Auf Wiedersehen German Engineering, Hello American!

Having a new family member in the picture has made Brian and I look at vehicle ownership a little differently. Having our previous vehicles act squirrely when it's just you is one thing, but if that was to happen with a newborn in the vehicle...well...that's really not good.

We had grown a little weary of owning vehicles with high miles, a truck that was bound to break at any moment, and a German vehicle that cost an arm and leg whenever it was time to repair it. We needed the dependability and the space of a different vehicle...a big vehicle...with room for a dirty lab mix, room for cross-country moves, a back seat that required leg-room for the car seat and an ever-growing child, and of course, a front bench seat where our Yorkie could lovingly split the distance between his two favorite people on the planet. Luckily, before the delivery, we set the ball in motion for a different family vehicle and it has ARRIVED. May I introduce you to Brownie the III - Ford F150.

Why the III? The first Brownie is a brown boat that resides at the Lake of the Ozarks. The second Brownie is the Piper Saratoga airplane. And voila, the last Brownie - our new truck.

While we are ecstatic about owning a new vehicle, homage must be due to the vehicles that played a fabulous job at getting us from point A to point B in the past. They currently belong to happy owners in Corpus Christi. First off, the '98 Toyota 4Runner, lovingly referred to as Ol' Foamy:


- received its name because it has the special ability of foaming up beer while you drive...can probably scramble your eggs too. Just buy a six pack and then try to drink one! (...when you aren't driving, of course...)
- bought in Yates, Kansas which happens to be the same town where we got Tommy
- several trips taken, of which, the Pensacola to KC leg may have been the longest

- Brian's favorite memory (this was really his truck): driving to Destin, FL from Pensacola to say "hi" to his Dad. They had some QT waxing the ol' beast.

And the best for last, my '01 VW Passat, lovingly referred to as the VDub or the Passato-Benato:


- the first vehicle that was my very own - got it in 2005.
- I had heard that manuals were the way to go...who cares if I didn't know how to drive it!? my step-dad had to drive it home from the dealer...
- the patient people that helped teach me to drive stick:

Tyler, my bro: when I was 10, I tried backing his Honda out of the church parking lot. After one stall he said, "Okay...Switch."

Mom: on the test drive of the VW, we drove in circles in an old parking lot in Leavenworth, KS. I got it up to third.

Dad: we were in Weston, MO and while driving it and he made me stop on a hill. I stalled. Fail.

Brian, my hub: We spent an evening in the parking-lot of Shawnee Mission South High School...no, we didn't park; we drove.

-loved driving that car with the sunroof open during a fall day in my college town of Lawrence, KS

-VW and I took a big trip to MI in 2009
-one time, my Dad and I cleaned the VW together. (What is it with Dad's and cars that make such fond memories?)
-this was the car that brought Piper home from the hospital this past December

Oh, Passat, you were a splendid vehicle that got decent mileage, could punch it on the interstate, had seat-warmers, contains so many fond memories, and lastly, made me look cool (because it looked hot...and...afterall, I could drive stick :).