Born in 66, Canadian by birth but grew up in NY, NJ, OR and then from the age of 12 on back in Canada. The first wagon was a Ford Ltd...with the fake wood paneling. Then in 77 my Dad bought a 1974 Plymouth Satellite when we were living in Portland. That car went from Portland to Toronto, then made two trips to Winnipeg, one to Quebec City and another trip to Canada's maritime provinces. What an awesome car. Saw a picture of one here, that is exactly like our old one...the one I learned to drive, same color and striping. It had that pop up rear facing seat in the back...my favourite place. Anyway...hi to everyone, or 'salut' si il ya des gens qui parlent français içi...I live in Quebec now.
Portland in Canada. We don't care where you are from as long as you enjoy the wagon group and share your wagon experiences. I once lived in Portland many years ago and I still turned out alright. Of course that's just my opinion.
Thanks for the welcomes all....A wagon experience, that's easy. In Oregon in the 70s recycling was all the rage....I would go around the neighborhood picking up old newspaper that I would then bundle and tie in the garage. My Dad would drop the back seat and if I loaded up the wagon right to the roof all the way back to the back door, it was worth $10 or more. Thankfully I wasn't asked to chip in for the gas....I'd take my bike later to McDonald's and could get a regular hamburger, small fries and small pop for less than a buck. Later when we were moving from Portland to Toronto in the old Satellite and driving cross country....Mom, Dad, three kids and a dog, (we were only missing Aunt Edna) we came across a construction zone somewhere in the midwest...maybe Montana or Wyoming. Anyway as we approached there was a guy standing up on the flatbed of a pick-up truck waving a flag....with the window down my Dad started waving back at the flag waving construction worker. When we got closer though it was clear it wasn't a man, but a mechanical mannequin complete with hard hat. My Dad then stopped waving and switched to pretending he was riding the wind currents with his hand, testing the breeze. Of course we all immediately started laughing...."Gotcha, you thought he was real"!!!! Of course we had to, but we didn't wave.
This is what makes old station wagons so much fun today. The memories of a simpler time. Amazing the things we remember. What did I have for breakfast?:confused: I couldn't have been more that 3 or 4 and my brother a year younger. But I still remember the ships being built where my dad worked. But mostly all I remember was rain, grapes, rain, grapes, rain, grapes, etc.! And mom driving our 1934 Chevy 4-door out there and back to Illinois.
I got caught by one of those guys... Your dad and I are just social people that's all, can't wait to greet folks... aboard, nice to meet you.
That old Satellite was what I learned to drive...we had it til about 85. My old man told me... "If we get into an accident, there's a good chance you'll win". I drove it once from the eastern burbs of Toronto to Hamilton (west of Toronto) to watch my sister playing goal in the Ontario University soccer final game at McMaster....anyway while I'm on the Don Valley Parkway the automatic choke went and I couldn't get any gas, no acceleration. For the first time in my life though I was happy when I got stuck in heavy traffic. If I gave it a rest it would roar to life, then pfffffffft shortly after...no gas. Because it was so old and not running well...with huge rust spots (holes) over the rear wheel wells, my Dad would let me drive it to school. With the auto choke out I was always late. So ends another stream of consciousness....there are other stories of course, about folding down the seats for purposes other than loading newspapers...but I"m not sure this is the place.
So ends another stream of consciousness....there are other stories of course, about folding down the seats for purposes other than loading newspapers...but I"m not sure this is the place. Yes I remember those times. We could haul a lot of lumber and bags of mulch that way.
