Counting Cars

As I was thinking about some of the cars I used to own, I realized that I wasn't even sure how many cars I have had since I was a teenager.  I have lost count in recent years. I had to pull out a copy of my book and review the list that's at the last couple of pages. Adding a few for the ones I have owned since the book was printed, over last few years, the total is now somewhere over 75.
That's a lot of cars to remember, but there are always those that are special in my memories, for one reason or other. You always here people say, "I wish I still had that car, I should have never sold it". I never have been that guy, though many of my cars would have made excellent life-long treasures. Thinking of some of them still puts an ache in my heart, they were special for many reasons. I never have the money, or storage facility, to have more than two or three at once. And there's always something new on the way that catches my eye. I may have slowed down in recent years, but that's still the case.
I could write a book on what was special about many of those cars, and many are mentioned in the book I did write. Many of them play a big part in my racing stories.
Anyone interested can check out my book, or even read some sample pages by following this link;  Grab Some Gears

One of the special cars I have owned;   2007 Shelby GT500  Mustang.

A Walk in the Park

Today, I got back to something I've missed for the last couple of weeks. I took a walk in the park. Snow Canyon State Park  that is, something I do as often as possible. The weather, family events,  and other activities, have kept me away for more than two weeks.
It's a simple thing, "a walk in the park" and as the old saying goes, something easy to do, but for me it's very important. I usually do a two mile walk, the first mile is up hill, and a pretty good work out.  Then, the second mile back is all down hill to where I park my car. All together, it's about 40 minutes of good exercise.
People can get their exercise in many ways, but for me, this is the most enjoyable. Snow Canyon is a very pretty place, and, only about a 10 minute drive from my house. The time of day for my walk varies, depending on the season, and the general weather conditions. It's all about health and fitness, but this location is like icing on the cake.

The beautiful  Snow Canyon State Park  in Southern Utah.

40 Years of Street Racing

"Grab Some Gears - 40 Years of Street Racing" is the title of my book. I finished writing it in 2006, after several years of thought and jotting down notes. It was first suggested to me by a young street racer, after a late night racing session, when we were all standing around talking. Noticing that I was older than most of them, this young racer asked me; "how long have you been doing this"?  I responded; "since I was about 14 years old".  He made the remark; "Wow, a lot must have changed in all that time, you should write a book". That planted the seed that about 10 years later, and after some more years of street racing,  became my book.
For a life-long car guy, the book is a history of many of my racing experiences, street racing and on the drag strip, and the changes that I've seen over the years. It also contains about 40 color photos of some of the cars I have owned in that time.
I'm considering an update to the book, to add some new things that have happened in the last 10-15 years, and add some photos of the cars I've owned since 2006.
Anyone interested can check out my book, and read sample pages at; Grab Some Gears

Friends

Many people have a circle of friends who they associate with. They meet up and do things together as often as possible. Maybe they're hunting or fishing buddies, or they might be fellow car enthusiasts they go to car shows with, or go late night street racing with. Over the years, I have had some of all these type of friends.
As the years have gone by, and family activities have taken their place, my circle of friends is almost non-existent. Outside of extended family, you could count my number of friends on one hand, and not use all the fingers.
In reality, I am a loner anyway, and that's how I prefer it. Outside of time spent with my wife and family, I'd just as soon be alone, doing my own thing. I can easily spend an afternoon, alone in my garage, playing my favorite music, and doing car stuff.
But of all my friends who have drifted away over the years, one stands out, and he is who I'm writing about today. His name is Ricky, and I mention him in Chapter 5 in my book. We have been friends for over 40 years. I don't see him very often any more, maybe once every couple years or so, we get together and catch up on what has been going on in our lives.  Out of the blue, a year or so ago, he sent me something he made for me, and it's really neat. It's an ink pen, that is the same color as my 2015 Mustang, and personalized with my license plate, and other automotive details. There is a photo of it below. Now, I take it to car shows with me, and show it off, especially to Mustang people. The mechanism to operate the pen looks like a shift lever, and there are bands around the pen that look like tires. Its pretty cool.
I don't have many friends, but with friends like Rick, I don't need many. Thanks Rick.

The pen my friend Ricky made for me. It's setting on my car, see how well the color matches.

Long Hot Summer

There is a Keith Urban song I like; "Long Hot Summer" which I listen to quite often, and it was the inspiration for my blog post today. That song, and the fact that summer comes to an end this week. The reality is, that here in our part of the country, we have had a long hot summer.
A lot has happened in our life this summer, so it has gone by pretty fast. We have been pretty busy, and the temperatures have been well over 100 degrees on many days this year, so the coming fall season is vary welcome, as far as I'm concerned.
For many people, fall is a favorite time of year anyway, and I myself have been included in that group for many years. When we lived up north, it was always the time of year for the changing leaves, and the mountains were beautiful in their fall colors.
Here in Southern Utah, the fall colors are not the most obvious change, but the cooler temperatures are. I look forward to the time of year when I can get a lot of "car stuff" done. It gets cool enough that I can get the cars cleaned up real well, and get a fresh coat of wax put on, without roasting in the process. Good bye long hot summer.
Those of you who are interested can check out my book at: Grab Some Gears

It was a "Long Hot Summer" here in Southern Utah.

Driving

I have always enjoyed driving. From my early teen age years, to the present day, there have been few times in my life when I couldn't drive.
There was the time when I first went into the military, in early 1970, while going through basic training, and the 4 months of Air Traffic Control school, when I was without my car. I had left it in Arizona with my new wife. I knew she could use it way more than I could, living on Air Force bases during that time, I knew I could walk anywhere I needed to go.
That was the longest time I was ever without a car. Over the last few weeks, I have been reminded what that was like. After my open heart surgery, I was told I couldn't drive for a month. As of today, I have one more week left. I'm counting down the days.
For a life-long "car guy" this has been a tough experience. My beloved Mustang is setting in the garage, and in need of a car wash. This next week can't go by fast enough.

I miss this. (Photo from a day trip to Zion National Park last year).

Turning Point

We can all look back on our lives and identify several "turning points" where the direction we turned made a major change in the rest of our life. There were many in my life, some of my own choosing, and some where other people had a part in shaping my life.
The first that comes to mind is the inspiration I had as a 19 year old to get in my 64 Falcon Sprint, and drive hundreds of miles across country to visit my high school girlfriend, who had moved to Phoenix. One thing led to another, and we have been married over 48 years now. Our family now includes about 20 people, counting the kids, their spouses, and grand kids.
Some of the turning points in my life were professional, my military service being the first one. That led to other opportunities through out my life that led to where I am today. One of those was a chance promotion that a supervisor gave me in the late 1980's that shaped the rest of my professional life. I had a long and rewarding professional career.
This last week my turning point was health related. I had open heart surgery to repair a bad heart valve. Time will tell how that turning point will effect the rest of my life. Wish me luck.

Reflecting on where I've been, and where I'm going.