Is it too late to enter my 2008 Toyota Tacoma into the classic car show? The truck itself is nothing special, but the hood ornament is surely a prize winner. By the way, this occurred at the end of the old mining road in Arrastra Gulch above Silverton. Gotta love Colorado! – Clint McKnight
Action Line has dealt with some interesting if not bizarre topics over the years, including bridges to nowhere, driving habits of New Mexicans and hissy fits over public art.
But never has there been the issue of interloping nocturnal mountain goats.
Where does one even begin?
“Well, you should just answer the question,” advised Mrs. Action, the voice of reason in an increasingly crazy world.
“Clint merely asked if he could get in the classic car show. So call up the car-show people and find out.”
That’s why we love Mrs. Action Line. Nothing gets her goat.
Action Line placed a call to Steve Wylie, co-president of the Durango Old Car Club.
“Here’s a weird question, Steve. Can a 2008 Toyota Tacoma truck with a live mountain goat on the hood be part of the Durango Motor Expo?”
Steve paused for a moment. “Actually, I would say yes. We have a lot of different categories. Maybe we should have one for best live animal.”
So mark your calendar for Fathers’ Day 2016. That’s when the annual motor expo takes place downtown.
Membership in the Durango Old Car Club is just $10 per year. Info online is at durangooldcarclub.org.
But that doesn’t answer the real question on everyone’s mind. What’s up with the mountain goat?
Our good friend Clint was camping when “in the middle of the night I’m awakened by my camper shaking,” he recalled.
“I scrambled down from the bunk and looked out the front windshield, and I saw four furry white legs standing on my hood.”
Clint was dumbfounded. “I couldn’t believe it, and I knew nobody else would believe it either. So I crept out the back door and took a series of flash photos, none of which fazed the goat one bit. He just stood there. I eventually had to shoo him off!”
The goat left a couple dimples on the hood “and a couple of soft scratches that I buffed out,” Clint said.
Apparently, goat encounters of the third kind are not infrequent around Silverton.
“The goat is a regular at the Old Hundred Gold Mine, where he has been known to jump on the hoods of tourists’ cars while they take the mine tour. I’m even told he has a name: Ralph,” added Clint.
Action Line called the Old Hundred Gold Mine and spoke with Anita Steck.
“Actually, the goat’s name is Ross,” she said. “We see him from time to time.”
Ross the mountain goat is named after John Ross, a colorful local Silverton character who died in late 2009.
“Not long after John Ross died, the mountain goat started showing up. So it’s named Ross. They’re both kind of ornery,” Anita said with a chuckle.
Last week’s Herald had an especially attractive classified ad for a “must see” 1974 Toyota Land Cruiser, that has “wenches front and back.” At $12,500, is it a deal? – Doug Brew
Action Line tried to come up with a clean joke for having “wenches front and back.”
But it just can’t be done. Let’s not go down that road, not even with four-wheel drive.
The only thing we can say is that we wince when whence a winch became a wench.
Maybe the 41-year-old Toyota and its accompanying “wenches” could enter the Durango Auto Expo in tandem with Clint and his mountain goat hood ornament!
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can request anonymity if reading bad puns about vehicle accessories leaves you exhausted.
