Cathy's Cars
One of the problems we had in that first summer (1998) was transporting people
around. No problem whenever it was only us, but if Cathy went anywhere with
friends and all the kids it meant the other person had to take their minivan.
Not a big deal, but it didn't feel fair on our friends who always ended up driving.
So, we'd been considering a minivan for some time. We'd previously owned a
Renault Espace back in Scotland, and it was really useful, so we knew tha advantages
of one, it was just a case of building up a head of steam. So to speak. The
infamous straw, in this case, turned out to be a tire on the Malibu that went
flat. After the third attempt to get it sorted Graham said we should just get
a new car. Cathy and I looked at each other and thought 'Why not.' So we looked
at the Dodge Grand Caravan, but didn't like the dealership, then a Chevy Venture,
but the salesman was a real dweeb, so we went back to the Ford dealership we
got the Mustang from, the same salesman. (I had said that I'd be back for a
Windstar one day!) There was a nice Windstar LX on the lot, Spruce Green, with
just the options we wanted, no fancy stuff. I did the same research as before,
and Paul Poppas knew to give us a good deal and off we drove.
That was in February 2000, and almost a year on, and the van has proved to
be excellent transport, whether taking the troops to soccer or heading for the
coast loaded with bodies and stuff. These minivans are excellent transport,
and with a 3.8l engine it moves along nicely. Very impressive.
