Yesterday, we said goodbye to our beloved 2011 Jeep Rubicon, as we traded it in for a newer Ford F-150 pickup truck. Yes, friends, we are first-time truck owners! With our family business needs as motivation, we made this move, but it wasn’t so easy letting go of our familiar family Jeep. We spent the last three years with the Jeep, and I was surprised to realize that it somehow felt like it had become a part of our family.
I was never able to drive it much myself, being a novice at driving a manual transmission. Apart from a few “driving lessons,” my husband was the driver and I was the passenger. Maybe the link to the family felt so strong because the Jeep was our first major joint purchase just a few months after we were married. Then it was a link to fun and adventure for us, as we drove it around with the top off in the summertime, drinking Coca-Cola from a can and listening to reggae music, hair blowing in the wind.
We drove the Jeep quite a few miles on the last few weekends before our baby’s due date, soaking in some final adventures as a couple. We got truly lost on some back roads an hour and a half way from our home, and we soaked up the sun and the shore at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, PA. Oh, sweet memories.
After our son joined the family, we took him on his first off-road experience at the Laurel Highlands Jeep Fest when he was a little more than one year old. (Don’t worry, we didn’t attempt any rock climbs with baby on board!) We have spent most of his life thus far pointing out impressive Jeeps that we see on the road and having fun in ours.
Also, there was that one time on our honeymoon that we rented a Jeep on the island of Santorini in Greece, and another time that we rented a Jeep to drive all around St. Thomas…so, you see, Jeeps have been kind of a thing for us. But I will have to tell you more about those adventures in another post. For now, here is a photo of us driving a rented Jeep through some incredibly narrow streets in Santorini. (What a beautiful place!)
At any rate, we said goodbye to the Rubicon last night, and we said hello to a new-to-us Ford truck. It should be just what we need to support our vapor honing business and our motorcycling habit, too. Here’s to new adventures!
Am I the only one who has been surprised by their emotional attachment to a vehicle in their life? Have you ever driven a vehicle that felt like a part of your family?
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