I Have a Moon Vehicle!! The Lou Holtz Story

I just learned this term last week. I didn't know what it was until a DJ on the radio explained it. The average distance (it's constantly changing) from the earth to the moon is 238,900 miles. A moon vehicle is one that has that many miles or more.

When I heard it I looked down at the odometer of the 2011 Santa Fe I was driving. Guess what? You guessed it!:

Yeah baby! I've been to the moon! I only hope the SUV can make the drive back. I don't want to be another Apollo 13.

Twelve years and still going strong. Still looking good after all these years:

My primary vehicle is my Chevy truck. But I could never get rid of this one, it's been too reliable. I've had too many good trips in this vehicle.

My family lives in Maine. I usually fly to see them but not always. Sometimes I drive the 1600 miles, each way, for a combined 3200 miles. When I make the drive alone from Maine to Florida, as I did these past two years, I hardly stop. The last trip I made in 27 hours. That's a lot of butt time in the seat. In fact, I only stopped for gas and to pull into a rest stop to nap 2 1/2 hours. Good thing I don't have to keep log books like those truckers.

I actually have a great story from my moon vehicle. It happened several years ago on a road trip from Florida to Maine. I stopped at a rest stop in Tallahassee and I saw Lou Holtz (ex head coach of Norte Dame) get into his car beside my future moon vehicle.

Now I knew what he looked like as I'd seen him up close before. I had met Lou when he did a motivational speech at the chemical plant I worked. After his speech I actually spoke with him briefly. So it was a bit coincidental to see him again.

But that's not the odd part. This time I drove to Maine via I-95. Something I rarely do because of the traffic. After spending the night in Savannah I continued the journey the next morning. I pulled into a rest stop the next day in Virginia and guess what? You're good at this now, you're right! I saw him again. I had even pulled up beside his car again without noticing until I saw him again getting into his car.

Now what are the odds to see the same person on two separate days after spending the night on the road? How could we have the same schedule? What are the odds of parking beside him both times? Then add on the odds that person is Lou Holtz.

The ex-Notre Dame coach was obviously stalking me! But what was his purpose? Had he heard about my backyard tosses to my grandson? Did he want to recruit this 60+ year old arm? What else could it be? I didn't care! I was ready to be a redshirt freshman if that's what he wanted.

Ok. Back to reality. He really paid me no attention at either rest stop. I expect he just suffered from an enlarged prostrate, like me, requiring frequent rest stops.

The second time I wanted to approach him and tell him the story of how I just saw him at a rest stop the prior day. But I knew he wouldn't be nearly as interested in this story as I was. So I did nothing.

A lot can happen on a trip to the moon.