DESTER & DRIVING

Yesterday, Mom and I had to drive down to Baltimore. Since it was a nice day, Dester pestered until we agreed to take HIM along.

Nothing special, just another ride, smiles on all of our faces as usual.

Until we hit 19,999.9 miles.

That's the number ws have driven since mid-May of last year, when the new 200 was installed. Holy cow that was fast.

I never could have imagined, back in 2016, when Duane Hester asked me a simple question - How serious was I about buying a pickup?

Mom's symptoms were just starting to get concerning, and I had a little money saved, but SHOULD I spend it on an old truck or have it as needed for Mom?

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this time with Mom were ALSO going to be MY memories with her. Many, many of them in that 65 Econoline Duane was telling me about.

The clincher was when we all met up at Rick Farmer 's place and had a look. Opening the door and closing it was enough for me. Dester hadn't lived a tough life, but needed some attention. Duane offered to help [and by "help" I mean do MOST of the work!] and Mom and I were free for a few weeks, so....

We drove Dester home from the Econoline Ranch in mid-October 2016. The old motor leaked on for over 19,000 miles, clutch giving out on the way to getting the new motor installed.

By the end of next week, we will have crossed the 40,000 mile total, and are looking forward to the next 40 passing under our feet!

Many thanx to all you guys in my Econoline Family that make this difficult situation a LOT more tolerable... words can't express my appreciation.