Runde Auto Chat

How did you find Runde Auto Group and this particular vehicle? Through Al Kloft. I told him what I was looking for and he went and found it for me. I bought a Trailblazer and my brother bought a vehicle from Al not too long ago too.

Why did you decide to purchase it here? Because I found what I liked and because I've known Al for a long time. He's a family friend so I trusted him. And I liked it so I said yah I'd buy it. 

Where is the first place you’ll take your new car? I don't know ... probably work. Really? Yah I have have work at 9 o'clock tonight. Where do you work at? At The Barn in Sherrill -- it's a bar and a restaurant up there. I used to go up to the barn a long time ago -- we played a couple gigs up there back in the day. Yah, that was when V.J. owned it and now his son runs the place. (Check out the link to The Barn's FaceBook Page)

Is your vehicle a male or female? Female. And will you give it a name? No. Why not? I don't know. (shrugs) I never named any of my cars.

How many vehicles have you owned so far in your life? Five. How often do you usually trade in your cars? This is the first time I've ever traded and bought something new. So you usually keep your vehicles until they die? Yep.

What’s the best thing about your new ride? It's bigger and it has four-wheel-drive. If you were a vehicle, what vehicle would you want to be? Probably ... I don't know, it's a tough question ... probably a truck because it's big.

Will your friends or anyone be allowed to eat in your new Trailblazer? Yes. Are you sure? Yah. (Wow we've asked that question before to many customers before and we usually get a "Nope" response back. I wasn't expecting that answer.)

How would you rate your vehicle buying experience with Runde Auto Group on a scale of 1 to 35 with 35 being the best? I'd say it was probably a 31.

And Al Kloft was your salesman -- so how would you rate Al? The best. He was awesome, I liked working with Al.

If something unfortunate were to happen to Al and he could no longer be a car salesman, do you think he would make a better News Anchorman, Game Show Host, or State Representative? Definitely a game show host.

And which game show would he be best at hosting? The Price is Right, Deal or No Deal, or that one about being smarter than a 5th grader? The 5th grader one. (she smiles) You know I think just the contestants have to show how smart they are so he'd probably be safe as the host. Yep. (she nods and grins)

What is your favorite movie of all time? Fried Green Tomatoes. Really? Do you like the Fried Green Tomatoes restaurant too? I know that there's a nice restaurant named Fried Green Tomatoes. I haven't been there, but I really like the movie. It's easily my favorite.

Do you have any hobbies? I like to ride horses.

What is currently in the cd player of your vehicle? Seether. Seether? What's that? It's a rock band.

If you could move anywhere else in the world, where would it be and why? Probably Wyoming because I like the country and there's like nothing out there -- like no big cities or anything like that. (I've heard that you haven't really seen the stars until you've looked up at a Wyoming sky on a moonless night.) Have you ever been to Idaho? No. I've heard that's awesome too. Yah me too.

Describe your ideal day – what would you do – where would the road take you? I'd go to a tractor pull. A tractor pull? Yep. (I like asking that question because you never get the same answer twice.)

Lightning Round:

Gaga or Taylor Swift? Taylor Swift.

Transformers or Twilight? Twilight.

Taco Johns or Taco Bell? Taco Bell.

Glass: half empty, half full, or someone just left it sitting there and no one felt like washing it today? Half full.

Target or Walmart? Target.

Ebay or Amazon? Amazon.

Win the lottery or become President? (grinning with confidence) Win the lottery.

We'd like to thank Bridget for taking time out of her schedule to sit down and chat with us. She's a very personable young lady and now she has a sweet new 4wd ride that you just may see her in as she zooms over the hills and valleys of the tri-state area. Let's just hope she never feels the need to drive her new vehicle like Kathy Bates in Fried Green Tomatoes.

A couple of months ago Jordan Degree got a Chevy HHR for the Dubuque Art Center from Runde's. The Are Center had plans to get it wrapped in a vinyl coat and that's exactly what they did! Jordan says he is loving the HHR and is very pleased with how the wrap turned out. Check out the pictures below and look out for it on the roads!

Am I the only one who thinks "holy cow, there must be a whole lot of complicated things going on when they built that engine!" This is what I think almost every time I pop open my hood to look at the engine? How would one go about building an engine? What all goes into the design? Is displacement really king when it comes to sheer power? Was GM's 3800 V-6 really the best car engine of the 20th century? Or what about Jeep's 4.0L inline 6-cylinder? I later go on to wonder if I were to ever take one apart, what would I see, would I know how it all worked, and could I put it all back together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle? If only I could see one being built from scratch and have an explanation of what's going on... what's that? I can!??

That's right, Chevrolet is now giving you the option to build your own engine with the purchase of a Z06 or ZR1 Corvette. Pack up your bags, plop down an extra $5,800 plus travel charges to Detroit and you will be face to machine with all the parts and tools needed to build the very same engine that will be rocketing you down the road at ridiculous speeds. The best part about it is if you are in the market for a Z06 or a ZR1 then the extra $$$ needed for this awesome, once in a lifetime opportunity, will probably be next to nothing.

Check out the video below for a demonstration of the engine you could be building!

There will always be situations where you absolutely need a pickup truck. The sportster in you is screaming "get the turbo coupe!", the calm in you is telling you to "get the luxury vehicle!" Then there's the practical side of you telling you to "get the truck, you'll need it." And if you are a farmer, construction worker or have a horse and kids that want to go to horse camp, you are absolutely correct in thinking you'll need that pickup truck. No one knows that more than the parents of the kids attending the Tri-State's annual horse camp.

Karen Schilling, secretary of the camp, was able to give us a tour of the camp and let us know how things work. Karen took over the secretarial position when she graduated from school in 1980 and this is her 30th year in that position. Prior to working at the camp, she was kid at the camp, herself. Karen hauls her horses in her Silverado that she purchased from Runde's and was excited to explain how things work to us. On the start of our tour we ran into Ashley Rigdon, daughter of Runde's employee Lisa Ridgon. We waved and took some pictures of her as she looked determined to learn more and was having a great time riding her horse. To find out the formula behind the happy smiles on the kids' faces, Karen explained the camp to us in a nutshell...

"It always starts on Father's Day. It started in Elizabeth, IL in 1969 then it went to Galena in 1970 then in '71 we came out here to the Dubuque Fair Grounds and this is our 40th year."

"Kids are split into 3 group sections based on the age of the kids. They get up at 7am to feed their horses and clean their stalls. Breakfast is at 8am then at 9,10 and 11am there are 3 riding sessions. They ride for one hour, have one free hour, and then they do a learning center. They have the same two rotating instructors throughout the entire week. At 4pm they have electives, where the instructors give the kids an option to do various activities like showmanship, ground work, and roping -- all of which enhance the kids' understanding of horse riding. At 5pm they clean and feed the horses and then at night, we have some type of educational entertainment like a herding sheep dog demonstration. At the end of the camp, on Saturday, we have a show where we ask the parents to come watch to see their kid's progress."

What do the kids learn in the camp?

They learn proper horsemanship, training, how to ride and sit correctly, how to cue their horse to get them to do what they want and several other techniques that will improve their knowledge and skills. From beginner to advanced, we try to further their riding experience. To get the most exposure, we make sure they are riding two sessions, three times a day.

What's the furthest someone has come to attend the show?

It's usually from the Tri-State area, but we did have one student from Spain and two people from California come. We like to keep the number of kids limited to 100 but this year we have 121. They sign up ahead of time and it costs $250 to come for the entire week. That includes a professional photographer taking their pictures, food, the box stall, feeding and boarding. Several people here have trucks from Runde's. They have to bring in their own horse with gear and they usually do that with a horse trailer and a tow equipped truck.

Where does the staff come from?

Everybody is a volunteer here, parents and past campers help out and we have instructors from all over Iowa come to help. The Dubuque County TrailBlazers 4H Club sponsors the event, making it possible. Things have come a long way since we started , for example -- now instead of tying up the horses in the barn, we have individual stalls. It just keeps growing and changing every year.

We'll I'm glad with got the chance to interview Karen and to find out what goes on at the horse camp. I've learned a lot about horses, riding and what is involved in maintaining the large animals. Thank you very much for taking the time to chat with Runde's Karen!

Wishing everyone a safe and jubilant 4th of July weekend. If you don't have plans for the weekend yet, there's still time to make them. If you're just not the plannin' type ... well, we hear ya. It's casual.

 All four of the Runde Auto Group locations will be closed on Monday the 5th of July in honor of the National Holiday. We'll reopen again for business on Tuesday the 6th, but remember that you can access our inventory 24/7 at www.RundeAutoGroup.com