Yesterday we had to play some musical cars with the in laws for some airport pickup/RV prep situations, and we ended up taking the Rodeo home last night. This morning I drove it back over to Carmen and Andy's and holy crap did it get me to thinking.
I bought this car in 1996. I had just moved to Vermont and I had the realization that my piece of shit mini van was going to be no match for the impending Vermont winter. I started the intimidating process of buying my first "new" car.
So I started the intimidating process of searching for my first "new" car. Any by new I mean it was not a $450 Ford Escort, a Subaru that literally rusted into the ground, or a piece of shit minivan I bought from a WWII vet in Buffalo because I felt guilty after the test drive. The car I was getting had to take me into vehicular manhood.
After a week or so of dealer visits and cold shoulders from salesman who did'nt really take a 22 year old kid buying a nice car seriously, I finally settled on the Rodeo which was at Willie Racine's on Rte. 7 in South Burlington. It had everything that I was looking for:-Four Wheel Drive
-Roof Rack
-Plenty of room for samples
-Tape Deck
-After Market Sunroof, complete with leaks
And most importantly, it was in the approved color of Dan Mac Tan™.
Eva adjusting the mirrors of her future first car.
After we dropped the car off this morning, Yolanda and I started talking about all of the memories we have in the Rodeo. Surf missions to NH. Spring Loaded Pro Ams. US Opens. Trips back home to Buffalo down the endless NYS 90 Thruway. Boston trips. Long Island trips. Driving through downpours or extreme heat with Eberz to skate the Rutland park on a summer day. Not too mention countless roundtrips to Stowe every morning for years on end as well as all of the rep roadtrips that it carried me through. A definite highlight was getting all 4 tires frozen solid in over 12" of mud while I was away at Surf Expo in January. After digging it out/pouring hot water on the tires, we finally got it free. The freeze lasted, and I had to drive with 4 huge mudblocks on my tires for over a week before they fell off on the 89. That was a rough ride that week.
We also got to talking about all of the random snowboarders, skateboarders and random heads that have been in this thing at some point or other, whether on a road trip (thanks for the odometer trick Chad), or a contest run, or just a random trip through VT. Here are a few of the funner ones.-Daniel Franck (this trip from Burlington to Stratton is one of my more memorable ones, such a funny and unique dude)
-Jason Brown
-Jeff and Billy Anderson
-Chad DiNenna (Nixon Founder)
-Victoria Jealouse
-Troy Eckert (Volcom OG)
-Sebu Kuhlberg
-Donny Barley
-Tim O'Connor
Random.
The Rodeo is still alive and well with over 157,000 miles on it (actually around 215,000, see odometer comment above) and is still running strong for Carmen and Andy, and it gets them where they need to go. It still makes that clicking noise that all Rodeos and Troopers from that era make (ask Jared), but until it has no life left, it is here to stay.
