The Dynamic Duo

For some time now, UltraDad has been desiring, coveting, and longing for a nice, comfortable, reliable 4-wheel drive pickup. Considering his hard work and ‘luck of the lemon’ with several previous pick-ups, I was inclined to agree in his deservedness of this man-toy. Vehicle prices in this neck of the woods (or desert) ran a little high, so a pickup-purchasing pilgrimage to Idaho seemed to be indicated. We timed our trip by highly scientific means: the planets alignment in the nighttime sky, and the timing of UltraDad’s 7 days off, mostly, I guess, the latter. I procured a couple of extra days off myself, and Friday morning early found us on the road, sans dogs, bound for Idaho. We would be staying with UDad’s brother & wife, Chuck and Joy, and gone much of the time. I would miss “my boys’, but knew “Granny Pat,” as Rowdy and Murphy call her, would take could care of them.
Those of you who are intimately or even casually acquainted with UltraMom will be surprised to learn that we left the house promptly at 8:30 A.M. Is UltraMom becoming, at last, better organized and self-motivated? Not really; but she had a dentist appt at 9:00 and was very motivated to have her molar, which had received a temporary crown a week before, stop throbbing. Did the continued pain and temperature sensitivity indicate that a root canal might, after all, be called for? The answer from Dr. Couch was “Yes.” She was actually ready to get started when I reminded her of my little dental procedure problem(s). I have some TMJ going on in my jaws, and when my mouth is forced to remain open for long periods of time, my jaws ache for days. “I had actually forgotten about that. We should just refer you to a specialist,” she said, obviously relieved to have an excuse for not working on such a whiner. I was relieved as well because I wanted to be on my way, and the pain was manageable with some good drugs. As a matter of fact, it is still being managed in that way, but that won’t last much longer, I’m afraid.
We got to Twin Falls in time for lunch, and UltraMom indulged in a Navajo Taco, which I think is much the same as an Indian Taco: chilli, sour cream, salsa, avocado and cheese on a fried scone. I think UltraDad had his usual burger. We then hit a few used car lots and even test-drove a few pickups, but it was just too hot and we were too loggy, so we didn’t look much.
I was looking forward to our trip for another reason besides vehicle shopping, which is actually not all that much fun for me: Jim and Jessica were going to be in Howe, so we would see them as well as Chuck and Joy & Bill and Patty. We knew we wouldn’t arrive in time to join the lot of them in going out to dinner that evening, so we decided to stop in Arco, on our way, and get a pizza. Arco Service’s Hot Stuff Pizzeria sells a vegetarian pizza topped with, among other veggies, sliced green olives, a topping I have not seen offered anywhere else. It was our favorite, and we hadn’t had one since we moved to the Silver State. It would be a half hour wait for our pizza, so I had a great idea. “Let’s go visit Sharon and Earl.” They were some of my favorite people. Sharon and I used to work together, and remained friends after our employment opportunities took different turns. Earl used to coach Jim in community basketball, and Jim thinks the world of both he and Sharon. I think the feeling is mutual. We had a pleasant hour or so catching up, and made the last leg of our trip, arriving ‘home’ before the dinner goers by 20 minutes or so.
The next morning we perused the ‘Thrifty Nickel” and “Auto Seller” ads Jim had procured for us, and prepared to make the 70 minute drive to Idaho Falls to begin our search. I was overjoyed when Jim announced that he and Jessica would accompany us. UDad, he decided could use his bargaining expertise. He was right.
Once in town, we began stopping at car lots and soon refined our technique. A quick drivethru was often all that was required to see that this particular lot had nothing to offer us. UltraDad had decided he wanted something around the year “2000” in 4 wheel drive, preferably with under 100,000 miles on the odometer and in the neighborhood of $10,000. This proved to be a rare commodity. There were several older ones with many more miles and quantities of 2003’s and 04’s for many more dollars. At Hill’s Auto (I think it was) we test-drove a bright yellow 2000 Dodge Laramie that seemed to hold promise. Jim loved the color; UDad: not so much. At Smiley’s Automotive, we found a red 2000 Ford F-150, but it had over 100,000 miles on it, and the sticker price was over $13,000. Jim got them to lower it to $10,750, so it remained on the short list. In a shopping plaza parking lot, several used car dealers had set up mini off-site sale yards, operating out of parked motor homes. We test drove a red dodge, and the guys liked many things about it, but UDad was leary of all the ‘extras’ previous owners had added to jazz it up, like lights on the hood and other accessories, even though Jim got the price talked down a fair piece. There was a privately owned truck the guys wanted to look at in Pocatello, and we hit a few lots in Blackfoot on the way over. UltraMom started getting a bit more savvy by this time, as well as hot and tired, and if we passed a lot with phone number posted, she just called and inquired. Like I said, pickups fitting UDad’s criteria were not plentiful.
As we drove, Jim asked me to call Johnny. “Have him look these pickups up on the computer and see what the Blue Book value is,” he instructed. He then proceeded to give me a list of other things to have Johnny find out. It is difficult for me, and I’ll bet for you too, to carry on a conversation while trying to relay another person’s input to said conversationer. I thought I was asking what Jim wished to know. “What is the average miles for a pickup of this age?” I asked. “No,” corrected Jim, “What I want to know is what mileage the truck should get.” “Okay, Johnny,” I patiently continued, “I guess what we need to know is the miles per hour.” As soon as I heard those words leave my mouth, I knew there was something wrong with that, and Johnny confirmed my hunch. “The miles per hour? Why did they put YOU on the phone? Is this just some kind of joke?” Good point. Why DID they have me make the call?
After going through the car lots in Pocatello, we made our way to the private residence where a silver, 2000 Dodge resided. The owner wasn’t home, but his wife readily lent the keys for a test drive, and assured us they had never had a moment’s trouble with it. It seemed nice to me, but UDad was not ready to make a decision. And it was getting late. If we left soon, we would be back in time for Bill and Patty’s BBQ. Our old car had other ideas. It refused to start. After the requisite peering under the hood, I called a tow truck, covered under my AARP motoring plan. I was told the tow would arrive in less than 40 minutes. We were happy to see them in less than 20 min. Of course, by this time on a Saturday night, all repair shops were closed, but the tow truck driver knew of a shop where the car could be parked and keys left in a drop box. I asked him if he could take us to Sizzlers where Heather works, which he was happy to do.
I ran in, excusing my way in front of lined up patrons to ascertain that indeed Heather WAS working that night. She seemed excited to see us, and quickly claimed a table in her section for our use, as well as getting us a $15 credit. I made my way back to the end of the line to wait with the others, and we all ordered the salad bar. I was excited to learn that UltraDad could, at last, use his age to advantage, and made sure he ordered the reduced price SENIOR salad bar. Heather couldn’t do enough for us, making sure our drink glasses were filled and stopping to visit for a few minutes when her busy schedule would allow. I filled out the comment card, avowing that this was the best service I had ever had, and we left a pretty good tip. As we ate, Jim made a little chart of the 4 pickups under consideration, so UDad could see at a glance what were the advantages and disadvantages of each. This ended up being a great help.
Meanwhile, we had been in phone contact with Patty, with the result that Bill drove to Pocatello to pick us up, a pretty major imposition. Sometimes its pretty nice to have family around. And I have to give a lot of credit to Jim and especially to Jessica. This cannot be the way they would have chosen to spend their day together, but they were such good sports about the whole thing.
On Sunday, most car lots are closed, so we got a break from pickup shopping and got to relax and spend time with family and friends. Jim, Jessica and I went to church, which I really enjoyed. That evening, Chuck made some killer BBQ ribs with his secret sauce, which I could only find out the ingredients for if I were willing to be killed. I wasn’t, so the secret remains.
It turned out that the timing of our trip to Idaho had been good; the papers to finalize the sale of the farm were finally ready to be signed. Chuck gave us a ride to the title company in Blackfoot, and asked astute questions as UltraDad and I signed document after document. It seemed needlessly lengthy and complicated to me, but that’s only because it was.
Then, on to town for more fun pickup shopping. By now, UDad had refined his search even more, and decided he would only buy a Ford. He knew too many Dodge owners who had had transmission problems. I wanted to expedite the process if I could; I knew Heather had the day off, so I gave her a call. “Honey, could you call some of the auto dealers in Idaho Falls, Blackfoot and Pocatello?” I asked her. “See if they have anything that fits this description:Ford F150 4 wheel drive pickup, extended cab, long bed, year around 2000 for near $10,000.” She ended calling every place listed in the yellow pages. Every once in a while she would give me an update, but likely candidates were rare.
UltraDad had been seriously thinking about the red Ford he had test-driven at Smiley’s on Saturday, but when Heather called them, they said the pickup they had was not a long bed. I concluded the one we looked at must have been sold, but when we finally drove by their lot, it was still there.
The salesperson remembered us, and remembered the reduced price. After another test drive, with Chuck’s valuable input, it seemed that UDad was going to go for it. While the guys talked, I surreptitiously called Jim at work. “I really think you guys can get the price down more,” Jim coached me. “They dropped the price for me awfully fast.” But by the time I rejoined the others, the deal had been made. UDad maintains they would not go any lower, and after all the calling and looking we had done, I think we got a pretty fair deal.
I will spare you the tedious details of the financing and numerous document signings, but in just a few short hours, UDad was, at long last, the proud owner of the newest vehicle he had ever owned. I called Johnny to let him know. “What I really want to know,” I said humorously, “are the miles per hour.” “That,” Johnny said thoughtfully, “depends on the acceletron and the brakometer and the pressure being applied to each at a given time.” He is so smart.
Jim was just off work by this time, so we all drove to Pocatello to pay a King’s ransom to get my car out of the repair shop, and to have dinner with Heather at a restaurant called “Oliver’s” as she seemed adverse to dining at Sizzlers. I had wisely brought my gear so I could head back to Nevada if time and pickup purchasing would allow, and now it seemed a good idea to crash at Heather and Heath’s in Pocatello and drive back early the next morning as I had to be at work early in the afternoon. Heather and I had a great time. After the boys left she looked me in the eye. “Want to go shopping?” she smiled. Of course I did! We slowly shopped our way through Ross’ entire store until they were ready to close, and then drove to Heather and Heath’s nice townhouse apartment. My grandcats were all glad to see me, especially Callie who was determined to sit on my lap and be petted.
Heather and Heath have a new game system called the “Wii”, an interactive system where you actually swing your arm, with controller attached, to bowl, play tennis or play baseball. While Heather went to pick Heath up from work, I decide to give baseball a try. After a few games, I finally started getting the hang of it. I was excited to, at last, hit a home run, and I was jumping in the air screaming “Yes, Yes!” when the door opened. The kids were glad (an amused, I think) to see my enjoyment of their ‘new toy.”
The next day, all went as planned, and I arrived home in time to fulfill all my duties. UltraDad stayed in Howe an extra day to relax and show his pickup off to more people.
Now, for a little off-road 4-wheeling!

UltraMom

The new pickup. A real beauty!

Heather and Heath

Jim and Jessia

Jim’s smashing new mustache. He and Jessica kept me quite entertained on the ride home from Pocatello in the back seat of Bill’s car.

UltraMom attempting to reenact the excitement of the home run