I remember grocery shopping too. My mom always had some old beater car or other, I remember an ugly maroon Buick Skylark. We would do groceries once a week at Tops Markets in Lewiston NY. I would go into the store whiles she shopped, but your mom probably had the right idea, Danny, so as not to be pestered with "can we get this?" questions, lol. I don't remember much about what was bought, but I do remember getting 1 8-pack of 16oz glass Pepsi bottles that came in a cardboard carrying case. This pop was all we got and would be shared between my mom and I for the week, and was always a treat.

Two of those shopping trips per month were special though. Once a month, we would go to McDonald's for supper. My mom would get a burger and chocolate shake, and I would get a Happy Meal with a vanilla shake. They had an outdoor playground there, and I was allowed to play for a little while after eating. Another week, I would be given a quarter to use the payphone at the grocery store to order a peperoni pizza from Vincenzo's pizza down the road. One of those glass bottles of Pepsi always got consumed on pizza day. I can still taste that pizza, and in fact, the place is still open, and on the rare occasions that I go back to NY, I am always sure to order one!

Mama's was a 76 malibu wagon with the fake wood print. It was known to blow through town and red lights with the hazards flashing. Just Maggie McLeod running one of the boys to the hospital. We were always breaking something, getting cut up or somehow getting hurt. I hold the record for most stitches in one month, five different trips. Oh and I learned about cigarette lighters in that car.

Looked like this one.

…. Dads truck was a 81 ford f100 step side like this one

…. He gave it to me when I turned 16

… only difference was it had good size mudders on the back

I did, sounds just like my early childhood but my dad always had a brown paper bag wrapped around his beer. And no 8 tracks, we only had AM- maybe a CB radio.

Ya know Warrior, I'd kinda like to have that car today!

Would love to have one of those today with the inline six. Heck, I'd even take it with three on the tree for old times' sake. Got to be a dang electrical engineer to work on one these days. Those old trucks could be torn down and put back together with just the tools you kept behind the seat.

Dad's was a 1970 F100 lwb fleetside, then a 76, then an 83. All lwb fleetside f100 with inline six and three on the tree, and he wasn't paying extra for that danged AM radio. All paid for in cash and in full.

You see a pattern there?

They only differed in color as color didn't matter.

… had the 302 in mine warrior… big time ! lol

That's funny, Savell. I think you did alright.

Lots of good folks still cruising around just like that now. One day, Zim and I decided it would be a great idea to get some extra exercise by hiking from our place down the road and around a loop of two country roads that formed about a 5 mile loop and then back to our place. We only did it twice because we couldn't get a quarter mile without being stopped by a neighbor in a truck, drinking a beer and asking if we needed a ride or just a cold beer to help with the walk. We would talk for a few minutes and just get going again before the next buddy stopped us with an offer for help or a beer! God I love where we live!

That reminds me, when Zim was 12 years old, his parents used to send him by himself with the family station wagon to go to the local bar/grocery store to pick up beer, bread, cigarettes and maybe some doughnuts. They would send him with cash and a list. He got some early training!