{"id":106,"date":"2013-10-27T23:42:32","date_gmt":"2013-10-27T23:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/?p=106"},"modified":"2013-10-27T23:42:32","modified_gmt":"2013-10-27T23:42:32","slug":"bon-voyage-voyager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/?p=106","title":{"rendered":"Bon Voyage, Voyager!"},"content":{"rendered":"

My husband wasn\u2019t thrilled with the idea of getting a minivan.\u00a0 But with one child in his toddler years and a second child on the way, neither my Plymouth Horizon nor his Plymouth Sundance would meet the needs of our growing family. \u00a0One of the cars had to be traded in for something bigger.\u00a0 His sporty Sundance with the turbo was a two-door coupe \u2026 and it was the color of black cherries \u2026 and we were living in Mesa, Arizona at the time \u2026 and the Sundance was burning through air conditioners at a rate of one every 18 to 24 months.\u00a0 His car was going to have to be traded in for the new family vehicle and, once we did that, he\u2019d be driving my Horizon.\u00a0 Given that he\u2019d traded in his 1966 Fastback Mustang for that Sundance, it would be unreasonable to expect him to be excited about trading his somewhat less sporty coupe for a new minivan for me so he could drive the Horizon.\"imagesCAOS22TS\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it have to be a minivan?\u201d he asked me.\u00a0 I explained that I needed a vehicle that could hold two kids along with their car seats, the diaper bag, the stretch-limo style stroller for two, a full load of shopping from Target and the grocery store, and still leave me some space to change a diaper.\u00a0 If I could get all of that in something other than a minivan, I was willing to consider it.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t think of anything else that fit those criteria, so we cleaned up the Sundance and, equipped with an exact value for the car plus definite interest from a potential buyer, went off to shop for a minivan.<\/p>\n

\"D9171\"<\/a>After looking at both Ford\u2019s models (the Aerostars and Windstars) and Voyagers and test-driving a Voyager model with just about everything, we settled on a basic Voyager model that was within our price range. There were two to choose from: one white, one \u201ciris.\u201d\u00a0 The iris-colored one had a full-size spare tire \u2026 and I liked that color better. \u00a0My husband was able to drive a very hard bargain with the sales agent to get the final number where we wanted it.\u00a0 (That accomplishment likely eased some of the pain of having to give up a sporty car for the mom-mobile.)\u00a0 We drove our 1997 Plymouth Voyager for the very first time when we left the lot that evening. It had all of nine miles on it.<\/p>\n

A few months later, we traveled together as a four-some for the first time when my husband drove me, our son, and our newborn daughter home from the hospital (with my mom along to help).\u00a0 Just as I had expected, the Voyager had room for everything when I was out and about running my errands with the two kids.\u00a0 When the baby was hungry, I could sit in the backseat and nurse her while the toddler sat in the driver\u2019s seat and pretended to drive.\u00a0 On one such occasion, he dropped a couple of quarters from the change holder through the slots of the speaker cover.\u00a0 This produced a certain clinking when turning corners that lasted for several years until the need for some other work on the vehicle made it convenient to have the quarters removed.<\/p>\n

My husband came to appreciate the minivan when we took our first trip to Albuquerque in it.\u00a0 There was room for everything \u2013 the kids, their car seats, their stuff, the luggage, a cooler for snacks and drinks \u2013 everything!\u00a0 We made several such trips in the van, the most memorable being the trip at Thanksgiving in 1999.\u00a0 I came down with the flu on Thanksgiving and the kids were showing signs of becoming sick the next day, but we had to go back to Mesa that Friday.\u00a0 (My husband was working up in Minnesota at that time.\u00a0 The house had sold, but the kids and I were staying in Mesa until I finished my semester of school.\u00a0 Then we would join him in Minnesota.\u00a0 We had to get back on time so he could make his flight back to the Twin Cities.)\u00a0 Although he did almost all of the driving, my husband did need me to take over for one hour.\u00a0 Usually this is not a problem, but I was sick and that last ten to fifteen minutes of my turn behind the wheel were a hard struggle.\u00a0 However, like a good horse who knows the way, the Voyager helped me through that last bit.<\/p>\n

\"imagesCARXLIZ5\"<\/a>For the move to Minnesota, both vehicles were loaded on the moving truck with all our stuff and hauled up to our temporary housing.\u00a0 The truck had arrived a few hours before we landed at the airport, so the minivan and the car were waiting for us.\u00a0 So we settled into Minnesota \u2026 found a bracket for a front license plate (which the Voyager hadn\u2019t needed in Arizona) \u2026 and learned our way around our new location.<\/p>\n

In the fall after the move, the Voyager became our school bus when my son started kindergarten and I began regular, daytime classes at seminary.\u00a0 My son was enrolled at an elementary school near my school.\u00a0 Each morning, I would drive him to his school, go the few miles to my school, drop off my daughter at the day care center there, and hike the hill up to my classes.\u00a0 Then I\u2019d pick them up at the end of the day \u2013 or pick my son up from kindergarten at noon, take him over to the day care center, and then go back up the hill to continue my classes.\u00a0 \"imagesCAOITQYF\"<\/a>So it went the years we were all in school together.\u00a0 The kids and I spent a lot of time together in that Voyager on those 30 \u2026 40 \u2026 60 (or more when it snowed) minute drives to and from our schools in Saint Paul and the corner of Blaine where we lived.\u00a0 I was glad to be able to spend my commuting time with them, rather than apart from them.\u00a0 It was in that Voyager on the way to school on a bright Tuesday morning in September 2001 that we heard about planes crashing into the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n

We also took a number of vacation trips in those years \u2026 to the Wisconsin Dells and Port Washington, to the Soo Locks and across Lake Michigan on the Badger Boat car ferry, several trips down to the Quad Cities for the blues festival there (and to see family in that area), to Fargo on a lark for another blues festival, to Indiana and my old stomping grounds.\u00a0 Early one summer, we had a hitch for a bike rack installed on the Voyager and so we took our bikes on trips.\u00a0 The most memorable trip included visits to Laura Ingalls Wilder territory around Marshall \u2026 then out to the Black Hills of South Dakota, biking some of the George Mickelson bike trail and, of course, seeing Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument \u2026 and then biking around Sioux Falls on our way home.<\/p>\n

In due season, I graduated from seminary and was called by a congregation in Topeka, Kansas.\u00a0 Because of some scheduling quirks, I went down a week before the actual move.\u00a0 For my trip, I drove the sporty Subaru that had eventually replaced the Horizon as my husband\u2019s car.\u00a0 He and the kids followed one week later in the Voyager, with my mom and beloved cat as well. \u00a0(A few years later, my dad would drive me and that beloved cat, along with my mom, in the Voyager for that sad, final trip to the veterinarian.)<\/p>\n

The van continued school bus duties until we were able to move out of temporary housing and into our new home.\u00a0 But once we settled into our home in Kansas, the kids rode the bus and the van was all mine as I went about my rounds and learned much of northeastern Kansas.\u00a0 Meetings took us to Emporia, Atchison, Lancaster, Everest, Robinson, Valley Falls, Lawrence, and lots of trips to Kansas City as well as Saint Joseph in Missouri.\u00a0 The years and the miles rolled smoothly along.<\/p>\n

\"imagesCAVYP4AM\"<\/a>There was a problem in 2008 when the transmission was quickly failing.\u00a0 Initially, my husband was inclined to replace the Voyager at that point.\u00a0 But he did some checking and found a website where people were bragging about their late 90s Voyagers.\u00a0 Reading the stories on that site persuaded him that all we\u2019d have to do was replace the transmission and the minivan would be fine for years to come.\u00a0 So we did.\u00a0 But we did retire the Voyager from long driving trips after that.\u00a0 The next time we went on a driving vacation, we rented a minivan and left ours safely at home.<\/p>\n

\"imagesCA9WM13C\"<\/a>Then in the fall of 2010, the Voyager became my only vehicle.\u00a0 With both of us out of work at that time, my husband found a job back up in Minnesota.\u00a0 That was the good news.\u00a0 The bad news was that companies were no longer helping with relocation for new employees.\u00a0 He\u2019d be living with friends while the kids and I stayed in Kansas until the house was sold and we could make arrangements to move up to Minnesota.\u00a0 Soon after my husband had gone to Minnesota, the van developed a radiator problem as I drove home one afternoon.\u00a0 But at a reduced speed, the engine temperature dropped enough to limp to the repair shop within walking distance from our house.\u00a0 After that, there were no other problems and the van continued to make the trips each month to and from the airport north of Kansas City to pick up my husband on the weekends he flew back home and to and from the airport again so he could fly back to his job in the Twin Cities.\u00a0 During that time, we took trips to Salina for the Blues at Crossroads festival, to Independence (Missouri) to visit the Harry Truman Presidential Museum and to the Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Museum in Abilene.<\/p>\n

\"imagesCA756YAD\"<\/a>So it went until the time came for the move.\u00a0 I knew the Voyager had at least one good trip back to Minnesota in it.\u00a0 But I wasn\u2019t sure how many more.\u00a0 I rented a car for the pre-move trip, saving the miles for when I really needed them.\u00a0 Then in August 2011, we made the move to Minnesota.\u00a0 I pulled out of Topeka in the Voyager with both kids, the two cats and the dog we\u2019d added to the family in Topeka, luggage, and other things my husband thought could go in the minivan rather than on one of the moving trucks.\u00a0 North of Kansas City, we picked up a third driver for the two trucks and headed north to Des Moines to catch up with my husband and his brother, who were driving ahead with the two moving trucks we\u2019d rented.\u00a0 The Voyager\u2019s carrying capacity was pushed to the max; the cat carriers were stacked one on top of the other.\u00a0 Things were much more comfortable after we were able to move my son and our friend into the cabs of the moving trucks and a few of the extra items into the back of a truck.\u00a0 My daughter and I made the rest of the drive in good time and the animals were a lot more comfortable.<\/p>\n

Once we\u2019d settled into our home in Saint Paul, the van was rewarded for all its years of faithful service with an engine block heater because it would be parked outside from now on.\u00a0 Thanks to that block heater, the van started up every morning without fail.\u00a0 The only time it failed to start was when the guys at the shop didn\u2019t clamp the fuel line on tight enough after doing some maintenance work.\u00a0 The next year, my son learned to drive in the Voyager and the following summer, he took his driving test in that minivan.<\/p>\n

By this time, the van had developed a few quirks \u2013 the windshield wipers would start moving spontaneously, the cruise control would kick off on very rare occasions, and the instrument panel would not have power sometimes.\u00a0 But other than that, the Voyager was holding up very well.\u00a0 We were hearing from mechanics that the Voyagers like ours were developing a reputation for keeping running \u2026 and that it was rust that usually gets them in the end \u2026 and rust was starting to get to ours.<\/p>\n

But rust was not to be the fate for this legendary vehicle.\u00a0 On September 26, 2013, the final act of my beloved Voyager was to take one for Team Mom at University Avenue and Cleveland Avenue in Saint Paul.\u00a0 I had been heading east on University and wanted to turn south on to Cleveland.\u00a0 But the right lane was closed due to road work near the intersection.\u00a0 While waiting for the red light to change to green, I was trying to see how and if I might be able to make the right turn once I passed the construction workers and their truck.\u00a0 That\u2019s when the accident happened.<\/p>\n

\"Accident<\/a>I didn\u2019t notice the car until it was going up on the light rail tracks in the middle of University Avenue.\u00a0 It came over the track area, shearing off a barrier post in the process, then down into the left turn lane next to me.\u00a0 The car struck the front fender of my minivan with enough force to turn my Voyager 90\u2070 and send it across the empty right lane and up onto the sidewalk \u2013 all four wheels.\u00a0 I steered hard to turn away from the fence at the Kenworth lot and tried to brake to avoid hitting the car that hit me, which was then ahead of me on the sidewalk.\u00a0 \"Accident<\/a>The brakes didn\u2019t seem to be working, so I threw the transmission into Park.\u00a0 I turned off the ignition and got out to inspect the damage and call my husband.\u00a0 My husband asked if it was drivable. I told him about what I\u2019d had to do to stop and that I was afraid to try driving it.\u00a0 He said he was on his way.<\/p>\n

A police officer came, took the requisite information and statements from each driver.\u00a0 While we\u2019d been waiting, I got the name and phone number of the passenger in the car that hit mine and from one of women in the car that had been behind mine.\u00a0 They all left.\u00a0 I called the insurance company to report the claim.\u00a0 My husband arrived as I was on the phone.\u00a0 The claims agent asked if the minivan was drivable; I told her what I\u2019d told my husband and the police officer.\u00a0 She said it didn\u2019t sound drivable and my husband, noting that some type of fluid was now dripping near the site of the impact, also stated it was not drivable.\u00a0 The agent recommended a shop where the Voyager could be towed and my next call was to roadside assistance for a tow.<\/p>\n

\"Accident<\/a>\u00a0\"At<\/a>My husband warned me that the Voyager was likely totaled.\u00a0 The manager at the shop said the same when I called to let someone there know that the minivan would be towed there.\u00a0 This was a 1997 Voyager; it wouldn\u2019t take a whole lot of damage to exceed the value.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t until the tow truck arrived and the driver tried to start my Voyager that I realized it would likely never run again.\u00a0 The next day I stopped by the repair shop to sign the papers. \u00a0One of the service managers and I went out to look at it.\u00a0 He pointed out how far the front end had been shifted and said it was totaled.\u00a0 It took a few days for the formal repair estimate to come in and for the insurance company to run the valuation. \u00a0I stopped by during the waiting time to take a few final pictures, remember the miles and the good times, and say good-bye.\u00a0 \u00a0Then there were the final papers to sign \u2013 the title, odometer statement showing 191,318 miles \u2026 keys to send in \u2026 and that was it.<\/p>\n

\"Van<\/a>Over the years, I\u2019ve often said that when the day came to give up that Voyager, I wanted to go back to the dealer and say, \u201cGive me another one just like it.\u201d\u00a0 But there won\u2019t be another one.\u00a0 They don\u2019t make them like that anymore.\u00a0 They don\u2019t make them at all.<\/p>\n

Bon Voyage<\/strong><\/em>, my faithful Voyager; good voyage.\u00a0 It has been a good voyage \u2013 very good, indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My husband wasn\u2019t thrilled with the idea of getting a minivan.\u00a0 But with one child in his toddler years and a second child on the way, neither my Plymouth Horizon nor his Plymouth Sundance would meet the needs of our growing family. \u00a0One of the cars had to be traded …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events-topics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106\/revisions\/122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}