So Long, Old Friend

Yesterday something happened that I would never have dreamed would occur.  My father sold Clyde.  What is Clyde, you may ask?  Well, my father always names his pickups.  His 1994 F150 is a regular cab, short bed so he named him "Shorty".  His 1998 F150 is an extended cab, short bed which we named Chuck (after Chuck Norris) because it's a bad-ass truck.  (Never thought I would say that on the blog!)  Clyde was my father's 1970 F250 Sport Custom Camper Special.  Dad bought this truck in July, 1987.  I was five.  I still remember going to look at the truck, bringing it home (with Dad stopping to remove the ugly wooden side rails), and the first trip to the farm in it.  Clyde's a stout old fellow!  Back in the late 1990s his original 360 cubic inch big block finally gave up (after somewhere around 175,000 miles) and Dad pulled it out and dropped a 390 cubic inch big block in it.  When he left the driveway yesterday, he had 202 thousand miles showing on his odometer.  He would pull anything!  I used it to pull the shrubs out from around the Shack when I moved in...just hit the gas, a quick jerk, and they were out of the ground!

This old boy has pulled the travel trailer to the lake countless times (took the old cab-over truck bed camper countless times before we had the travel trailer), the boat countless more, with the family squeezed in the seat (before Missouri had seat belt laws for pickups), and generally has been the family work-horse.  Since Dad got his 1994 F150 several years ago, Clyde has been mostly retired, and the time finally came for him to go to a new home.  I will have to say though, after so many years together, Dad had a tear in his eye as the new owner pulled away.  So, here's to you, Clyde!  May your new owner love and cherish you as much as we have.  May you have a long and healthy life ahead of you!