Goin' to California

Goin' to California | Part 2

In this episode - Goin' to California Prt. 2 . . .

"If you ever plan to motor west

Travel my way take the highway that's the best

Get your kicks on Route 66."

If you remember, we left our heroes passing through Flagstaff, Arizona don’t forget Winona, we saw Kingman, Barstow, and San Bernardino . . .

Our California trip included Los Angeles, Hollywood, then we cruised north - up Highway One, past Vandenberg Air force Base, through Big Sur, and across to Yosemite National Park.

Stunning California landscapes with unparalleled photo opportunities. Smooth sailing until - we pulled into Oakhurst, CA. on Route 41. The Pinto’s tiny four-cylinder engine seemed to be losing power.

“We better check the oil. Hmmm, a couple of quarts low.”

“Hate to break the news, I’m thinking Yosemite and San Francisco are out of the question. Our California cruising days are over.”

We studied the map for the most direct route home.

“How about Las Vegas? This trip has been a gamble from the start so why not return home through Vegas.”

Well, we did. A beautiful clear day, windows down, cruising the Vegas strip our mucous colored Ford Pinto, The Mean Green Booger Machine just stopped running.

“What’s wrong?”

“Damn! I think we threw a rod. It won’t start. We’re screwed. What a piece of junk, now what?”

“That’s it, let’s find a junkyard,” said Nathan.

“I agree let’s find a junkyard and sell this heap for scrap.”

“We can’t, we have too much money wrapped up in this car.”

So, once again - the booger machine was towed - this time to a junkyard. We had found a replacement engine in a wrecked Pinto which the junkyard mechanic agreed to install for $600.00 cash.

“Hah, we sure as hell don’t have $600.00, now what?” exclaimed Nathan.

“I have an idea, let’s see if we can borrow the money from Avco Financial Services. My girlfriend in Macomb works at Avco, maybe she can help.”

“Let me get this straight," said the finance officer, "two young guys from a small town in the Midwest, in Las Vegas for the first time, want to borrow $600.00 cash to buy an engine; from a junkyard; for a Ford Pinto - Righhht?”

“That’s right. Since we began this trip we’ve replaced the exhaust system, three new tires, a new water pump, a fan belt, and a new left shock absorber. We can’t afford to junk this car now."

Needless to say, we had a difficult time getting the loan officer to buy our story. So I begged him, “Please call your Macomb office, speak to my girlfriend, she will verify our story.”

Amazingly enough, they loaned us the money!

We spent a couple of days in Vegas while they swapped out the engine. Our first motel stay throughout the entire trip. Believe me, Vegas in the early 1980s, if you looked hard enough, you could find a very cheap motel. Now, I’m not here to endorse the particular part of town we stayed in, we met some pretty weird, scary lookin’ folks.

Finally, we were “On the Road Again.” By now we were excited to hear that song on the radio. We were finally headed home.

Interstate 15 out of Las Vegas to I-70 through the mountains of Colorado, once we reached the plains of Kansas we were home free - or so we thought.

“What else could possibly go wrong now?” I laughed.

My listening friends never ask that question aloud. It’s a curse!

Crossing the plains of Kansas the synchronizer gears in the transmission went out.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Not an exact quote. “We’re not stopping again.”

As long as we kept moving, with the 4-speed transmission in fourth gear we were fine, (Oh, by the way, reverse and first gear - were gone). The new engine had plenty of power but inevitably nature calls and you must stop for gas.

So each time we stopped for fuel, and some food, it was my job to nurse the transmission through the gears, accelerating slowly, to keep the transmission from completely going out.

There is a happy ending. The booger machine limped home.

Nathan’s Dad found a replacement transmission, and Nathan drove that car for another four years. Thankfully, The Mean Green Booger Machine never suffered a rear-end collision.

And we did get some amazing photographs! What a trip.

This is Patrick Ball, thanks for listening. See you in the next episode . . .

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