My father likes himself some vehicles. And he likes himself some change. So throughout the years when I lived under his roof, myself and my siblings were able to benefit from such a like. I wonder if he would be able to list all the vehicles he has bought and sold in his lifetime.... too many? Dad? My friends would always tease me that something as minor as needing new windshield wipers or an oil change would merit a new vehicle acquisition.... not too far from the truth I'm afraid.
I'll set the stage and take it back. Way back. Back into time. No Diggity and all that. A song that was on repeat on my freshly installed CD player in this first vehicle....
Jeep Wrangler. He got me this in August of 1999. In the photo below I was just driving around with a tiny slip of paper in my wallet that said it was okay to do so as long as their was an adult present. I need to point out the back seat and my Grandma with her arms I'm sure tightly wrapped around a ten year old Beth.... the things grandmothers do for their grandchildren. They had emptied their pockets of all change into this little beauty moments before this was taken, for good luck you know. I loved this Jeep and had always wanted one of my own. This one though would suddenly stop working at a red light.... I would lose power steering and what not. And it leaked when it rained. But it was always my first. And therefore special.
Eagle Talon. I simply tired of people asking me if my Jeep "let me set." Which for those of you not from Central Pennsylvania means the car would not start wherever I happened to be at the time. So I convinced my father I was due for an upgrade. I had the Talon from the Spring of 2000 until September of 2001. I have no photos of her but she was a lovely metallicy green color and had quite the nice CD player, as that did not come standard in those days. Oh the horror.
Ford Zx2. Once I decided to commute to and from college I simply "needed" a more reliable vehicle. I think my parents would have bought me the moon for staying home with them. But I chose this. Why? I have no idea. It was blue. And more importantly I wanted to drive a manual transmission. I stalled daily for quite some time and then magically no more! I don't know why I decided I had had it with the Zx2... but I had it. Probably something to do with inclement weather.
Ford Explorer - The White. This poor unfortunate soul. I have so many fond memories of you. And then in 2002 I wrapped you around a tree in an unfortunate incident on a wet leaf-covered road. It is that aforementioned incident that introduced me to the Pennsylvania judicial system and jurors and lawyers and all kinds of fascinating and yet terrifying things (no I did not do anything illegal, another vehicle was involved and that woman was suing my insurance company. And therefore me. This was very upsetting to all involved and was finally resolved in 2007.)
Ford Explorer - The Blue. This car stepped up right away courtesy of my father and a swift claims processor and was mine until my mother decided to stop driving around her Jeep. Which I then took over driving. It's like musical cars sometimes in the Trovato House.
Jeep Grand Cherokee. This was a fancy car. She was quite spiffy and had all sorts of bells and whistles. She just ate a lot of gas and I was driving 45 minutes to and from an unpaid internship every day and I wanted something a bit more green. And maybe a bit less flashy so I could fit in with my not-for-profit coworkers.
VW Jetta. This car was a manual. She was red. She was in my name. She was with me the longest. And I loathed to see her go. I loved her so much I even learned how to change her taillights as she was constantly needing a new one. I took her on many a road trip. I did all my wedding planning and moving into an apartment and then into our first home with her.... I drove her everywhere. And yet in 2009 Matt got a job with a company car and he also got a dog who could use a fence soo... ipso facto...bye bye Jetta.
Jeep Cherokee. This was Matt's thing. It was a big black hole. I never liked it because it tried to take the place of my Jetta Bug. And it was a piece. Piece of you know what. We finally sold it this past summer and got....
Town & Country! We all know how much I love this vehicle.
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The end. Minus the time I seriously contemplated getting one of these to tool around on but Bermuda Central Pennsylvania is not. Plus. Dangerous.
Vroom vroom.
