My wife and I (and our dog, Sassy) will be leaving at first light on long road trip in her 1985 Volvo 240 wagon.

While we have the complete service history, and have done much since buying it a year ago to give us some confidence in the car making this journey - there is still that bit of dread, excitement, and morbid curiousity in taking this car on an extended journey. In the past year, a good deal of work has been done to the car - it looks great and drives great, and is truly at home on the open road with the OD engaged.

My friend keeps reminding me of the lyrics to a Bottle Rockets song called '1000 Dollar Car', and it rings painfully true for this car. Though, we see the car as an investment, and is still vastly cheaper to own and operate than anything new.

I'll have intermittent internet access, and will post a few updates on how the car is performing. With any luck, we'll leave Portland, OR and arrive in Fort Davis, TX in a few days...with stops near Ogden, UT and Beralillo, NM, and then Terlingua, TX and Big Bend Nat'l Park. From there to Dallas, TX, Denver, CO, Billlings, MT, Helena, MT...and then back to Portland.

Here we go.

Aaron