Good-bye Beast... Hello Beauty!

The time has (finally) come to say good-bye (and good riddance) to our pick-up. She has served us well these last 11 years and while we are jumping up and down with joy to finally be rid of her, there were some good (bad) memories with her.



Memory #1 - Mark and I driving to La Grande and The Beast breaking down while we were headed up Cabbage Hill. Mark informed me we would have to hitch-hike (what would my mom say!!) in order to get home. To top it off, he happened to have his 270 with him (hunting rifle) and he refused to leave it in the pick-up. I cried as he stuck his thumb out knowing that we would never get picked up while we had a GUN with us. Not 5 seconds later, 2 college girls driving a little truck stopped for us and they carried the gun up front with them and Mark and I sat in the back to La Grande. Quite a scenic trip if I do say so myself.



Memory #2 - Driving to Boise with Mark and we are in the middle of nowhere when The Beast decides to break down - again. Mark tells me we are going to have to hitch hike - again. This time no tears, I just give conditions: no truck drivers, no van full of Mexicans ( I can say that since I'm half Mexican ). No sooner are the words out of my mouth when a semi-truck pulls over. Short story, he was the nicest person and stopped because he saw me and wouldn't want his own daughter hitchhiking. He had a cooler full of food and sodas that he offered to us and provided us with a safe and comfy ride to Boise.

Memory #3 - We are moving to Pendleton from La Grande and Mark has a load of stuff in the back of The Beast and I am following him in our little purple-people eater. I am driving down the highway when I spy a pair of underwear on the side of the road.

"Ha" I smirk to myself "Someone had a good time last night!"

A few more miles down the road, I spy another pair of underwear on the side of the road.

"That's a little weird. I wonder what the road construction people are going to think!"

I am now watching for more underwear, and sure enough a couple of miles later I spy yet another pair on the side of the road. As I cruise closer, I suddenly gasp in horror and recognition,

"Those are MY underwear!"

Needless to say, I hit the gas, caught up with Mark and made him pull-over. The box that contained my underwear had come open and half my collection was blowing in the wind between La Grande and Pendleton.

Hello Big Red! It's not the fact that we have a new truck that has Mark and I so excited. It's the accomplishment of a goal. Almost 3 years ago, Mark and I committed ourselves to the Dave Ramsey plan. We sold our Explorer and got crazy about getting out of debt. Last May we met that goal and started to save for a new truck. We did some other things as well like having our house reappraised, buying a new computer and printer, as well as buying plane tickets for our trip to the Caribbean this June. But overall, we have saved towards the purchase of a new truck. We have needed a new truck desperately. We can't all fit into the old truck, it's very unreliable (see above mentioned memories) and it's very, very old (almost 30! which in truck years is like 80). It was sooooo satisfying to be able to go to the dealership and pick which truck we wanted and say this is what we will pay and then write them a check for it. We got a GREAT deal on this baby. She is a 2005, Chevy 2500, full cab beauty with a spray-in bed liner. She has 38,000 miles and was kept in a garage her whole life. We are going to get some new tires for her and that's about all she needs. Need I tell you how excited my husband was? I think not!