Detour!

So much for my recent trip up to Canada! I'm back in Colorado already. It was a relatively short trip, two days, 600 miles total out & back just to Green River, Utah, where my truck died (though it has been resurrected now) in front of the Comfort Inn. Yikes! Thankfully it wasn't the backcountry.

After the battery died out in Utah, I just felt I had better count my blessings, tuck my tail between my legs, and bolt for home. So I did! The truck ran as fine as could be expected for an old girl all the way back. I've been debating about getting a new Toyota, probably a Matrix eventually, though I've been struggling with it a bit. Do I really need a new vehicle before she dies for good? Cars have become so pricey since 1989. Gas, too. The process is a bit like deciding to put your senior kitty to sleep (although yes, I know, trucks are inanimate objects).

My vehicle and I have covered a lot of ground together in the past 19 years. Lots of road trips all over the North American West. She has 267,000 miles on her odometer. Yep, you guessed it. Toyota all the way!

I'll admit I'm attached to her. She has character. And my old girl's camper shell is now proudly decorated with stickers of her accomplishments: national parks, Canadian flag, "Life is Good", one of my artist friend, June's, hummingbird designs, Colorado state flag, etc. She lost her cat tracks stickers on the back tailgate after an icy wreck in Toby Creek Canyon several years ago -- she was repainted the same color, off white, but the kitty prints & Nike-style striped decals on the side were left off. Harsh winters she endured in Summit County, CO, Whistler, B.C., and Invermere, B.C. are now showing with rusty spots weathering her body like age spots on an old woman. But I love her anyway!