Little Squirt meets Big Brother

Don't they look happy... :-)

"Little Squirt" the Smart Car has arrived

It's Sunday morning and the temperature is -2 (C) which is about 28 for all of our American friends. I have a hot cup of tea and decided to announce the arrival of "Little Squirt," our little white Smart Car.

The picture shows her just before we took her outside for her maiden trip from Regina to Winnipeg. Standing beside her is Len Halgerson of Dilawri Acura in Regina. Len has just started his new career in automobile sales and based on the great job he did for us I suspect he will enjoy a ton of success.

I drove Little Squirt, back from Regina to Winnipeg in howling winds and pouring rain. She handles much better than anticipated. The transmission takes a bit of getting used to but overall I was very impressed. With her huge 1000cc (61 cubic inch), 70 HP, three cylinder engine, :-) I didn't expect much in terms of power or performance. It surprised me, and a few other people, on the highway as we drove home. Admittedly we won't be setting any land speed records but she is competent at highway speeds with far far better handling than a couple of other small cars I have owned. Bernie has had a few experiences with it now and she's getting the hang of it quickly.

We expect to have a ton of fun with Little Squirt. She will likely see more of N. America than the average Smart Car, but most of those miles will be while she rides around on her big brothers back. Speaking of which we need a name for her big brother and your suggestions would be appreciated. So far we're just calling it The Freightliner which really doesn't cut it.

We have another appointment Tuesday with our bed builder and expect to be able to load Squirt on the Freightliner around the end of this coming week.

With nighttime temperatures now hovering around the freezing mark we may be headed South sooner than we planned. It may be old age but whatever it is I just don't like this weather. If we had the truck finished we'd be "GONE."

We picked up Squirt on our way back from Vancouver to Winnipeg. We were gone for just over two weeks and had a great trip. The family time was awesome and there is nothing, anywhere, more impressive than the drive from Vancouver to Calgary. I've driven the road a few times starting in 1964 and although the road has improved, a lot, the Rockies are unchanged and majestic as ever. If you haven't made that drive yet make sure it gets on your "bucket" list. People come from around the world to drive the Canadian Rockies and "it's worth the trip."

That's all we have for now, thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment when you can.

Neal

PS: Don't forget, and don't be shy, naming suggestions for Squirt's big brother would be appreciated.

5 Weeks To Go

The weather is getting cooler, it must be time to go South.

The truck is almost finished, the loading ramps are in from way down South, and Integrity Ventures (Diesel) in Steinbach, MB. are working on the finishing touches. We should be ready to go by mid Oct.

We're actively shopping for our Smart Car now and plan to be able to test load it in a couple of weeks. Fortunately for us there are plenty of them available and we're shopping from Vanc. to Winnipeg. The new ones are soooo tempting, they have four years warranty, and there are year end discounts on them right now. Problem is I suffer from "old and cheap syndrome" --- but Bernie doesn't and we'll get it figured out.

We decided to go S. to Texas via the Black Hills and Bad Lands of S. Dakota, on to Okalhoma to spend a couple of days with some friends at their home, and then to Texas. We plan to be in "Tropic Star" by the 5th of Nov. in time for the "Shrimp Festival" on S. Padre Island. I not an expert by any stretch but the best shrimp I have ever eaten were on S. Padre Island. We've never been down there in time for the "Shrimp Festival" but we might be able to this year.

This will be the first trip we've made down there taking "ALL" the time we want. Every other time we drove down we were on some kind of a self imposed deadline but this time we'll take two or three weeks or more if we decide to. Staying in our 5r spending time with freinds and seeing the sights should make for a fun trip. I'm trying to plan the roads so we never touch a freeway, two lanes and small towns all the way, with lots of pictures posted here as often as I can.

August and Sept have been really nice, family oriented time. Colleeen, Tim and their family visited from Langely, Amber was in from Calgary, we had some great times at Leslie and John's cabin, and now we're on a road trip to Vancouver. We stopped in Regina for a couple of days with my brother Rick and his family, then on to Calgary for a few great days with Amber and my sister Jan and her family. Great times along the way and now we're with Colleen and Tim in Langley for a few days.

So that's kind of all there is, the posts should become much more regular as we begin to travel..

Thanks for stopping by and please do leave a comment when you can.