Which vehicle did we drive?

In 1925 the Ford Motor Company introduced its first pickup truck. This new model was called the Ford Model T Runabout with Pickup Body and came in one color, black.  It turned out to be a pretty popular model and Ford sold over 33,800 that year.  In June of 1927 Henry Ford did something most people thought they would never see him do.  He ordered production ceased and he shut down all of his plants to retool for his new Model A.  In August of 1928, the Model A of the pickup was released. This truck featured an all steel cab with roll-up windows in its doors. The vehicles were available in a black or green color. Ford produced some 26,171 pickups in 1928.  My son John and I stand by the side of a 1928 Model A pickup truck.  I do not think anybody thought that this was the vehicle we drove from Orlando to San Francisco.

The Chevrolet Camaro that was manufactured by General motors went on sale in1966.  It was designed to compete with Ford’s Mustang. Four distinct generations of the Camaro were developed before production ended in 2002. A fifth generation went in production in 2009.  Those of you who thought that we drove this car made a good educated guess.  We did not drive this car but I included it as its style is similar to a red 1969 Camaro I bought when I first arrived in Chicago in 1970.  I cannot find words to describe how much I loved that car.  Also, I cannot find words to describe how heart broken I was when it was stolen on Labor Day 1973.

The 1947 Ford pickup truck with its new styling that was initiated in 1942 makes it instantly recognizable.  It came with either six cylinders or with a V8 engine.  We could have driven this truck but I am sure most of you correctly guessed it was not what we drove.

Those of you who thought we drove the Pontiac Vibe, you were right.  Your reward is the satisfaction that you are astute and can deduce correctly.  The little Pontiac with its roomy interior, reliable engine, and good fuel economy became our trusted companion for approximately ten days.  My friend and his wife kept it as they did their house in Florida in excellent condition and thus John and I drove it from Orlando to San Francisco with no difficulty whatsoever.

The car trip

The continuation of our trip brought us from Oklahoma City to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to the Monument Valley, to Grand Canyon, on to Palm Desert, to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, to Big Sur and on to San Francisco.  The distance we travelled from Orlando to San Francisco is 4,000 miles or 6, 400 kilometers that is like driving from Athens, Greece to Moscow, Russia and back to Athens.

 The following are the flags of the States we drove through in the second half of our itinerary.

The flag of New Mexico is based on the beliefs of the Zia an indigenous people the first Spanish explorers met.  Dr. Harry Mera of Santa Fe designed the flag.  Four is a sacred number to the Zia and symbolizes the circle of life: the four cardinal points, the four times of the day, the four stages of life and the four seasons with the sun binding all of them together.

The flag of Arizona consists of 13 rays of red and yellow on the top half, representing the 13 original states. The red and yellow is from the flag of Spain and also symbolize Arizona's picturesque sunsets. The copper star represents the copper mining industry in Arizona. The rest of the flag is colored blue, representing liberty.

The flag of California is white with a wide red stripe along the bottom, a red star in the upper left corner and a grizzly bear, walking on a patch of green grass. The history of California's flag is interesting.  In 1836, Juan Alvarado and Isaac Graham led a revolution against Mexican rule and declared California "a free and sovereign state". Although the rebellion failed, it inspired the design of the flag of the “Bear Flag Revolt” the Lone Star Flag with a single red star on a white background.  The original “Grizzly Bear Flag” was raised for the first time by the men who became known as the "Bear Flaggers" and was designed by William L. Todd, a nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln the wife of President Abraham Lincoln. The star on the today’s flag was influenced by the Lone Star Flag and the bear was designed to be a symbol of strength and unyielding resistance.