Being young and dumb (as I term it) afforded us the energy to fly to Buffalo on
Friday, visit with relatives, see the parents, and attend a wedding and
reception before flying back very early Sunday morning. I think the "dumb" part
of my phrase had more influence in this rather harebrained scheme! But we had
fun and got a very needed break from the hustle and bustle of big, bad LA.
I got to try out my new MP3 player on the flights to Buffalo. I splurged and
bought a no nonsense
Creative Zen V Plus.
I enjoy the simple user interface,
slim and sexy packaging (I won't write any more about that!), and the fairly
expansive 8-gigabyte drive. The little critter also plays video! Coupled with a
pair of Sennheiser noise-cancelling ear buds, I have a winning combination for
air travel. Even a screaming child a row behind me can't drown out a good Jimi
Hendrix or Audioslave tune!
In Buffalo-Niagara International airport we found a lengthy line at the Budget
car rental counter. Damn. A guy in line ahead of us said that they were out of
cars and that reservations weren't actually guarantees for a car. Umm, so what
is a reservation, then?
When we got to the counter the girl asked what type of
car we had reserved. We told her that we were looking for a convertible so she
told us that we lucked out and one would be ready shortly. This prompted a bit
of an outrage from the guy in front of us. He said that the next car was
supposed to be his. Sorry pal, but are you willing to pay $100 a day for a
convertible. No? I didn't think so! Wait for you crappy compact car or--worse
yet--minivan!
I'm glad that I persuaded Bob to reserve a Mustang convertible so we didn't
have to wait for a compact car to show up. Out in the parking lot awaited our
late-model, red Mustang convertible. I'm not a big fan of modern American cars
but the current Mustang oozes cool and has a unique style.
After driving around Cheektowaga, Depew, and Williamsville we finally located
our hotel in Amherst. The Mustang got a lot of stares from just about
everybody. We had the top down of course. In fact, we only put it up when we
parked the car at night. That was a smart move because the first night there
were lots of people camping out in the parking lot. I guess the hotel was full
up? The Mustang would have been a very tempting alternative to concrete.
Yours truly trying to look cool in the driving seat of our Mustang.
Our uncle owns a beautiful 1930 Ford Model A. They don't build them like that
anymore! Those cars were built to last. Our cousin Tim has really grown since
we last saw him. He really took to the Mustang and was very happy riding in the
back seat. He usually saw fancy cars long before I did. He's an observant guy!
Click for a larger photo.
I like the real trunk on the back of this masterpiece! Notice that this machine
has twin tail lamps. Randy said that originally they didn't come with two but
he put another on to help other motorists. Also, you can see me chatting with
our Uncle Randy.
Randy was kind of enough to let me drive this wonderful car! Can you imagine
driving a 77-year-old car? I can't grasp the fact that I did! It has three
forward gears and reverse. First gear is in the place where modern
transmissions put second. Reverse is up and far right. The clutch and brake
pedal action was normal but I had a bit of trouble getting used to the
accelerator pedal because you have to push straight down, and hard! It reminded
me of pressing a foot pedal for a rotating fireplace, like one in the Nazi
castle in
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
I couldn't get used to the non-synchronized gears. Randy made it look very
easy, double clutching upshifts. I rarely have to double clutch downshifts,
much less first to second gear changes! There's also a knob for carb mixture on
the dash and ignition timing stalk on the column. This would be very useful
when going up hills or cruising! It's a very fun car!
Our red Mustang behind Mom's dark blue Celica.
Outside the Statler Hotel in Buffalo (where the reception was) Bob and I walked
around with our cousin Adam.
The Taste of Buffalo
was going on so we walked around that for a while.
There was a NASCAR car running, too. It was a bit loud when revved up.
The tower of City Hall from the north side.
Well, that's about it. We didn't get any good clear photos of the bride and
groom at the reception.
