Hella mileage milestone!

See that number written in Sharpie above my speedo? 14265 is what the odometer read when Hella was dropped off a dead hulk in my driveway nearly four years ago. Writing that mileage on the dash was the first mark I made on the rig. I knew I had months of work ahead of me before she would even start, let alone run around the tiny town of Ellensburg. After a couple years of literal blood, sweat and tears, she was truly road worthy and I hit the road putting my faith in the work I had done. There's been lots of mechanical hurdles to overcome along the way, but we've tackled them all with ingenuity and determination and she's a truly solid daily driver now. I know she'll throw more curves at me, but I've proven to myself that I'm up to the task. It's a truly awesome feeling to know a vehicle's systems as thoroughly as I do this truck's now. It gives you confidence to really stretch your legs and take the path less traveled.

Last night on the way to Ballard from an evening with my son in Lynnwood, she turned over mile 28530. In less than four years I have doubled the miles she put on in her 20+ years of military and steel mill service before being rolled into a barn to sleep for over 30 years. This big beautiful doll is officially more mine than she's ever been anyone else's and that's a big deal to me! I am one of those humans that gets extremely attached to my ride. I've had two different rigs for over 13 years each. I modified them heavily, but nothing even remotely on par with Hella. This rig is truly a dream manifest for me. I feel so very blessed to be her caretaker. We take excellent care of each other.

My partnership with this truck is likely to be the longest of my life as far as vehicles go. I plan on running her to the very end and then she will be my kid's. Whether they keep her or not, (she's a serious handful in lots of ways), will be up to them. But, no matter what happens, I know she'll go on being loved and bringing smiles and thumbs up everywhere she rolls. That's a very cool part of my legacy, one that makes me happy to think of. It's not even close to the importance of the work I'm doing for families, but for a lifelong old-school gearhead like myself, it's deeply satisfying.

So, congrats Hella! Whaddya say we roll a few hundred thousand more?

(PS- Not one dollar of Jackdaw support has ever been spent on Hella's restoration and modification. I did it all with my personal savings and the sale of possessions I no longer needed.)