Bye-Bye, Rhonda

Last week was one of travel: first to the northern panhandle of West Virginia, then to my booth in Ravenswood to restock, then to Lost Creek on Thursday and Friday...well, that was a different story.

You remember Rhonda, my patient little Buick Rendezvous? She of the almost 200,000 miles with the dent in the back where Larry backed her into a state road truck while backing around a blind curve? The little SUV that has hauled loads of all sorts and sizes including cabinets, dressers, wheelbarrows, two-man crosscut saws, dishes, grandchildren, dogs, chickens, books, and even me?

Friday we were driving to Athens, OH to restock our booth there. There is a long stretch of road construction between Ripley and Ravenswood, and as we were passing through that area there cam an ominous noise from under the car and then she just would not go very fast at all. By revving the engine to high rpms Larry was able to get her through the construction zone and to a place where we could get off the road. Whew.

That was the end of the transmission--the one I had put in just 15 months ago when the first transmission burned up in Virginia while I was traveling. That time, it died in my sister's driveway. This time, we were only 15 miles or so from home. What good luck, really. We could have been somewhere in Ohio, or it could have gone out while we were on one of the many back roads we've traveled in the last week. So the wrecker came, the car is home and her journey is at an end. With so many miles on her, it's just not worth it to put another bunch of money in a transmission.

I am sad. I have loved my car that could go anywhere with her all-wheel-drive, that could carry cabinets and chairs, porch swings and chickens, dishes and windows and lumber, tools, grandchildren and friends, dogs, camping gear, garden plants and quilts...anything I wanted to put in her really.

She went through tunnels,

over mountains,

alongside rivers.

and sometimes across them,

through snow, rain and heat,

and sometimes just waited patiently for the next adventure.

I am so glad we bought the little red truck last week (already named Curt, for Cute Red Truck, as opposed to our old truck Burt, which is short for Big Ugly Red Truck). I am now on the lookout for another vehicle and this one will probably be a van of some sort. But Rhonda, dear thing, will be leaving for parts unknown as soon as we can get her cleaned out. Farewell, dear friend of thousands of miles and fun.

Copyright 2012 Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

No Respect

Chloe, my friend Bob's cat, thinks my new car is just for her to use as a perch to view her queendom.

Sheesh...I'm still treating it like a baby, and Chloe treats it like a stool.

But she sure looks pretty up there, doesn't she?

Granny's Got a Brand New Ride!

Well, not really new...it's a 2006, but it's new to me. A Buick! Who would have thought it. (Now I really feel old.) When I looked at all the options, the size and the gas mileage, it was the vehicle that met all my needs best. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a good choice and last me a long, long time.

As for the little green car, it's still here and will be used regularly for running to town and even to commute to work.

What finally made me go shopping was something so small it sounds silly--the window buttons on the front windows quit working this weekend. Every day, I put the driver's window down at least twice, going in and out of the parking garage. It's a major hassle when the window won't go back up. We'll fix them--the motors on both windows are apparently burned out. And maybe the contacts on the buttons need to be replaced too.

Those are doable repairs. Larry and Tim can do them, I'm sure. But it really brought the point home to me that (sigh) the little green Nissan Sentra is getting old and maybe won't be as reliable as it has been. Which is funny to say, considering that we just drove it on a 400-mile round trip this weekend, even though it has 243,000miles on it!

Now to get used to a different vehicle. And a car payment again. Yuk. But I'm glad I finally took the time to go shopping, and that this is one more decision that is off my plate.

And the color? Perfect--hides the dust and dirt really well!