A Green Desert

I am very blessed to live on the edge of Tucson Mountain Park. Just at the end of my street is one of the many gates that allow access to the park. Tucson Mountain Park is part of the Sonoran Desert. I know when people come to visit us the first time they are usually amazed that a desert can actually be green. The Sonoran Desert is just that. While the soil is mostly rock and sand all of the plant life is green.

My battle of the bulge requires me to get out and do some physical exercise once in a while so come and join me as I take an early morning walk in the park in April of 2010. I usually make a loop that takes me behind the ridge you see in the above photo and then down through a wash and back on another trail that comes out just a couple of hundred yards from where I went in. The walk usually takes about 45 minutes. I walk to the end of the street and enter the park on the "John Krein Trail". This is named after a neighbor who used to walk these trails with my Dad.


While I am not an expert on plants I will do my best to explain what we see as we take this walk in one of God's amazing places on this earth. While there are a few plants blooming right now the desert is pretty much green like this all year around. The main trees you see are the Palo Verde. The leaves are so small that you need to be within a foot or so to see them. What is amazing about this tree is that the bark is green. This tree has the same ability to create chlorophyll through its bark like most trees do through their leaves. The leaves are small so that they don't need as much water to survive. This is true with a lot of the plants here as we get little rain. One of the next fairly large plants that we see is the Ocotillo. This is also known as the Hummingbird Bush as it always blooms in April when the majority of the hummingbirds are on their way up North.


The Ocotillo is the plant in the right side of the picture with all of the whip-like looking branches. During a year when it gets plenty of moisture it will sprout leaves plus the red blooms at the end of each branch. During dry years it will not grow leaves but will always have blossoms. The leaves again are small but larger than the Palo Verde tree. The Ocotillo branches are very thorny. Much care must be taken when getting close.


In this next picture you can see the leaves and blooms but you can't really see the thorns.

The next plant we see a lot of is the Prickly Pear Cactus. There are many varieties of the Prickly Pear. (Clock-face, Beavertail, Tuberous, Purple, and the list goes on.) These haven't started blooming yet but will have very pretty flowers when they do. The flowers are different colors depending on the variety of Prickly Pear.


You can see the buds of the flowers on the top edge of the petals. After the flowers are done blooming these buds fall off. They are red in color and almost look like a flower also. We have friends that boil these up and make the best prickly pear jelly that I have ever tasted. We are currently on our second pint of jelly. (Now you know why I need to exercise.) If you look close at this picture of a Prickly Pear you will see that it has a plant growing in the middle of it. It is a Fairy Duster and is currently blooming. It has light pink flowers that look like a duster. Its real name is Calliandra eriophylla and now you know why everyone calls it a Fairy Duster.



The next plant we see on our walk is the Creosote Bush. Where it got it's name, I don't know. When I think of creosote, I think of the black smelly stuff we used to treat fence posts with so they wouldn't rot off in the ground. As you can see this bush is a lot prettier than that description. It reminds me of a yellow daisy. These are in full bloom now and you can see lots of them from the trail, as you see in the next picture.


We are now at the highest point of our journey and we have walked to the back side of the ridge in the first picture. This picture was taken from the trail looking across a wash. A wash for you non-desert people is a dry river bed. We have lots of these that are usually dry but during the summer monsoons they can fill with water. That's right, monsoons. During July and August we get the majority of our yearly rain. The rain storms usually will only last 10-15 minutes or so but we can get close to an inch of rain in that time.


The next plant/tree we will talk about is the Saguaro. Pronounced "saw war o". It is probably the most famous cactus and one of the most filmed. We all remember this cactus in a lot of the old westerns. They grow very slowly and can live to be over a 100 years old. They are protected and only grow in two areas of North America. From Tucson South into Mexico and there is also another area outside of Phoenix. No one really knows why some of them have arms and some don't. Supposedly they have to be over 70 years old to grow arms. They are a true example of a desert plant that stores water. If you look close you can see the the skin on the outside looks like an accordion bellow. This is so when the cactus fill up with water it can stretch out and as it uses the water it shrinks back again. Under the skin are actual wooden ribs with a pulpy type center.


The above picture is of a Saguaro that has died. You can see the ribs that are left. the Saguaro has white flowers when it blooms. While they are not blooming now I did take a picture of one that has buds on it that will become flowers when they open. These are the little wart like looking things on the top of the Saguaro in the picture below. These will be blooming in a couple of weeks.


Just so you can see what the flowers look like, the picture below is one Brenda took last year of one of the Saguaros in our front yard. It was the first year that they had flowered so we were kind of excited about it.


They have to be several years old before they flower. While the Saguaros are protected, developers can acquire a permit to move them and then replant them. The two that we planted in front of our house were two of those. They were about 3 foot and 4 foot tall when we planted them in 2001 and are now about 8 foot and 9 foot. Everything I have read says they don't grow this fast but our growth rate is probably due to the fact that they are getting water from other plants around them that are on my irrigation system. They say that if a Saguaro is over 5 feet tall the chance of surviving a transplant is slim. Their root system usually expands from the base a distance twice the height of the cactus. This means that when they get transplanted you lose most of this root system. If the cactus is large it will not survive. This fact is also why you should not water them by hand. If you water just the base of the plant only certain parts of it will get the water. that part of the plant will then think that it has plenty of water and the parts that don't get the water will die off.


The next couple of pictures are just scenery as we start to walk towards home. Those of you who like the outdoors should understand why I love this area so much. The more I read and learn about the plants and animals that live here the more amazed I am.

While I wasn't able to get any good pictures of the wildlife in this park there are many. Mammals consist of: Havelina, bobcat, mountain lion, mule deer, desert hare, and coyote. Reptiles are of course the diamondback rattlesnake and many various lizards. Other than the mountain lion it is not uncommon to see most of these on a walk. I have gone early in the morning and counted up to 25 mule deer on one walk.

The next plant we come upon is the Strawberry Hedgehog. This is a small cactus where many tubes grows out of one base. This one is blooming and has has some pretty cool flowers. It is amazing to me how something so full of stickers can be this pretty. Don't get your nose too close when trying to smell the flowers!

This next picture shows a Teddy Bear Cholla. Its real name is "Opuntia bigelovii". (I know, who ever came up with these real names, what were they thinking?) Don't let the name on this one fool you either. It is also called the jumping cholla because you can walk by it and it seems to jump out and latch on to you.

Once impaled to your arm, back, or what ever it is almost impossible to get rid of because it will then stick to what ever you grab it with. What really happens is that when you walk by one, the wind or breeze you create when walking by can be enough to knock one of the small branches off. This is why it is said that it jumps on you. I always take a metal dog comb with me when walking. This works really well when dislodging one of these cactus from your arm, leg, or whatever. You will see a few of these laying on the trail and you want to make sure you don't make the same mistake most people make, including yours truly, and kick it out of the way. It will impale itself into your boot. If you have sneakers on or some other light shoe you are really in trouble as it will go right through and find your toes, guaranteed.

This picture doesn't really show what I hoped probably because the photographer wasn't that good. When the Octillo's leaves start to turn they become a light orange/red. When the morning sun hits them they just glow. Anyway you can kind of see the color but the glow does not show up in this picture.


Well if you look close in the middle of this picture you will see the roof tops of houses. Yes, that means our walk is coming to it's end. I don't think I got as much exercise as normal stopping to take all of these pictures, but it was sure more fun. I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did. Thanks for coming with!


I will leave you with one last picture. To me, this Saguaro seems to be giving us the Peace sign. So from me to you.... God's Peace and Blessings......

"Life Is Good If You Let It".

The Great Fishing Adventure

I know I have a few friends that monitor this blog and don't read my son Randy's blog. I have purposely not written about our fishing trip because I knew Randy was going to and he does a much much better job of writing than I do. So....please go to:

http://morewordstoponder.blogspot.com/

The first blog has posted and he has more to come. Please read about our trip. I am sure you will enjoy the read.

Humorous Bathroom Stories

I wasn't going to write this because I was to embarassed, but I figured what the hey. I thought of a couple of humorous stories when I read a friends blog, "Whose Roll Is It Anyway" from (Steve at Random). So here goes.

The first one is on my favorite Uncle, Marvin. People who know me, know how jumpy I can be when startled. I think I inherited my jumpyness from Uncle Marvin but let me first say that I think he is worse than I. Anyway My Uncle, Aunt, and his mother-in-law were all traveling together to AZ. Of course being three, and all in the same family they shared a motel room. (Seperate beds of course.) One night my Uncle gets up some time in the wee hours of the morning because mother nature is calling. Not to disturb his wife and mother-in-law by turning on the light, he preceeds to work his way to bathroom by walking his hands along the wall. Little did he know that his mother-in-law was on her way back to bed doing the same thing. Well you can imagine the noise and screams when their hands met in the dark along the wall. I still laugh at this one until I think of what I might have done if it was me instead of him. Might have been an accident.

The next one is on me. When I was working, I traveled a lot. On one of my business trips I am getting ready early one morning. My hotel room is one of those where the sink and mirror is out side of the shower and toilet. When I finished my shower I closed the bathroom door so as not to fog up the mirror so I can complete my morning ritual. Now I have to explain that the door swings from the sink area and has been open all the time I have been in my room. When I closed the door I didn't notice, at first anyway, the full length mirror on the back of the door. I was digging something out of my shaving kit so my back was to the door when I pushed it shut. As I turned to face the sink I noticed movement to my left. I looked, and here is a naked guy standing there. I don't think I have to explain what happened. I checked out that morning and I wasn't notified that I had disturbed anyone with my scream. No police showed up either.

You may want to quit now cause this next one is worse. We all know, at least those of us who need to get up in the middle of the night, the way to the bathroom. There is no need to turn on any lights because you know the way. This time I am at home, it is again in the wee hours of the morning, and the urge has appeared once again. I get out of bed and work my way to the bathroom. In our house the throne has its own little room, no windows, so it is extremely dark. I walk into the room, turn 45 degrees and prepare to drop my drawers and sit. Low and behold, and unknown to me, the throne is busy. Out of the dark comes this perturbed voice that says rather loudly, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?. All I can say is that it is a good thing my heart is in good shape, because why I didn't have a heart attack is beyond me. My comment to my wonderful wife, who I didn't think was so wonderful at that moment, was, WHY DID YOU WAIT UNTIL NOW TO TELL ME YOU WERE HERE? Her comment back to me was DO YOU THINK YOU LIVE HERE ALONE? Anyway, once I got my heart back into my chest and regained my composure we both got a good laugh. In fact I remember coming back to bed and she was still giggling.

One last one. Myself and two friends had just completed a round of golf. After a beer at hole 19 we went to the bathroom before departing. As usual, me being a little slower, I was the last one out of the bathroom. I followed Bob one of my friends out of the bathroom and our other friend had his back turned to us, with his foot up on a bench, tieing his shoe. Bob took his hand and was going to swat him on the posterior and then at the last moment held back. Me, being not as nice, let go with a good slap across the old backside. When my friend stood up I realized why Bob had held back. I did not know the name of the guy that I hit and he didn't even give me time to explain what happened. In fact he left in such a hurry I didn't say much at all. The stranger didn't say anything either. In fact, I am not sure he had a voice. It was probably best anyway as both Bob and Roger, the guy who I thought I hit, were laughing so hard he wouldn't have believed me. Please know, in my defense, that this guy could have been Roger's twin, at least from the rear view. Bob said he saw what was happening also but didn't have time to stop me. I bet!

Well I think I have said enough.

"Life Is Good If You Let It"

The Idiosyncrasies of Time

WOW, here we are and June is half over with, and July is just around the corner. This also means that the year 2009 is half over. Where does Time go? When this came to mind the other day I started thinking of all the ways we use not only Time but the word “Time”.

“You have too much Time on your hands” – How many times have we all heard this one? It seems that when I hear this phrase is when I have been working on something very diligently and constructively, and someone comes along and does not appreciate the importance of the project and the skill one must have to complete it. My only thought is that they are just jealous and they would really like the Time to do it themselves.

“Time just ran out” – I have used this one a few times. Here again we make it sound like Time is the problem. We usually use this one when we failed to complete something that was supposed to have been done. Funny how it is Time’s problem and not the fact that maybe we just didn’t plan well and allow enough Time to complete. We also may not have started the project on Time.

“I didn’t have enough Time” – Here again someone didn’t give us enough Time so we could finish what we were doing. Please see above for the real problem here and the resolution for it.

“I wish I had more Time” – Why should Time be left out of all of the things that we would like more of. When we use this do we really think of what we are saying? There are only 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day. We get this each and every day. It is all there is to hand out. It is all we or anybody ever gets. What do we really mean by this? Here again I think the problem is poor Time management on our part.

“If I could just put Time in a bottle” – This reminds me of an old Jim Croce song, “Time In A Bottle”. Wouldn’t we all like to be able to do what he suggests in the song. For just a moment lets say you can have this power. What Time would you save? Keep in mind the bottle is only so big. When you come up with your answer, maybe you should just spend more Time doing that.

“You can do it in your spare Time” – Here again is another phrase in our wonderful English language that doesn’t make sense. When looking at all of the above phrases, is Time something we have extra of or spare? Why do we run out of it then? Why do we want to save it? Why don’t we just use our spare Time? I guess spare Time is just something else we don’t have enough of.

“Time heals all” – Here is a statement where we are giving Time the power to do something. Here again it isn’t really Time that is doing the healing. It is asking for forgiveness. It is saying your sorry. It is saying “I love you”. I think you are getting my drift here. Now as Time passes without doing these, is Time doing the healing?, or does the person’s hurt just become less severe. I don’t think this is the way to heal anything.

“You just have to make Time” – Now wouldn’t this be great! We would always have as much Time as we needed. Here again though I think the meaning behind this saying, is to schedule and plan better. As I said before we only have a certain amount of time and we need to make the best of it.

“My how Time flies” – Well no wonder we can’t find Time. It flew away. Now where did it go? I guess we will have to make Time.

“Time is money” – Wow, if this was really true and we could make Time, I guess we would have plenty of money. Course these is always the possibility that it would run out.

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and Time.”-Leo Tolstoy- What does he mean by this? I think we all can figure out patience but what does he mean by Time being a warrior. Maybe he is talking about how we use our Time, what we do with it. Or maybe he just wants us to think about it.

“Time is of the essence” – Now of all the one liners used here this is the first one that really makes sense. Time is very important! We just need to remember that. Once Time is gone it can’t be retrieved.

Well my Time has about ran out for this Blog. I will close with a quote from an unknown author. It goes along with the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day and it is up to us how we spend them. Think if this when you rise each morning.

“This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind….let it be something good.”

“Life Is Good If You Let It”

I'm Back

WOW! What a whirlwind the past 1 1/2 months have been. I have not only been unable to blog, but I have not been able to follow the blogs that I love to read and follow. Let me explain. About the middle of May my Dad was taken seriously ill with a perforated colon. I cannot describe the thoughts and feelings as I see the ambulance transport him to the hospital with my Mom and Dad inside. Then listening to the surgeon tell you that surgery is the only chance to save your Dad but his chances are not good. His exact words were, "We will do our best to save him, but I must tell you that your Dad is dying."

The once beautiful sunny day, quickly became one of those dreaded days you know will come, but that you are never ready for. Then being the only family here, there were all the phone calls to make while trying to keep all of your emotions in check. I will admit it, I was a wreck! The picture to the left is my Mom and Dad taken last year. To look at this picture and think back to him laying in the hospital is still hard.

I suppose I should cut to the chase and say that he is now home and doing very well. While it was touch and go for about a week after surgery he amazed everyone at the hospital that attended to him. His fight to live overwhelmed all of those other factors trying to bring him down. He was truly amazing!

My family and I also know that another important factor was prayer. There were people all across the states that were praying for him. I know that there were times I was praying that I really did feel other prayers being lifted up for him. It is times like this that you can really feel the presence of God.

After a months stay in the hospital and rehab he came home a couple of weeks ago. He is using a walker but does take short trips from the chair to the kitchen without it. He has a nurse that comes by twice a week and a physical therapist that comes 3 times a week. This not only helps Dad but kind of gives Mom a break also.

This summer Brenda and I have decided to stay here in AZ and help my Mom take care of him. Now as I assist my Mom in being caregiver it is really true that we eventually come full circle. Mom and Dad took care of me for 18 + years, so now it is my turn. It is really great to see him make the progress that he is making.

This will also be the first summer that we have spent in AZ. It will be fun to experience the Monsoons. I am also enjoying the quiet. When you live in a place where a lot of people vacate in the summer it really gets quiet from what you are used to. I have also quit some of my extra curricular activities. I basically was too busy and needed to slow down a little. Now I have to get used to being relaxed so I can quit feeling guilty when I am not out busy doing something.

This just reminded me of something that I do have to do so I must go. I also know there are some followers of this blog that were praying for my Dad. My family really thanks you for all of the prayers you offered. God Bless you all!

"Life Is Good If You Let It."

V8 with Duals Part - 3

OK, just one more Mustang to talk about.

Before I do this, I also want to make a note to my grandchildren who may read this one day. This blog will talk about some of the things that I did when I was young and also a little older. When I was doing these things I was being very careful and circumstances were perfect. But all of this, in know way is my permission for you to even think about doing something like this when and if you have a chance. I never once put any one's life in jeopardy other than my own. Please if you should happen to inherit this crazy motorhead disease that I have, please be very careful!! As they say; Don't try this at home!

The 69 was my last Mustang due to all those financial hurdles that come with life. I had other uses for my money and there wasn't much if anything left over for toys. Jump ahead many years to 1993. My next and last Mustang was a Toy, and just that a, Toy. There is no other real use for it.

The Ford garage in Broomfield, CO where I was living at the time was a Saleen dealer also. For those of you who don't follow Mustangs here is the scoop on the Saleen Mustang. Ford sends a basic LX Mustang to Steve Saleen in CA. Steve is a racer who races Mustangs on the SCCA circuit. He builds a Mustang much the same way that Carol Shelby did in the 60s. After he is done tweaking it, he then sends the Mustang to select Ford dealers that are Saleen dealers also. The cars are all serial numbered each year. He makes around 100 of them each year, or at least he used to make just that much. He also builds the S7 that races on the SCCA circuit. For more information on him go to:

http://www.saleen.com/default.asp

One day when I was at the Ford garage kicking tires,(My slang for looking at new vehicles), I found out they had just taken delivery on Saleen #66. It again was love at first site. I went home to get Brenda to see what she thought. Now to her it was just a convertible but she still liked it a lot. We decided that you only live once and with all the saving for retirement we were doing we decided to allow ourselves this one luxury. So after much dickering #66 was ours. It was 66 of 85 made in 1993 and the only one made with the options that it had.



Even though I am now much older than 1969, I think the excitement was the same. We picked it up and left for Branson Missouri the next day with it. What a blast to drive. Let me explain the options that this Brute had.

Keep in mind that today's horsepower ratings are done differently from back in the 60s. This little pony was only rated at 325hp and it would run circles around the Mach1 that Ford said was putting out about 375.

As I mentioned earlier it started out as a LX Mustang. Saleen completely changes the suspension, the car now only sits about 4 inches off of the ground and corners like you can't imagine. He changes the graphics on the outside and also adds a different front and rear end from stock. He replaces the wheels with Stern rims and low profile tires with a Z rating which means they are good for high speeds. Last on the exterior is a padded roll bar being it was a convertible.

For the engine he removes the exhaust and adds Borla stainless steel exhaust that are hooked to headers designed by his team. The output of this package is the sweetest sound you will hear a small block V8 make. He then adds a Vortec supercharger that adds a little wine when you stick your foot into it. Kind of like a jet engine taking off but not quite so loud. He then changes spark plugs and adds a performance chip to get the most use out of the supercharger and exhaust.

For the interior he replaces the seats with Recaro seats with his logo on them. He also removes the gauges and replaces them with his. He also adds a boost gauge. He also adds a shifter that is designed by his team.

Top speed is supposed to be 155 mph. I can't vouch for that as I let off at about 140. It didn't have anything to do with flying but man things come up and go by you real quick when you are going at this speed. I was also racing a Porche who I could see wasn't going to give up. I had him beat and it was a race to see who could hold it to the floor the longest. I let him win that one. I could see I was already pulling him on the top end so I let off of it and let him go by.

Back to the options. Last one was the Spider kit. Other than all of the power options this was one of my favorites. It was a tanua cover that covered the top when it was down and also came into the interior and covered the rear seat. This made it look like a 2 seater.

Well that about does it. I had this Mustang until 2000. We didn't drive it much and it only had a little over 5,000 miles on it. I never raced it but did have it one car show in Steamboat Springs, CO. I won a trophy there in the Saleen/aftermarket class. We were retiring now and couldn't really justify the need for 4 vehicles. Yes 4, Pickup, Explorer, Motorcycle, and the Saleen. With the traveling we were going to be doing with the RV it just didn't make sense to keep it. If I knew we were going to end up in AZ as quick as we did I would have kept it and sent the Explorer down the road, but who was to know. I advertised it on the Internet and sold it to a guy from West Virginia. I got just short of what I paid for it so it was a cheap toy to have for the 7 years I had it. It was a collectors item so it held it's value pretty well along with the care I gave it. It was driven in the rain once and didn't have one mark or chip on it. Definitely the funnest and fastest Mustang of the three that I owned. Make sure you check out the WEB site. The new Saleens put out even more HP. ARGH ARGH ARGH!!!!!

Life is good if you let it.

V8 with Duals Part - 2

OK, you asked for it so here goes. I will not forget the trip to get my first car. My real first one doesn't count as it was just a 59 Ford Fairlane and was handed down to me when my Dad got a new one. My first car, or at least the first one that I picked out, was a 65 Mustang. I remember my Dad and I going to the Ford garage in Hawley. (Had to be a Ford as my Dad used to work there and that was what he had.) My Dad wasn't real crazy about the Mustang as it was so small. They had a used 66 Galaxie there, two door hardtop-4 speed, that looked good and that was my Dad's choice. Well, while I really didn't have too much against this car it wasn't a Mustang which is what I had my heart set on, but we took it for a drive anyway. We left the garage and when I pulled on to highway 10 I let her rip in all 4 gears. I think my Dad's eyes were as big as silver dollars. (Dad hadn't noticed the 406 flags on the side of the front fenders. The 406 was Fords answer to the Chevy 409.) Dad also didn't know that this engine had been blown up and they had put in a 427 short block. Anyway, after this short but very fast trip in the Galaxie the little Mustang looked pretty good to Dad also. It was just a 6 cylinder and that made him feel better. I really don't know what I was thinking though because the Galaxie would run circles around the Mustang. Oh well it must have been love at first site. The Mustang also had only been out a couple of years so it was kind of a status symbol. You can see by the picture I added rims and tires, red walls even. Anyone remember them? While it was just a 6 by the time I added a split manifold so I could add dual exhaust, bigger jets for the carburetor, bigger clutch, it ran with most stock small block V8's. I know that I helped keep JC Whitney in business back then. They seemed to have everything that you could want when it came to aftermarket car parts.

The 65 started my love affair with the Mustang in general. In 1969 they came out with the Mach1. When I saw the brochure on this I knew I just had to have one. I had a part time job when I was going to school, and with my wife working we figured we could swing it, so off to the Ford garage I go. I started with the stock Mach1 and then added- 390 CU V8 E/W Shelby heads and cam, Ram Air Induction, Close Ratio 4 Speed, 8 Track Tape Deck, Positraction Differential with 3:91 gears, and the rest I can't remember. I know the base price was somewhere around $2800 and by the time I got done it was $4200. When I went to get the loan, the banker of course wanted to see the paper work on the car. When he saw all the extras he wanted to first of all know what they were. Somehow I don't think I explained the importance of the high performance equipment very well because he just shook his head and thought that I was crazy. Well makes no difference as he agreed to the loan so I ordered the car.

I then just had to wait, what seemed like forever, for the car to come in. When the big day finally came I was flying high. This was even bigger than the day I got my first motorcycle and that was a BIG day.



I think we drove around until there wasn't anyone left to show it to. I still to this day remember what the exhaust sounded like. It had a rumble like no other car I had heard. If they would have had cell phones back then I would have been the one that would have called his friend and then took the phone and placed it by the exhaust so he could here it. It was an amazing feeling to sit behind the wheel and feel all that power under your foot just waiting to be unleashed.

While it was a great car it had a couple of design flaws that I did have to correct. It had a real nasty case of the wheel hop when you broke the tires loose. Of course this was easily corrected by my good friend, you guessed it, JC Whitney. I installed a couple of traction bars and that not only corrected the problem but it now came off the line by almost doing a wheel stand. The second problem Ford corrected the following year by placing a spoiler under the front end. Without this spoiler, this little Mustang started to turn into a Bird at about 140 mph by lifting the front end and trying to fly. The first time it happened I about wet my pants. Imagine going down the highway at speed of machwaytofast and have the front end start coming off the ground. It was like driving on ice as you couldn't feel the front wheels on the asphalt. Another easy correction for this problem was not to drive that fast but somehow I never thought of that one.

Well this has gotten long enough so I had better close. I could also fill up a dozen blogs on some of my escapades in this car.

Life is good if you let it.