When Josh and I first moved to Salmon in 2001, he had an employee who owned a 3-wheeled Harley golf cart. I thought it was so strange and ugly. I thought of 3-wheeled golf carts as a freak of nature; so abnormal and different and so non-conformal. I never, EVER, thought we would own one...
Fast forward 11 years: The Golf Pro in Salmon purchased an old golf cart from a female golfer a few years prior, and had never used or fixed it, so it had deteriorated and was broken down. One day last fall, he asked Josh to please take it to the dump. Josh saw potential in it, and instead of taking it to the dump, he took it to his shop to work on as a winter project. Work slows down for him in the winter, and during those months he works on maintaining his mowers and equipment, as well as trimming up trees and bushes on the course. So, since winter is slower for him, he usually works on big personal projects then as well. For example, he's built two bridges for our backyard ditch, he's worked on cars and home improvement projects, and he built one of the rock walkways during the winter months. This year, he worked on this golf cart--this ugly, old, 3-wheeled golf cart.
The whole process took about a month. First, Josh took off the candy cane-striped top (it was super granny-style and unappealing to Josh). Then he took all the old batteries out and cleaned off all the old stuck-on battery acid. He put new bearings in the front wheel, and pulled off the rear wheels to fix the brakes because they were rusted and locked in. He pried off the carpet that was glued to the floor and attached new matting to the floor. He painted it in BSU colors--orange, blue, and white, and painted silver onto the fenders and frame. He bought another used, dead golf cart at an auction and removed its top to bolt onto this one, and lastly he purchased all new batteries for it.
This old, broken golf cart was free...but it cost less than $600 to make new again. Josh spent $20 on paint, $70 for the new hard top, and $500 for new batteries. It is the only golf cart that looks like it on our golf course with its 3 wheels and bold colors. Josh loves it because he enjoys quietly standing out and owning "different" things (remember when he bought the silver box car because he would be the only one in town with one?!) Josh did a great job with it; it doesn't even look like the same cart he started with last fall! He is often complemented about what an awesome cart he has, and I think it's even more awesome because Josh completely rebuilt it all himself!
Josh tends to make a believer out of me...so even though I never liked the look of 3-wheeled carts before, and I always thought they were ugly (and freaks of nature), I totally love this cart! Josh and I started golfing together on Friday night Couples' League in May, and I first took a ride on it then. In previous years, we always used rental carts, and I liked using gas carts over electric ones. But this cart, our 3-wheeled electric cart, was a smooth ride and I loved riding in it while we golfed! I liked knowing that it was our own cart, and not one that everybody uses. And I love it because it's unique and older and stylish, and it makes me feel so proud of Josh for the outstanding job he did with it!
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