When we were in Redlands, we bought Grandpa’s 2007 Buick Lucerne for $2,000. It was the maximum amount Grandma would take. She wanted to gift the car to Kenric because we stayed to help her around the house, but it just didn’t feel right to us to take the car. We named the car “Grandpa”. It was really nice that Kenric got to go on one last road trip with his Grandpa especially because Grandpa LOVED to drive. In fact, Grandpa bought this car when he was in his early 80s.
Grandpa helping Kenric build a wooden airplane.
It was such a beautiful and well-maintained car.
Even though we left breadcrumbs from our many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the car, left thousands of dead bugs stucked on the front of the car for months, tracked mud into the car, and laughed about Grandpa having a lot of gas whenever we drove by a gas station and didn’t need to fill up, Grandpa still took great care of us, and he only requested one oil change.
We had way too many PB&Js in the car. This time because it was raining at Badlands National Park, South Dakota.
He held up really well until we took him on the North Slope Haul Road north of Wiseman, Alaska; the one featured on the TV show Ice Road Truckers. After miles and miles of unpaved gravel roads and thousands of potholes, Grandpa started making funny noises. The estimate from Midas was $950+ for a new suspension. I was in disbelief.
On North Slope Haul Road, the Dalton Highway.
Yeah, Grandpa was a mess!
Thankfully, the suspension had another five to ten thousand miles of life left in it, and we were in the final days of the trip. However, our fantasy of making a good profit when selling the car was out the newly chipped window. After three car washes and one full detailing of the interior, he was ready for showtime! We placed ads on AutoTrader and Craigslist. We were upfront about the suspension problem and still had quite a few inquiries because the car photographed really well.
The first people who came to see the car bought it even though the “Check Engine” and “Service Airbag” lights also came on within the last few days. At 88,000 miles, (141,622 km) Grandpa is now living somewhere around Anchorage, Alaska with an African American family who bought the car for their 16-year-old son. We really didn’t expect handing the car over to be so emotional. We told them to take good care of Grandpa. The couple looked like really nice people, so we’re sure they will. Hope their kid is a careful driver.
On our way to Yellowstone National Park. I love this photo.
When the buyer left for the bank to get cash, we quickly got into the car for one last time. ?
Eighteen US states, three Canadian provinces, one Canadian territory, 19,393 miles (31,210 km); these past three months have been amazing and wouldn’t be possible without Grandpa and Grandma’s generosity. We hope he enjoyed the road trip and the national parks as much as we did.
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