#223131
V8 Staff
Keymaster

My Dad drove that van as his daily driver, and we did take a few family vacations with it over the years.   One time, we were headed down to spend Christmas in Ft. Meyers, Florida.    All the local cops were looking to retire in Florida on the Gulf side, and I have to think this was a bit of a scouting mission as well as a vacation.

My Dad liked to drive non-stop, so we planned on leaving at night to time the drive down and minimize traffic getting out of the Chicago area.   Bummer was that my Dad had to work his shift all day, and he was directing traffic at an accident when he got hit by a passing car!  It wasn’t anything major, his arm got smacked by some dope’s side mirror, but it hurt him enough to get it looked at.

Big Al, in “costume” (Uniform) about 1989 or so.   He was a Commander at this point.   This was probably the same face he wore after being smacked by the passing rear view mirror.

The good thing was he didn’t feel it warranted canceling the trip, but it did delay our departure.   Looking back, I certainly didn’t appreciate the guy putting in a full day, getting injured, but still taking his family on a 1300 mile Christmas road trip without missing a beat.

 

Kevin Oeste