This is something that I have enjoyed for more than three decades. Just cruising along, with some tunes playing and checking out the sights. By myself, with others, whatever. Dirt roading just helps to get your mind right. There are times that I will literally just drive the section line and come back home. Four miles, one song, better mood and then go back to what I was doing. Doe goats become much more tolerable after a cooling down session.
Back in the mid 80s, I could tour the dirt roads of Elllis County. There were lots of times that my parents wondered what I was doing at 8 pm on a Tuesday night. Just cruising. Most of the time. As I moved around Oklahoma, I have continued this hobby, no matter where I lived. This is also where Kela and Duke learned to drive. Looking back, I guess this habit started because I drove quite a bit before I ever got a license to drive. And I do know that my exact instructions were “Don’t drive on main street and don’t drive down the highways.” Dirt roads it was and is.
I never really had a “first” vehicle. I drove whatever Dad would let me use or whatever Pa had available. Pa was our step-grandpa, although he had earned the actual grandpa title. Pa was a character. Books coud be written about the stories that involve Pa. In the late 70s, Pa bought a new pickup. It was a GMC half ton, 2wd pickup. It was stripped down of almost ALL features. But it had LOTS of character. We called it CITRUS. First of all, it was kind of a lemon. It never ran real good. He originally bought it as an everyday driver. But that only lasted a year or so. Pa then added an electric winch to the driver’s side bed rail, just behind the toolbox. This winch operated the bright BLUE bale spike. We now know that a 1/2 ton, 2wd pickup has no business picking up 1,200 pound round bales especially when all of the weight was hanging from the bumper. It was a bit hard on the frame. Oh, did I mention that it was bright ORANGE? I mean, OSU orange. I like the color orange, but on a new pickup? Looking back, I really think that somebody at the dealership screwed up an order. Who in the heck would ever want a pickup this ORANGE color? Pa liked a deal and I am sure that some sales person was tickled to get this thing moved down the road. There are probably some Market Research reports from GM that show that the orange color was strong in NW OK because of that one sale.
I personally turned Citrus into a high mileage vehicle from about 1983 to 1988. It had an AM radio station, which meant no tunes, only Swap Shop on KSIW at noon. I kept a ghetto blaster in this ride. Big speakers with a handle, AM & FM radio and most importantly, a cassette deck. That way I could listen to whatever I wanted as I dirt roaded around Ellis, Lipscomb, southern Harper and occasionally Woodward counties. Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Whitesnake, Hank Jr., George Strait, Huey Lewis & the News, Alabama, Van Halen, the Oak Ridge Boys, Lionel Richie, RATT and occasionally, I would swipe Dad’s Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias tape. I still like that “To all the girls I’ve loved before” song.
I do know that Citrus was not quick in the quarter mile. And in that part of the world, the quarter mile meant that you were dragging on Wolf Creek Bridge. I also know that if Nick Pool, the driver and some other un-named person was headed down Wolf Creek Bridge and the transmission was accidentally shifted into reverse at 56 mph, that the tires squalled, the engine died and I was worried. But, I just shifted into park, said a quick prayer and turned the ignition, and it was running again. No problems. It’s hard to tear up something that started out being orange.
As I look back on that Citrus pickup, there were no real crimes committed in that thing. Other than the obvious driving without a license and knowing Pa, it probably did not have any kind of insurance. I may have chewed tobacco in it. But that wasn’t really a big deal back then. I don’t remember much alcholol involved with that pickup. Why would you? Everybody knew the pickup, who was driving and who owned it. It was actually a perfect dirt roading rig.
I need to go check the kidding barn. It is time, but these chicks don’t act like it, yet. Have a good one and a better tomorrow.
