We are planning a few "road trips" this fall and winter and more than a few next spring & summer. This fall we are planning a 2-week trip to New England (MD & CT) to see family & friends AND to sight-see a little. And this winter we are planning atleast one 3-4 day weekend trip to Ski, but 2 of these trips are likely.
We loved the Ford Expedition we had (bought last January) ... UNLESS ... we needed groceries (and everyone was in the car together) ... or UNLESS we had to head to soccer practices with bags of soccer balls and such (DadToCherubs and I coach) ... or UNLESS we had to travel, which required a BIG top carrier, packing as lite as possible, and still possibly pulling a small tow-behind trailer. And ... as we are planning to buy a Travel Trailer (hard shell camper), our Expedition was not rated to pull anything nearly as heavy as we needed (we found this out when we started looking at campers).
So ... the CAR HUNT began ... mostly because not many cars that seat a minimum of 8 persons HAS an engine the size we required. Ultimately we found the passenger vans and some big SUVs, but after testing more than a few, we LOVED the size of the passenger vans. So, we selected one (the only downfall to it was that it is WHITE - yuck - always dirty ! But it had literally everything else we wanted.) and DadToCherubs haggled a bit with the dealer (his specialty since he sold cars once upon a time) ... then the bank details (with our family bank, Citizens, which is by far the BEST bank there is !!) ... then this morning we went to pick up our new Ford E350 XLT Super Duty Passenger van. We got a SUPER deal, and are pleased ... this was by far the EASIEST car-hunt we have ever had, once we had found what we really wanted.
The new van seats 12 persons AND has a large trunk too .... this will be fantastic for traveling, soccer, groceries, and other "space" issues we have encountered.
We also had a SUPER trailer hitch installed (this morning actually) by the dealer, so we can pull up to 8,000 pounds now (HINT: camper preparations) with ease. And for traveling, we will pull out the last seat, makign the van seat 8 PLUS the biggest trunk we could hope for.
Incidently, during our "running about" this morning to the bank (where we did some school work while waiting in the lobby - the Bank CEO was very excited to see this BTW) and car dealer (more school here, but we sat in teh new car to "test it out"), the children decided to bring along some school work ... working first in the Expedition, and then in the new van ... they said WOW - I HAVE ROOM TO MOVE MY LEGS (big kids) .... WOW - I can open my notebook without hitting or bothering anyone with it .... Hey Mom, we can get in and out of this van without stepping on anyone, or accidently kicking them ! Needless to say, the children are even MORE pleased than MomToCherubs and DadToCherubs.
All that is left is to get a full set (plus spare) of new tires and the running boards installed. Those parts were ordered today (as part of the "purchase deal") and will be put on the new van on Tuesday ... then we are all set to begin planning our itinerary for our fall trip.
So ... in preparation for our travels ... Step 1 (bigger vehicle, lower miles, comprehensive extended warranty for 5 years, etc) is COMPLETE.
To conclude ... we are VERY pleased with our purchase ... and now we are moving on to Step 2 now (planning our first trip, and stepping up the "hunt" for a Travel Trailer) ... LOOK OUT ROADS, HERE WE COME !!!!
UPDATE September 14, 2007: Our new tires and our shiny new running boards were put on just this morning by the Ford dealership. We will certainly feel safer with the new tires, considering the rain today. But to be honest, we were all MOST excited about the running boards because we are all "vertically-challenged" in this family (shhhh !! BIG SECRET) so now we do not have to "launch" ourselves into the van from the ground, banging knees and elbows along the way. HOORAY !!
No comments:
Post a Comment