Sympathico

From Hybrid to Huge Truck

Posted by  Brooke Tower on Wednesday, January 29, 2014

January 13, 2014--Today was a big day for us.  We picked up our pickup truck, the first major purchase toward this dream that we have been talking about for almost 2 years now.  I'm not sure why, but somehow the thought of me driving a pickup truck continues to be one of the funniest ideas to me.  Maybe it is because I grew up in a town that doesn't even allow pickups to be parked anywhere but in garages.  Maybe it is because for the last 15 years the largest car we have owned is a Honda Accord.  Maybe it is because it seems ridiculous to be selling our hybrid Honda Insight that gets about 45 mpg to buy a HUGE truck that gets about 14 mpg, at best.  Whatever the reason, I could not stop giggling as I drove it for the first time, and Luke was equally as incredulous and laughing when I picked him up from school.  I was surprised that when I passed another truck on the road that the thought, "Hmmm. My truck is bigger!" came to mind.  I know this adventure will change our perspectives and will bring out different parts of who we are, for better and worse, but I did not see pride in having a large truck being a part of that.

January 28, 2014--Due to technical web host-related difficulty, I wasn't able to post this until today and that gave me a couple weeks to practice driving this Ford F250 truck and have a few notes to add to this post.  There have been some firsts that come with driving a truck rather than a car:  using a drive-through to pick up a prescription involved unbuckling my seatbelt and leaning way out in order to reach down to get my little bag, putting groceries in the back seat rather than the trunk, and considering more carefully where to park this beast of a vehicle to make sure that I can get in and out without causing some damage.  Some perks of being in such a large truck are being able to see over the growing snowdrifts (and cars), seeing more clearly with extra mirrors when changing lanes, and using 4-wheel drive on the slippery roads.

Lessons learned in this first visible reality of how our life is changing:

• Buying a truck may bring out some unexpected pride in owning a large vehicle
• Some trucks are parked in the driveway not because the garage is too crowded, but because it is too stinking long to fit and have the garage door close
• Selling 2 cars does not equal the price of buying 1 truck (I was naive, J. was not)

On a side note, our first letting go happened when we sold our 2010 Honda Insight the day after we brought home the truck.  We were all sad to see it go.