An Ode to Vehicles Past

Prior to my current academic pursuits, I drove around the West a lot... and with all that driving, it's easy to get attached to the beater cars that transport you to magical places like City of Rocks, Idaho, and all the way up to Leadville, Colorado.  

City of Rocks, right after a windy snow thunderstorm. Subaru, May 2013.

So I give to you a final tribute to the vehicles of my past and the one I currently own...

It all started with the Navy Volvo 240 which was my mom's car before I learned how to drive at 16.

The 'vo at home in its natural habit?  Leadville, 2011

240s are beasts.  I drove this one until the odometer stopped working somewhere around 200K and then drove it some more until the transmission cable broke.  Then I sold it some dude from Southern Colorado who's probably still ripping around in it.  It ferried me safely between Leadville and Frisco, Colorado for the 2011 winter season with little except some all-weather tires and two sandbags in the trunk (for weight over the rear-wheel drive). The fix for the transmission cable was going to be around $1000, and rather than dumping more money into the aging tank, I looked for something with AWD.  I totally regret not keeping it.  That engine ran STRONG.  And, if it fishtailed a little from time to time, it kept me from driving too fast on snow-packed roads and always cranked reliably.  And just look at the classic beauty of that interior!  Camel was never a better upholstery color...

The Volvo was a 1991

The Volvo's final road trip to Moab, UT in Fall 2010

The next vehicle I owned was the first thing I could really sleep in, which was my favorite thing about the Subaru really.  Considering the way we parted ways this year, I can say that it drove well in the snow and was a good beastie until it wasn't.  I dumped a lot of money into it's poorly designed engine when the head gaskets started to leak, but with a 2003 Forester, it was to be expected I guess.  Prior to 2005, Subaru has some shitty mechanical engineers or something... the Forester took me to the Sawtooths for the 2013 rafting season on the day-stretch of the Salmon.  It ran me back and forth to the desert a few times.  I could almost lay flat in it if stretched out diagonally across the back.

My first glimpse of the Sawtooths, road tripping up to Stanley in the Subaru.  Summer 2013.

Right after my folks brought the 'roo to it's new home with me.  It came from Tennessee.

Unfortunately, the Subaru met a terrible end down in Blanding, UT earlier this year.  I blew it's transmission and the engine threw a rod, both of which were far too expensive to consider fixing.

The last ill-fated road trip of the Subaru to Indian Creek / Canyonlands.

It had only 123K on the engine, and I sold to a guy who could do the work on it himself.   I had to leave it in the desert for over a month, which was a real bummer and kinda stressful.  I will never buy another Subaru. 

Waking up to cattle and snow, Stanley, June 2013.  RIP, Subaru.

Which brings me to my current whip, da Toyota Tacoma!  It's a 1996 teal blue Tacoma LX.  I just took my first road trip in it, to Zion National Park.  It has 178K on the engine, but a new clutch and replaced head gaskets.

Hopefully, no last road trips in it for years to come.  It seems to run really strong, and it's the first manual transmission I've owned.  I just bought a nice topper and bike rack for it, and I'll hopefully be building a platform in the back for sleeping and storage soon.  Below, exiting the Subway in Zion after a day of canyoneering.  It hauls stuff pretty well and I like the way it is truly a compact truck with a gas-sipping 4 cylinder engine.

Angel's Landing, first road trip in the Tacoma.