I'm in love with my Forester!

No, it's not a big, burly guy wearing a plaid shirt.  It's a car, a vehicle, an SUV, or really an oversized station wagon!  But as with so many things, the term "station wagon" is not "classy", so SUV it is! 

Now mine is a real SUV as it's all-wheel-drive, which I really don't know the difference between that and four-wheel-drive.  Again, it could be what ever sounds "classier."  AWD sounds more urban/suburban, where as 4WD sounds more rugged, manly, outdoorsy, rural, and not at all sophisticated.

Anyway, I was in the market for this car for over a year.  I originally saw one parked at a wildlife area where I like to hike.  I liked the size, the style, and the fact that it should go near anywhere.  Since I got a new job where I drive alot, I decided it was time for the car, plus I could now afford to make payments.  Ugh! 

Subaru makes them, and we have a Subaru dealer in the area, but they're not well-liked (the dealer) so I looked elsewhere.  And I looked, and I looked, and I looked.  I looked at eBay, Craigslist, Autotrader.com.  I went to dealers out of the area.  I was looking for a used one, and there were none to be found.  If you go out West, or out East, they're everywhere.  Around here, they're practically unheard of.

I was sitting in McDonald's, reading a local advertising newspaper.   I never read car ads, but I needed to kill some time, so I succumbed.  Lo and behold, I found a description of the car I wanted, at a Ford dealer, who just happened to be on the way home from where I was!  And even the price was right. 

I stopped there on the way home, cruised the lot to make sure the car was still there, found it, talked to the salesman who pulled the car around for me to see, and fell in love!   It had all the bells and whistles I could ever ask for.  If I were to special order this car, the only thing I would have changed would have been the color.  I really, really wanted a light or white colored car, as they're easier to keep clean, and this one is dark grey!

It's got heated leather seats.  It's got remote start!  It's got a sun roof!  It's set up for satellite radio!  And now it's mine more or less...

I thought about going back to the Ford dealer to tell him that Im sorry, but I will never buy a car from him again, as I'm keeping this one forever!  Or unless he starts to sell Subarus when this one finally bites the dust.   Which will be a long time coming, as owners tell me they drive them 200-300 thousand miles and they keep on ticking! 

I should go back to the lending bank too because they looked at me as though I were nuts when I told them I wanted a Forester, but had never even driven one!   Test driving this one only strengthened my resolve that this was the car for me.

Now if I could only get Subaru to make me their spokesperson, and give me a free one so I wouldn't have car payments...hmmm...

Sorry Starbucks!

I recently bought a new "go" cup at Starbucks, as I needed a certain shape (not flared at the bottom) to fit in my car's cup holder.  I wanted a deeper cup than I already owned, and Starbucks had one that I liked, and I liked the picture/design on the cup.  It was not cheap, even with the free first cup of joe.   But I read the advertisement on the bottom, and the cup was Made in America, and of recycled materials!  I've been trying to buy more and more products made in America as we need all the help we can get to get this economy on the mend, and jobs back to our fellow citizens.  And I try to recycle as much as I can. 

Well, the cup had a design flaw, in my opinion.   The lid, when "flipped back and locked in place" would hit me in the nose when I tried to drink out of the cup.   I cannot adequately explain the problem, but it just would not work for me.  So I returned the cup.  BUT, they had yet another cup, even deeper, with a better designed lid!  I was now excited and forgiving at the same time. 

Then I looked at the bottom of the cup for the obligatory information including price.  The cup was the same price, but made in China.  I did not buy the cup.  Think about it, same company, bigger cup (okay that may have made  a small difference in cost-per-cup to the American company), different design which was okay, said nothing about being recycled (which again can be a cost deterrent), and the price which was about 3 times what you would pay for a similar cup at the gas station.   

I'll pay a little more for something made in the USA.  

Farm country in Pennsylvania

Can't say enough about the beautiful farm country in Pennsylvania.

This farm was just down the road from the totem picture in the previous post.  

Roadside attractions...

There is a fun show on PBS called something like Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations.  Two or three guys just cruise the highways and byways of American and do stories on some things they see.  Probably we've all done that, saw something interesting in passing along a road, and wondered "...what was that?..."

While in Pennsylvania, we were going down a country road that we were familiar with, although we had not been down this end of the road, and came across this sight...

 It's on the front lawn of a small business, that was closed at the time we found this.  Don't know anything about it, but how cool is this? My hat's off to the artist! 

Howdy!

I love these guys!  I remember the first time I rode through the town of Marionville, MO, and saw the "HOWDY tanks" as they're affectionately known.   They line up along the roadside, when you drive into town on the main highway.   I think they either held kerosene, or diesel fuel at one time.  They're almost as well known as the white squirrels (which also occur in Red Bud, Illinois.)

A few years back the tanks were to be removed.  There was such a hue and cry, that the tanks not only were left standing, but repainted!  Here's how they looked just a few weeks ago.

Doesn't that just make you feel good???!!

Love found, love lost...

Americans have a love affair with their cars...when they first buy them.  They wash them.  They polish them.  They brag about them to their friends.  But after a while, various things can happen.  The styles change.  Personal  needs change.  The bloom is gone from the flower, and the cars find themselves abandoned along the roadside.  While traveling the back roads for my job, I came across some of these cars sitting in tall grass, with sale signs on them. 

These are not necessarily abandoned, broken down heaps, with dents, and damage, but even though they have "For Sale" signs on them, and phone numbers, they are vacated in places where the weather and rodents can take their toll.  Every day they sit make their worth a little less so.  The love we once had for them is now lost.

Let me present two Pontiac Fieros.  They aren't made any more, but I guess, in their time, they were quite the sporty cars, and very much appreciated.  Makes you wonder what the story is behind them.  If they could talk, what would they say?  Who loved them and left them?

Eavesdropping on a sad conversation...

We were sitting in McDonald's, in Eureka Springs, AR, this morning, it wasn't crowded, and three young people (under age 20 most likely) were sitting a few tables away.  They weren't loud, but since the restaurant was so quiet, their conversation was readily audible to us.  These were good looking kids, dressed decently, not raggedy, not trying to portray a statement such as punk, or Goth, or gang-banger. Just kids.

One young boy, in particular, made some comments that just shook us to the core.  He mentioned to his friends that he had three felony arrests already, as if it were a common occurence, and "stuff happens."   I don't know if it was the same young man, or his friend, who said he dropped out of school at age 13!

As we left, we pondered where they got the money to buy anything at McDonald's.  Do they steal?  Pan-handle?  Sell drugs?  Get money from absentee parents?   

A sad thing to see and observe, but what can be done?  I sure don't have any answers for these kids except the obvious...go back to school, get a job, start to fly right.  But they're strangers to me.  Where are their authority figures?  Does anyone even care about them?