Gratituesday: My Hoopty

I have a large automobile.

Actually, I think only passenger vans are the only automobiles that are bigger and still in production.

I drive a Suburban. 

Yes, my carbon footprint is huge. 

Yes, I spend a lot of time by myself in it.

Yes, I feel guilty.

But, it was a tax break we needed the year we bought it. And, it is the best thing when people come to visit and we all want to ride together and it is the ULTIMATE road trip vehicle for a family. And, in a city that is a  major trade thoroughfare, I feel safe driving it next to the 100 semis I pass in a week.

Plus, it is the only new car I will ever own, so I love it an awful lot.

 We have taken many trips in our Suburban (nicknamed Sally or The Swann Mobile). 

Florida, New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Pennsylvania, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia and Ohio are just a few of the repeat trips that we have taken in her. 

She delivers us safely and has also given rides to my sisters, their kids, and various other lucky riders. She has all the sweet features one would expect from a "mommy mobile" ie, DVD player with headphones, eight seat belts, eight cup holders, XM radio and best of all, a sunroof. I like to pretend she is not a steroided up minivan. But if you look inside her, you know she is just that.

Day after a 24 hour trip to North Carolina

Notice the chips.

  I have driven Sally for eight years. I got her in May of 2004 and I have loved her.

Sometimes a little carelessly.

Texting and backing up in a parking lot don't mix, kids.

 But she has delivered us to soccer games and dinner parties. Vacations and weddings. The first trip she took me on when she was just a week old, was to see my nephew born. Literally, drove all  night to see him born.

 She has traveled almost 180,000 miles since then

Many times I have cursed her when backing out in grocery store parking lots. But in hindsight, she has kept me in shape as I have to park WAY out in the back 40 so I can actually get out of said parking lot without taking other cars in the process.

I have become an amazing parker. I can whip her into parallel parking spots and back her into any tight spot. I rely on mirrors to move in just about any direction except forward and I feel confident that I can drive just about anything. She is a smooth and comfortable ride on all our long trips and on my many trips to chauffeur two very busy kids all over town.

*Penny

I am very grateful to have a car in general, but specifically I am extremely grateful for Sally, the Suburban. 

*Penny has been with us for about a year now. She has been everywhere we have been, including to Florida twice, Ohio and North Carolina. Literally, she has traveled about 12,000 on my bumper. I think my car has the smoothest ride around.