Sad Good byes

We have known for awhile now that the time with our beloved Taurus Wagon is coming to a close.

We have known since a trip to Florida a few years ago when we limped her back home.

We really knew after our vacation to Illinois when she would suddenly stop running at the most inconvenient times.

We knew for sure when on the 100+ degree days we were unable to use the air conditioning without the car killing on us.

But even knowing has not made this easy.

Yes, it is just a car and

No, I have  not ever been this attached to a vehicle before, although I did love our T-Bird, but I digress.

This Taurus wagon has taken us on every one of our 15 or so trips to St. George Island.  It has carried our bikes, Courtney's wedding dress, hermit crabs, buckets of white sand, bags of seashells, and countless people to and from the Island.

It has taken my daughters to and from college every year for six years straight.  It only missed Courtney's first year in college.  All of their stuff has always easily fit into her or him.  (I have never been sure if this car should be referred to as a female or male.)  It has transported TV's, trunks full of treasures, futons, favorite stuffed animals, and hundreds of shoes to and from Knox and Illinois Wesleyan College.

Courtney tells the story of the first time that John came to Knox to pick her up in the Taurus.  She was shocked to see a station wagon, rather embarrassed, I think.  It was not the usual van driven by most families.  She says she just knew everything would not fit into that wagon, but it did!

This may or may not have been the time that John was throwing single shoes into boxes and lecturing Courtney on never packing a box that she could not lift.  Lessons learned right alongside that car.

Just so you know, Courtney learned to love that car, too.

On of its greatest features was a seat that folded up in the back facing backwards.  It was always an adventure ride in that seat.

I remember when we first bought the car, Mallory was with us and she rode in that special backseat.

One time for her birthday party, three kids sat in that seat all the way to Waukesha for her party.

Yep, I am going to miss that seat.

There was also a hidden trap door in the back.  When we took Alissa to College her Sophomore year, we were all the way to El Paso (about 30 minutes up the road) when we realized all her underwear and bras were packed in that little cubby.  We had to head back to deliver it.

Anyway, enough memories for now.

We just had some work done on the Taurus by our trusted and very honest mechanic.  He feels there is still life in her.  (There I am calling her a her)

Just a week after the repairs, oil started pouring out of her.  She was oiling out (like bleeding out) or so we thought.

Last night, John desperately went shopping for a used vehicle to replace her.  He brought home a honkin big Jeep, that was not going to fill her wheels.

We decided to return her to Jeff, our car doctor.  He called with the results today, it was not a death sentence, but rather just a cracked oil filter caused by him at the last repair.  It just needed a band aid.

Yes, we have some time left with our beloved Taurus!

 On a somewhat different note, our dryer died last week, right in mid cycle.

She (another female, I think) was just 12, but they don't make them like they used to.

I had no emotional attachments to that dryer.

In the same breath, I did not want to have to pay to replace her.  This was not a fun shopping trip, I was not upgrading or looking or a dryer with bells and whistles, I just wanted the same simple one I had before.

John went our and bought if for us.  I did not want to listen to a salesman trying to sell me a cadillac dryer.  Those saleman can smell my inability to say No.  John, on the other hand, just found the least expensive one and said, "that's the one."

It was delivered today.

Works fine, but I still did not want to have to purchase a dryer.

It's the old one in the picture by the way.

I did ask for the big box it came in so Tiz and I can make something with it.  I guess that was the good part of buying that dryer.

I will end this long post with a picture of me and courtney sitting in that little seat in the way back of the Taurus.

We rode back there all the way to Brookfield last summer to visit Pops so that we could all fit into one car.

I am going to miss you, Taurus Wagon, you have served us well.