In the last few days of my trip I still wanted to connect up with Don and Mike, but I found myself without transportation. Don lives near Portland and while Seattle is worlds closer to there then Norman, OK ... it's still like 3-4 hours one way by car. I was trying very hard to come to Don's turf because I wanted a ride in his car, it was one of those bucket list, once-in-a-lifetime sort of things, but neither airline, rental car, train, or bus would work out. Mike is nearer Tacoma, so that was a hour away, but too far to have my wife drop me off like she had at George's, and it was sort of academic as our daughter and her husband needed their cars for work. Don came to my rescue, offering not only to drive to Seattle, but also to haul my fat butsky to and from Mike's before tackling the long drive home. This was a lot to ask of a man his age. But then, Don is a very generous and accommodating guy. I'll probably spend the next decade or so thanking him for service above and beyond.
On the appointed day, Don arrived at my daughter's house towing a trailer which contained my Holy Grail of cars, a reproduction 427 Cobra.
From left to right, Emma, Ella, Loretta and Samson.
Don's sense of humor included a red "Eject" button right in front of the passenger. Of course, it's not functional, right, Don? Don? Rut roh ... I don't like that grin.
The caption for this one is, "I'll drive you, Opa, I know how to do it."
Ready to take off, note that the car is sitting much lower with me in it. Note idiotic grin.
I've owned my share of sports cars and burned up the Autobahn, I had a new '68 Charger (290 HP 383) back in the day, have been in and driven XK-E's, 'vettes, and a couple of beasts like George's Chevelle. No disrespect, but nothing measures up to Don's Snake. Don's is mechanically civilized, it has a five speed and fuel injection. With those side pipes it makes go fast noises that some might find wearing after a bit. But I, I was in pure Ecstasy. At 70 Mph in fifth, Don could punch it and press me hard into the seat. He loves concrete highway underpasses, because they allow him to floor it and immerse himself in the kind of music only a car enthusiast can appreciate.
I don't think the idiotic grin left my face for an instant. They say that fantasies are best left as unrequited hopes; the reality rarely matches up. In this case, it was even better than I imagined, and now the bar is set so high, I doubt that I'll ever reach it again, unless I can wrangle a ride in a Veyron or an SR-71.
We didn't converse much, as that would have been dicey, I just enjoyed the sun and the air and the second best seat in the house. I took a few pictures from the car, but I never thought to take video and audio. I was just totally caught up in the moment. Most of these pictures were taken by my wife, Loretta, whilst I was stumbling all over myself. Thank God she had the presence of mind to do that.
I always thought the inside view from an XK-E was cool with those three humps, the view from the Snake is even better. It's a very small car, and Don describes the handling as a "weasel in a drain pipe". Don flew Cobra gunships in Asia, so after operating on the hairy edge in three dimensions, two aren't much of a challenge for him. He's the greatest!
When we arrived at Mike's, I noticed his baby in the garage, a pristine '68 Road Runner. Wow, these knife guys have the best toys! I carried the camera inside, but didn't take a single picture. I was just too stunned. Repeated below is the picture of the 9" Damascus skull button bottomless I mailed that day. Considering that's the one he let me have, you can only imagine how wonderful the rest of the collection is.
Walking into Mike's house was amazing. You've all seen pictures of his gigantic collections of themed knives, like abalone, or Straydogs or even ones with bumblebee scales. These are all organized and beautifully displayed on the walls. The rest of the 'ordinary' knives are in smaller boxes of twenty or thirty knives, every one of them bulging at the seams, and there must be like a million of them. Don is a quiet guy, so he just took it all in. I drooled and babbled and listened to Mike's running narratives on all aspects of the hobby. He really needs to open a museum and charge admission. From his back deck there is a view of Mt. Ranier that dominates the horizon and is worthy of a picture post card. It was like going into Tiffany's and being sure I couldn't afford anything!
What can I say? Neither of them looked quite like they sound on the phone, and I don't think they were expecting me either. There's a spread of 13 years from youngest to oldest, and we've all got our scars and war stories. From my perspective, it was just awesome and incredible. We really share a lot of common interests above and beyond the knives. They're great guys and I felt awestruck, and honored, and welcomed beyond all reasonable expectation. Look up "good guy" in your Funk & Wagnal's, I'm sure you will find Mike and Don's pictures. They set the standard pretty high. I was honored to take the field with them for a short time.