The Life of a Dodge Van

The Life of a 69 Dodge Van    

  By Gayle Rice

 

I first saw her the summer of 1973. She had been a delivery van, then somebody put gray shag carpet in the back. My boyfriend had just bought her and I had my feelings hurt because he hadn't asked me my opinion before he bought it. Well, he knew what he wanted and he loved that van from the start.

A few months later he asks me to marry him. At our wedding, friends paint "Just Married" on the drivers side of the van. For years, if you squinted just right, you could still see it. Somebody ties a ribbon on the steering wheel and it gets stuck on the horn. The horn never works again

We honeymooned in the van. Drove to the coast and parked on a bluff. Opened the side doors and watched the sun go down over the ocean while we planned our future.

We get busy working and living, just the two of us, in our little apartment on a busy
street. One night there is a loud crash. A policeman has fallen asleep while driving down our street. He hits the back of my little Chevy Nova, which rams into the back of the van, which clips off a fire hydrant. We stand on the porch watching the water gush over our wrecked cars and wonder how the cops got there so fast. The city pays to have the van fixed but the Chevy does not survive.

A few months later, my husband comes home with a flyer with info for a meet-up with other van owners. We go, and Sunrise Van Club is born. They tell us about a campout for vanners in Oregon. So we go to the second annual CornCob Campout. Only I don't think its :.ailed that yet. We love it and make plans to go to the next one, and then find out there are more campouts! We go to every one we can, and make friends to last a lifetime.

One weekend we are at a run at Folsom Lake. There is booze, and skinny dipping, and I get pregnant. While I'm growing a baby, we build a bed in the back of the van, put paneling in and a vent in the roof. We rip out the old shag carpet and I make new tie dye curtains.

We plan to take our baby to a van run in Prineville, Oregon when she is a month old. She's late and we take her to her first van run when she is 17 days old.

For a few years the van carries strollers and diapers along with the other camping gear. We go to Canada and Mexico (separate trips) in the van. She goes and goes with no problems. She is also our every day car. Taking us to work and school. We add a bench sea in the back to hold a new baby seat and our 9 year old, and the dog, Sally.
I can't even count all the van runs she takes us to. Somewhere along the way we get her painted school bus yellow because somebody had extra paint and gave it to us. Now when we go places we have to carry bicycles and friends and sooo much stuff, so we buy a bigger van.

The Dodge gets parked and only driven occasionally. But he promises to fix her up and get her back on the road someday.
The promise gets lost when he dies in 2002.

A few years later, our son cleans her up and takes her apart. He buys a few parts and learns new things while he works on her and grieves for his Dad.

The kids and I continue to go to van runs. It feels like he's there every time. They let us in in my Honda or the Ford truck. They know we would be in the Dodge if we could.

She was a great family van and we have wonderful memories of the trips she took us on.
Its time to move on now and I hate seeing her dusty and sitting in the yard with cobwebs and a flat tire. This is not a good look for her. I would love to see another vanner take care of her the way she should be taken care of.

She deserves that.

Update: This van has been sold to a long time Vanner, and is in the process of being rebuild to live again.

Originally from the NCVC newsletter. republished with permission