Two pairs of best friends, if only for two weeks.

Mel said she felt good about the 4Runner, that it had a positive “energy” that came with it. While I normally don’t buy into such description, George put it best:

I’m not gonna lie, there is an energy that goes with stuff. I don’t think it’s some kind of cosmological metaphysical thing, but it’s what we give them. And it is very contagious from one person to another. The kind of energy that you have about a thing. Our lives are made up of the stories that we tell ourselves to connect our memories together. So there are stories that explain how that Jeep wound up in a junkyard, and that’s why I’m okay with it.

In excitement of seeing the Rover again soon, in loving memory of the Jeep, and with all my best to Mel and her 4Runner.

TSmith.

A weekend of mostly rest. To no one’s surprise, Evan made arrangements on Friday to ship the Land Rover Discovery back home to Tulsa. So this morning, he prepared it for shipment while George and I set about figuring out what to do with ours.

If I’m honest, this 4Runner pulls my heart strings. I longed to drive it home to Austin, but all that would be waiting for me there would be the effort to re-title it, then sell it there. And I suspect in Austin, its off-road but not necessarily ranching-useful capabilities wouldn’t be as interesting a selling point as right next to two mountain ranges.

So I listed it on Craigslist (the link to which you may have seen) and then went to a used dealer that also buys cars. I spoke with a gentleman who was ready to appraise it, but stopped me and helped me understand that side of the business. He explained that he’d buy it from me according to its auction value and showed me that model’s recent auction history in this market. Based on that, even in its best condition, he wouldn’t be able to give me a lot for it. He noted that its retail value in decent condition is actually even higher than I paid for it and urged me to give it another shot in the classifieds before selling to him. Also, he introduced me to KSL, a classified ad service specific to Salt Lake City that gets more traffic than Craigslist. I really appreciated his honesty and his insight, but I did set it up as a backup option. He said he’d be open  

George mentioned trying to make contact with “Car Sold for Cash,” a used car buying service run by a fella named “Big Tane.” I saw an office address for them in Google Maps so I thought I’d just swing by and ask. And because I wanted to see this guy in person. When I arrived, I discovered that it’s just a local drop for that service, and that it’s really just a wrecker and parts store. Also it was closed.

So I went back to the AirBnB. The Land Rover had been dispatched. George said he heard back from Big Tane, who passed on the opportunity. I listed the 4Runner to KSL, and Evan helped George get the Jeep listed on both sites. Then all we had to do was sit back and wait. And go to dinner at Bourbon House in Downtown Salt Lake City. Best. Meal. Of the trip. And also best bar!

While we were at dinner, I got two texts. First was Mel, she wanted to see the 4Runner on Sunday morning. The second was someone who only wanted to pay half my asking price, and wanted to do it “today” (which he said at 9pm, so… middle of the night?). I put him off until after I was to meet up with Mel.

Sunday morning was another morning of errands. I went to a coffee shop to meet Mel while George took Charlie to the airport for his flight home and Evan to pick up a rental car.

Mel was awesome. I immediately liked her, and felt like she was a worthy next owner for the 4Runner. The test drive was barely ten minutes, she fell in love with that car pretty quickly. Paperwork took a while, but after a great cup of coffee, we did the deal and sealed it with a hug. As she loaded her bicycle into her new 4Runner, I walked away. A bittersweet moment as I said one last farewell to my good friend, and turned the corner to hail a Lyft back to the house.

I was the first one back to the house, and felt the need to cry into a beer for a minute, but we were out of beer, so I made another cup of coffee and waited for Evan. A few minutes later, he pulled up in the Salt Lake Rental Chariot: a brand new Jeep Wrangler Sahara. Apparently Enterprise ran out of full-size sedans and that was one of the free alternative upgrades they offered him. It was perfect!

As he pulled up, George called. He’d just sold the Jeep to the Salt Lake City Tear-a-Part. What a name. That’s a gut punch. The Jeep sure needed… many things… but I didn’t think it was dead. But the Jeep will live on, in service to many other Jeeps. An organ donor. George was greatly amused with the Rental Jeep and talked about the many ways in which it was similar to his.

After a brunch at the Oasis Cafe with a Bloody Mary toast to our cars (it is, after all, Sunday morning), we recorded the closing segment of Evan’s video. Not sure what remains this afternoon or tonight. Then we fly home tomorrow afternoon.

Welcome to Salt Lake City.

(Sorry it’s been two days since I posted anything significant, it was a cross between “Aaaah! busybusybusy!” and “I am so tired I can’t move.” Let’s catch up, starting Friday.)

This morning we woke up in the Stepford Wives B&B with no real hurry to the day. We slowly cleaned things up. I straightened up the interior of the 4Runner and took a few more photos for the Craigslist ad.

Then Merlin, the host, came around to water the flowers and do some straightening up of the property. Given his presence, we accelerated our exit a bit, and shuffled off to the one restaurant in town, the Grub Box Drive-In, a bona fide old fashioned Pepsi store.

The afternoon drive to Salt Lake was pretty, but all highway, as we slowly transitioned from a tiny rural town, through steadily more concentrated areas with larger roadways until we rode over our final mountain pass and landed on the I-15 in the heart of Salt Lake City’s rush hour. The call to u-turn ourselves back to last week was strong, but we continued through and drove all the way out to Antelope Island, the state park on the island in the Great Salt Lake, our honorary finish line.

Last time we did this, the “end point” was Olympic National Park, the day before we went to Seattle. This year, it’s clear that our crowning “we did it and it is so pretty and we didn’t die in the process” overlook was the Grand Canyon, in the middle of the trip. But despite not being high on the mountains, Antelope Island was pretty, and there was quite a sense of accomplishment of having gotten this far.

I’ve had people ask me why we didn’t just rent a car for this. And in truth, while last trip was made by the cars as participants, the drive itself was rental-contract compatible. But one simply cannot go the places we were able to go in rented vehicles. But these three, bought for a relative pittance fifteen hundred miles behind us, each in questionable condition for the challenges that lay before them, carried us with determination, and then all three carried us back to civilization.

We stopped for our last round of family photos and snacks at the marina, then drove over to the historic ranch on the island to poke around a bit before heading back into Salt Lake City to the final AirBnB. After a fantastic dinner and margarita toast at the Red Iguana II, we called it a night. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

I’m going to buy this car from you.

We’ve had a lot of junk food this trip, so Evan and I requested a slightly healthier lunch. Charlie found this interesting kale-infused crunchy vegetable-pulp emporium. Have to admit, it was surprisingly good. And this nut-free vegan gluten-free molasses cookie is incredible.