Sold!

I sold my beloved Saturn. It's true. Not one month ago my little white trusty Saturn gave up. Completely. It just stopped in one day. There was no build up, no preparation, no coming to terms with the inevitable, it just stopped...in the middle of the left hand turn lane on one of the busiest intersections of Provo.

So that said - I put the Saturn up for sale not two days ago. As I was constructing a meaningful and aesthetically pleasing ad to place on ksl.com (amazing!), I began to reminisce, to think back on the good times I'd had with the Saturn. The commutes to the U. How carefully and thoughtfully it would take me home to Emery County in rain or shine. It's tendency to slip ever so slightly in the snow even if I did nothing to provoke it. It's yellow stained left side from the time I turned a little too ambitiously into the Brigham Apartment parking garage and caressed the yellow "pole" (I say "pole" because it was rather short and stocky vs tall and thin"). It's bran new drivers side mirror where I had, once again, caressed a construction barrel driving in a sickly and groggy state to a school out in west-who-the-heck-knows-where school for my teaching practicum.

Of course - this reminiscence led me to think about all the cars I'd driven in my day and the adventures that I had in them. None of them were "luxury" in fact they were even far from practical and mainly fell into the realm of "at least it runs...sometimes.." Come with me on a journey through Andrea's Auto-ventures...starting at age 16 with...

This little gem! A '84 Plymouth Horizon! No air conditioning of course but one hell of a great heater. And yes - pun intended. I don't think Hell could've produced more heat than this little beater. I had to climb in the passenger side because the drivers side handle had snapped off during a particularly nasty frost that first winter. No radio. And when I started it, it made a high pitched SQUEEEEEEEeeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeee to make sure I maintained a humble and grateful outlook on life. My friend Ashlee and her sister dubbed it "The Whore." Terrible yes...but fitting somehow.

Next - I graduated to a 87 Geo Prism. I was a Senior and "The Whore" just wasn't making it. What did I expect for $800? So my brother and I "shared" this cruiser for about one school year. Oh the fights...oh the contentions...oh the anger. Siblings shouldn't share cars. Especially when ones a boy and ones a girl. Luckily I graduated High School before it came to fist-a-cuffs and took my little car to Ephraim - where it was only driven to Wal-Mart and home (over Fairview Canyon in the snow). That little car, and the Lord, carried me white knuckled but safely through a terrible white out of a blizzard at the top of Huntington Canyon on my way home for Christmas from Snow College. I still can't believe I didn't end up in an embankment with the other 10-20 cars I passed along the way. This car also took me to SLC and the UofU for several years. However, as 87 Geo Prism's do - he started to slow down, cough up things, and begged for retirement in a small quaint home town only to be driven to the store and church on sunny days. Sigh. It was a reasonable request.

Lastly, we are brought back to the '97 Saturn SL2. As mentioned, this little beauty took me through my Bachelors degree - and brought me down to Provo. It has a working CD player, never gave me any "big" problems - merely a hiccup here or there - and has been a great little car for the last 3 years. We've really enjoyed our time together - and I hope that her new owner will give her the love and care she so needs to continue on the road for another 184,000 miles...

So what am I to do now? Currently I drive my brothers Ford Ranger and I ruddy hate it (he's on a mission in Madagascar so he doesn't mind...or know rather). Sure I appreciate that it runs - but again, after experiencing the luxury of air conditioning and "not so sensitive to every bump and dip in the road" CD player, I'm slightly spoiled. I GUESS! Not to mention the gas - oh my heavens the GAS!!! - is ridiculous. Although - I guess it is pretty cool being a chick driving a stick shift baby truck. Adds a little somethin somethin don't you think?

I was in the market for a new car - I've been considering Honda's, Hyundai's, Toyota's...but that's as far as its gotten. I'm waiting for a few things to pan out before I add another car to the list of Andrea's Auto-Ventures. I know I want it to be candy apple red though - oh yes - that's a must. Maybe a sun roof and a spoiler...mmmm...yeeeeeah...