Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Goodbye road warrior

Jim Grey

I just sold my Ford Focus to my son, Garrett. It has now been owned by three generations of Grey men, as I bought it from my father in 2012.

This car took me, and sometimes my sons, on a whole bunch of great road trips. It was wonderful on the old roads, small and easy to maneuver. That was very important when I needed to get out of a dead-end abandoned alignment! It was also a blast to drive, with good power and fantastic handling.

Here it is at the Wagon Wheel Motel on Route 66 in Cuba, MO.

Wagon Wheel Motel

And here it is on an abandoned section of the old Dixie Highway near Martinsville, IN.

Abandoned bridge on Old SR 37

I’m experimenting with short posts, shared whenever I have something quick to say. Welcome to the first one!

Comments

19 responses to “Goodbye road warrior”

  1. Gregory Avatar
    Gregory

    I like the short post with a few pictures, great!

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Excellent! Thanks for the feedback!

      Reply
  2. roninjax Avatar
    roninjax

    Good post Jim – and generational. 🙂 Interesting that you also rode Route 66 with the Focus. I posted a few blogs about Route 66 but not in Missouri.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Missouri had a lot of great Route 66 stuff to offer! Here’s all the posts I’ve made from Missouri: https://blog.jimgrey.net/tag/missouri/

      Reply
      1. roninjax Avatar
        roninjax

        That’s what I found out too. Thanks for the link.

        Reply
  3. traveller858 Avatar
    traveller858

    Well Jim, short posts certainly seem to work. Still lots of info and interest. Keep it up.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Excellent – thank you! And nice to see you around these parts again.

      Reply
  4. Zimmette Avatar
    Zimmette

    Short, sweet & to the point. With pics. Terrific! Now I don’t have to set aside your blog to “indulge in” later (and then sometimes forget!)🤭

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Awesome! Well, I already have a few more quick hits queued up, so your wish will be fulfilled.

      Reply
  5. J P Cavanaugh Avatar
    J P Cavanaugh

    We tend to pass cars around like this too. The 3 generation Crown Victoria went away a few years ago but there are a couple of Grandma cars still serving and which I have spent enough time in to count for 3 generation status.

    The short post was unexpected and fun.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      This has never happened in our family before. My dad was surprised and apprehensive when I approached him about buying this car, but he went through with it. And then I mentioned to my sons that I didn’t need it anymore and would be open to selling it to them at a Very Special Family Price (i.e., almost free) since they were the only ones driving it anyway. Garrett is the one who bit.

      Reply
  6. Nancy Stewart Avatar
    Nancy Stewart

    Yes …. I like the short post with pictures also. ( I like all your posts – long or short )

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Well, more are coming whenever I have short things to say!

      Reply
  7. Dan James Avatar
    Dan James

    I thought you had a VW Passat Jim, that replaced a Toyota?

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      I owned two cars at the beginning of the year: a Toyota Matrix and this Ford Focus. I drove the Focus daily; the Matrix was my previous daily driver but had become a spare car. It was a great utility wagon and I used it as such. The Matrix was older and had more miles, and by the first of this year was pretty worn out, so I traded it in on the Passat. My wife was driving the Focus as she was between cars. We bought her a Kia Soul recently, and the Focus became a spare car. My sons were using it to drive to their summer jobs. I don’t really need, nor do I have a place to park, a spare car so I offered it to my sons and Garrett said he wanted it.

      Reply
  8. windswept007 Avatar
    windswept007

    I just sold my car to another teacher at the school, making him the third owner there. The car has been at the school longer than most kids and teachers.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      That’s hilarious!

      Reply
  9. DougD Avatar
    DougD

    Nice, and good for Garrett. Another piece of the puzzle of adult life in place. Great that the old Focus is still going despite being an automatic, that’s usually what kills those.

    We are going to pick up a new(ish) vehicle this morning. We have something really cool planned for the old Caravan. There will be a CC if it pans out.

    Reply
    1. Jim Grey Avatar
      Jim Grey

      Garrett’s just 19; I didn’t get my first car for a couple more years!

      I didn’t know that the Focus automatics were problematic. The one in mine’s been a trooper. Knock on wood.

      Reply

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