We purchased The Hamburger for the 1985 family trip out west.  There were six of us who were going to spend three weeks camping in the Coleman pop-up trailer.  That meant long hours traveling in the blue Ford station wagon, known affectionately as the UAV, but UAV is a different story.

 

We needed a place to put many changes of clothing and other supplies for everyone.  There was not enough room to manage that inside the passenger area of the UAV.  Mom and Dad had the front seat, two kids sat at window seats, with elbow space between them, on the second row seat.  The other two kids survived in the very back on facing jump seats. so we each kept a suitcase full of clean clothes in The Hamburger, and every night or two, all the suitcases came down off the roof for outfit selection and then the suitcases went back up in The Hamburger.  When we did laundry, the suitcases had to be refilled.

 

 

As proper tourists, we purchased a state sticker for each of the wonderful states through which we drove.  Some states like Nebraska, we only drove through so we could purchase the sticker.  We adorned The Hamburger with the proud array of colorful stickers.  Unfortunately, for most of them, the wind and weather removed them and left them as visitors along some roads somewhere, perhaps on a different trip years later. A few stickers remain in place today.

 

 

For many years after that wonderful trip, I would place The Hamburger on the UAV, or the Subaru Loyale, or whatever car was the transportation of the time.  Sometimes it held backpacks for a car full of hikers exploring Dolly Sods, West Virginia.  It always seemed ready to go on yet another trip.  One time, the front latch came loose while driving in a rainstorm and the stuff inside got a little wet. 

 

 

We have changed our travel needs since then.  We sold off all our kids to their own lives and adventures.  We moved into a bigger trailer pulled by a bigger SUV affectionately known as The Beast.  We have not used The Hamburger for many years.  It has sat under the porch with the metal parts getting rusty.

 

I was taking a load of stuff to the county recycle center / landfill, and The Hamburger looked obsolete.  You can purchase new car top carriers better design for less wind resistance.  But I could not bring myself to take it to the landfill.  Perhaps someone else could fix it up and let it see more

of this country.  So I cleaned off one corner and applied gaffer’s tape strips making a “FREE” sign.  If no one claims it this weekend, then I will have to give in and take it to the landfill.

 

If you remember any stories triggered by seeing the photos, please send them to me.

 

P.S.  Be sure to read "The Hamburger -- Final Edition" after this entry.