After an unfortunate accident last week, my beloved first car was declared to be totaled, because the cost of the repairs was higher than the value of the car. It wasn't until I learned last week that my car was totaled that I realized how attached I'd become to it. Sure it's value was low in dollars, but to me it's value was sky high. So naturally I decided to try to capture in a blog post why this car was so special to me.
I bought this 2002 Honda Cr-V back in July of 2015, just a month before I was about to start my first year of teaching. I soon realized that this car had "character." For a long time, its brakes would squeak VERY loudly and VERY often, thus announcing my arrival at a stoplight, stop sign, or into a parking spot. Anytime I had to make a tight turn, the steering wheel would make this horrific grinding noise that always greatly concerned any passengers in the car with me. It also had a center console that despite MANY attempts to fix it, was determined to remain totally slanted and never upright. This led to many a spilled Sodalicious drink and stains on its carpet. It always seemed to malfunction at only the worst possible moment. Like one time, I had just picked up my cousin Jensen from the Salt Lake airport and it was snowing as we were driving back to Provo. The defroster would NOT work, and the only way I was able to clear the windows to see was to repeatedly spray the windshield with washer fluid. In hindsight we probably should have just pulled over until my car was ready to cooperate, but we made it back unscathed!
So clearly, this car wasn't special because it was physically perfect, but it was nonetheless reliable and got me where I needed to go! My Cr-V took two cross country road trips at two pivotal points in my life. The first was just a few days after purchasing the car. My dad and I drove it out to Utah with a car filled with teaching supplies for my brand new first classroom. Three years almost to the day later, my dad and I drove it across the country in the opposite direction, this time with my car filled to the brim with everything I owned, ready to start a new chapter of my adult life in Virginia.
My favorite memories with my car all involve a sister or friend in the passenger seat, driving around talking about anything and everything. Let's be real, once Abby got her license I somehow always ended up in the passenger seat of my car with her driving, but somehow I was always okay with that. It was in this car that I took my first solo road trip. Granted it was only a four hour trip to Rexburg to visit Jenn and Dallin, but still! A few months later, it took Amy and I down to St. George filled to the brim with as many of her and Riley's belongings as we could fit while Riley followed (far) behind us with their moving truck. It had character for sure, but it lasted through a whole lot of miles and a whole host of memories!
Even though I had to say my good-byes to my trusted '02 CrV and hello again to car payments, I am now the proud owner of this 2010 Toyota Rav4! I can hardly wait for the new adventures and memories to come!
So clearly, this car wasn't special because it was physically perfect, but it was nonetheless reliable and got me where I needed to go! My Cr-V took two cross country road trips at two pivotal points in my life. The first was just a few days after purchasing the car. My dad and I drove it out to Utah with a car filled with teaching supplies for my brand new first classroom. Three years almost to the day later, my dad and I drove it across the country in the opposite direction, this time with my car filled to the brim with everything I owned, ready to start a new chapter of my adult life in Virginia.
My favorite memories with my car all involve a sister or friend in the passenger seat, driving around talking about anything and everything. Let's be real, once Abby got her license I somehow always ended up in the passenger seat of my car with her driving, but somehow I was always okay with that. It was in this car that I took my first solo road trip. Granted it was only a four hour trip to Rexburg to visit Jenn and Dallin, but still! A few months later, it took Amy and I down to St. George filled to the brim with as many of her and Riley's belongings as we could fit while Riley followed (far) behind us with their moving truck. It had character for sure, but it lasted through a whole lot of miles and a whole host of memories!
Even though I had to say my good-byes to my trusted '02 CrV and hello again to car payments, I am now the proud owner of this 2010 Toyota Rav4! I can hardly wait for the new adventures and memories to come!
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