Isis on the Highways

This is my youngest dashing brother Joey, aka Fofe, in front of my big black van Isis. It took a lot of work to get this beauty out on the roads again, insured and registered and smogged and all that, and finally here we are starting our trek to Montana in the wee hours of the morning on August 7, 2009. At this point, twenty miles from home meeting up with our caravan partners, I had no idea if Isis would be able to handle this journey. There were seven of us and all our camping and backpacking gear crammed into each nook and cranny.

An hour earlier, back at home, I'd had to go pick up my lovely and crazy sister Addie who was threatening that she wasn't going to come. It was four AM and she was tired and she had too much to pack and she needed a little sisterly encouragement. Feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed, I was up for the challenge and she cheered up quickly and we got her all loaded up into Isis. She snapped this Roid of me packing our goodies into the overflowing van, the first picture of our trip.

Darin and I were the main drivers, having taken Isis around the country a few times before and being used to her quirks, so we got the luxury of the spacious front seats as opposed to....the back of the van, where they were packed in like sardines. Here they are, our wonderful traveling companions whom i love so dearly: Martin in the captain's seat, Addie in front of him, Nick behind him, Stan and Joey in the back, and Emily on the right.


Altogether seventeen of us, yes 17!!!! of us made the long journey up to Glacier National Park.
When we arrived at the motel in Missoula my heart overflowed with gratitude and joy that Isis made it all this long way, her joints and angles all weighted down, her brakes giong out, struggling and huffing and puffing over mountain passes in the Bitterroots, she made it!
Here I am expressing my delight that we made it to Montana! And here's to many more road trips to come in the belly of the whale, our lovely Isis, who also brought us home.



Comments

Amy Beatty said…
She is a trooper!! I don't think I got in her once. Does she still have her little pet?
August 21, 2009 at 2:30 PM
moonshinejunkyard said…
the mouse seemed to have absconded after missoula. left out a packet of oatmeal and it stayed whole...plus so scampering in the nights we slept in there like sardines. the all-day brake job worked wonders and she now runs like a dream. a little dirty and smelly still though...
August 21, 2009 at 4:06 PM
mattbeatty said…
such a wonder of a vehicle. she's amazing, and up and ready for more more trips I know it. very cute and sweet blog homage to that great car. i'm enjoying my memories while reading/pondering.

also, i think we definitely need to love/appreciate our vehicles as best we can. we (personally) sometimes get caught up in the audi's deficiencies, but it's one reliable friend so far. plus i love my civic to death. 41 mpg on my last fill up.

we need to name our cars.
September 11, 2009 at 1:06 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesdays in my Town - Buck's Bar on the Cosumnes River

Image
Okay, not to turn this into "my favorite river spots" or anything...but it just hit 100 degrees here and i had the pleasure on saturday of going with some of my favorite people to one of our...yes indeed i can't resist.... favorite river spots .  since i talk about the river a lot, all summer long, i figured i'd go ahead and show you all this particular spot for this week's "Tuesdays in my Town." so, my town placerville (aka p-ville, peevs, and infamously "old hangtown") is actually located between two beautiful rivers coming out of the sierra nevada mountains: the american river to our north and the cosumnes river to our south. my friends and i have spots we prefer on both rivers, depending on the day, the kind of hike you want to do, and the month of the year. on saturday we drove out toward somerset down buck's bar road to the bridge and hiked out to the perfect june swimming hole in the cosumnes river, which, by the way, i r...
Read more

"I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin..."

Image
I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belong to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. It struck me, when I read Song of Myself several years ago, that thirty-seven years old , that magical Whitmanesque age, was still in the future for me. How exciting that felt! To know that this wonderful age that was such a pure and boisterous beginning for the bard, was something I could look forward to. To know that I could set forth on new adventures, and sing the praises of the earth, and be wild and merry and voluptuous and bold. Now and forever. and especially at 37. And so suddenly I am here! That lu...
Read more

handmade homes take to the open road

Image
i want this to be us so bad...rollin away in a fairytale bus made of wood and wheels, porch and books. this is from another book in the series of rad 70s handmade house books that i've written about before and missa wrote about here  ( raddest houseboats ever, ever, ever ) this one is all about handmade hippie houses on the road. we have it at the bookery in the locked case; it's a collectible and thus way out of my price range. but i still get to look at its gloriousness. these photos of the pages look much better than mine, found in this wonderful little delight here , check these caravans out: standing in the mist with its little terra cotta pots and windowpanes, killing this fairytale heart a mine. i can picture joey and emily in this one, our neighbors. and this one can house addie and art, and we'll drive cross the prairies together. this covered-wagon one seems the most fun of all. roll back the canvas and sleep ...
Read more