Re: My 2014 USA trip

Reviving an old chestnut...

Early in this thread, Bill Parker referred to me as optimistic. Well, I don't know how to be any other way, I guess. But there was an _expression_ used by Jon Duncan when I got back to Spokane WA with the van after 14,400 miles through 38 states and touching 7 provinces of Canada.

We were in the midst of preparing the pickup I would take from there to LA to ship home when a friend of Jon's arrived. We were discussing the trip I'd completed in the van and the one I was about to embark on with the pickup, which was loaded to the gills.

Jon's friend expressed surprise that I had attempted what I'd done and what I was about to embark on, but Jon explained:

"Ray's a 'Leap of faith' man," he said. I guess that explains it all.

Two years later, and with me married again, I took my new wife on the first leg of our honeymoon trip from Spokane across Idaho, Montana, a touch of Alberta, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ontario as far as Toronto. We went then to Europe, she flew home from Italy and I returned to pick up the van and drive it to LA via upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, a big loop of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and California before shipping it home.

So I still had faith in the van. And I recently took it on a lengthy trip through Central Australia too.

The point of all this?

If any of you blokes would like to read of the adventures of my first two trips, I'm working on a forum presentation of these in both words and with pictures on the [i]Dodge Forum[/i]. I previously did the first trip on an Australian forum, but that's dying and I didn't want to lose it so I added more detail (in particular, Janet's notes from her diary she kept each day) and put it up there.

Then I added the thread I'd previously done on the second trip on that Aussie forum, and I'd already put also on the [i]Dodge Talk[/i] forum and I mentioned here. Well, it's not complete yet but it's getting there.

Here's the link for those with the time and inclination to have a read of it all:

https://dodgeforum.com/forum/members-rides/426498-ride-along-with-me.html

Pics of (the late) Paul Hoffmeyer, Nick Tiberio, Ollie Patterson, Rich McMahon, Rich Kinsley and the Nebraska boys - and their cars - are all in there.

I will be making another trip one day, I hope to find the same kind of welcome among others I can visit that time.