It’s the end of an era, here at Polka Dot Cottage, as we bid farewell to a true fixture around these parts: my van. Let’s take a little stroll down memory lane, shall we? (You can better get in the moment here, if you quietly hum “The Way We Were” while you read along…)
Remember the March 2008 wind storm that took out the back door?
How about when the distracted driver rear-ended Neil while he was coming home from a convention a year later?
The trees got fresh again in 2010 in the wee hours of the morning.
And we got rear-ended again in 2011, although this time there was just a bit of bumper damage.
Things were quiet, damage-wise after that, although we did replace a cracked windshield in 2012. Unfortunately, although things stopped falling on the van and smashing into it, under the hood stuff was unraveling.
We saw snow, rain, sleet, hail, and many sunny days in that old van. And, boy, did I ever find it photogenic.
Today though, I took all of my belongings out of it…
…and placed them in the trunk of my new wheels.
Well, they are wheels that are new to me, anyway. And they are a whole decade newer than the van. And 100,000 miles newer. And holy cow, I can listen to mp3s in this car. (Cue angels singing.)
This is the new view in my driveway.
There are plenty of things that I will miss about my old van. After all, it was love at first sight when I saw it glistening in the used car lot eight years ago.
(sigh.)
But there sure is a lot to love about having a new ride. In fact, I can’t seem to stop running out for short trips around town today – any excuse to take a little spin!
Do you need me to run any errands for you? 😉
Good for you! Love the new car.
I’m at the other end of your van journey – I just bought my first mini van last year.
Congrats on the new car. That’s always fun. I hope you have better luck with this one a fewer smashing incidents. It’s a beauty! 🙂
wow, I “grew up” with the van and it’s stories. I will miss it.
Mazel Tov on the new wheels! She is a beauty.
As they used to say in the old west, “Good bye ol’ Paint” or something like that. Good luck with your new ride! Pam