Saturday, August 24, 2019

On the Road Again!

So you probably didn't know I was off the road... well, I was, but I wasn't. Let me explain. Last October, my truck broke down. Since then, we've borrowed vehicles, coordinated trips and schedules like none other. Juggling the farm, appointments, work, caring for family members, and even just trips to the grocery store, post office, and to get supplies were carefully thought out. It was hard, it was humbling. The winter was tough, because of our vehicle situation and dealing with the after effects of the drought last year and the subsequent high cost  and shortage of feed for the animals at the farm. But we survived and are extremely thankful for the ones who have been there to help us out!

Early summer, I finally admitted that I might need something different, other than a truck to drive. (I keep hoping that one day Jeff can fix mine.) I searched and studied and let me tell ya, buying a vehicle makes me nauseous. It's the worst.  I've always heard the saying "don't trust a horse trader." Well, it didn't take much looking and checking to remind myself why I have never placed much trust in a car salesmen either. Lordy mercy! The contradicting post on marketplace and Craigslist, and the sales tactics by some are so dang sketchy... It gave me headaches and stressed me out. Most of my vehicles have all been purchased from family or friends, so we knew something about them, yet one of them lied to us about the actual mileage.

I missed out on a couple of affordable vehicles, being an hour late to see the post...

I saw a vehicle sitting in town one day and stopped to look at it. A little higher mileage than I was really looking for. A few days later, a friend called me about it, because she knew I was looking and she knew the people who owned it and that it had been well taken care of. A few days later, it showed up on Facebook marketplace and was still available, when we finally decided to see if we could take a test drive. It was one of the busiest weeks and I said I didn't have time to deal with buying a vehicle during the middle of a show, but we did!

We feel like we dealt with a very honest person and the vehicle has been well maintained. Searching the make and model, they all appear to have a very long life, when taken care of. So, a few thousand miles back down the road, we got us a new (old) vehicle, that has became known as "the wagon" at our house. I've always maintained the thought that a "vehicles job is to get you from point a to point b" and it really doesn't matter so much about age or appearance, as long as it can complete the task at hand. I've hauled a lot of things in my pick up truck and looking back, sometimes I wonder how we got it all in there at times, but we did it. It did it's job and served us well in that season.

When searching for something new, we decided an SUV would probably be the best fit for us. ( I really, really did not want a minivan!) Rear cargo space was a must, with seats that fold down. Hauling flowers and going to shows, we need a place to haul all our inventory and I must say the 6 foot area is pretty exciting and having a back access door, instead of having to load everything from the side doors, is great. Our gridwall can even fit in there!


So while I'm not a "look at my new vehicle" type of person, I am excited to have my own ride again and be able to move out more freely and have something to get the job done. The fact that its the smoothest and nicest vehicle I've ever owned is really just icing on the cake and you know what - it's older than my truck was and has a couple hundred thousand miles on it!  It does have heated seats and the duel control heat and air works! (The heat on the drivers side of my truck didn't work properly and I absolutely hate being cold, so I'm sure the heated seats will be put to good use this winter!)  I've even been able to start using my new air fresheners and decorate my mirror again! To all of the one or no vehicle families out there, I get you. I understand how hard it can be and hope you have the opportunity to get something of your own, soon. New vehicles are so outrageously priced, that's not even a consideration for us. Now, if we can get those dang telemarketers to quit calling about extended warranty, we would be good, because they certainly will hang up on you when you say you've got 200,000 miles on your ride!

By the way, have you seen all the new car air fresheners and key chains we've been making? They come with cute graphics, but the air fresheners are unscented, so you can add your own essential oils or perfume to them. Find them in my etsy shop here or on my website here.


With our fall show season, we will definitely be loading down the wagon as we travel to our events, because as I've always heard "You can't sell out of an empty wagon!"  

Now back to sewing and working on things for fall and Christmas! Hopefully we will get to see you down the road sometime soon!




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