The 1961 Red Comet

This is one 60's memory I thought had fadded long ago! Apparently it hasn't because Jim and I discussed this means of transportation we had in our early Spenard, Alaska days. The '61 Comet was first used as a company vehicle, so it had been well worn over our dusty roads, icey roads, frost heave roads, and pot-hole roads of those days. (there is an old Alaska joke about the bad Alaska pot holes. Pot holes were always called chuck-holes cause a guy named Chuck drowned in one the winter of '53).

The Comet had rayon tires. That meant when it was -30 to -48 degrees, the tires were not round when we started it up in the morning. They were semi-circle round with a flat as a pancake area that was on the ground. When we would drive on these flat-bottomed tires, we looked like Fred and Wilma Flintstone bouncing up and down in our car. Every vehicle in Anchorage always had a heater cable installed in the front of the car and with a very long extention cord so our car was "plugged in" for the night. On the coldest of nights, Jim always took the battery inside the house to keep it warm for the next day. Driving in Alaska was a science, a very demanding science. Memorize the method and everything worked ok.

This car served its purpose well getting Jim to work every day, hauling all of us ( that would be five of us at this time) to church every Sunday and the weekly trips to the grocery store. Adjustments to Alaska winters meant you always left grocery shopping to the very last on the to-do list. If you did it first, then made a stop to visit with friends, potatoes and eggs had a way of freezing fast!

This car was easy on gas, hard on oil. Therefore, we kept a supply of oil handy in the trunk. Part of the discussion Jim and I had of this little red car from yesteryear was this...with all of its history, why did we choose in 1963 to drive the Alcan? Our three little kids were five years old and under and another little one expected in five months.

We want to believe it had everything to do with innocent faith in a generous God. Jim and I had been serving the Lord a short three years. After all, God can do the impossible can't He? Our motivation for leaving the place we loved was my pregnancy had some complications and we intended to drive to Kansas City area where my mom and dad lived at the time and I would be close to high-risk pregnancy care. All righteous.

We start off our trip on a beautiful Alaska October day. Warm, at least 45 degrees, sunny and we are hopeful. The kids are excited. Each child (Jim Jr or Jimmie as we called him, Jero Lynn and Bobby) had been given surprise packages to open. One for each day of the ten days my sweet mother-in-law Questa thought we would be on the road. What a wise and kind woman of God she is.

If any of you are familiar with the Anchorage area, we were a few miles out of town coming to a little place in the "boonies" called Eagle River. Our little red Comet is warning us with a red oil light flashing on the dash. The light set off sirens in my mind. Oh oh. My fragile stomach is getting queasy.

Sorry to leave you. There are several paragraphs already, so its time to close down and begin the rest of the story soon.