Hi All,
Just wanted to tell you all about some remarkable folks down there in Fresno - Anne and her family.
A couple of weeks ago I made a trip down to San Francisco to deliver a car to the shipper for shipment to Brian G. in OZ. I left here about 8:00 pm on Saturday night with half a truck load of Stude parts, rendezvoused with a fellow in Williams, CA at 10:30 am the next morning where I picked up a car hauler with a 58 Vette and a boatload of parts, paid the man and bought him lunch and then headed out again to Anne's place in Fresno to look at some parts she had for sale.
By that time, my truck was full to the tailgate so I called Anne and asked her to vector me to the nearest HFT so I could pick up some additional cargo straps and another cargo net. I didn't have any more room in the truck for parts, so I figured if I was going to haul that car around behind the truck I might as well utilize it as a truck bed and carry those additional parts in the car.
Anne called me about half an hour before the HFT store was going to close and told me to step on it, 'cuz they were going to be closing soon. She said she'd meet me there. I arrived at the HFT at just about 6:50 pm and was just climbing out of the truck when down the street comes this pretty yellow Stude coupe driven by Anne who was accompanied by her son, Bob. We ran into HFT, found the stuff I needed as quick as we could and got to the registers just as they were preparing to close up. I then followed Annie's car Daisy for about half a mile or so to where she had her parts stash and for the next half hour or so we dug around in her pile looking at some of the Packard Hawk specific stuff she had. I got on the phone to Brian G. and as quick as Anne or Bob hauled stuff out of that pile I'd describe it to Brian and he made the call on whether he wanted it or not. We picked out enough stuff to cause me to wonder if I was going to be able to get it all hauled to the port and I ended up having to leave a few items that were too large to fit. (Don't worry Anne, I'm coming back for those other two P.H.-specific items. I just need to get a few more days break from my regular gig.).
We negotiated a final price, I forked over some cash and then we hauled all the stuff out to the rig. Mama Mia! it was clear that there was no way it was all going to fit as configured, so Bob and Anne jumped in helping me unload the truck and then repack it, putting all of the Stude and Packard stuff in the truck and all of the Corvette parts inside the Vette, and some stuff on the outside of the vette strapped to the side. Then we threw cargo nets and a few cargo straps over both loads. I swear, anyone seeing that truck from the back would have thought Mad Max has just rolled into town with one of those apocalyptic rigs from the movie. It looked positively heathen.
Then we drove over to Anne's house to pick up a load of P.H. specific trim and a few other odds and ends and add it all to the load. I thought I was going to just stop, load up the parts and get back on the road but Anne insisted I check out their Studes. Wow, if there was ever a Stude family it was this one. Besides that sweet little coupe, Daisy, Anne has her daily driver - also a Stude - and both her son and husband have studes - all drivers. After I had a chance to admire the cars, Anne treated me to a burger and then I went out and crashed in the truck - unwilling to leave that Vette unattended on a hauler on the side of a street in an unfamiliar city. Set my phone to wake me up and at 2:30 in the morning woke up and headed for San Leandro to drop the cars and parts at the shipping company. I was first to arrive there that morning, off-loaded the parts onto six different pallets, off-loaded the car, picked up the paperwork, dropped the trailer and got back on the road by 3:30 pm. The next morning, after a 3 hour stop in Roseburg, OR and a two-hour nap on the side of the road I rolled into Scappoose, OR at 9:15 a.m. and spent the next few hours searching for a car I'd heard rumours about. I was back on the road by 12:30 and arrived back in the Seattle area just in time for rush hour, arriving home at about 4:30 pm Monday afternoon. I'd calculated that the trip would end up being just about 1989 miles. I was wrong - all told, I put 1,995 miles on the truck.
I want to thank Anne and her retinue for being kind enough to help me unload and reload that pile. i only have one strong arm, having had full shoulder replacement surgery last year, and I doubt that I could have done it as well in five hours as they did it in thirty minutes. My hat's off to this very gracious host and her terrific Stude family. It was great to meet you all and to make some new Stude friends. Anytime you are up Seattle way, give a shout and I'll throw the welcome mat out.
Anne, it was a pleasure doing business with you. I think I'll be seeing you again in just a few weeks to pick up that other stuff. Next time, I'm buying dinner. This Thursday it's off to Oregon to pick up a Hawk and some more parts for OZ. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?
Just wanted to tell you all about some remarkable folks down there in Fresno - Anne and her family.
A couple of weeks ago I made a trip down to San Francisco to deliver a car to the shipper for shipment to Brian G. in OZ. I left here about 8:00 pm on Saturday night with half a truck load of Stude parts, rendezvoused with a fellow in Williams, CA at 10:30 am the next morning where I picked up a car hauler with a 58 Vette and a boatload of parts, paid the man and bought him lunch and then headed out again to Anne's place in Fresno to look at some parts she had for sale.
By that time, my truck was full to the tailgate so I called Anne and asked her to vector me to the nearest HFT so I could pick up some additional cargo straps and another cargo net. I didn't have any more room in the truck for parts, so I figured if I was going to haul that car around behind the truck I might as well utilize it as a truck bed and carry those additional parts in the car.
Anne called me about half an hour before the HFT store was going to close and told me to step on it, 'cuz they were going to be closing soon. She said she'd meet me there. I arrived at the HFT at just about 6:50 pm and was just climbing out of the truck when down the street comes this pretty yellow Stude coupe driven by Anne who was accompanied by her son, Bob. We ran into HFT, found the stuff I needed as quick as we could and got to the registers just as they were preparing to close up. I then followed Annie's car Daisy for about half a mile or so to where she had her parts stash and for the next half hour or so we dug around in her pile looking at some of the Packard Hawk specific stuff she had. I got on the phone to Brian G. and as quick as Anne or Bob hauled stuff out of that pile I'd describe it to Brian and he made the call on whether he wanted it or not. We picked out enough stuff to cause me to wonder if I was going to be able to get it all hauled to the port and I ended up having to leave a few items that were too large to fit. (Don't worry Anne, I'm coming back for those other two P.H.-specific items. I just need to get a few more days break from my regular gig.).
We negotiated a final price, I forked over some cash and then we hauled all the stuff out to the rig. Mama Mia! it was clear that there was no way it was all going to fit as configured, so Bob and Anne jumped in helping me unload the truck and then repack it, putting all of the Stude and Packard stuff in the truck and all of the Corvette parts inside the Vette, and some stuff on the outside of the vette strapped to the side. Then we threw cargo nets and a few cargo straps over both loads. I swear, anyone seeing that truck from the back would have thought Mad Max has just rolled into town with one of those apocalyptic rigs from the movie. It looked positively heathen.
Then we drove over to Anne's house to pick up a load of P.H. specific trim and a few other odds and ends and add it all to the load. I thought I was going to just stop, load up the parts and get back on the road but Anne insisted I check out their Studes. Wow, if there was ever a Stude family it was this one. Besides that sweet little coupe, Daisy, Anne has her daily driver - also a Stude - and both her son and husband have studes - all drivers. After I had a chance to admire the cars, Anne treated me to a burger and then I went out and crashed in the truck - unwilling to leave that Vette unattended on a hauler on the side of a street in an unfamiliar city. Set my phone to wake me up and at 2:30 in the morning woke up and headed for San Leandro to drop the cars and parts at the shipping company. I was first to arrive there that morning, off-loaded the parts onto six different pallets, off-loaded the car, picked up the paperwork, dropped the trailer and got back on the road by 3:30 pm. The next morning, after a 3 hour stop in Roseburg, OR and a two-hour nap on the side of the road I rolled into Scappoose, OR at 9:15 a.m. and spent the next few hours searching for a car I'd heard rumours about. I was back on the road by 12:30 and arrived back in the Seattle area just in time for rush hour, arriving home at about 4:30 pm Monday afternoon. I'd calculated that the trip would end up being just about 1989 miles. I was wrong - all told, I put 1,995 miles on the truck.
I want to thank Anne and her retinue for being kind enough to help me unload and reload that pile. i only have one strong arm, having had full shoulder replacement surgery last year, and I doubt that I could have done it as well in five hours as they did it in thirty minutes. My hat's off to this very gracious host and her terrific Stude family. It was great to meet you all and to make some new Stude friends. Anytime you are up Seattle way, give a shout and I'll throw the welcome mat out.
Anne, it was a pleasure doing business with you. I think I'll be seeing you again in just a few weeks to pick up that other stuff. Next time, I'm buying dinner. This Thursday it's off to Oregon to pick up a Hawk and some more parts for OZ. Don't you love it when a plan comes together?
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