The cars in my life - Part Three

The first new car, a 1976 Plymouth Volaré
(Thanks to my Colorado gurus, I have put the accent mark over the  "e".)
So -
Here's the rest of the story.
This is the car that came back to haunt us.
We had driven it for about a year when our daughter Denise was involved in an accident
she couldn't possibly have avoided.  As she was driving  a friend home one night, a drunk college student,
playing "Ditch 'em" in his pickup came racing out of a one way street, going the wrong way, with
his lights out.  The Volaré hit the pickup, was spun 180 degrees, and was then hit in the rear by another car.
The driver of the pickup crashed into a nearby service station, jumped out of his pickup but was too drunk to run.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
My insurance people said I could elect to have our car repaired or consider it totaled.  I chose "Totaled".
I began a search for an identical car but apparently Chrysler Motors only made one silver Volaré with maroon interior that year and I had to settle on one that was nowhere near as beautiful. (No fair looking ahead.)
A few weeks later the silver Volaré was for sale on the lot where I had first bought it. You would never have known it had
ever been in an accident.  I tried to make a deal with the salesman to buy it back; he wouldn't give me the time of day, probably because I had gone to Portland to buy the car I was driving.
That silver beauty sat on the lot, taunting and teasing me for a few weeks.  Every time I drove by my dislike
for our present car increased.
Then one day I drove by and it was gone.  I asked the dealer who had bought it; he said "Some young couple from
out of state."  Great!  I'd never see it again.
The following summer I drove by Ida Lyman's house, just two blocks down the hill from where we lived.
Parked in front of her house was our beautiful 1976 Plymouth Volaré.
The "young couple from out of state" were Ida's daughter and son-in-law and they came every  summer
to visit.  They drove that car for many, many years and it haunted me every time I saw it.
So it must be true: color is everything when it comes to buying a car.

The silver Volaré was replaced by this blue and white one,
seen here  at  our campground at Jubilee Lake in August, 1977.

Here it is in 1978.
Does this kid look like a future Ph.D?

The deep snow of 1982

Grandma and Grandpa with Ben in 1984.
(The license plate letters stand for "Expensive to Keep Up")

In 1985, as I walked to work each day, I noticed a really sharp  looking car
parked at the court house.  I would stop and admire it, wishing I had a car like that.
Then one day Clark Hiatt (distant relative), a salesman at Goss Motors called me.
"Dick," he said, "I just took in a car you've got to see.  It isn't even on the lot yet.
I wanted you to have first chance at it."  I was at Goss Motors ten minutes later.
He took me out to the shop and there sat the very car I had been admiring for so many weeks.
It was meant to be!!

Here's our 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera in all its splendor.
I was in love again.

1988 - our beautiful tree in full bloom
and the beautiful Oldsmobile in the driveway.

Camping at Donner Lake in 1988

1989
Our family reunion at the Oregon Coast

At Julie's and Tom's house in Vancouver in 1989

1990
In Canmore, Canada, during our trip to Glacier/Watertown

In 1991, after having dinner at the Chuck-a-Rama following  Grandmother  Nan's  funeral,
we came out to get in our car and we couldn't find it.
It's a weird feeling, walking all over a parking lot looking for a car that isn't there.
It takes a while for it to sink in.  The car is gone.
"SOMEONE HAS STOLEN OUR CAR!!!"
We called the police. We called our insurance company.
Nationwide said we had to wait 30 days.  If the car had not been recovered by then
we would be paid top book value.
We gave them Dennis' name and number as a local contact.
Meanwhile, we were given a rental car to get our daughters back to Portland/Vancouver
and for travel back to La Grande.
We counted down the days.  On the 29th day Dennis called;
our Oldsmobile had been found abandoned at a shopping mall parking lot. No major damage.
When I got to SLC to pick it up, the car had been detailed to the Nth degree.
It was immaculate, inside and out.  It  had never looked better.
HOWEVER...
The rental car we had driven from SLC to Portland was a brand new 1991 Ford Taurus.
We had had an 800-mile test drive and we were spoiled.
A few weeks later we drove to Portland and traded in the Oldsmobile.
  

Our 1991 Ford  Taurus
The color is not tan, it's "Mocha Frost".

August, 1991
At the beach house we rented for our family reunion.

1992
In Leavenworth, Washington
A town well worth the visit.

1994
At Julie's and Tom's new house

1995 in Vancouver
Can Claire's mother still do this?

We drove the Taurus for ten years and it never needed any major repairs.
It took us to to the coast several time, to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons,
 Angie's wedding, Karen's funeral, Cove, Oregon Trail Historical Sites,
Julie's Kochanski recital, to and from Shirley's hip surgery,
to a "Big River" production, Silver Falls, Denny's wedding,
Astoria, Fort Clatsop, Tony's wedding, Andrew's wedding,
Julia's Junior Miss recitals, Wallowa Lake, Ben's  high school graduation......

In 2001, during one of our visits to Julie and family in Vancouver, I went tire kicking,
mostly because I like looking at new cars where the salesman doesn't know you.
I took a test drive in a car that caught my eye.
The salesman really wanted to make a sale, but I decided to think it over.
Back in La Grande, talking to the owner of  Lynch Motors,
I told him about the car I had driven in Vancouver, the model, the color, how it was equipped,
right down to which sound system it had.
He said "I can have a car just like it here in four days."  Which he did.
(Found out later he had made a trade with the Vancouver dealership and had picked up
the very car we had test driven.)
So......

Our 2001 Buick Century Limited Edition
It's not red, it's "Burgandy".

We almost always parked it in the garage
but doesn't it look nice under our flowering tree?

Between 2001 and 2006 we drove this car to such special occasions as
Our 50th wedding anniversary dinner in Vancouver
Our 50th wedding anniversary reunion in SLC.
(But we rode in a limo to the Grand America)
Julia's Washington Junior Miss recital in Connell, Wash.
Amy's wedding
Julia's high school graduation
Russell rowing (and winning) with the Vancouver Lake Crew
Ben's graduation from the Univ. of Wash.
Julia's wedding in the Portland Temple

Then came the stent....

We now have a much bigger garage.
Since November 2006, we have driven to such exotic locales as
Harmon's, Walmart, Smith's, Albertson's, Fresh Market,
various doctors' offices, several different barbers,
Barb's, Denny's, Tony's, and eight blocks to church once a week.

Our car is 12 years old.
The current odometer reading is 41,753 miles.

So, there you have it.
12cars in 66 years
3 Studebakers
2 Fords
1 Pontiac
1 Chevrolet
1 Dodge
2 Plymouths
1 Oldsmobile
1 Buick

This will probably be our last car.
However---
Even at my age, nothing beats the smell of new car interior.
And there's this older fellow in our ward who drives a fire-engine red  Camaro.....