Since Meg and I met a little over eight years ago we seem to have had an exceptional number of vehicles come into and go out of our lives. It's not surprising. Depending on the current activity - working, renovating, traveling, renovating, golfing, renovating, and perhaps babysitting - different vehicles fit each different situation. It's extremely difficult to find the ideal vehicle.
In the beginning I had my trusty little 1994 Mazda Miata. This car has served me well - it's the greatest car to drive...it fits like a glove, is economical although quite impractical a lot of the time. It's not a good car for trips to Costco...but is ever so much fun on a sunny day with the top down, when the tunes are cranked, the beat of the music thumping into your spine from the speakers embedded in the seats. It's hard to stop grinning.
When I met Meg she was selling Merlin, her 1989 Mazda B2200 pickup and I was looking for something to haul bigger-than-Miata stuff...so Merlin became my 2nd vehicle.
Meg had another vehicle, Dorothy, her 1996 Dodge Ram 1500, which was too much of a gas-guzzler...
so she purchased an economical 2004 Suzuki Aerio
but, in the meantime, I bought Brewster, a 1999 Subaru Forester, from a friend who was leaving BC. Meg sold the Aerio...(we went from 4 to 3 vehicles).
Alas, Merlin came apart at the seams and, since we were heavily into the renovation on Ash Street, we purchased Phoebe, a 1998 Ford Ranger, for hauling the big stuff...(back to 3 vehicles).
Along came Einstein, my SmartCar. I was entranced by the SmartCars that I saw when I was in Germany and could not resist when they appeared in Canada. I sold my little Miata to a friend for a year but bought it back. It was too good a car to abandon.
By this time Meg and I had purchased property in Mexico and needed a vehicle to haul stuff down south. We decided that a trailer would work for hauling things down there but Brewster, the Forester, was not mighty enough for towing a trailer so we bought Celeste, a 2000 Chevy AstroVan - perfect for hauling and towing...
and Bea, the Boler, our accommodation down the I5 and Mexican Hwy 200.
Bea, before and
after her facelift...
The following year we decided that a Volkswagen Westphalia would be a better choice for the long drive (5000 km) to and from our northern and southern homes so we bought and restored Jann de Vann...
...but she wasn't ideal for us either...
...so we picked up a Windstar, Wendy, had her checked and road-tested, filled her up for our trip across Canada and down to Mexico...
...but her transmission blew just outside Toronto.
Being stuck between a rock and a hard place, we had to buy something to carry our cargo...so we bought a 2000 Dodge Dakota, Rusty, to continue our trip south to Mexico. Read previous blogs to get the story of Rusty and the trip to the Mexican border...
Currently Rusty resides at our casa in Cuyutlan...
Being without a truck, Meg picked up a Chevy Z10 pickup but sold it within a week... it's not surprising that neighbours thought we were curbers...
Then along came Scarlet, a 2000 Volvo V70R - a beauty of a car...sleek and very speedy...but totally impractical for hauling lumber...
Then we decided that a truck and trailer (5th-wheel) would suit our lifestyle and along came Thelma and Louise. On our first outing to Kelowna, Thelma smoked and struggled on the Coquihalla Highway and Louise's brakes seized...it wasn't pretty.
...so out went Thelma and in came Selma, a 2000 Chevy Silverado, mint condition...more powerful for pulling Louise.
Last winter, while Meg was wintering in BC, she acquired a Volvo 240DL, Simone, to safely manoeuvre snowy roads...a practical, reliable 'stuff' hauler.
This spring Meg and I decide that a Winnebago Rialta would be our ideal RV so we flew down to Florida, bought Portia and drove across the US of A back to BC.
All these years the only constant in the vehicle department has been my l'il Miata...but she is 17 years old, still fun but impractical.
Then last week, lo and behold, Meg wins a 2011 Dodge Challenger in the PNE lottery...really!! Not the most practical car for a couple of seniors. It's really pretty - blackberry blue, 297HP - goes verrrry fast...but, sadly, not for us. Over the last week we have test-driven many, many vehicles trying to figure out what would the be best solution. It's such a treat to be in this position to purchase something newer than our usual slightly-used choice.
We had the Challenger for a day, drove it up to Chilliwack in a few minutes, smiled a lot then traded it and my trusty ol' Miata ...
for the best fit - our new 2011 Subaru Outback, Sage. Welcome to the family!
