In 1989, I was with my Significant Other, on the way to see the Oakridge Boys in concert, in South Lake Tahoe. The old Hwy. 45 between Lodi and Lake Tahoe is a beautiful drive that meanders through lots of small towns in the Gold Country of Northern California, and it was one of my favorite daytrips. This particular day, we stopped for breakfast in Amador City. While we waited for our meal to come, my ex was perusing the local paper and an ad for this yellow jeep caught his eye. It was the last year's model and was being sold by a small dealership, where they had used it for test drives and driven it in local parades, so it had less than 300 miles on it. We made the deal for it that very day and it came home to live with us.
I drove that little yellow jeep for ten years. It traveled from Lodi to Twin Falls to Hamilton and served me very well. After I married Larry, it began to act up...something about the carburetor an the emission system...and after various failed "tinkerings", it ended up parked outdoors, next to the garage and for years just sat there slowly wasting away. There was talk of fixing it and painting it black and selling it, but that never happened...(This drove me crazy!! I cannot abide waste of any kind, and it felt to me like this was a great waste of a good car.)
Then, much to my surprise, one day a few years ago, my husband told me that if I wanted to give it to my son-in-law, he would not object. I was so so happy!! Admittedly, my heart broke just a bit to watch it being hauled away, but I knew that Foti would appreciate it and do something worthwhile with it.
And I was right! I know it cost him a great deal of time and money. But Foti has not only gotten my dear yellow jeep up and running well, but he has dressed her up and made her pretty. He just got new decals, as the old ones were sun faded (along with the paint job). It makes my heart happy to see something I loved so much up and running and looking so good!
Thank you for the kind words! I absolutely love the Jeep! It’s been such a fun time working on it, I just love it. It is soooo fun to drive specially in the summer time with the roof off. But I have also taken it hunting on the tallest mountains with no issues! As my wife says, she is the “blonde” in my life. :) We will never get rid of her or paint her black! She is a natural blonde after all!
So many fantastic memories with that Jeep. I was beyond thrilled and overcome with nostalgia when Foti took me for a drive 💜