To the tune of ‘One Horse Open Sleigh’
Honk if you’ve been there, done that! Okay, I’ll confess first. One holiday season I drove my husband’s dying Ram truck. The carburetor was a fountain of gasoline. Top speed was 35 mph downhill – giving speedy drivers a chance to greet me with arm signals and horn honking as they passed the billowing smoke bomb in their way. Best of all, upon reaching my destination, the beast produced booming backfires that set off every car alarm in the lot announcing my arrival to aggrieved patrons. That was the year I started to suspect the holiday spirit was waning – the gas fumes could have contributed to that visual and emotional conclusion.
RJ Adds: I had a similar warm weather event. I got through college in my VW Van with the bed and curtains. Then took it on my 2 year Florida Keys adventure. The first thing I lost was the ignition. So I bought two regular home wall light switches and hooked them up. One to turn on the ignition, and one you held for the starter. Next thing that went were both side doors. Then the drivers side door, then the passenger windshield, then the passenger side door. I took the back hatch door off for aesthetic reasons. Boy that engine just never quit. Finally, Hans and I put on our shorts, mask with snorkels and at a party at Billies on a canual, drove it at about 50 mph into that canual. It sank fast to a cheering crowd. We stayed until it hit bottom. We would visit it regularly because… IT BECAME FULL OF LOBSTERS! So this story has a yum yum ending!