The Mission
Once the purchase was completed, I set up a time and date with the owner to pick up the car. I made arrangements with the U-Haul in Lansing, MI to rent an auto transport for a one-way to Minneapolis. Renting a trailer on a local or two-way in Minneapolis would have probably been cheaper, but I never cared to run with an empty trailer any longer than is absolutely necessary, as they always bounce around so much. On a long trip, it can become annoying, especially if the roads are not very smooth.
I left in the late morning hours of May xx and planned to go via Fond du Lac to stop and visit with my friend Mark Engels. After getting some dinner at a Chinese restaurant in FDL, I hit the road again. My schedule would bring me through Chicago at night, when the traffic levels are much lower. I had employed this tactic to good effect numerous times in my travels to visit Mark when he lived in Lowell, IN and also on my trips between Minneapolis and Pittsburgh, PA.
I finally reached Lansing about mid-morning the next day. Since the owner would not be home from work until that evening, I got a room at a local hotel to get some much-needed rest for the trip back to Minneapolis. After getting my rest, I headed over to the U-Haul to pick up the trailer, and then headed for Eagle, MI, just west of Lansing.
After getting the car loaded up and taking a little time to visit and talk with the car's now former owner, I set out for a non-stop trip back to Minneapolis, safely reaching my destination in the pre-dawn hours of May xx, 2005.
(Insert arrival photos here)
I can only wonder what my Dad must have thought when he awoke that morning to see some jalopy on a trailer in the driveway. He must have thought I had lost my mind...
Next page - Deconstruction
(Insert Falcon graphics here)