Posted by Dennis in NJ [68.37.186.225] on Tuesday, July 22, 2014 at 22:53:26 :
First, I didn't realize that there are two of us - Den in NJ, and myself - Dennis in NJ.
Den in NJ perhaps should be worried that he would be confused with the notorious Dennis. Or perhaps we could team up and become Den Den.
In any case, the more the merrier.
The exciting news for me, is my letter being published in Antique Automobile magazine, which is a pretty upscale mag for the Antique Automobile Club of America.
Last year, there was a four page article about a 1963 Willys 4X4 pickup wherein the statement was made that "The Big Three continued to rely on outside firms such as Marmon-Herrington to convert their pickups to four-wheel drive. Needless to say, my head exploded.
I wrote a pretty cogent (I thought) brief history of Dodge four-wheel-drive trucks from 1934 through 1978. When the online version comes online, I hope to be able to provide a link.
Last week, I posted about being in northern VT which is called The Northeast Kingdom. I was there to look at a newer Dodge class B camper which I didn't buy. I did have a great time at the Newport VT beach and campground (Prouty) which was a beautiful spot, and, very handily, had an American Legion bar across the road.
I then rambled down to the White Mts. to do a little mountain hiking. I had a wonderful time there also, but my hiking didn't go entirely smoothly. I decided to drive up to Jefferson Notch at 3000ft to get a jump on a climb. I didn't realize that the road was not suitable for 28 year old van/motorhome - three quarter ton Dodge, with a kitchen and bath AND 290,000 miles on it, AND a 2.92 rear axel ratio, AND a kayak and bike on top.
The old girl did, however, negotiate one of the steepest roads I have been on to the notch, and I started on my hike/climb to the summit of Mt Jefferson at 5700 ft.
I rapidly reached treeline, probably at 4,000 ft and the trail became pureley a boulder scramble. At 5,000 ft, my 71 year old knees' were screaming (probably because I hadn't done any warm up hikes). I stopped to finish my sandwich, and when I turned around, I was nose to nose with a very black
cloud that proceeded to envelope me and rain heavily. I had plenty of gear to keep me dry, and temps were high -in the 60s so I was OK.
Temps can drop drastically in the Whites and many have died there, even in summer.
Apparently it hailed on the top of Mt Washington (which was forecast) which was six miles away.
The end of my excellent adventure was to the Finger Lakes to catch the Grassroots music festival - but that's another story. Maybe I shouldn't have gone on like this, but some people commented on my former posts, so I thought I would finish the story.
Dennis
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