We spend our summers camping and attending rod runs, which are car shows for vintage cars modified into street rods. I’m not a huge fan of the cars. I’m of the “once I’ve seen one I’ve seen them all” frame of mind. I go to be with my husband. It’s his hobby, his passion, and I dare say will keep him busy when he retires in the near future.
Admittedly, I have my favorites, both of those we owned and those I’ve seen, but I rarely join him when he just looks at them. Years ago I started setting up camping trips either before or after the shows to keep me interested year after year. The other aspect of these summers that makes me agreeable to going is my husband’s ability to fix everything. You have to understand, when constantly on the road with a vintage car, something is bound to break.
Fortunately for us, my husband is a mechanic. Albeit, no matter whether he knows how to repair something or not, it’s still be a major pain when something happens. I used to freak out when something broke. I was the jury who declared the repair guilty until proven innocent. My husband, however, has always taken fiascoes in stride and it seems we’re always been at the right place at the right time for repairs; either a new auto parts store popped up or he knows someone nearby.
It’s not just the street rods that have left us stranded. Our motor homes have often been culprits. We mostly rectified the RV issue by buying a used one that was built in the 21st century. Though we learn as we go, too. One time we locked the keys in one of our older RVs. Someone where we were camped had a drill and they drilled out the rivet on the wing window. With our newer RV, we don’t have a wing window, but I carry a spare set of keys on my person these days.
Our latest snafu happened just last weekend. My husband lost the keys to the Model A. There was only one set. When you think long enough about how you “should” have a second set and “should” have another set made soon, you’re going to lose the one set you have.
We arrived at our campsite and my husband was about to back the Model A off the tow dolly and realized the keys were not in his pocket. They could have been in front of our house on the ground, fallen out of his pocket when he was attaching the car to the dolly, or on the ground in a Costco parking lot in Lacey and after they hooked onto the RV keys when he pulled them out of his pocket.
These days, when something goes wrong all I can do is lend a supportive ear as he fusses and fumes, as part of his dilemma-solving process. I have confidence he’ll figure something out, he always does. His solutions are never what I expect and I often learn something I never wanted to know in the process. Did you know it’s not as easy to hot-wire a car as the movies would have you believe?
Instead he zipped off in the RV to the Napa store in the town we were in and bought a new ignition switch. It came with four keys. It took him all of an hour to fix it (he always has tools with him). At only $15, it was probably the cheapest repair we’ve ever had on the road.
I think my husband is some kind of genius. He kind of has to be, because as all Street Rodders know there’s always something.
Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com or on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh by Gretchen Leigh,” or twitter @livewithgleigh. Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Life section.
