Asao Family Blog

Here’s another story…..

Back in 2002, my cousins’ husband, Len and I were into exploring old logging roads in our trucks.  Len had bought a Land Rover and was able to enjoy taking things a little further than I could.  I was using my 1995 Nissan Pathfinder which also needed to get me to work on Monday.  So, following in the same line as Len, but staying Japanese I searched for a Toyota Landcruiser FJ40.  I found one up in Waterloo.  My Dad and I headed out to look at it.  We took it out for a test drive and a successful look over by Dad had me sold on it.  It was a little rough but hey, that’s what real old trucks for trail riding is all about.  We left a deposit and returned the following week to finalize the deal.  Len towed it home with this Pathfinder at the time.  We chose to tow and not drive so that we could thoroughly look this truck over and not risk things on the 401 from Waterloo to Brampton.

Over the next while, we worked on the truck to get it into good running shape.  Dad tuned up a few things and together with a good friend of mine, Craig, we rebuild the rear tire carrier.  After being out on a few trail rides I was seeing other trucks with neat storage ideas.  Each time I’d mention a cool thing I saw, my Dad made it.  He fabricated rear ceiling storage netting, a camera mount, a front bracket to house the license plate and new flood lights, a support bracket for the 8’ CB antenna, secured a toolbox, installed a rear seat with seatbelts and built a middle console box that houses the CB unit.  He also rebuilt the carburetor.  I think this was a great project for him to have.  He had just recovered from his heart surgery and was starting his retirement getting back into things.

I bought new rims and tires.  This was ready for the trails!  Dad came along on the first couple of rides.  I have video of us laughing as we’re bouncing along the trail in Minden.  It was so bumpy and rough – especially for the passenger – he was laughing.  It was great to be able to share the experience of the trail ride after all that he had helped me with in preparing it.  When I look at the FJ40 in my garage today, all of these memories fill the air.  It’s a great momento for this Father-Son project.

Please add to this Blog topic, your own stories.

This Blog is designed to share memories about my Dad, Charles.  I hope in time that we will be able to create a nice collection of stories to keep his history and spirit going.  If there will some day be a new generation of new little Asao’s, this would be a wonderful place for them to get to know their Grandfather.

I will start things off by telling a story about his favorite activity – fishing.

My Dad loved to fish.  Throughout his life he often hoped for a retirement that would put him at the river almost every day.  He looked forward to being able to head up to Nottawasaga where he’d been going to for many years.  Unfortunately, he was only able to go a couple of times.  With his weakening heart, he did not have the strength required.

I remember many early mornings fishing at Nottawasaga and Thornbury.  I recall one day up at Nottawasaga back in 1986 we were having a slow day.  Not many bites and not seeing much action.  I have always enjoyed fishing but not to the extent my Dad did, so I was getting bored on this occasion.  We went back up to the car at lunch to have our soup and sandwich.  I tried to talk him into leaving but he wanted to try again.  We headed back down and tried up stream for a while.  Still nothing.  My Dad got a few bites and that encouraged him.  There was a fish in there!!  We couldn’t leave without trying to catch this fish.  After fishing the area a bit he suggested I try there while he moved on.  My Dad never believed in staying in a particular spot for too long.  No action meant to keep moving.  I walked into that spot and on my second cast, I felt a strong bite so I set the hook.  It felt heavy as I began to reel in.  All of the sudden it took off up stream.  With my rod up, and the drag screaming away it finally eased off so I began to reel in.  Many other fisherman had brought their lines in.  I got it within about 20ft and then it took off again.  This time my Dad was getting agitated telling me to stop ‘playing’ with the fish as I would lose it.  This went on a couple more times until I finally almost 15 minutes after the initial bite I got it near shore.  Dad went in and netted the fish to finally end this.  We were all amazed to see a 15lb rainbow trout!!  I had never caught anything that size before (and not since either).  It was indeed a proud day.  With the high prices of having it mounted and the quality of the meat being questionable, we ended up giving to a customer of my Dad’s who analyzed the meat in a lab.  They found the pollution counts to be within acceptable limits and enjoyed my trophy fish.  That’s a day that made staying a little longer all the worth while :).

That’s my fishing story with Dad that I wanted to share.  Please feel free to share in this blog any fishing stories you may have had with my Dad.