The End of an Era

And it ended with a sniff, sniff and a tear in my eye. My little car is gone forever. I did get a little sympathy. But just a little. My little green Ford Escort Wagon is gone. 15 years and it was still going strong. Well it was still going anyway. And I have to be careful about the ‘my’ in this case. Actually Kat wouldn’t have me unless she had a car and we can only tow one legally. So it was give up RV’ing or give Kat the car and I chose the obvious. But the memories remain. Is that a sign of old age or just the natural way of looking back on what use to be? Probably some of both.
I bought that little car in ‘96’ after a trip to Las Vegas by air and a stay at some hotel where they loaned us a wheelchair to help get my late wife around. She was a victim of MS. Anyway the wheelchair fit perfectly in the back and we were looking at RV’ing and needing a tow car (affectionately a dinghy or toad) and the Escort Wagon seemed to fit. So we went to Vancouver Ford and got our ‘toad’, had it all fixed up for towing a year later, and in ‘98’ we hit the road. It went away with 155,652 miles on it. I figure that almost half of that is tow miles. It had seen 4 motorhomes, and been towed by 3 of them. I had one Class C motorhome that didn’t tow. At the time there wasn’t much travel except to the golf course and back hauling my clubs which it did very nicely. Anyway, that’s a lot of trips back and forth across the country. And it served well. It’s been to all the lower 48 states and probably half of the Provinces, allowed me to take Janene more places in her wheelchair than most people get to ever and it was a good Dalmatian carrier . My dog Binx was with us during our first years of travel and always rode around in the back seat on his Dalmatian blanket. Now there are some pleasant memories. Binx was the most loyal dog ever and saw me through some trying times as a caregiver. And then there was Kat. How lucky can one guy get? We’ve been towing now for 5 years. All over and around and up and down and enjoying the RV lifestyle to its fullest. It was time for something new. 15 years is a long time for one car.

All cleaned up and ready to go.  And does this really look 15 years old ????  I don’t think so !!!!!

We got pretty much what we asked and sold it to a couple from South Dakota who will use it down here in the ‘valley’ some and do a little towing. Actually I accepted their offer plus two pork loins and in consideration of it being their 57th wedding anniversary. OK so I’m an old softy. I liked them and I wanted my car to be appreciated for what is was. Not be abused and left to rust and rot in the harsh southern Texas sun. Robert worked for Morrell meat and always brings lots of meat down when they come for the winter. That’s the pork loin story. And it really was their 57th wedding anniversary.
So it ended with the sniffles but I’m pretty much over it. After all, we do have a really nice new Ford Escape with all the ‘bells and whistles’ and matching motorhome color. I guess it’s a new era !!!!!!!!