The day finally came when I could no longer justify keeping it stored, insured , registered and it's teasing me to take it out and land in some real potential trouble with the law.
These parts of the world have many qualities, but an underground street racing scene, any sort of legal race tracks or even a interested group of folks at the local Vintage / Hot Rod Club, car show and cruise scene are not on the list.
I have been running back and forth to Flagstaff to have Miki's neck surgery and follow up visits handled. And decided to trade the Cobra and her '07 Dodge pickup in on something a little more appropriate for this environment.
In a proper send off, I left the spooky (yes, I went back - no bad vibes this time) Hotel Monte Vista an hour before sunrise and made a rather well paced run East out I-40 towards Winslow, AZ. Made famous in the '79 album by the Eagles, what a fine place to do a final farewell donut and speed off into the distance under the golden glow of the rising sun.
Moving rather quickly (no AZ DPS Troopers in the densely wooded center median cross overs who were either awake or interested in chasing down a Dark Shadow Grey blip off their radar in the early morning hours). I thus arrived early, and stopped just outside of town for some nice rustic shots as the sun broke over the jagged horizon in the distance. I snapped a couple shots, watched a few trains pass by and perhaps let a tear or two well up over the soon passing of a long friend.
Nine years, almost to the day. Longest I've ever owned any motorized vehicle, believe it or not.
Arrived on the corner in Winslow, Arizona and what a fine sight to see. No, not a girl, by Lord, but there was the Flat Bed Ford who had once slowed down to take a look. There is now a Bronze figure, a beautiful mural to memorialize the event, and no shit, the old Flat Bed Ford was sitting there parked. I pulled in behind for a few shots, did my deed and went on my way.
Arriving back in Flagstaff, I picked out a nice Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (fancy name for Four door model) Rubicon soft top. It has a smooth Auto, nice velvety V-6, the upgraded transfer case with lower internal ratios, 3.73's in the pumpkins of the Dana 44's, stuffed with electronic lockers and the electronic sway bar disconnect.
I signed my screen name on the inside of the trunk lid, along with it's best 1/4 data and Hp/Tq figures and stashed some time slips, entry tickets to Willow Springs Open Track events, Famoso Raceway and LACR drags up in it's headliner and went on my way.
Peeled the top off the Jeep as soon as I got home, and broke it in taking it for a nice look over at the edge of the Vermillion Cliffs at sunset. I hope everyone will be better off for it. Just thought I would share. I know I am going to get a bunch of grief from the old original Termi Crowd. But, like putting down an old dog, it was best for me in my current miserable financial situation, and better for the car. How much better, I would not know until about a week later. But, that will be in one of the follow up posts. But, I can say, for a horrible heart breaking deal, it sure turned out the best it possibly could have, with the Mighty DSG landing in the hands of a fellow hot rodder, wrencher and long time car builder and one who appreciates and will take car of her like no one else could. I will post that story up later.
