Wednesday, September 05, 2007

The Story of Quadette

As promised - the story of how my quad came to be...

My husband is an avid dirt biker and, while he wants me to learn to ride dirtbikes, we figured 4 wheels would be easier for me to start on than 2. About a year ago, we went to visit his folks in northern Alberta. They have a couple quads and a nice BIG property, so I got to take my first ride on a quad. It was a blast & I loved it. So Lawrence was excited to know how much I enjoyed it & vowed to get me one, one day. I told him we couldn't buy a quad until we had our own 'dirt', ie, our own home, because we were renting at the time. Well, lo & behold, we came home from Alberta to a notice from our landlord saying he had sold the house & we had 2 months to get out. So, we took the plunge & bought a house instead of sinking our funds into rent each month. And of course, that got Lawrence thinking about what I had said...

Some time after Christmas, Lawrence's dad called up with an offer. A quad for sale REAL cheap because it had been beside a shed that burnt down. All the plastic was melted off & needed new wiring but the frame, tires & motor were in great condition. So he agreed...without telling me of course. This is what the quad looked like...at that time!
In March, the whole Wolfe family got together in Calgary for a family visit! Unbeknownst to me, dad was bringing the quad down for Lawrence. I couldn't figure out why on earth Lawrence wanted to drive the work van all the way to Calgary when we have a perfectly wonderful DIESEL car that would have been so much more efficient. We even argued about it because he didn't want to ruin the surprise. Luckily, I gave in & we took the work van!
My sister in law distracted me in our hotel rooms while THIS was going on outside in the parking lot...

All the boys helped load it into the van while I was being distracted. When we finally came downstairs, Lawrence handed me this pretty little gift bag & said it was an early birthday present.
Inside the gift bag was this toy quad. He said, that he knew I wanted one so now I was getting one. The whole family was watching. At first I didn't get it, and then I started freaking out that he might have bought me a quad cuz we so didn't have the money for a quad (or at least that's what I thought)So they whipped open the van doors and there was this THING in there with birthday bows on it & everybody was staring at me & waiting for my reaction...

And I sort of stood there looking at it thinking 'what the heck is that burnt piece of crap? and why does it have bows on it?' My biggest fear of taking the van was that Lawrence would fill it with junk to bring home. And I was looking at it with uncertainty, wondering if my fear was coming true!

It took a minute for me to catch on that it was a quad and that Lawrence was determined to fix it up for me. Mom Wolfe was so worried that I would freak out or be worried that it would be a never-ending project. But, I trusted my husband. Though he has a lot of projects always on the go, I knew that this one would be special and that he WOULD complete it because it was for me. So then, I was happy about the gift & looking forward to it.
Lawrence & I went out shopping to a big atv/motorsports shop in Calgary later that day & got me (and himself) new riding jerseys. Fox is finally bringing out NICE girl style stuff and I was in love with one that was camoflage & HOT PINK!!



And that became the inspiration for the quad colors that I chose. I wanted it to be girly but 'bad' looking at the same time. So slowly but surely, the project started to take shape. Thanks in particular to E-bay for us to be able to get a TONNE of used parts relatively cheap. He found me a whole set of plastic for a great deal. We just had to clean it up & pull off all the old labels.

Lawrence sanded & painted every single part on her. She was stripped down to nothing. Even the frame & muffler were repainted a shiny black.
We have a friend that is an autobody guy, so he came with his spray gun & painted more parts for me. Lots of accesorizing parts were in metallic pink...
And the inside of the rims were a vibrant metallic green


She was slowly starting to take shape, motor back to gether, wiring hooked up and hubby going for test runs around the backyard & up the driveway.
On our last trip down through Washington, we found another Honda shop that carried lots of different things that we hadn't been able to find in Canada. Including awesome helmets for girls. This is a fox brand to match my jersey with hot pink of course to match the quad. Our friend Jeff came one more time and painted all the plastic for us. Most of it was the metallic green and a couple parts were the pink. So Lawrence started to put it together.

And here she is in all her put-together glory. We even have a small mirror on the front (it covers a hole) but its very appropriate for a girl quad. Can check & see if I have dirt on my face after a good ride. LOL


And so, after a few photos in my gear, posing on her, it was time for me to try her out!

Lawrence took me, my quad & his dirtbike up one of the hills behind us and unloaded it for me. I was so chicken. I think lawnmowers go faster. I'd go & stop & go & stop. It took a while to get the hang of it. There was a good open spot to try but I had to go DOWN a steep hill first. That was scary, I went soooo slow because the dust was several inches deep (its very dry up there) and kept pulling me into the ditch. Anyways, I made it and then I started tearing around, getting braver & going faster, even up & down a few dusty hills. It was great fun & I had a blast. I can't wait to go again. Hopefully we'll get a bit of rain so it won't be such thick choking dust up there.


And that, my friends, is the story of Quadette. The Labour of Love project by my wonderful husband so that we can enjoy hours & hours of fun together up in the mountains that I love so much!

11 comments:

  1. Congrats!! Very cool, Excellent job Lawrence!! You look great Becky and so does Quadette! I have one, you guys wanna spruce it up for me!! ;) lol, just joking, enjoy, have fun and be safe!

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  2. Oh my goodness! What a cute story. I love the part where your husband surprises you with it in the back of the van. Love the picture of you two in those shirts. You look so cute! You have a wonderful husband to surprise you like that. I am not good at surprises. I always ask too many questions and he get mad or I just most always figure out what he is up to. I am glad you gave in to taking the van. I would not have gave up. I would have ruined the surprise right there if it was my husband trying to do something like that. Well congratulations on your getting your Quad! I love the colors on it. And you are too darn cute posing on it!
    Well I am spending my day at home again form work sick. Going to the doctor in an hour. These sinus infections are killing me.

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  3. Oh Beck, what a story! I love it! Your husband is so sweet. What fun... before long you'll be tearing up the mts. LOL!

    My hubby just bought a jeep off ebay for our son who's turning 16 next week. He's all into what they're going to do to it... suspension, and other car terms I have no idea about but they're very excited. My hubby is so glad to finally have a jeep back in the "family". His 1st new car was a jeep! Got to love adventure!

    Have fun my friend! And what a fun surprise... I think I'm in with Janice, I would have spoiled the surprise with the van thing.

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  4. "Girlie but bad"!
    Just awesome!
    Once again, can't wipe the smile off my face!

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  5. how so so cool is that? I loved reading this. It touched my heart how your husband loves you sooo much to want to surprise you and make it really special to suit the desires of your heart. I have to say that I have never really felt that kind of special connection with anyone and I pray that someday I will have a husband who is that kind of thoughtful and will put that kind of labor into something so we can have fun together. It's a fine example of a good marriage. thanks and God bless you both and protect you on that thannnnng!~

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  6. Great story! I called my husband and he read it with me!

    May you be safe...and have loads of fun. Do you have a special place to carry your camera? On second thought, it'd be safer in a padded backpack!

    So what do the neighbors think? Is it loud?

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  7. Well, it looks like you are going to have a GREAT Autumn on four wheels! LOL

    All the best in... err... ON your new endeavour!

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  8. well documented story and fun too. Lawrence did a perfect job. Your Quad clothes are also great.Enjoy riding.

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  9. Okay, lawrence why did you go through so much trouble over a present for the wife? Most husbands (me included) just buy something small (no need for a van) from a neighbourhood shop. You trying to make the rest of us look bad?

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  10. Becky...you are such a cute quadgirl!!! I'm so impressed with all the gals who dirt bike and street bike. I have a good friend from church who is a "Black Sheep" They are Harley riders for Christ and she and her husband are chapter presidants..
    I guess life doesn't end at 40!
    Blessings to you,
    Laurie

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  11. Way to go girl! I thought the mirror was to see who was behind you???? silly me!

    I laughed when you talked about a lawnmower being faster - because I can think of one racing lawnmower called the "Xtermownator" that I hope is faster. (at leaster faster then your first ride).

    Great job Lawrence! As always perfection to a "T". It feels good to see a project through to the end. So many of us have the desire, but not the staying power to complete it. Congrats.

    Hopefully see you guys Sunday.

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