Such a pretty car!

Thanks, Bill, been a long time and a lot of work. I feel like I've run a marathon taking this SSP from where it was to near completion. But you likely know all about that.

As a final tribute to 0255, I plan to take this vehicle back to the location of the first photo in this thread, the rest stop on freeway I5 in the Los Banos area and recreate it. Put the 0255 plates on front and back, locate the veh in the exact same spot, then pose with it. Should make an interesting now and then comparison. I still have my original uniform jacket from back then, if you look very close in the original photo of 0255 (only) taken from the perspective of the driver's side front, you can see it draped around the passenger seat. I'll put the jacket in the same place for maximum possible authenticity.

Steve, That SSP looks BETTER than New! Great work.

Thank you Jerry. You're in one of my favorite states, AZ. I'm thinking of moving to Bullhead City in a few years. I know many Arizonans don't want more Californians, at least ones that bring the politics with them. That's not me...I'm wanting to get away from Kalifornia politics...

Awesome...I like the recreating the photo plan (along with the jacket on the seat).

New Interior Pic of 870255
 

It's been hotter than hell lately, so when not in the pool I have been indoors going through old photo albums and came across some old photos. Including a new, never seen before photo of 870255's interior in service taken Summer 1984. It shows the layout of the emergency equipment well. That's a 26" wooden baton next to the parking brake handle.
Just for fun I have included two more; a 1982 Chevy Impala I drove in late 1984 and my first patrol veh, a 1978 Dodge, the last of the big 440s, I drove in early 1980.

Thanks for sharing, Steve. Love them all.

Great pics, Steve.

Visited CHP Los Banos Office after 39 years
 

Been a while since I have been here, and been a really long while since I have been in the Los Banos area CHP office. Last Wednesday March 8 I brought my family to Los Banos for a funeral service to be held Thursday morning at the San Joaquin Valley national Cemetary near Santa Nella, in the Los Banos area. My wife's Dad (a Korean War Vet) died recently and so we went there and stayed overnight in Los Banos a short distance from the CHP office. Wednesday afternoon I stopped by with my son to visit. It has changed very little since I was last there in 1984. I walked in the public entrance and told the Officer at the counter I was an alumni. He got the Sgt. on duty to come out front and I told them my history there. They were very friendly and accommodating. They took us on a tour of the office and back area. A few changes there, like aboveground fuel storage and a portable building providing a locker room along the back fence, but otherwise, the same. I could easily imagine 0255 there where I used to park it.
Everyone I worked there has of course long since retired and many of them have died. But some that came there in the late 1980s still remember Bob Butler and what a character he was. Bob had a stroke and died a few years later.
Overall, a long overdue and enjoyable visit to a place filled with memories and personal history. Driving around there with the family, and to Santa Nella, I pointed out some of the places where my stories in this thread occurred.

Sorry to hear about your FIL. Your story about the office is great! Glad some things haven't changed.