Our trusty pickup was finally kicked to the curb.
It was a 1990 model that we bought back in 1993. It had 74,000 miles on it when we purchased it and 237,000 by the time we let it go. Six days after the 3-month warranty expired, the head gasket blew and the engine threw a rod. A new engine would have cost over $10,000 at the time, so we bought a similar engine from a junk yard and had the best pieces from each reassembled into one that had better specs than if it had come from the factory.
That little truck traveled all over the country with us. It climbed to over 13,000 feet in the Rockies. It forded the rushing water of an ice cold mountain stream that just came up to the top of the headlights -- and it didn't stall. Twice! It traveled to Alberta, Canada with us. It traversed singletrack trails that were so rough that Cindy had to get out and spot for me as we crawled over the rocks at a snail's pace. We camped in it. Carried dogs in it. It had scratches in the roof from a mother grizzly bear... (seriously, we were in a tent just a few feet away when it happened in the dead of the night in Glacier National Park, Montana). The front grill and side panel was battered by the four deer we hit with it back in 2004, separately over a four month period.
It was the single most reliable, toughest vehicle we ever owned.
As it grew ever older, we considered replacing it. The first time we reconsidered and instead bought a small piece of land to camp on in the wilderness of southwestern Colorado. The second time we also reconsidered and instead purchased our boat. Each time we reconsidered because the truck was running well and required minimal annual maintenance from us.
Five years ago we were finally told that the Toyota dealership couldn't locate genuine Toyota parts for it any longer, so we went with a local mechanic and he was able to keep it running smoothly until this year.
We looked at another Toyota pickup as a replacement, but our needs have changed over the years. We now need something that can comfortably transport Cindy's elderly parents when they need assistance. So we went with a used four-year old minivan instead.
And as I was signing the papers for the new-to-us vehicle, the salesman said that our truck would be sold at auction and would likely find it's way to the other side of the world... probably Africa or one of the 'Stans. And there it would likely be held together with gum and bailing wire by a local shade tree mechanic for at least another hundred thousand miles...
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