Ode to an Orange Truck
It is a little weird, I guess, to write an ode to a machine but the orange truck has shared quite a few miles and milestones.
It started in 2008 when the time had arrived to seriously consider replacing the Chevy Blazer that I had driven for several years. I started searching online and had discovered that car sales folks can be just as obnoxious online as the caricature makes them appear in person. So after a while, I decided the Blazer was going to have to hang around for a while. But we went to visit the sisters in Florida and happened upon a leftover prior model year Colorado at a dealer not too far away.
So I started an email conversation with their sales guy and told him I was interested if he could sell for a given (very) discounted price. We traded a few more emails and he finally said they were ready to get it off the lot. So we agreed to buy it and stopped on our way home. Its not unusual to buy a t-shirt on a trip but this was the first truck we bought that way. The daughter's reaction was priceless when we told her what we were bringing home.
In less than a month, it was being a truck hauling trash from a Pax River dump site. I still remember the grinding sound from that first scratch and dent from a zealous worker tossing trash. The little orange truck went with us to the beaches of Outer Banks and Assateague National Recreation Areas and to some offroad parks including Windrock and Rausch Creek. We visited national forests like George Washington, Uwharrie and Monongahela. Potomac State Forest in Maryland was a destination multiple times. Occasionally filling in for commuter duty and hauling things like a truck should. The four wheel drive took us through a couple of snow events including rush hour home in Snowmageddon in 2010 that included the trip from Oxon Hill to Germantown and then back to Dupont Circle in DC before eventually making it home.
We've changed a few things from the factory configuration. Beefed up the rear springs, added a winch to the front to help us and others to the front.
And then I retired and the travels began. We went to Nevada and the desert ghost towns. We visited Yosemite and went up the Alaska Highway to Anchorage. We rode the ferry south and saw Vancouver and crossed the border to travel across Washington and then home. We visited several Presidential libraries and coverd the Pacific Coast from Crater Lake all the way south to San Diego and back across the country. We've camped our way to the north side of the Grand Canyon and toured Hoover Dam. Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and around Moab more than once. We traversed the Pony Express Trail from St. Joseph to Sacramento and re-traced the path of the Oregon Trail settlers. We saw the trains in the Maine Northwoods. More than one set of Badlands have passed by our windows as have the giant faces of Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We passed through Little Big Horn where Custer last stood. We've touched the Alaska Oil Pipeline. One year we headed up to Newfoundland and Labrador. We've been to the four corners of the continental USA (and visited Four Corners). We climbed Pikes Peak and have crossed Kansas several times. We've traveled to all the Canadian Provinces except Manitoba. The truck was assembled in Louisiana but we didn't go there together. In fact, this turck has visited all these United States except for Mississippi, Michigan and Hawaii.
So we've been all these places together. We had a warranty issue with the four wheel drive early on while at OBX and had to replace a fan clutch in South Dakota a couple of summers ago. Other than that, its been a faithful travel companion without complaint. On our last trip, it made a “funny” noise when sihifting gears that prompted a look-see and fluid change when it went for the oil change/tire rotation.
It may seem silly to you but I'm gonna miss it. Its been reliable and comfortable without demanding too much for operating expenses. We've been through a lot together.
My hope is that the next owner gets the reliable enjoyment that we did. The next generation of truck has taken its spot at our curb. It has a few more gizmos and electronics from the factory. While it may not reach as many milestone “firsts”, I'm hoping that it proves to be just as comfortable and trouble-free.