On the road again with Roscoe

About Eight months ago I decided to sell my,"mommy car". For years I chauffeured my kids around in what boasts to be one of  the safest cars on the road. Volvo, you know ,"Volvo for Life"! Premium sound, leather seats with warmers, surround air bags, you know, all the extra's to keep you alive in the event of an accident. I'm thinking that the car's price tag is nothing compared to the value of my kids lives!Right? Well, I value my kids lives, but it's time for them to take the bus! Years of no gratitude, just attitude revealed that it was time to do something for myself. I sold the Volvo to another starry eyed mom wanting to protect her kid's lives with one of the safest cars on the road! (until they reach 15 or so) I set out to find something special. It had to be a truck with a little something special going on. I can't drive around in an anonymous half-ton..my truck would be a cool vintage work-truck!Daily  I checked the adds in the paper, always on the lookout for something that called out to me! My kids thought I had lost my mind, why would I sell our perfectly comfortable XC90 for a rickety old beater?? You can visualize the rolllllll of the eyes with the exasperated, MOMMMMMM!!! My reply, "take the bus!" BUT, MOM!!!!!

 Imagine the look on their faces when the tow truck pulled up to the house with this! Three flats, a non-operative engine, rust, and the remnants of a sign which gave me a clue to it's previous incarnation,"No Butt crack Plumbing"! This my friends is a Corvair Rampside pick-up or known as Corvair 95. There were about ten thousand made between 1961 to 1963. This is a sixty two. It would take some work, but since when have I been afraid of a challenge?


 The truck had been sitting on the storage lot for more than 7 years, this I now know because of the back fees I had to cough up! I got the usual, "Do you know what you're getting into?" Have you lost your mind? 

 This is what I call recycling!! Anyone can buy a new truck! How many folks are going to take the time to restore anything? This is one truck the landfill would not get! I found an amazing mechanic that specializes in Corvair's with a mobile service that comes to your house! For the next 6 months we would schedule work days on the truck. I was the handy assistant, learning about my truck and taking care of the smaller details and research. I worked on my gardens in between working on the truck which helped to finance the restoration. I felt certain that the truck would generate additional business just for the cool factor!

I have a new vocabulary as it relates to truck parts! It has definitely generated a new learning curve of which I'm grateful!! It is a work in progress and  totally sound! It squeaks, rumbles, and bounces to it's destination! Along the way, I get high signs, shout outs like, "cool truck!", "nice ride"! When I pulled up to the nursery the other day the truck created quite the buzz! The guys swapped stories about the classics they've had, wanted to take pictures with the truck,

There was even a bit of jockeying as to  who would load my  order on the truck! Roscoe brought such a high energy to the nursery! When I pulled off the guys sort of lined up to get a parting look all waving simultaneously ! It really made the day! Who knew how restoring this cool truck would affect the lives of so many folks out there!

Jesse is one of the nurserymen who has helped me with my orders for more that15 years! Roscoe is now another member of the family, making the rounds, being cool...and just having fun!
Someone's abandoned trash is now my treasure. Recycling takes many forms, nothing preachy..have some fun, create something, but by all means step out of your comfort zone and do SOMETHING!! In the meantime, I'll see you on the road!
Toot toot for now!