Monday, January 15, 2018

The Vital importance of a Roadtrip or Going North with no skies.

None of us is doing it frequently. Especially not during winter time. Though there are those who insist that it's fun and enjoyable, we try our best to avoid it. 

I'm talking about going north. To the cold, snowy and dark part of Sweden where the forest is full of moose and other creatures of wild character. 

But...we have to admit, there's something magic about going north. The non-nonsense winter climate at latitude 61 (same as Anchorage) makes it suitable for a road trip adventure. Especially if you pick up a 50 year old car and drive it home through the wonderful wilderness. Keeps you alert, keeps you awake. How we know? We're doing it over and over again.

This time it was Annika's fault, or rather a Christmas Dinner (which Kalle described in an earlier blog post) that ended up in a us going north to pick-up a 1968 Chevy C10 Step side.
We started too early this Saturday. Too early for pictures. So we silently filled the car up with tools, oil, antifreeze and a fully charged battery and took off. At lunch time we were already in the snow and the cold. Excited and prepared for adventures.
We traveled in cosy comfort through a silent winter land. No internet connection.
Once in a while we saw a house. And a moose.
Eventually, we reached our goal. The C10 Step side. The Glamour Truck -68. We came, we saw, we test drove and celebrated the condition with a beer or two.
Early next morning Annika was ready to seal the deal. Annika and E&S Motor shook hands which meant that the real adventure could begin.
Ok. It was me. I admit. Since I have a lot of experience of icy road driving so I started to drive, but apparently that didn't help. After some ice dancing, we ended up in a soft and rather comfortable snow wall and please note, the truck was not damaged.  We' just needed to grab the shovel, dig in and not waste any time. Still 500km to drive.
Harmony, that how I would describe the rest of the trip. Annika was driving and the small block V8 was humming it's gentle tone as we were tooling our way through the badlands. Poetic.
As always when picking up new car somewhere far away, the confidence is growing step by step and at some point in time, especially if there are no failures, euphoria happens. 
Short stop and inspection. Conclusion: no oil consumption, coolant ok. 

Cardboard in front of the cooler kept C10 passengers warm.
Sunday night. Home at bay. The 1500km adventure was over with no mayor issues.
The truck: Reliable as a door stop
Annika (and here crew): Happy as can be



Remark: Some of us has gone north before to pick up a Chevy pick-up (in Swedish only) http://www.klassiker.nu/lasarnas_klassiker/en-oundviklig-affar-801

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