Thanks everyone! We made it back safe, and the car ran great!
They didn't really know what was wrong with it, it was just an old car that was sitting around. The shifter ball joint thing is totally worn out, which makes it really hard to find any gears. We are looking into moving to Fort Collins, and were in town checking out some neighborhoods. We couldn't help but craigslist binge, and we honestly got really lucky.
The trip back was a breeze. The more the car gets driven, the more it comes back to life. It was used to haul firewood up and down a mountain for years, so an "Italian tuneup" has done it wonders. It shifts much easier, and got better mileage every tank. Again, we are very lucky. Third gear is still a bit elusive, but my co-owner is taking a community college class on rebuilding manual transmissions this semester, so he has the perfect project for class!
I've done this sort of car recovery before. I bought an '85 VW Quantum in Virginia for $600 and drove it back to Wisconsin (14 hours each way), and I also picked up an '83 Quantum Coupe in Ohio for $700 and made it home. All these cars were on craigslist forever, and I finally gave in and made the leap of faith. Fun stuff!
More updates and pictures soon. Thanks everyone!