I got a call on the 5th of August from Ken Purdy, a dear college era friend, and he asked me to do him a favor. He has a long history with MG cars and for some reason he wanted to get another one. Unfortunately for him thew MG was in Sebring, four hours south west of Jacksonville. The favor he needed was for be to help him pick up the car. His plan was to drive to Sanford, pick me up and then we both drive to Sebring and get the car. If the car was acceptable, he would buy it and drive it home while I drive his car. He did not need his car back anytime soon so Leslie and I could drive it for the next week and a half. I probably would have helped him even without the free use of his car, but having a car would really help us out. I had a massage scheduled for early morning and Ken arrived around 10 to pick me up. Two hours of driving got us to the center of Sebring, not our actual destination, as Ken did not plot the actual address of where the MG was just the town. No problem that was just a small detour and we got to see the old town center. On the drive down Ken was coaching me on how to tamper his enthusiasm for the car and stop him from making a bad decision. Once we saw the car and it looked great so I knew Ken was going to buy it. We met the owner and he popped the hood, they looked around inside, they took it out for a test drive, negotiated a bit and soon Ken was once again a MG owner. Ken paid in cash, he got all the required paperwork and we drove across the street for lunch. While we were eating the owner walked across the street and had Ken sign some more papers. He knew where to find us because we had asked about the diner earlier. With our bellies full and our systems fully hydrated we took off for Sanford. Leaving the diner we had our first issue with the car. Ken had to pull the seat forward and thed seatbelt would not extend far enough to be able to buckle. This was just the first of several car troubles we encountered. We got the seatbelt fastened and put a clip on the belt so it would no longer retract. The next issue was the car stalling, twice when coming off of a red light. I was following Ken but not so closely as to run into him when he stalled. Since the gas gauge was not working Ken decided that it may need gas so we pulled into a station and filled it up. Once filled it would not start. There were jumper cables in Ken's car but the first try did not work, a loose battery terminal was to blame. Ken tightened that up and then the jump worked. Off we go again. I was following Ken and was at the mercy of his navigational skills. Needless to say with the multiple unplanned detours and the fact that the MG could not go any faster than 60 mpg it took us four hours to get to Sanford. The MG had a rag-top and that was not down for long, it was too damn hot to have the sun beating down on the driver. There was no aircon either so when we reached Sanford I insisted that he come in , cool off and re-hydrate. We got to Sanford around 4 and he left at 5 but was not to Jacksonville until after 10. He broke down two more times with fuel filter problems and a vapor lock on the fuel system. What a day we had. the best part came after I was talking to Leslie on the phone. I had been updating her on our progress around 3 in the afternoon. I did not notice that the Consulate was calling at the same time. Later I was going to call her back and I saw that there was a call from the consulate. I told her about the call and she immediately checked the status. Low and behold the Passports were ready to be picked up!!!! 100 days after we had to surrender the passports they were ready. As a special bonus we now had Kens Car to drive to Miami to pick them up. Oh happy day!
A waterpark next to the highway
Orange juice tower
In the middle of Florida is the Lake Wales ridge. The highest point in Florida is along this ridge towering at 312 ft.
Buzzards watching us go by
Old town Sebring has a center circle
Nice little shops like the "Get Fish Slapped" shop
In the center a wave like surface to play on
The Roanoke Hotel
The motto could be misconstrued
A line of military heros
Our first sighting!
Looking sharp
Ken jumped in immediately
I believe he is already sold
Now he is trying to look like he is still deciding
Looking at the engine
Some haggling before the deal is struck
Paperwork needs to be filled out
The deal is done, $4000 for a 1978 MG
Ken was not buying another boat
A well deserved lunch
The top did not stay down for long
Sun Ray Florida
Passing "Frostproof" Florida
On the highway....but in the slow lane
Huzzah...passports are ready to be picked up
