Shout Out: The Buck

We called it ‘The Buck’.
The ‘I’ decal had vanished somewhere in the Wyoming wilderness, leaving it to read BU_CK. Almost nine years old when I paid Shane and Miriam $3000 in straight Benjamin’s, it was no stranger to the road – a warrior in training, it had logged 165,000 miles upon purchase; even so, the best was yet to come.
The Buck had a rough initiation…roommates named Nathan, Archie and Zach ensured that. But it persevered and overcame to create a legacy of longevity and reliance. In memoriam, I feel inclined to recall some classic moments. Sit back and enjoy some of the exploits of the greatest college car a broke guy could have.

No plumber, just a crack
Though a minor incident, it is really the first of many “What the…” moments. A small crack in the windshield; Nathan pushed on it with his right thumb to be clever and it quickly expanded across the base. Thanks, bro.

Disengage! Disengage!
The Buck was the lone witness to my disengagement from one Valerie Barker. I had no cell phone, so the drive from Frannie to Billings and back was the longest road trip I ever took (the list of road trips we took together can be found below), though it was only 140 total miles.

Fire code violation
It wouldn’t set any records in Guinness, but still…We were headed out to create some mayhem and had a crew – 11, to be exact – and just one ride. Four in the front seat, four in the back, Nathan, Anna and Kristina in the trunk. We drove the 5+ miles to our destination, “The Fire Tunnel”. There’s a picture floating around somewhere…very incriminating…

Rocky Mountain High…and low
Archie and Zach wanted to borrow my car…to drive to Colorado. Archie wanted to bring up his motorcycle and only my car could be fitted with a hitch; on the conditions of ‘you break it, you buy it’, returned with a full tank of gas and obviously intoxicated I agreed. It got back in one piece, but hearing such things as ‘100 mph towing a trailer’ and ‘we had to borrow a gas cap’ have since made me question this move.

“Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…”
Winter is full of adventure when it comes to driving. The Buck had its fair share of moments. Taking the corner for the cut-off to Grand Targhee en route to a great day of snowboarding I went too fast and ended up stuck in a snow bank; coming down the mountain, the Buck became a ping-pong ball, bouncing from one snow bank to another; Archie opening the passenger door and hooky-bobbing at 30 mph on an ice-covered Rexburg street; throwing Archie’s $1 double-cheeseburger at him and it ending up on my upholstery. Good times

PULL!!!
We went shooting clay pigeons – Archie, Zach, Archie’s brother Sam, me and some girl named Angie. I threw the bird and Sam was supposed to shoot it; a gust of wind and a slow trigger-finger later, the clay pigeon crashed into my windshield, sending three cracks sprawling across the top. Two years, six months later the crack Nathan made across the bottom found neighbors at the top. Perhaps it was fate…

“I’ve been everywhere, man, I’ve been everywhere…”
Long road trips :
Rexburg to Denver…and back (1,464 miles)
Rexburg to Mesa…and back (1,812 miles)
Frannie to Mesa…and back (2,356 miles)
Rexburg to Minneapolis…and back to Frannie (2,075 miles)
Frannie to Sacramento…and back. (2,200 miles)
Frannie to Minneapolis…to Nashville…to Augusta (2,100 miles)
Nine 325 mile round trips from August to Atlanta in two months (2,925 miles)

The Buck will be towed from apartment 1714 today, December 7th, 2006, never to be driven again. It leaves with 238,000 miles, a cracked windshield, a stolen gas cap, remnants of a BYU-Idaho sticker in the rear windshield and hundreds of pleasant memories that will never die. Viva el Buck!!!