It's been a while since I've been on any sort of road trip, but now that summer is rapidly coming to a close, I have a few trips on the way that should be fun. In early October, I'm off to Scottsdale AZ for a CPO Instructor School and the World Aquatic Health Conference. In early December, it'll be Kansas City for another CPO Instructor School. Both of those are going to be actual 'road' trips, as I'll be driving to each of them.
But up first, starting tomorrow, will be a trip to the entertainment capital of the desert, beautiful (?) Las Vegas. Unfortunately, due to time restrictions, I am flying to this one. And yes, for those who know me, I'm already annoyed at that fact, and dreading the entire air travel experience.
Okay, 'Fabulous' Las Vegas, as the iconic sign says. It's time for the annual National Recreation and Park Association Congress for Parks. Since it's the 50th anniversary of the foundation of NRPA, I guess they decided to really glitz it up for us. Of course, for many Park and Recreation Professionals, telling their bosses that the annual conference is in Las Vegas made for a quick 'no way you're going there!' attitude.
And, you know, I get it. Vegas certainly has the reputation for being a place where you go to goof off, not to get serious education and information about your profession. On top of that, an awful lot of administrators look at our various Recreation Conferences with a skeptical attitude. After all, what is so hard about operating a Park? What is it that you need to learn? What kind of crap sessions could they possibly be presenting?
On and on it goes, year after year, as we try to persuade our superiors that there is real value to be had from attending these conferences. And to their credit, NRPA does a great job of identifying the benefits that attendees get from the various seminars and sessions which are presented each year. If one looks at the published schedule of seminars for this year, they will find subjects that range from the simple to the very complex, with presenters who are experts in their areas. Of course, there is the occasional oddball session, such as the one I am presenting, called "How To Survive In A Toxic Workplace". I presented this one at the last LILSA/Saint Joseph's Conference, and it was very well received, so I figured I'd inflict it on a large group of people that I don't know. Should be fun!
So many of us are looking forward to this conference as a way to increase our operating knowledge, expand our network of contacts, and yes, celebrate the 50th anniversary of NRPA.
Many of us from New York will be staying at this place, the Excalibur. Lisa Morahan, Executive Director of the state's Recreation and Park Society, got us an amazing deal at this spot. I know the Excalibur from a visit many years ago when we were on a family vacation to the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles, and we stopped over in Vegas for a couple of days. It's right on the strip, and just a couple of tram stops away from the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, where the NRPA show is going to be. I'm sure that for the three days of the Conference, I'll find a few good spots to report back on, as I will have to find places for lunch and dinner. All of us from NY are getting together on Tuesday night for a welcome social at, of course, New York, NY. I'll try to get a few photos at that gathering and post them later this week.
On Friday, Karen is flying out to meet me, and we'll have the weekend to poke around and relax a bit. We aren't staying at the Excalibur, we will be at a lovely place that's sort of off the strip called the Alexis Park Resort.
We've stayed here before, when we were in Vegas for a CPO Instructor School, and it's a lovely place. It's right across the street from the Hard Rock Casino and Hotel, so we'll be able to wander around there and take advantage of what they offer. And I'm sure we'll be doing some sightseeing, perhaps taking a ride over to the "World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop", which is seen on the tv show "Pawn Stars". Might get over to 'old' Vegas and see Freemont Street and the rest of the remaining heritage casinos and restaurants. Might even stop in to Binion's, one of the oldest and still best food value spots in Vegas.
So keep your eyes peeled for new posts here in the coming weeks. Should be a few fun trips, and hopefully some good, fun road trip news!
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird; it's a plane; No, it's a piece of junk!
Well, the little 850 showed up here last Friday, after completing the long trip from Oregon riding on the top rack of the car carrier. Had to laugh as the driver rolled the car off the ramp, the silly thing is so narrow that it barely spanned the space between the two sides of the ramp on the truck; one mis-steer and it would have been *splat*!
Once off the truck, the driver said 'you can start it and move it'. Uhhhh, okay, well, let's see, I haven't driven one of these things in well over 40 years, and with my recently balky back, getting into the thing seemed to be problematic.
Open the door, sit down on the seat (my God this thing is low to the ground!), and drag my legs in. Jeez, forgot how small the pedals on this car are; the brake and clutch pedals are about the size of a Fig Newton; the gas pedal is the size of a Milky Way bar. Pull out the choke, crank it up, it fires and dies; repeat, it fires and dies again. Crank it 3 or 4 more times, finally get it to run! Found reverse on the first shot, unusual on this car, back it up, put it in first, gas it, and up the driveway it goes. Pull up to the fence, set the brake, shut it down, it's home.
You really need to see this thing up close and personal to realize exactly what a tiny little car it is. The top is just 4' high; side to side is less than five feet (59.5 inches), and front bumper to back bumper is just 12 feet. The side view gives you an idea of the size, and also how low the car is to the ground.
I was surprised that the hard top which came with the car is actually a genuine 'Fiat' branded top. It was manufactured by an aftermarket company, but has the Fiat emblem on it; in the world of Fiat 850's, that's a really rare thing.
For those of you who don't remember these little beasts, it is a rear engine car, similar to the old VW Bug, but with a water cooled engine that's only about half the size of the VW. It makes a huge 52 horsepower, a low amount even for back in 1969 (my '65 Barracuda makes 150+). Here's a shot of the power plant:
And, of course, nothing says 'old car' like the interior of a '69 850! Lap belts only, no shoulder belt, and they don't retract; when you unbuckle them, they just lie there on the floor. No radio in this car, it was an extra cost option in '69. No a/c, of course, no cruise control, no power steering or power brakes. No electric windows (and, of course, as noted in my last post, the cheap cable in the passenger door is busted), no 'frills' of any kind. But, it does have a good clutch and gearshift combination, a very tight turning radius, and due to the small wheelbase and light weight, it is very nimble on the road.
You can just see the tiny clutch pedal underneath the steering wheel in this photo. The floors are covered not with carpet, but with rubber mats - better in case you got caught in the rain with the top down. The steering wheel and dashboard are real wood, not wood look plastic.
So there it sits, the 'Itsy Bitsy' spider. I cleaned it up a bit over the weekend, and found all sorts of little issues with it - no big surprise - that are going to take some work. The electrical system, I fear, has serious issues; none of the lights on the driver side of the car work, and the instrument panel fuse keeps blowing. As noted, the passenger side window needs a new cable, the seats are shot, and the engine needs a major tune up at the very least.
That's the downside to picking up a car like this. The upside? Well, much of the work is stuff that I can do, and have done on my past 850's. I've ordered all the parts to tune it up, and Tommy is coming over on Saturday to help with that. I'll poke around the wiring a bit and see if I can't find what's wrong. If I can't, there are a couple of good electrical shops that can track that down for me. And overall, the body is solid, the chassis is pretty much rust free, and it shouldn't take too much to put it into decent 'weekend shape', which is all I really want to do at this point.
I've already sourced a good parts company, and Rock Auto carries a lot of typical wear and tear parts like brake pads, shocks, etc. And I've joined the Fiat Club of America. What the hell, if you're going to dive into a crappy old car, you may as well go in up to your neck!
