I sold my Jeep Wrangler in California to help finance our voyage to Texas. For the past five years we’ve survived with one car. The first 9 months Jim worked 1/2 hour from home and he’d take the car or I’d drive him to and from work (a real pain).
For the past four years we live downtown, he worked downtown and could walk 1/2 mile to and from the office. Reality is I drove him in and he walked home. It worked great because on the way home he had time to “decompress” and relieve the stresses of the day, while watching the Muscovy ducks at a nearby park.
Today he starts work about 1/2 hour from home and we don’t want to be pressured to get a new car until we find the right one. Yesterday as I was preparing hors d’oeuvres for our non-event hurricane he arranged to rent a car for the week.
Not just a car, the very car we’re thinking of buying. A 2008 Toyota Highlander, which I’ll get to drive later on. He’s already done a test drive so is taking the old reliable Honda to work and I get to test the new Highlander. Still smells like a new car and only has 13K miles on it.
I’ll leave Zoe at home, wait until 10:00 and go to Penzeys for an herb and spice run. They sell mostly online but I’ve the luxury of having them just a few miles away. I try to go every three months or so and buy small amounts of herbs and spices so they stay as fresh as possible. Then I’ll run to the grocery store and drycleaner and see how the car runs.
The other possibility is a Honda Pilot. Jim says it drives exactly like our Honda so it was more important for me to check out the Highlander. I just need to know if he fits in the Pilot (at 6′ 4″ it’s a challenge).
Cooking with Dee 
1. I’m jealous you have a Penzey’s close enough to visit. I burn more in shipping than I spend.
2. I have the ’08 Honda Pilot. It was [sort of] my Christmas present. I like it and we have plenty of room. I never drove the Highlander, but the husband said they are virtually the same. We have the VP edition, which we refer to as the very poor people model, but I like it. It has that fancy word for half the cylinders shut down to save on gas. I looked at the Volvo XC90, but the guy really, really upset me over something very small (they wanted to charge me over $1,000 for the “complimentary” DVD entertainment system). Anyway, the Honda was way less money than the Volvo, the sales gal was right up my alley and it gets better gas mileage. (I drive 88 miles round trip every day) It was then a toss up between a minivan and ye ‘ol Pilot. Since they get the same gas mileage, I opted to hold on to the last bit of coolness I have. So far it has hauled everything I’ve needed it to and, even though it’s the VP model, it has everything I could possibly need and want – including the back and side windows tinted…that would be miserable w/o it this summer! We aren’t ones who over buy in a car (i.e. no need for 4WD) and I’m not a leather interior girl either. I passed down my Volvo to Will, which has leather, and he’s happy as a lark. Me? I like not roasting my buns in the afternoon.
Happy Wednesday!!
Wow! I was as big as everyone else out on the Texas roads. Even found the Highlander in a crowded parking lot. Skies didn’t know whether to rain or shine and Jim had both my sunglasses and umbrella in the Honda, but we’ll work that out.
It is kinda big. I’m not going to try parallel parking quite yet. If I can get used to the size and looking down on Accords and Camrys and everyone but Ford 150’s and Suburbans, sounds like a plan! No minivan for me either – that would be a double whammy as I plan to hit the big 5-0… Dee