We'll open with a minor bitch, for starters. Loosy-Anna Andy said this in comments to my Car Pr0n post:
"Why would ANYBODY have wet dreams about a Gubmit Motors Caddy when they have a sweet little thing like that?"
The answer is... comfort. Of the Quiet Kind. I love The Green Hornet to death, don't get me wrong, but I'm lucky to have anythang resembling normal hearing after spending 11 hours and 21 minutes in her cockpit yesterday. The main issue is wind noise at higher speeds (anythang over 60 mph is loud, and it gets REALLY loud when you're over 75); the replacement top doesn't fit as well as the original manufacturer's and the resulting small gaps around the windows make for significant noise. Those gaps also make for a rather moist experience INSIDE the car when doing thangs like... oh... goin' thru the car wash or driving in the rain. THAT'S why we have wet dreams about Cadillacs. TGH is very, very good at what she does best... like tearing up a twisty-turny back road or stylin' and profilin' on Main with her top down... but she ain't as good as she once was for those long-hauls on the super-slab.
So. We ARE in Kansas. I left P-Ville at 0700 hrs (MDT) yesterday morning and got into Leavenworth just after 1900 hrs (CDT). DIL Erma had dinner ready (yum!), the beer was cold, and the back deck was a great place to smoke cigars and catch up on stuff... coz it has been about two weeks since we've seen each other, no?
We then took a short walk to the house of one of SN1's classmates where we continued to drink beer... GREAT beer... and ended up the night with a couple o' Moscow Mules. There's a significant deviation between Buck's friend Buck's recipe and the one I linked... which is the addition of fresh mint. MUCH better, that. Didja notice... "Buck's friend Buck?" Yes: Buck. There were three Bucks in the same place at the same time last evening, all drinking, all tellin' war stories, and the planet didn't even wobble on its axis, much less explode. We... humanity... all survived, somehow. We... the four of us gathered together last night... were also pretty damned ecumenical, too. Buck and his housemate are both Army helicopter pilots, and you know SN1 and his father are both Zoomies of the non-flyin' type. And then there was this:
I do love the road trips. Even if it's noisy, it is ok. It's when the noise stops when the blood pressure begins to rise.
ReplyDeleteHave all the fun you can!
I'm thinkin' it prolly would have been quieter with the top down. I MIGHT do that on the return trip if the WX cooperates.
DeleteErma is the hostess with the mostess. Sounds like you are having a good time with family and friends. Toby and I have been test driving cars - sound (or lack of) is very important since our hearing is already so poor. If we want any sort of conversation, there can be little road noise.
ReplyDeleteI never gave much thought to "quiet" as a criterion for buying a car until just recently. I think I'm getting soft in my Old Age.
DeleteI understand exactly what you mean about noise in the GH. We bought a new Pinto (yes, a pinto) in 1971, and it was a great little car (no explosions, etc.) for tooling around town. But on a trip, yuk. Anything over sixty and the little 4 banger sounded like a banshee, and the wind noise we won't even talk about. We got 114,000 miles out of her and, even though she provided great transportation, we were very glad when she left our premises. I'd say get the Caddy if you want.
ReplyDeleteExcellent pic. Enjoy your trip.
I've renewed my thoughts about that Cadillac, Dan, especially after the beating my ears took Saturday. The CTS I had as a rental a couple o' summers ago was VERY quiet and would have been a Godsend Saturday.
DeleteI hear ya about Pintos. I had a friend who owned one in the way-back and we traveled from Oregon to SoCal and back in that damned thing. It was noisy and horrendously uncomfortable, as I recall. I hated that danged car.
I remember when I got my '69 Alfa Romeo Spider. An acquaintance asked why it didn't have a radio.
ReplyDeleteI took her for a drive to demonstrate.
My '57 TR-3 was much the same, Skip. No radio, same reason.
DeleteI bet a friend of mine that there'd be peace in the Middle East way before I'd see you hanging out with an officer in a Buffy sweatshirt. Guess I need to pay up...
ReplyDeleteWhat Andy said!
DeleteInno you make some odd bets. Me too. Probably why we both stay broke.
ReplyDeleteEldest Buck, I hope you enjoy the heck out of the visit. I'll even pull for your Wings! But, I'm often bad luck, so I'll just slip her in neutral.
So far, so good on the enjoyment! And thanks for yer Good Thoughts about the Wings.
DeleteEnjoy the journey, wind noise and all!
ReplyDeleteIt's the destination and not the journey, contrary to conventional wisdom. In this case.
DeleteNice Sweater ya got there, my friend!
ReplyDeleteIt's not an "official" NHL sweater, but it'll do. ;-)
DeleteGood to see that smile Buck! My '73 Cougar Convertible, back in high school, really wasn't bad on the noise factor.
ReplyDeleteProbably because the 351 Custom Cleveland V8 engine was already so loud that road noise was not noticed.
:-)
Your top prolly fit better than mine, too.
DeleteBuck, there's something about that photo that just warms my heart. Seriously. Maybe it's the smiles on both of you. Or maybe it's that hockey fans - real fans - will wear heavy sweaters like that, no matter the temps, just because they are true fans. In any case, real nice.
ReplyDeleteYeah... hockey fans are borderline crazy. But ALL real fans are that way, right?
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