Buy-Buy!

This weekend was a bit bittersweet. I finally let go of Blue Truck. I am not going to lie; it was hard to do, and I got pretty emotional about it. I am Blue Truck's original owner, having had her for nearly 20 years. That's longer than many of you have had your spouse or kids. 

I am going to miss you, Blue Truck.

After our first house, Blue Truck was the most expensive thing we had ever purchased. That body style had just come out, so what we were looking for wasn't yet sitting on a lot. We took a lot of time custom ordering her. She had a Triton V-10 engine, four-wheel drive, beefed up differentials, a tow package, no carpet (for which we paid extra!), and a crew cab body style to accommodate two rowdy Labrador Retrievers. Blue Truck also had power everything from the windows to the door locks. And this was when windows were still rolled up with a crank handle. Oh, and we had a CD player. 

We spared no expense on that truck knowing that we would have it at least ten years. Little did we know that it would exceed our expectations by another decade. We ordered Blue Truck in the late winter, but didn't get to drive it home until the end of May. We were living large, that's for sure.

In the beginning "the truck" - she didn't yet carry the moniker, Blue Truck, belonged to both my husband and myself. There was a lot of arguing over who got to drive it. Eventually, we settled on a weekly rotation. My husband drove the truck one week, and I got to drive it the next.

Eventually, the newness wore off, and our lives changed. In 2005, Blue Truck officially became mine alone. We even changed the title to reflect my sole ownership. Somewhere along about that time I started calling her Blue Truck. 

I already miss this face.

I've been contemplating replacing Blue Truck for more than three years. New trucks are expensive though, and I am still waiting on that money tree. I didn't suddenly inherit any money, but I finally came to the conclusion that Blue Truck was probably approaching the point where my chances of getting stranded were getting pretty good. Last weekend, I started internet shopping. I found something that looked right, so I made a few calls and threw in my perky, super-fun Juke for good measure.

It's not you, Juke, it's me. We just can't see each other any more.

Over the weekend, we drove both vehicles to the Ford Dealership in Paso Robles, a two-hour drive. It seemed unusual to me, but the dealership was quite used to taking multiple vehicles in on trade. Apparently it's done with some regularity.

Blue Truck and Juke.

I did all of my searching and then negotiating through the internet, emails, and texting. How weird is it to negotiate for a vehicle via text? Not that weird apparently. When the sales guy and I needed to find a text I had sent, I had to look over his shoulder to help him spot the right part of the message, and he had to scroll through a LOT of texts. Selling cars through a text message is his normal.

I am already loving THIS face!

New Truck, Newt, for short, didn't make it home with us though. Newt needs a gooseneck hitch and a navigation system installed, so we drove home in a loaner. If everything goes to plan, which only happens sometimes, Newt will get delivered on Friday. I thought last week was long. This week is going to take forever.

To be continued ...