Time flies!

The van’s gonna be thirty years old soon. My ’89 Ford Aerostar extended cargo-van was born at the St. Louis Assembly Plant in Hazelwood, Missouri. The plant opened in 1948 during the golden age of American manufacturing. Rocinante started it’s career as a working truck for a painting contractor. On a hot day you can still smell the paint. The painter was a gambler and the van was used to settle a gambling debt but the new owner was a drunk and banged it up a little bit. The next owner used it to take an auto body course and fixed it up pretty nice taking out the dents and putting on a fresh coat of paint. I named the van ‘Rocinante’ after Don Quixote’s horse. Rocinante is not only my van, but also my double: a little rusty, past its prime, and engaged in a task beyond its abilities.