In 1989 I graduated college, didn’t have a job lined up, and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. So I decided to take a trip across the country.
The US is a big place, and I didn’t have the time or money to go everywhere I ever wanted. Plus my brother wanted to go along, and he was still in high school. This gave us about a month on the road, and limited our route. I had a ’71 Beetle, but we needed something more dependable, and ideally with room for both of us to sleep in a pinch. I looked at pickups, a coworker’s Chevy Caprice station wagon, and more. The Caprice was nice, plenty big enough to sleep in even without removing our gear, and I could have gotten a good deal, but gas would have killed the rest of the budget. I finally found an ’81 Honda Civic wagon nearby at a decent price. The owner was moving and didn’t need the extra car, which was in good shape inside and out. My mom had an ’82, bought new, so I was familiar with it and trusted that it was up to the trip.
Getting everything ready to go. The typical Civic wagon tailgate rust spot. Dad’s Army duffel bag, and a blanket from a spring break trip to Acapulco.
We left in mid-July, first heading for Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the big airshow. I had friends up there so we had a place to stay, and the airshow is always fun. Planes during the day, brats and cheese curds and beer at night. After a few days we headed out, first taking a girl we had met (friend of my friends) to her grandparents’ place in northern Wisconsin. Then we turned west. Camped in a park the first night. We stopped at Pipestone, Minnesota; went through the cornfields of South Dakota, and headed for the real goal of the trip: the wonders of the West, national parks and other famous and not so famous sights and sites. Over the next few weeks we visited the Badlands, Black Hills, Little Bighorn, Yellowstone, Craters of the Moon, the Great Salt Lake (where we met two girls making a similar trip in the luxury of an RV,) Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and many less-famous natural and historic sites like the world’s deepest hand-dug well, and the Liberal, Kansas Republican Party headquarters.
The car did well. Only issue was at Yellowstone, a week or so into the trip. It started overheating. No obvious leak, but almost out of coolant; I refilled it and it was fine. (Replaced the radiator a year or so later.) Up and down mountains, in various mostly warm climates, it did great. Good on gas, able to hit 85-plus in Montana (“reasonable and prudent,”) and plenty of room for our stuff. Somewhere in Nevada, after driving down many desert roads, we started calling it the Desert Rat. It was a brownish-gold that fit both the desert and the rodent. We mostly stayed off the highways, and the scenery on the back roads out west was often just as amazing as in the national parks. Most places we were by far the smallest vehicle at the campground.
We drove the back way into the Badlands in SD, past missile silos and around cows laying in the road. Happened to get near Mt. Rushmore during Sturgis, a complete surprise to us. Streets lined with motorcycles, crazed bearded men trying to kickstart their Harleys and Indians. Pulled into a campground that was full, like all the others, and ended up meeting a guy who offered to share his campsite if he could borrow my Swiss Army knife (which had a corkscrew; who knew bikers drank wine?)
On a mountain in Utah. Snow farther up the slope, in August. 70s at the campground. Ground squirrel waiting for handouts.
We generally camped, often at free park sites. The campground in Yellowstone was stunningly beautiful, and deer wandered through. I missed my turn in Albuquerque- shoulda made a left, like Bugs Bunny. We never had to sleep in the Civic, usually using our tent. Once we pitched the tent at a KOA, only place we could find, gravelly and hard and not at all meant for tent camping. Once we got a hotel to shower and do laundry. In Winslow, Arizona we stopped again for laundry, and a flash flood on those dirt streets washed into the laundromat. We and all the other customers helped clean it out, and a biker there asked us to help lift his Harley out of the suddenly-deep mud. Later he said he was leaving town and that we could use his apartment for the night; just tell his landlady we were his cousins if she asked. In the morning, we left him some root beer, all we really had to spare.
In Oklahoma we showered using a hand water pump at a state park. In Missouri the state park had a small laundromat. Life was good. The Civic was dependable. But nothing lasts forever, and we had to get my brother back in time for the first day of school or face our mother’s wrath. We made it, and I went off to start adult life with a good car. A couple of years later, coming back from a day trip to the Hocking Hills with my girlfriend, my dog, and my roommate’s dog, I ran a red light and hit a turning car. Totally my fault. No one was hurt, though one of the dogs flew between the front seats and hit the dashboard. The Civic was totaled. I ended up finding a ’72 VW Bus. A step forwards? Or backwards? Or sideways? I miss both of them.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1980 – 1983 Honda Civic (gen2) – The Best Small Car By Unanimous Consent
Oh, definitely a step backwards. Except perhaps in the nostalgia department.
I look forward to the reminiscences of similar trips that will hopefully fill the comments here. An epic change of life road trip is something that many of us share and hopefully will continue as a staple of coming of age (at least in America, but I think elsewhere too). That you did it in a great little car (which decided not to throw any memorable failures at you) is added goodness.
And yes, that rust stain is iconic. The bane of a wagon-owner’s existence.
Great story! I am 69 years old. This reminds me of my adventures in the ‘70s. Thanks.
I only had my bought-new ‘82 Civic, just the hatchback, for a few years as I transitioned into truck life. But of the 44K miles I put on in just two years, many were weekend or maybe 4 day road trips, with a lot of desert and mountain dirt roads, and a bit of snow, along with a few nights sleeping in the back when it was too cold or wet or windy, or just too late to bother putting up a tent. My only problem was a flat tire near Mammoth, there are some sharp rocks hidden in that volcanic silt. My trucks and now van have been more capable companions for exploration, but the consistent 45 mpg of the Civic was pretty nice. And as Mark notes, power was not an issue; 85+ was easy, at least for my 1500 5 speed. And despite the complex emissions system, drivability was flawless at altitude and in cold and hot weather. At least that’s what my 45 year old memories tell me. Thanks Mark for a great Saturday morning read and trip down memory lane.
That was a great read, enjoyed it! Now we need a follow-up on the 72 VW bus! I have a 2000 Civic that I bought new over 25 1/2 years ago, has 323,000 miles and we’re still rolling along.
I really enjoyed your story. Although I drove from NC to CA for my assignment at Mather AFB, CA (Sacramento) it was not as fun as your as I was on a strict timeline. I was driving my fairly new 1970 Maverick with dash mounted a/c. I then drive back to NC in 1973 in new 1973 318 powered Dodge Challenger. I drove from Mather to Monroe, NC then up to Boston and then back to Mather mostly along I-80 I saw a lot of the country, but mostly at 70 mph. The only exciting exciting thing was my voltage regulator kept going out, typical 1970s car, and so I had dim headlights going through pitch black Nevada at night!