Monday, March 8, 2010

"The Precious"

*disclaimer: Dean denies all knowledge of any event in which his driving expertise is questioned,tested, or criticized.




Yep. That's what we called this old Ford Explorer.
We dubbed it 'The Precious" because Dean had fits if anything got it dirty.

Now, that being said, between dogs and kids, I give you a VERY short list of a few of the things that 'yuckified' it:

Hot Chocolate: Ah, the splendor of hot cocoa while driving through the neighborhoods looking at holiday decorations. Yeah...until Dean GUNS it after a stop sign and the cups fly out of their cup holders. Doesn't even matter that they have lids. The cocoa goes all over the floor AND the seats.
Thank goodness we had golf towels in the car to clean up most of it.
Not one year, oh no, we learned the hard way. It took us several years to give it up...well, I guess we still do it. And I admit, the FIRST year, I used coffee mugs...but it was Dean's fault for driving so badly.

Root Beer: On a hot summer day, who needs a bottle of root beer? Our son does! (of course, it was a glass bottle, not screw top.)
Dean takes a corner a bit FAST and plop! The bottle pops out of the holder and rolls UNDER the back seat, emptying the contents there. Thank goodness it was only HALF full. (ha). Of course, I was HOWLING and Dean was fit to be tied. I thought he was going to make the poor kid walk home!

Ginger: While Dean drove a U-Haul to Oklahoma, I took the kids and dogs. We 'forgot' how nervous Ginger got while riding in the car back then.
I was reminded a little after midnight when she got REALLY sick with... (wait for it...) diarrhea!
So, there we are, on the side of the interstate cleaning her AND the car up in the freezing cold AND rain and wind.

Imagine the joy the kids and I shared driving another 2 hours with all the windows rolled down in 20 degree weather. We were BLUE. Thank you God for giving me a good sense of humor...
Of course, the Precious never was quite the same. After that, I dubbed it the 'poop mobile' and refused to drive it for about 3 months. It took two detailing jobs to get the smell out.

Memories aside, I never wanted a Ford....

BUT....

this was one
terrific vehicle. (We have to see how long the Subaru lasts before naming the Precious "The BEST" but Dean is convinced it will win...)

When he traded it in, the service guy couldn't believe it had 246,112 miles on it.
He also commented on how 'clean' it was.
Little did he know all the horrors that poor car endured at the hands and paws of our family!

Now,
the last thing we wanted was a car note in this economy....but when a car dies, it dies....so here is the new Precious II next to dependable Precious...it sure has big shoes tires to fill....

Not brand new...but new to us.
Although the kids both agreed no food in this car, I noticed Ginger eyeballing it suspiciously!

9 comments:

Becky said...

Wow! The mileage on the Precious I is amazing!!!!!!!!!!! especially for a FORD. I am impressed.

Your smelly troubles are so familiar! When our kids were little my best friend and I would load the 4 of 'em up in her car to go on adventures. She let her girls drink and spill milk in her car. THAT was the most horrible smelling car I ever rode in!

Turtles In Northern Florida said...

hahah Good luck with the new one!

Shawnee said...

Nice .. that looks a lot like my new-to-me Ford Edge .. same color and body style. I LOVE mine.

manda said...

Congrats on a "new" car! Feels great doesn't it?

Rhonda said...

V....I am laughin' my bunns off here just picturing all the wild happenings that went on inside that car or whatever they're called these days....you are a great story teller....we quilters should get together and write a book....I guess that's been done.
Take care and be careful with the new Precious.

Unknown said...

it is so hard to keep a car clean with kids......I sure try though so I hear you....

jillytacy said...

Precious went through a lot! Good luck with the new car, I hope it lives up to Precious. We have the no eating rule in our new cars too. This was instituted after our last car smelled horrible from all the old juice boxes and stale goldfish that got spilled then ground into the carpet.

Elaine said...

Hysterical. Your stories are so funny! My car gets a work out every day. I use it alot for work so it's like a mobile office. I eat in my car, have coffee there, etc. Needless to say there have been lots of spills and oh the crumbs!

Anyway, that is incredible mileage.
Dean did really well. He might want to ban Ginger from the new car.

squareby said...

Oh the things we do to our cars! I bring M&Ms and Froot Loops to snack on while I drive. Needless to say, the floor looks like a rainbow. Also, my friend owns an Explorer and calls it Dora ... as in "Dora the Explorer". Enjoy the new car!

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