Sunday, December 04, 2005


These cars were all there yesterday plus 14 other newer models. We were on our monthly Early Ford V-8 Club tour. My Mom's 1974 Mustang II at the far end is kept in Mother-in-law's Conroe, Texas, garage. My 1950 Ford Tudor stayed in our garage with my 1998 Ford Mustang Gt Convertible. I'll get an updated picture of Saturday's crowd later.

Bachelor for a Week – Yesterday Again
I am missing my partner, Mrs. Jim. It has been a whole day and more now. Since it is 2:40 PM in London, she and Jim Jr. #5 both ought to be sleeping soundly. Only 8:40 PM here though. I didn’t do any of the ‘honey does’ [or is it ‘honey dues?’] yet. That will be tomorrow after I pay the weekly bills.

Yesterday. It started out pretty nice. Since Mrs. Jim had packed everything-except the missed AC plugs for the laptop, which would remain here-we, had leisurely coffee, showered, and dressed.

We would be headed for the Montgomery Early Ford V8 Club Christmas meeting and noon meal. There were no problems, we dressed for air travel [her] and Christmas concert with Mother-in-law [me], bedded Adi [our tri-colored beagle], loaded Mrs. Jim’s suitcases, and left for the Montgomery meeting place.

The weather was wonderful, with a high of 84 degrees. We were on schedule, but not a minute earlier than the 10 AM meeting time. We were almost the last. Soon our caravan left for a country place just east of Richards, Texas. Look it up on a map. The trees were real pretty, all red, yellow, and green. Not necessarily in that order. The hills were browning grassy fields or green pine trees of the National Forest.

When we parked, we had 19 vintage Fords [one was a Lincoln, and two were Mercurys] from 1932 to 1951. 1952 and 1953 years are eligible for the club but there weren’t any that Saturday. Another lady came in a 1936 coupe but she was too late to park with the group. Several people drove later model cars too. We needed very dependable transportation, as we would leave for the airport at 12:30.

It was the home of Alton H. Now Alton H was in the lumber business and had been very successful. His home was three stories, but we just drove past that. Into a village he had out back by the sawmill. He has several hundred acres out there, all rolling hills of pasture or woods.

The village has his very large steel building barn with a concrete floor. No animals are in there. But he has two restored Ford lumber trucks, a ’37 and a ’38. He has a smaller size, not the tiny one, school bus all restored in pretty school bus yellow. A Model T is high on a hoist. Below it is a ’47 Mercury woody wagon. These cars, except the bus are in back. At the front is a Model T roadster pickup. Also are three ’36 Fords, a cabriolet, a woody wagon, and a nice original coupe. Finishing up the front row are a ’46 Jeep and a ’57 Ford convertible with retractable top. All these cars had been restored except for the Ford coupe.

Also in the barn are four vintage restored horse wagons and a lot of saddles. Behind the barn is a shed with a whole lot of cars either being restored or ‘waiting’ for something. Two of these are woodies, one a Ford and one a Chevy. Across the dirt road is a repair three bay garage, a corral, an older farm home, and a small unpainted building. Then a larger corral with horses and lamas, the sawmill, a very large pasture, then the three story home.

On the garage side of the street, coming from the home, were an old building, two very old houses, and a saloon. Our lunch was in the saloon. Alton’s friend had smoked brisket for the fifty or some of us, and a helper had made the rest. People brought desert. There was a confirmation of new officers, but Mrs. Jim and I left before that took place. I didn’t get our $15 dues paid either, but I know whom to pay.

Richards is 24 miles northwest of our home. The trip to the airport was fast for the 67 miles from Richards. We made the trip to the Terminal E door in just over an hour.

The end for yesterday.

Jim

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