Car Adventure update…#3

Here’s hoping we’ve come to the end of our mini-adventure involving problems with our van. Things went from ‘annoying’ and ‘inconvenient’ to ‘impossible’.

After some maintenance on the 22nd we thought we saw enough improvement to continue limping along east toward Minnesota. We hoped the lower grades of an interstate highway would be something Ole Wheezy could handle. But this morning found us 5 miles from the hotel with the temperature in the red zone and maintenance lights flashing on the dash. She’d limped us along to Rapid City, SD and that was as far as she could go. It was time to say goodbye to our old grey friend.

It was more bittersweet than we expected. We bought it 8 years ago in time for CreeperPuppy to come along in July. Three kids under 3 years old meant we needed a vehicle with room for 3 big car seats. We never thought we’d be minivan people – but it sure is convenient. Over the years she made hundreds of trips to pre-school, the park, the beach and one day, on the way to swimming lessons, was the site of Suaram’s first lost tooth. She was even the star of our show a few years at the elementary Halloween ‘trunk or treat’.

After reviewing our remaining options, we decided the best choice was to get a replacement vehicle. Since we’d spent the last 5 weeks perfecting our packing approach for our Toyota Sienna mini-van, it seemed the easiest thing to do was get another Toyota Sienna mini-van. TaDa!

We haven’t named it yet – we need to get to know it a little better. But once we do, we’ll give you an update and hopefully close out this little adventure for good.