This is the earliest memory I have of automobiles. It was my Dad's 1930 Model A Ford truck. This was the truck he used when he moonlighted as a gardener at the apartments we lived in. I remember it vividly, but the old black and white snapshot sharpens the memory even more. I was about 2 1/2 years old in the front seat and my brother about 5 in the back when this picture was taken.
My Dad was a philanderer although he never ever cheated on my Mom. He loved! cars. He was attracted to cars the way some men are attracted to women. He wanted to be around them. He wanted to interact with them. He fantasized about them. He flirted with them. He wanted to put his hands on them. He was the automotive version of a womanizer. If there was a car anywhere around, he was interested. Whether it was a sleak beautiful European type or a more basic domestic model, it was not important. His formal mechanical training came from the U. S. Army where he served in the South Pacific during WWII. My parents honeymoon was a car trip from Michigan to Florida. WWII had just ended so tires and gas were still in short supply.
I took after my Dad at an early age. When I was just a pre-schooler I would sit on the fender of a car my Dad was working on. The parts facinated me. Spark plugs were especially interesting. As he cleaned and gapped the plugs I would count them and line them up, ready to be put back in. Even before I had a driver's license, Dad and I got a 1929 Model A Fordor sedan that I still have today.
Our first extended car trip was a family vacation in our new 1956 Chevrolet station wagon. We visited Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, Lake Tahoe, Donner Pass as well as Muir Woods State Park and the Santa Cruz boardwalk. From that trip on I never took a road trip I didn't like. In 2017 my brother and I drove the entire Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, retracing the route our parents took on our move from Michigan to California in the early 1950's. It was a "bucket list" item we both had longed to complete. Our only regret was that it went by so quickly.
This fall my wife and I will join friends on another bucket list trip. Driving our 1931 Model A Pickup truck through the Arizona and Utah National Parks in conjunction with attending the Model A Ford National Tour.
It has been said, "The apple does not fall far from the tree.". I am unapologetically a child of the road. I am very grateful for two things that allow me to enjoy this incredibly beautiful and interesting "American Car Nation". First, my parents for instilling in me a "love of the road". Second, but even more important, the priviledge of having a wonderful woman who enjoys it as much as I do.
Happy Motoring.
