Sign of Spring

This post covers a variety of topics and information. I saw the first flowers of spring, record temps have been set yet again, and more negatives (from 1975) have been scanned. These photos and other stories make up this post.

While walking the other day I saw these flowers blooming, the first in this area.

Temperatures have been warm, with every day in March above average so far, and many new highs-for-the-date set. While appreciating the decline of winter, the area is very dry. Raking the lawn raised dust! There was some rain on Thursday, which will help the lawn immensely, but NE Iowa is still in a severe drought. Cooler weather, in the upper 30s and low 40s, is in the forecast for the next week or so.

Speaking of weather, we had a power outage last week that lasted for just under two hours. The outage was attributed to high wind damage to power lines. The mild temps led to no inconvenience as it was during the day and we didn’t even need lights. I didn’t power up my standby generator, as I might have had to do if the weather had been colder or the outage had been during darkness.

During the week I did some lawn clean up. Pam scheduled herself to paint some galvanized planter frames in the garden. The shade of green she chose will help the planters blend in with the lawn. It feels good to be doing outside tasks again.

I found a problem with my equipment trailer suspension, a worn / loose set of u-bolts that hold the rear axle to the springs. New hangers have been ordered and will be here shortly. I will install them after the weather warms up again.

My last post, with the story of our motorcycle trip over Rollins Pass, generated some interest so I have decided to continue posting more photos and telling stories from our “early days” of marriage. This batch is from 1975 and includes several threads of commentary, including family, friends, and events from that time. I hope you find these stories interesting.

I will note, again, that some of these negatives have suffered damage over time so the quality is not the best. My camera then was my father’s 1940s (?) vintage Argus 35mm (which I still have), and the optics were not up to today’s standards. After we moved to Colorado I purchased a “modern” Pentax MX and the quality of photos went up somewhat.

This first photo is included for Pam’s brother Craig. I was rebuilding the engine in the 1946 Plymouth featured in an earlier post and Craig lent me his Honda CB500-4 motorcycle to use during that time. The 500 is for the size of the engine in CCs and the 4 indicated a 4-cylinder engine. (I didn’t buy my Honda CB-450 featured in the last post until later, although I did buy it in Wisconsin.) Years later, in Arizona, I briefly owned a CB550-4, a bike similar to Craig’s 500-4.

After I rebuilt the ’46 Plymouth I sold it and bought our next vehicle, an old Datsun pickup. (Datsun later became Nissan.) It was a “back row beauty” from a dealership in Eau Claire and needed some TLC. I don’t remember the year of the truck, but think it dated from the mid-60’s.

There are many stories related to this vehicle. We owned it for many years and moved to Colorado with it. Many times on our travels, including a trip to the east coast, we threw a tarp over the back and slept in the bed. Once we were in Colorado, Pam’s mom helped us finance a replacement used engine, swapped in for the worn-out original. The used motor was from a Datsun sports car, a 240Z, which made driving the old truck more fun. Eventually I sold it to a co-worker and we bought a Ford Pinto station wagon. More on that in future posts.

Shortly after the purchase of the Datsun, Pam made door panel covers that dressed up the inside of the cab. I pulled the original seats and replaced them with a bench seat out of an old Ford Thunderbird, which took some doing, but resulted in a more comfortable ride. The rear bumper was painted, along with the white stripe around the top of the bed. With installation of new carpet we had the nicest old Datsun truck around.

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in 1975. Some college friends who were at our wedding the previous year (Stout State University in Menomonie, Wisconsin) invited us on an inner-tubing adventure down the Apple River. I took the camera along.

We have good memories of this trip and the friends that shared our 1st wedding anniversary with us. Amazing to contemplate we are approaching our 50th…

Menomonie is located on Lake Menomin and the college had an “outdoor sports” facility that rented canoes and related gear. One weekend Pam and I rented a canoe, paddles, and life jackets and went out for a trip around the lake.

This outing is particularly unique as Pam is not a fan of water sports, and perhaps her siblings will be quite surprised to see her out on the water.

Here is what we looked like that fall. Man, we were skinny then! (I didn’t start growing a beard until 1991.)

We moved to Colorado in 1977 and future posts will document more of our early Colorado days. Here is a sample photo from one of these trips.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Well, what do you know, I have bikini photo evidence of how thin I used to be. (NOT the image I see in the mirror now.) I barely recognize that girl!

I well remember sleeping in the bed of the Datsun truck on that [infamous] trip to the east coast. It wasn’t glamping, that’s for sure. Himself has promised additional images of that vacation in a future post. Ah, yes, we were young once…

Happy Trails.