Robert Hall

Yeah, a lot of good memories with my 5.0. Been all over the country with it, had in Colorado for 7 years, road trips to Florida and Boston/Cape Cod, trips to Az, NM and Wyoming. It was the last fun car my Dad bought, and my first fun car. I want to save it and restore it along with my Dad’s ‘69 Mustang that he brought new. Got it out last week.

On today’s installment of #MudFarmLife, I came down and put a new battery in my Mustang, aired up the tires, it fired right up. Drove it out of the barn. Needs a new exhaust. Going to get it hauled to my mechanic and gone over. Hasn’t been on the road in maybe 7-8 years. I last drove it in 2013. 64k miles. I want to be able to drive it again and feel like it’s 1987….:)

Getting in and out because it sits so high (I need to get steps/rails), and she absolutely hates the seats on longer drives.. too narrow, too firm, can't get the seat low enough. Breaking her foot in 2020 has really impacted her mobility and flexibility...the Trax is very easy to slide in and out compared to the Jeep's high chairs. I've grown to loathe the seats myself--after driving 200 miles round trip several times a week lately, I've been getting a lot of back pain... the upper bolster in the seat feels like a knife in my spine after a while.. She and I agree my old Jeep ('00 Laredo) was much more comfortable..

Probably looking to trade the Jeep in the next two years... I try and stop every hour to hour and half..

Some metro area counties in Ohio have emissions checks, I get my Jeep tested every two years.

Too time consuming to stop and recharge on road trips compared to refueling, too few charging stations in areas where I travel frequently. Not going to find charging stations in rural Ohio anytime soon. It's going to be a while for range anxiety goes away for road trips in many parts of the US. With a gas engine, I never have to plan *when* to stop for gas because gas stations are ubiquitous. And since in a normal year, I drive so little during the week, any advantage of an EV has for commuting doesn't work for me. Interesting observation on I-90 on the NY thruway this weekend--gas stations at each service plaza/rest area on the thruway, but of the ones I stopped at I didn't see any EV charging stations, except for one with a single charging station.

The X1 is sized similar to the Trailblazer...

Was behind a Genesis GV80 for a while early Sunday morning and also saw it parked at a rest area on I-90. Really like the taillight signature at night, for some reason the lights at night remind me of something Pontiac would have had at some point in time...

Saw a couple Ford Mavericks on I-90 yesterday, first I’ve seen in the wild. A black one and a blue-gray one. Sharp little truck. Also saw a sharp early 90s Mustang LX 5.0 convertible, top down. White w/ a black interior.

Paul McCartney. Going to see Ringo Starr in Pittsburgh in a couple weeks, so I will have seen half of the Beatles. Was a lot of fun, though tired now from driving through the night getting home at 8 this morning..made for a lazy Sunday. I think I want to go back and a take a few days and explore the Finger Lakes region and Lake Ontario coast. I’ve been to Western and Central NY a few times in the past, love the greenery, hills and lakes. Went to Niagara Falls 20+ years ago, want to go back.

Had a good quick trip to Syracuse...left yesterday just before noon at got back at 8am this morning. The Paul McCartney concert was great...amazing to see a 79 year old sing and perform for almost 3 hours..his backing band was solid. Great laser show and pyrotechnics on ‘Live and Let Die’. The pre- and post-concert traffic was awful--huge crowds on a college campus and narrow streets.. (took 1 1/2 hrs to get from the U of Syracuse Carrier Dome back to where I'd parked the rental car).... about a 6 hr drive home on I-90. First time I'd drive a current-gen Equinox--a very pleasant CUV. Easy to get in and out of, easy to see out of, comfortable (the seats had plenty of adjustment, not-over bolstered, didn't pinch my back). Easy to use controls. The pano roof w/ power shade works nicely. Good on gas I think--made it from Cleveland to Syracuse (about 350 miles) on a little over 1/2 a tank. (Alas, no CD player or CarPlay but did use Sirius XM to listen to the Beatles channel. I'd rent another.

There is a auto resto shop in Navarre, Oh (a small town just south of Massillon) I drive by often that has a 1/2 dozen or more Edsels in various conditions on their lot, along w/ some late 50s Continentals, Galaxies, etc.

Picked up from Hertz for the weekend trip. Equinox LT AWD w/ a Florida plate. Did that because my sister hates long trips in my Jeep and I find her Trax too small. Did a brief local drive, seems comfortable. Seems like the seats are wider and more hiproom than my Jeep. Huge pano sunroof.

Prices do vary depending on who is selling, but they are still fixed at a specific point in time and vendor..i.e. I don't go in the Apple store and haggle, or go on Amazon and haggle. It's not a flea market...

Yes, I have no interest in dealing with the obsolete business model of random pricing and dealerships with idiotic sales drones.. But we would still need some sort of service centers (though cars today require much less maintenance than in ancient times).

Yep...and more and more coming all the time..

Crowded market of premium CUVs...

Yeah, the glib and glic are within an inch of each other in length. So the X1 is between the glah and glib in dimensions..

Closer to the GLB in size, I think...the X3 is the GLC competitor I think.

Not much seen yet this month, but this pic popped up in my FB timeline--my Jeep in my carport in Phoenix, as I was packing up 5 years ago today. That was the day I left the desert void for good...starting a 2100 mile drive to Ohio that evening. All in all, I've enjoyed life in green, rainy NE Ohio way more than desert life.

At 170k, the engine was running fine, but the transmission was slipping, the steering wheel clock spring was broken (the airbag light would come on and buzz on left turns), the power windows worked intermittently, etc...it was tired when I traded it on the '14. Didn't want to risk driving it cross country when I moved from AZ to OH. Which coincidentally, that 2100 mile road trip started 5 years ago today...

Last year with the inline 6 in the Grand Cherokee was 2004. It was last available in the Wrangler in 2006 I think. I put 170k on my '00 GC w/ the 4.0 6, it was a good engine..really never had any engine issues beyond a persistent small oil leak..it was the electronics that were headaches as it aged...put 170k on it in almost 17 years of driving.

I'm neutral on EVs, but EV-curious... EVs exist, ICE vehicles exist. Reality is complex. I know in my current reality context, a pure EV probably wouldn't work well for me. A PHEV could work, though. Would I buy an EV in a year? In 5 years? I don't know.

Today's photos from #MudFarmLife. My Mom's '68 Cougar should clean up nicely, along w/ my brother's '69 Fairlane. The '82 Mustang GT has no brakes. The red and white '68 Cougar XR-7 needs a thorough cleaning. Going to get my '87 Mustang GT out next week. My brother's ;'89 Bronco II was a pain to get out of the barn, they didn't want to pull it from the rear as the rear frame was quite rusty and the gas tank was falling off. And last, my Dad's breen (firethorn bronze, though it was originally Lime Frost green) '67 Cougar will take a lot of work to get out of the barn...been off the road since 1985. That's it for this week, taking next week off from work and will be down there back at it again..still a lot of work w/ the house and buildings. The mechanics will be working on getting the cars running that can be fixed..

Yeah, she's going along..we are going to see Paul McCartney in concert (closest stop on his Got Back tour). Should be fun and a change of scenery.