I used to have truck, I bought him in October of 2001, and named him Gus. He was amazing. I got through the end of high school and all of my Bachelor's and Master's degrees with Gus. Not only did he get me to school, but I also took Gus on all of my super cool, solitary vacations, where he served as chariot and hotel room. I drove Gus for 9 years, during which time I replaced almost every component on him. Tragically, his timing chain broke in 2010, and after having replaced the engine and everything else since paying him off, I couldn't justify paying another $2,000 for the fix. I cried for a week, at least. When I talked about getting something new to drive, people kept telling me "I can't imagine you driving anything but that red truck." I couldn't imagine it either. Three years later, I've settled in with Phyllis the Forester, who is wonderful, but she's no Gus. Sometimes I see a Gus look-a-like around town and get a little sad for what I lost. But he'd lived a good life, and now he lives in my parent's drive way, so I can still visit him occasionally. I'll wrap up all this sappiness with some photos my mom took of me with Gus the month I bought him.
Play this song while you view:
Off on our first adventure to Southern Utah
We spun off the freeway here, in the Blue Mountains of Oregon
I slept inside the truck here at a rest area somewhere in Washington.
Another vacation I had to sleep in the truck, because it gets dang cold at Bryce Canyon during the winter.
Gus at Dinosaur National Monument
Me and Gus on our last adventure - the Henry Mountains, 2010
Gus the Great.
My mom was good enough to scrap book all of these moments. I'm so grateful she preserved the memories of Gus, but she also preserved memories of the things I hit with other cars, and I'm still not sure how to feel about that (mostly a little sick about what a terrible driver I was).
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