The Adventures of a Vertically-Challenged Person Trying to Get into a Full-sized Pickup

The last couple weeks have been challenging, to say the least.

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Thursday, I drove to Anchorage for some routine medical stuff and went to Costco to grocery shop. When I pulled up to a stop light, I noticed the oil pressure on my 2001 Dodge Dakota crew cab pickup was low so I checked the oil as soon as I parked at Costco.

There was only a drop of oil on the stick!!! This, along with a strong smell of burning oil, also happened in August. I had the oil changed since then and put 1200 miles on the truck. I drove immediately to the Dodge dealer.

There was no chance to have the truck checked that day. They did, however offer to have the service department top off the oil.

As soon as the mechanic removed the oil cap, I noticed a lot of yellow gummy stuff on it. "Cooland," he said and went to talk to his supervisor. "Park it, " was the recommendation.

They also said I could Not leave the truck there. So there I was. Stranded. They said I'm lucky the truck didn't quit on me altogether. That's scary. A hundred miles from home and temps dropping close to zero. No, getting stranded on the highway in the mountains at night was not what I needed.

My mid-sized Dodge Dakota, more than a truck should be loved.

I was stuck. Mid-afternoon and its was getting dark. I had groceries that needed to be removed. I was advised to talk with a salesman, of course.

No way to get around to other car lots to find a vehicle because they had no loaners. By the time I arranged for a rental, all the car lots would be closing.

I had frozen my credit years ago as an identity theft precaution and had no checks with me, only credit cards.

Long story short: I bought a 2011 Ford F150 4x4 crew cab pickup with matching canopy from them. It is spotless inside and out and a nice sterling gray clear coat metallic color. The canopy, should I have to buy one, would be about $5000 painted to match. It has Blizzak tires, like my Dodge.

Ir drives like a dream. Well, considering the dreams I had last night, maybe that isn't such a good analogy.

Why do I need a pickup? We have no garbage service where I live and have to haul my own, 17 miles RT to one site, and about 26 to another. I also use it for gathering firewood, brush removal and disposal, and to clean up litter along 40 miles of highway in the summer. Plus, with 4-wheel drive, I find a truck much safer in the winter.

During the winter, I put lots of split firewood in the bed and park it in the garage for convenience access to dry wood for heating my house.

Gulp.

Not money I needed to spend, and it just contributed to my anxieties.

I transferred all the items in the Dodge into bags in the 8 degree cold and my hands have been chapped and tender ever since.  

I loved my Dodge mid-sized truck more than a truck should be loved. Currently, I am in the process of donating it to Make a Wish. The repair might be as simple as a PCV valve, and then again, it might be far more serious and expensive. The charity says it takes vehicles that are not running.

Then came the next problem. How to get into this large truck!!!

At first, I tried grabbing the steering wheel with both hands and pulling myself into the cab. That fiasco was not for public observance and falling to the ground in the process is inherently possible.. I am hampered by restricted use of my left shoulder and no handholds built into the truck.

How, I wondered, was I ever going to manage this?

Ah, hah. I have a small plastic step at home that would be perfect. I took it with me on my trip to the post office after buying the truck.

It worked perfectly! Much easier to get into the driver's seat. Then, disaster! How to retrieve the step from the ground that looked to be a half mile down. Could I tie a cord to it to lift the step?

This was getting ridiculous.

Next solution: The driver's seat is power-operated. I can raise it high enough to see over the steering wheel and dashboard, and , thus, by lowering the seat to its lowest extremity, getting in is possible by grabbing the steering wheel and dragging myself up. Not easy, but possible. I would not want to have to do this often, though.

So, I wondered, how long until power-operated seat breaks?

Possible solutions: Have running boards installed. I'm starting to look into that.

If I don't find a solution, litter clean up next summer will be severely and negatively.affected.