![\"DSC01957\"](\"http:\/\/balldiamondball.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/DSC01957.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLast Thursday I did a quintessential guy thing ,I bought a new truck.<\/p>\n
My last new one has\u00a0 been a loyal servant since 98 when I brought it home from the Ford dealer.<\/p>\n
240000 miles later, it is getting on in years and I can hear the transmission struggling to change gears once it warms up.<\/p>\n
The Expedition has lasted through three collies who loved it and jumped in eagerly , always assuming it would take them to places of new and interesting smells.<\/p>\n
It travelled well, never breaking down during a trip, always getting us where we planned.<\/p>\n
It rolled over snowy mountain passes, cruised up ocean beaches, crossed deserts and Forest Service roads, handled rain , mud and ice with surefooted ease.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now I drive it while\u00a0 Ford is building its replacement, an F150 Crew Cab with a fair amount of goodies. I even got an engine with the ‘eco’ prefix. Goodbye V-8, I will miss you.<\/p>\n
My family always treated dogs and cars as part of the family story, each having it’s place in the saga, each treated as members in good standing, remembered for service and the good times when gone.<\/p>\n
We tended to buy new and drive until the wheels fell off. My Dad’s first postwar car , a 54 Plymouth wagon was still going thirty years later , having been handed down to a few cousins. It was the first vehicle I remember sitting in and pretending to drive at high speed at age three.<\/p>\n
So I need to find a place I can donate the Ford to, someplace that will use it to help folks who need transport, or train kids who want to learn a trade.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, now I have to replace the Red Headed Irish Wisecracker’s Lincoln LS.<\/p>\n
America, what a country.<\/p>\n