END OF AN ERA

After much deliberation (and almost 150K miles), Mike and I decided that we would finally replace our minivan. It was leaking oil almost faster than we could replace it, had some overheating issues, and felt too unreliable on a few occasions to take on a long trip. (I feel comfortable revealing all of our van's troubles since we've decided to donate it. It works, just with a few little oddities.)

I was very surprised when Adam said, "You can't replace the van, Mom. It's legendary." I'm wracking my brain and wondering how he could possibly be attached to this old blue wonder. He reminded me that Mike has been known to take this vehicle on scout trips, camping trips, and other wilderness trips. We've been gently made fun of for taking the van "where it probably shouldn't go." While I have taken it to Girls Camp a few times, Mike has taken it "off-roading" and over terrain where four-wheel drive would have been helpful. Optimist that he is, he just puts it in gear and takes off. I think one of our neighbors, who seems always to have a rig appropriate to rugged trips, once called it the "sport utility van." Anyway, the vehicle does have a colorful travel history.

I also realized that the van has a memorable family history. When we bought it, the kids were all small. One of the biggest debates we had was whether to get bucket seats in the middle, which Mike and I very much favored. Adam was a toddler at the time, and the kids always used to fight about whose turn it was to sit next to him. When we looked at a van that had bucket seats, the kids revolted. They wanted a bench seat so that someone could always sit right next to the little guy. That was the "special seat," and more than one argument resulted when someone tried to go out of turn. My, how times have changed.

I also have great memories of long car trips with the kids when they were small. It seems that van has been everywhere--Mexico, the Oregon Coast, California, Utah, and southeast Idaho, to name a few. We've had good times and bad, messy and not quite so messy, happy and less than happy. I guess an era will come to an end when we give the vehicle away, but I'll have to admit, moving on feels like a good thing in this respect.