Goodbye TWNN!

Back when I needed this....

On Saturday I left the "Truck With No Name" at a dealer's lot. It wasn't mine anymore. It isn't a huge deal, as I am not emotionally attached to that vehicle, although maybe I should be? I mean, I only had it for the bulk of Trans Iowa's run and used it for the purpose of putting on that event. 

And it isn't important to most of you except perhaps maybe to a few of you who had done Trans Iowa and remember that truck leading you out to the gravel, or whatever. 

Of course, I'll have my memories. Like the time during T.I.v8 when I suddenly found myself in the midst of a Level B road after cresting a hill. It was muddy, of course, and I was going about 40-45mph and the back end came around. I had to stand on the accelerator, counter steer  holding the wheel at the limit, and I went about a half mile like that. Mud flinging everywhere, and when I came to the end of the mile I got it straightened out without it whipping to the other way, and there was a crossing at a county road. I had to hold it wide open to get up the incline to the intersection just to make it and so there would be no stopping. Fortunately I had split two crossing vehicles and there was no crashing. Yeah.... that was close!

I put in many miles of this sort of driving in the TWNN.

There were a lot of Level B Roads traversed in that two-wheel drive truck. I also had many other Trans Iowa related memories with recons, driving to and from recon starting points, and just hauling the stuff for a Trans Iowa to Grinnell and back again. 

But there were also the times that my son, Jacob, would play in the bed of that truck when he was young. Once I was looking for him all over the house. He would have been about ten or eleven then. I finally found him standing in the back of the truck. I asked him what the heck he was doing out there, and he said to me in a calm, assured tone of voice, "Someday this is going to be my truck, Dad."

I laughed then, but you know what? It really did pretty much become his truck this last couple of years. He needed it to finish college, to do his part time job as a security guard at a casino, and then as he transitioned into his full-time job as a CNC machinist. I pretty much have not had a vehicle, in all honesty, since February of this year, but since Jacob needed a vehicle with four wheel drive for Winter driving, we decided to trade the TWNN off and now I really do not have a vehicle since the 4Runner Jacob got is in his name. 

47 years ago I did not have a vehicle either, and now I don't again! Some might try to read into that, but all it means is that I chose to sacrifice my driving my own vehicle so that my son can get his career off the ground and so he did not have to spend more than his means to get this vehicle. I have a bicycle and I know how to use it, so I am fine. 

Anyway, good bye old truck! You were a good one.