at the age of 67 in a nursing home. I find myself thinking a lot about him in recent months, as I am now 67 myself.

My dad, Darrell D. Dirks, on an outing with us in Northern Utah, in the mid-1980's.

Not The Olympics

Over the last week or more, most of us have been following our favorite Olympic performers, loving their victories, and sad when our people don't make the podium.  I'm always amazed at the years of dedication and training these people have to put in to get them to that level in their sport.
I have never been good at that type of sporting activities. I'm a "motor head" from way back. Most of us never get the chance to achieve Olympic style victories in our life, but many of us get our own winning moments that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.
In my fifty some years of enjoying automotive activities, I've got my share of victories. I have won my share of street races, have a trophy on my shelf for "legal" drag strip racing, and have many first place awards from the many car shows I have entered over the years. I've had my share of recognition while participating in the activities I love.  But, one in particular stands out as the one I'm most proud of. It's the trophy I won 37 years ago for taking first place in an off-road race held on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in northern Utah.
I was driving the 78 Ford 1/2 ton 4X4 pickup that I had been "tweeking" for about three years. I had special ordered the truck with limited-slip axles front and rear, and equipped with the 400 V8 and 4-speed manual transmission. Just weeks before the race, I replaced the original engine with a modified and "blueprinted" version I had built myself.  The motor was a torque monster that performed flawlessly, and powered me to my first place finish in the 1/2 ton class. No, it may not be the Olympics, but to me, it was a pretty great day.
To read the complete story, and my many other adventures, check out my book at this link: Grab Some Gears

Vintage photo of me and my 1978 Ford, after winning first place in the off-road race in March of 1981.