Here's to a new freedom

I am very happy to announce that for the first time in four years we live in the very same country as the car we own!  Waaaahey.  We settled on a 1999, 108,000 miles on the odometer, Toyota Sienna.  I can hardly believe how great it feels to hop in that vehicle and drive where I want to go.  No more hoping for fine weather, or dreading the cold before we head out.  No more scabbing* rides from people.  In fact, we've been to the west side of town THREE TIMES in two days.  That place almost felt like a far away town, pre-car days.  Don't get me wrong, I love the biking life style, and I've been mourning the potential loss of it over the past couple of weeks with statements like this might be our last ride together for a while, Jbird.  But it takes so much energy to run errands when you're on a bike - or even to decide to do them.  Also, my tummy keeps getting bigger and it was starting to get in the way - I had to bike with my knees splayed out.

We've been talking about this purchase for two years, intending to actually buy something since last October, but only really researching and shopping for a little over a month.  I can hardly believe we've actually done it.  It felt like a huge, hard decision to make.  My dad has always found the cars I have owned in the passed and I was happy not to have to look for them.  This time it was nice to see how great Jbird was at talking to people and running around having the cars checked - I lost enthusiasm very quickly.  Now that the purchase has finally been made, Jbird and I are both tired and grumpy from the intensity of shopping and buying over the passed week.  We drove to Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday to see a few vehicles down there but ironically ended up buying the very first one we looked at.  

Please don't mind that we bought a big hulking minivan either.  Obviously we're only having the one baby so some might say that the size of the vehicle is a bit of an exaggerated choice.  The plan is to be very comfortable on a long road trip, and to be able to sleep in the vehicle when we want to.  We hope to see a lot more of the States in this car.  I'm currently planning our late-summer trip to Michigan, Canada, and up-state New York.  Won't that be something nice?

*There's a gross NZ slang if every I heard one.  In this context, it means to take from someone else without really being able to repay them.