truck trip: day five (and final)

today was a pretty lazy day, all things considered. i got up and had some free continental breakfast, took a shower, and put up the entries for days two and three. i then packed up and headed over to bryan’s smokehouse. they were just playing top 40 country radio, but i did get to hear hank williams jr.’s “a country boy can survive”. i had the link plate with beans and potato salad. my mission accomplished, i jumped on 59 and headed all the way back to houston. miles today: a paltry 250 or so
odometer when i bought it: 56982. odometer in my driveway: 58866. total trip miles: 1884. states: 11.
having driven it a bit, here are some notes:

• * i absolutely love the dimmer switch on the floorboard. why did they move this to the column? it’s nice not having to move your hands, just twist your left foot and tap.
• * the shifter being on the column, on the other hand…that one i don’t miss so much. i learned in a 1976 chevy pickup with “three on the tree” and it was a hellacious experience. of course, i was also like 4.5 feet tall and had never driven before. so i can handle it this time around just fine. of course, it being on the column frees up the floor in the center, adding value to…
• * bench seats are nice, especially being able to rest your arm across the top of it. and without the shifter on the floor, making it much easier to have someone there to rest your arm around. not that i’d know anything about that sort of thing these days.
• * a/c seems like a really good idea after about 3 hours of driving in the middle of a hot sunny day without it. i’m sure that’s double true for anyone you interact with afterward. i sweat more and drank more water in the last four days than i have in i don’t know how long.
• * not having lock knobs is both nice and not nice. i’m not sure if i like it or not.
• * knowing there are numerous gallons of gas right behind your back is kind of disturbing sometimes. (the gas tank on these pickups is behind the bench seat, inside the cabin.)

so there you have it. my trip is finished. now i just need to get it inspected and registered, then get several thousand dollars of body work and paint done to it, and probably several thousand dollars worth of work done to the engine and drive, and several thousand dollars of chrome work. and hopefully it will continue to run well during the interim. then after all that’s accomplished, maybe it’ll be done and i can sell it and get another one. 😉