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Unfortunately there is a profoundly sad element to this story in that my wife and soul mate of the past 40 years passed on recently. I had spent every minute of the past six months with her and it was the reason I haven't been heard of much around here lately. Although I do feel like a part of this community it is an Alfa forum after all so I didn't see my personal life as being an appropriate topic. A few members were aware of my situation through PM's though.
Anyway, details are not necessary other than to say my wife Minda was an Alfista going back at least 35 years when we bought the Spider in 1980. She actually learned how to drive and took her driving test in a 1971 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe. So a couple of tribute photos before I get to the main topic:
When I returned to work after Minda's first encounter and treatment for cancer, when we thought we had it beat, I wanted a decent commute car. That was back in September of 2013 when I picked up the two 164S's. The saga of resurrecting Blackie was told in the thread I opened at that time. I used both Blackie and Red on regular daily driver duties up until October of 2014 when Minda started getting sick again and we found out the cancer had returned and spread. There was really nothing that could have been done and she decided she was not going to endure any more of the brutal treatments so we just stayed home and let fate run it's course with the aid of the hospice program which I must add is full of wonderful people who know how to help you through this sort of ordeal.
Anyway, we never got to do any decent road trip in either of the 164's and after Minda was gone I just got up around 4am one morning last week and decided to drive up to Yosemite, hike around a bit and clear my head, and come back home. The whole trip was a little over 400 miles. Blackie was stunningly awesome as a road trip car, as most of you here already know. Smooth, comfortable, powerful (even in the mountains) and always emitting a glorious sound.
So here are a few appropriate pictures and a couple of short videos.
The tripod was used to hold my Nikon for the time lapse videos
Videos:
Tomorrow I am embarking on another road trip north to visit relatives in Oregon and up into Washington. I've never driven around the Olympic Peninsula so will probably do that. I'm not taking the Alfa though, I'll be going in the Land Rover because I want to do a lot of exploring up in the mountains and might hit some snow (if there's any left). Also might sleep in the truck for a night if need be. Hopefully some of the roads might be opening up after the first of April - like the one to Mt St Helens overlook at Johnston's Ridge. I know a lot of them are still closed.
Anyway, details are not necessary other than to say my wife Minda was an Alfista going back at least 35 years when we bought the Spider in 1980. She actually learned how to drive and took her driving test in a 1971 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe. So a couple of tribute photos before I get to the main topic:




When I returned to work after Minda's first encounter and treatment for cancer, when we thought we had it beat, I wanted a decent commute car. That was back in September of 2013 when I picked up the two 164S's. The saga of resurrecting Blackie was told in the thread I opened at that time. I used both Blackie and Red on regular daily driver duties up until October of 2014 when Minda started getting sick again and we found out the cancer had returned and spread. There was really nothing that could have been done and she decided she was not going to endure any more of the brutal treatments so we just stayed home and let fate run it's course with the aid of the hospice program which I must add is full of wonderful people who know how to help you through this sort of ordeal.
Anyway, we never got to do any decent road trip in either of the 164's and after Minda was gone I just got up around 4am one morning last week and decided to drive up to Yosemite, hike around a bit and clear my head, and come back home. The whole trip was a little over 400 miles. Blackie was stunningly awesome as a road trip car, as most of you here already know. Smooth, comfortable, powerful (even in the mountains) and always emitting a glorious sound.
So here are a few appropriate pictures and a couple of short videos.
The tripod was used to hold my Nikon for the time lapse videos
Videos:
Tomorrow I am embarking on another road trip north to visit relatives in Oregon and up into Washington. I've never driven around the Olympic Peninsula so will probably do that. I'm not taking the Alfa though, I'll be going in the Land Rover because I want to do a lot of exploring up in the mountains and might hit some snow (if there's any left). Also might sleep in the truck for a night if need be. Hopefully some of the roads might be opening up after the first of April - like the one to Mt St Helens overlook at Johnston's Ridge. I know a lot of them are still closed.