Best of the Welcome Columns


Best of the Welcome Columns

Author: Rhynes, J.D.
What a Wonderful Dream! The Ride of My Life!

Most of the time when we have a dream, we have trouble remembering the whole dream. Usually, it takes somethang to trigger part of the dream, and then, slowly we remember all of it. A couple of years ago, I woke up one morning, and I remembered this whole dream jes as if it had happened to me 6 seconds before! I have thought about this dream at least once a day since then, and since you will all know who is in the dream, I figgered why not share it with you all. So, here we go. I was out in my shop one fine mountain morning, building "neat stuff", when I heard this high horsepower engine pull into my driveway. I walked out to the front of the shop, and there settin' in a chopped, jet black, flamed '34 Ford coupe was my 'ol pickin' pard, Vern Williams! Now Vern and I had always shared a love of vintage Ford's, especially '34 coupes. We both agreed that the '34 coupe was probably the finest body style Ford had ever made. Vern was a'grinnin' like a Mule eatin' briar's. It had polished Mag wheels, with 16 inch wide rear tires , a 500 horsepower turbocharged, injected, Chrysler Hemi engine, 6 speed trans, 4wheel disc's all around, with a "boom box" stereo that would kill a grown Mountain Lion at a 100 yards when Del would lay out a "G run" on it! I sez, Vern, jes where in the cat hair did you get this FINE ride? Vern sez, I had er built so's I could give yer 'ol '56 Ford truck a run fer it's money. [I have a '56 1/2 ton truck with a 392 Chrysler Hemi in it that will run an honest 150 mph on the road . Vern always liked it when I would shift down to second gear at around 65 mph, stand on it and lay a patch of rubber about 100 feet long.] He said, get in J.D. and get ready fer the ride of yer life, so I got in, buckled up and off we went. He revved that 426 up to 4 grand, popped the clutch and layed about a 100 feet of rubber on Lily Gap road! We went by West Point doing about 90, and he said, jes where would you like to go fer lunch? I sez, how about J.T.'s basque restaurant over the hill in Gardnerville, Nevada? Sounds fine to me he said. Tighten up yer shoulder harness, 'cause I'm gonna let the ol '34 Rocket unwind! It usually takes me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to drive over to J.T.'s fer lunch, but we made it in 37 minutes! Vern took a lot of those mountains and curves at well over 100 mph! That '34 went around those curves like a Can Am racer at Laguna Seca, on rails! We walked in, sat down at the bar and had about 6 of the finest "Picon Punch" cocktails you ever wrapped a lip around. When we got ready to eat, Marie, one of the owners ushered us to the dining room, where we were served a great big steak with all of the trimmin's,and fer dessert they gave us our all time favorite, bread pudding! A great BIG bowl of it, all slathered with whupped cream and sprinkled with fresh ground nutmeg. All Vern could say was; WOW! After the meal,we thanked our host's J.B. and Marie Lekumberry fer a wonderful meal and visit, climbed into the ol Rocket '34 and headed back to good ol Calaveras County. We took our time heading home, so we could enjoy the wonderful Sierra Nevada mountain scenery. Vern and I both thought that Hope Valley on hiway 88 was and is one of the most beautiful places on this earth. He especially loved to trout fish in the Carson river there. After a couple of hours, we were back at my place, "Bluegrass Acres", and I was sorry to see such a wonderful day come to a close. Vern said, J.D., thanks fer the lunch ol pal, next time I'll buy. He revved the 'ol Rocket up to 4 grand, popped the clutch and layed about another 100 feet of rubber on Lily Gap road and in no time was out of sight. I could hear that Hemi singin' around 8 grand fer about 5 minutes, and then, TOTAL silence. The silence was the hardest part, and I sat on the car port and cried my eyes out fer an hour er so. I dont mind admitting that I cry every time I remember that dream. It's okay fer REAL men to cry over their friend's. Vern was right, that was and is the RIDE IF MY

Posted: 10/27/2011