After thirteen years and more than one hundred thousand miles together up and down the Eastern Seaboard, it is time to say goodbye to my little cherry red Honda CRV.
We bought her in June, 2000, knowing we were going to have to begin toting massive quantities of stuff with our daughter, Maggie, when she headed off for her first year of college at the end of the summer. During the college years she made many, many trips back and forth from our home base in Virginia Beach to Longwood College in Farmville, Virginia and then to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, all crammed to the gills with clothes, books, televisions, computers, stereos and all the assorted items a college student needs to make life bearable in a dormitory.
Summers we drove her up to New York, Massachusetts, and Georgia, and for the past few years, down to the Outer Banks (OBX) again chock full of stuff for vacation fun.
Most recently, my sister Barb, and I took her on a girls’ road trip down to Georgia to visit our parents and brother Scott and his wife Debbie. We had a great trip and as you will recall, that is where Barb tested the quality of the brakes, stopping inches before a “road closed” sign.
When it came to shopping, our CRV was perfect for big loads of gardening stuff from multiple bags of soil, or mulch, or both to large groups of shrubs and plants. We have been continually amazed on just what will fit in the back of that car. One time, we were in a Sam’s parking lot and saw a woman and a man attempting to load a television into the trunk of a Ford Taurus (in the days before flat screens). No way it was going to fit or even balance safely. I nudged Dave and told him we had to help them. So, he got out and asked them if they lived far away and offered to deliver the television for them. As it turned out, they only lived a few blocks away so, we popped open the hatch, loaded the TV and followed them to their home. The woman offered to pay a delivery fee, but we were just happy to help.
Yes, our 2000 Honda CRV has been a great car. We were holding onto it because we wanted to give Andy first dibs at it before we bought a new one. This past weekend, he bought his first car in preparation for his move to Washington State. Having no real need to wait, we decided it was time for a change. Monday evening we went off to look at and actually purchased a new car.
What did we buy? A 2013 Honda CRV of course! This morning as I drove my little car to the gym for the last time, I feel more sad than excited. My cherry red CRV has been my baby, my transportation, my reliable companion. I will miss her and hope whoever buys her will treat her as well as we have and continue the adventure.
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