"Saying goodbye to an old and good friend" by richiecdisc

I guess in this life you can only hold onto so much, especially if you've tended to not stay in one place too long for most of it. So it seems odd that in a period of my life when I've perhaps been most stationery that I came to give up one of my oldest friends and surely the longest running travel comrade of a so far illustrious series of chapters. No, perhaps this special friend was not a person and many would view it as merely a series of mechanisms held together by the odd bolt and screw, but for me my Civic was more than just a car. I bought it brand spanking new in 1991 and proudly took it on its first trip from Florida up the east coast to New Jersey for the summer and later that autumn up to Ontario for its virgin trip out of the US. It was a trip the old Civic would make well over ten times, and though it enjoyed these little sojourns, what it really relished was covering new ground. In 1994, it got such a chance. Sure, many retirees get to travel around the whole of the US in campers but how many Civics get to spend an extended summer going to 25 National Parks, over 100 Frisbee Golf Courses and a likewise number of Brewpubs? It performed admirably as it zipped its way around over 40 of the fifty states, proving that small packages can not only be deceiving but a home away from home when out on the road.

Most cars would be happy to retire in Florida after such an adventure but the Civic had far too much heart to settle down so easily. There were the usual trips up the east coast as well as shorter camping excursions through Utah and the New England states, but my guess would be his piece de resistance was the five month 1998 trip to Fairbanks, Alaska where he flatly laid to rest any notion that an SUV is necessary for adventure. En route, he picked up the remaining states aside from Oklahoma and Arkansas (well, and Hawaii of course!) as well as the respect and admiration of not only me but all who saw his little frame barreling up the Alaska Highway. There's something about pulling up at a gas station in a little town in the middle of nowhere, Alaska in an old Honda Civic, with Florida tags.

Any sane car would have surely basked in its glory after such a monumental excursion but when I found myself living in New Jersey for perhaps the last time of my life, I decided I better check out more of Eastern Canada before heading south. So, his last real journey came in the fall of 2003 when he made his rugged little way up to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, enjoying a farewell to Ontario, a brewery-filled trip through Quebec, and some fine camping in New Brunswick on his way. For good measure, he took in all of New England on his way back "home."

Where might that home be? To be honest, if I was a rich man, I would have completely restored my good friend, driven him through Oklahoma and Arkansas on his last trip to the west coast and packed him on a boat to Hawaii. That would have been a fitting place for his 247,000 mile engine to finally rest, with all 50 states under his belt. But having bought a new car for work last spring, the Civic had been relegated to trips to the gym, and the occasional small trip to the Everglades, Keys and Miami. The mechanics kept telling me to fix this or that, and to stay close to home with so many miles on it. I kept secretly planning a trip to Oklahoma and Arkansas, and I knew I'd have a hard time driving away in the new Camry and leaving my good friend in the parking lot. So, it came time to sell it.

The Honda dealership wouldn’t give me much and though I knew they'd fix him all up, I wouldn’t get to meet the person that would ultimately get the pleasure of owning him. I finally came across a good man from Ohio. He winced when I told him about the mileage but once he drove it around the neighborhood he beamed at how tight and good the engine sounded. He bought it for his young son back home, and will soon tow it back to his home state. At first, I was weary of turning my pride and joy over to a 16 year-old, but I figured at least a young kid would not look at it as something temporary until he could get better. He's look at it as his very first car and though he might not ever get out of his own state, every day would be an adventure just the same, even if just to an away High School basketball game.

The old Civic has seen lots of the country, more than most people ever will. I couldn't bear to watch him just sit there in Florida with no more uncharted territory in the offing. So, he'll go on at least one more trip up to Ohio. I hope his new friend takes good care of him and that its spirit of adventure infects him too. Who knows, maybe he'll get a hankering to go to Oklahoma or Arkansas for no apparent reason. I hope so. One thing I do know is every time I see an ad for an SUV on top of a mountain, all clean and shiny, with some jackass who’s never camped in his life sitting smugly in it, I'll think of just one image: the old Civic on the Alaska Highway in the Yukon of Canada. And I'll smile.