My Grandfather's pick-up

It's very possible it is my Great Uncles truck that you saw. He and Grandpa had matching pickups. The only difference is that Uncle Bob's had the 390 in it. They lived in Milton until he passed away a few years back. His son, my cousin (or is it great cousin?) now drives the pickup. I have some old photos of the two trucks together. I'll have to find them and share them here.

 

I spent some time this last week going through old photo albums looking for photos we could use for a slide show at Grandpa's funeral.
In the process I came across a few of his truck that I didn't already have.

Here is a photo from one of my Grandparent's camping trips in 1973.

 

I just saw it earlier tonight; does your uncle live near Alderwood (Lynnwood), on or around Manor Road in South Snohomish County?

 

To be honest Andrew, I'm not exactly sure where he lives now. My Great Aunt (his mother) just passed away last month so I am not certain if he decided to move into the house or if he is still living somewhere else. I'll have to ask my Dad, he'll know.

 

Well, I got two pics, you should be able to see the collector plate on the back, and read the number:

Then I turned around and shot this one:

 

But I have to say, if it is your great uncle's it doesn't look all that great up close, looks a bit swaybacked (which was somewhat common to vintage pickups), but at least it appears to be complete and straight.

 

Cool Andrew! Thanks for taking those photos.
I can confidently say that is not my Great Uncle's truck. Judging by the grille I would say that's a 1971.
It's still pretty darn neat though.

Uncle Bob's was either a 68 or 69 (virtually identical those two years) But it had the same look as my Grandpa's truck. I found a photo last week that had both of the trucks in it, but they were in the background and not very clear.
It's funny, because when I first saw Uncle Bob's truck I thought it was Grandpa's. It wasn't until the next photo in the sequence that I saw Grandpa's truck had the camper on in it and was parked a bit closer.

Here is the photo I was talking about:



Grandpa is in the foreground, Uncle Bob's wife Aunt Betty is sitting next to him. Uncle Bob's truck is in the background.
I guess I didn't scan the photo with both trucks...

 

I found another photo this weekend while visiting Grandma.
This one is actually from my youth. It was taken at our annual family campout in 1996. It was at this particular campout that we celebrated Grandpa and Grandma's 50th anniversary.

 

Nice set up. All kinds of camping room there, must have been a fun time, looks like a pretty spot.

 

Thanks Fannie. It was indeed a pretty spot. I just went back there this fall for the first time in years.
Brought back alot of great memories.

 

The boys and I have been driving Grandpa's truck all weekend. We've had some great adventures.

On Saturday we stopped by the Teapot Dome gas station in Zillah on our way home from visiting some family.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teapot_Dome_Service_Station

 

We took the old two lane highway home. There is a really neat old barn I have always loved just off the road, so we stopped there as well.

 

I really like how two of my favorite things come together right there.

The barn is sweet too. Did you peek inside?

 

No we didn't. I don't know the owner of the barn, so we figured it was best to not go pocking around.

 

My work buddy and I were shooting the breeze the other day discussing our trucks. He also has a 69 F-100 which he has poured a lot of blood sweat and beers into. It started out as a longbox, but is now a shortbox (he shortened the bed and frame and everything else in his two car garage) it has a 347 stroker and a Tremec 5 speed. He said the next thing he wants to add is A/C
I mentioned that my truck came with A/C, but Grandpa pulled the belt off because he claimed it "killed his gas mileage"
My Buddy said "I wonder if it still works?" I hadn't ever even considered that it might.
So I bought a belt, stuck it on there and low and behold it starts blowing cool air out.
Not snowflakes mind you, but seriously cool air! I was shocked.

So now I have a guy who works for us in the shop looking into a conversion kit so I can run the new R-134 (I think it's R-134...) and then I'll be set. I'm actually pretty excited.

No belt:



New belt:




I also had a leaking power steering hose on the pressure side. I had removed the belt, but it was a bear to drive. After waiting longer than I should have I pulled the line off and brought it down to work. The same fellow who is going to do the A/C conversion for me made a new hose and I was able to get that installed. No photos of that project.

So now I have Power steering again.

I pulled the truck out of the garage and parked it on the street. I love this truck and I am constantly amazed at just how handsome it is. I take a lot of photos of my vehicles.
I know. I have a problem.



Our family had planned on attending the Nile Valley Community Days last weekend.

http://uppervalleybb.com/orgs/nilevalle ... ydays.html

Unfortunately my oldest son came down with something on Saturday. My wife decided to stay home with him so it ended up being just me and my youngest son Caleb that went.
We had a really nice time at the Community Days. The truck ran great, the cool air coming out of the A/C was nice and the Power steering made the drive very enjoyable.

I couldn't help but take a photo when we were preparing to leave to head back home.
That's Caleb in the Cowboy hat.