Ode to the Junketsmobile

The JunketsMobile has passed on. I am not really sure to where as I "traded it in" for $200 and last I saw it was still at the dealer. I am sure they do not know what to do with it.

The JunketsMobile has been experiencing issues since July's trip to New England, but nothing concrete and nothing my mechanic Bruce and my other mechanic Aaron could fix. Aaron certainly did a lot of tinkering and improving of the JunketsMobile's condition, but in the end it was just prolonging death. On a cold rainy November day (cue Guns N Roses), the JunketsMobile refused to start while parked in a one hour parking spot. Luckily Culpeper town police are not diligent in citing parking violations and it was safely towed to the worthless garage.

When I bought my new car, they offered me a trade in for it, so I made a harrowing white-knuckle adrenaline-pumping last harrah in the JunketsMobile to Louisa - traveling 70 at my fastest, 25 at my slowest on just 3 cylinders. 522 is a hilly road so I would gun it as best I could down the hill in hopes that I would make the crest of the next hill (at 25mph). In addition, I got jammed at the stoplight at 20 (praying that my car would not cut out despite the jumping and thumping of the engine and strand me there blocking traffic) and then got stuck behind an afternoon school bus. Luckily it only made two stops before turning and the JunketsMobile did not die.

I was really hoping the JunketsMobile would make it to 200,000 miles. 180,000 is nothing to sneeze at though - especially considering the places this car has been. So here is an ode to the JunketsMobile.

When I bought this car, I lived in New York. So the JunketsMobile got broken in on the I95 corridor to NY and amongst all those New York Drivers. The JunketsMobile made trips all along the east coast down to Florida a few times. I remember driving through the Everglades sitting on the roof the JunketsMobile and reaching in every now and then to connect the steering wheel (the road was so flat and the idling of the JM so high that it drove itself).

It's big trip came when Kelley moved to Arizona in the Junketsmobile...

i'm criming my sister's car while she travels to australia and new zealand which is covered in hippie bumper stickers. i've actually approached her car to find strangers standing behind it, reading the stickers for entertainment while sipping coffee or eating ice cream cones.

BUT she did let me remove the michigan sticker -- no self-respecting southern college football fan could allow that, especially after their recent (& deserved) ass-kickings. this was after i emptied it of all the science books, plastic beads, sticks with sentimental value, and purple rubber gloves. who knows. (original post)

While in Arizona, Kelley did buy a new car - a hipster Honda or something, but that meant when I returned to the US without a plan, Kelley drove my car to California and I had the JunketsMobile to continue traveling in. 

JunketsMobile on a questionable road in Death Valley

so what plan i do have for the new year is winding my [way] back towards virginia along the southern part of the US, seeing national parks, giant things on the side of the road, places i have never been, and fully taking advantage of the fact that though i may not really have the money for an adventure like this, i do have the time. and time is often a more precious commodity than cash. (original post)

The JunketsMobile traveled highway 40 and highway 10 and several highways in between in that trip all the way back to Virginia, visiting friends and traveling through more than 13 states.

Since then, the JunketsMobile has been used for more everyday commuting to work, but has been on several more trips. In 2009, the JunketsMobile carried Lauren and I to Tennessee and Kentucky to see the sights, drink a lot of bourbon on the Bourbon Trail, and so I could check Kentucky off my list.

Bison in TR as seen from the JunketsMobile

In 2010, the Junkets Mobile made the big trip out west. I drove highway 40 to California and the Pacific, highway 101 to Oregon, picked Aaron up in Portland at the airport and then the adventures really began. It still mystifies me that Aaron agreed to join me after knowing each other for only 2-3 months on this mega road trip. Bison sniffed the JunketsMobile a few times as we watched herds cross the road. I really need an atlas to determine how many states, the JunektsMobile saw on that trip, but I visited my last two to reach my goal of 50.

The JunketsMobile owes me nothing. It's taken me where I needed to go, cost me thousands in new tires for driving places I ought not be driving, and cost me little in repairs and maintenance. It is sad to see this JunketsMobile pass on before the next big trip out west, but bring on the bright blue Fiesta!