Obviously there were some close calls in getting the 84 GW from Seattle to Montana. A few hiccups along the way that freaked me out and sent me to 'worst case scenario' mode.
In Ellensburg- smoke coming from under hood and from dipstick when pulled
Source- car hadn't been driven hard in potentially decades. Who knows. water vapor, according to the mechanic who looked at it. Also old and worn valve cover gaskets leaking a bit of oil.
In Yakima- 100+ temps caused carb flood. Unsure if it was boiling fuel or what, but it happened once and never again. At this point, too, the starter began grinding...
In Coeur D'Alene- decided to stop off and buy a starter because we knew it was going to go out soon. Would rather have it on hand. OReillys said they had one in stock, but that one ended up being defective. Car of course wouldn't start to get the other shop across town. Uber!
Changed starter in parking lot and was good to go.
In Missoula- low oil (from oil leak) led to ticking noice while driving. Pull off to add oil, hit piece of concrete that was lying in the road. Rear diff hose popped off, wouldn't reattach. Uber to NAPA to buy a new valve!
Had to JB weld it in, but it got us to Bozeman!
What an adventure. Sister was nervous the whole trip, but was so glad to get it home. She's going to take it to her mechanic to have him do another once over, and then the dear beast never has to get on the freeway again!
I knew SOMETHING would come up on a 13 hour drive, it was just a matter of what. Luckily nothing that happened stopped us from getting the beast home. Thanks everyone who responded to my freak out posts!!!