reliability

I adore my old truck. I got him for four thousand dollars off of craigslist in 2011, and he’s carried me all across this state, moved us several times, hauled my dog team through all kinds of weather, taken us down to Iowa and me back up to Fairbanks last fall. He had plenty of miles when we got him, but we’ve put on a hell of a lot since then.

When I knew we were going to drive him down to Iowa, I wanted to get a topper shell so we could sleep dry in the back of the truck on the way down without having to set up camp or deal with wet tents. I couldn’t find anything used that would fit the bill, and it made no sense to pay for a new topper that cost more than the truck had. Finally, discussing this issue with Jenny about two months before our move, she mentioned that she had an old topper she was using as a chicken coop that she’d gotten for free at the dump a few years before. We measured it; a perfect fit! I spent about a week cleaning it up and learning to work with plexiglass to cover the broken out windows and in the end we ended up with an old-school topper that fit the truck perfectly.

Last winter, the truck took me and Ersta safely across the country to Seattle and then back up to Alaska and then back and forth through the mountains to Jodi’s house three times a week until I had to return to Iowa in December. He’s been parked at Jenny’s since then, until I got back and started him (remarkably) up on the first try.

But he’s starting to show his age. There are strange noises under the hood when he clocks in above fifty miles and hour, and something feels like it’s about to tear apart whenever we make a sharp turn in either direction. I want to trust him, after all the miles he’s taken me. But as much as I am prone to anthropomorphise the machines I love, he is only a machine and will leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere without a second thought. Or a first one. I was planning on driving down to Seward today, but I’m taking him into a truck repair shop to have him looked at first instead. In the mean time, I’m packed back up for the trip and he’s been outfitted with an air mattress and heavy duty sleeping bag, ready for the next adventure. I just hope he’s up for it. And I hope I am, too.