We Have A New Ride

Today was one busy day from sunrise till 10PM. We just got home. I met LuAnn at Hillsboro and we drove down the old Y Restaurant on US 62 for dinner. It was nice to see our banker two tables down. They have a young child and a nice family.

The 3 piece Y fish, salad bar, vegetable and potato is always good and only $8. That is one of the best buys around. LuAnn tried the chicken stir fry with sweet potato fries and it looked delicious, too. Drinks and a good meal under $20 is hard to find these days. It was well worth the trip.

We stopped to look at a 2007 Dodge Dakota our dealer friend just got in from lease with 30,000 miles on it. He wants $18,900 for it and LuAnn offered him $16,000 cash. He wouldn't go below $17,700 so we walked.

We went to look at my first vehicle from Craig's list. It was south of West Union, just north of the Ohio River. It is a long curvy drive no matter how you go.

A grandmother passed away and they had to sell the truck to settle the estate. Come to find out this is what was left to pay off her funeral. I knew right then this was God's plan and not mine.

You see the old 2001 has been dying for a year and it has a coolant leak I can't find because it is internal. It doesn't flood the crankcase, it blows it out the exhaust. I decided I wasn't going to tear down a truck with 214,000 miles on it but I know it will run 300,000 miles with what I have done to maintain it.

Sable and I were walking corn this afternoon until we got hot and we came home for a break. When I shut the engine off, more coolant gushed out from underneath than ever had before and it has been getting progressively worse this month and especially the last few days. It has been to 3 mechanic friends and no one could find an inexpensive fix without tearing it down. It runs great, it just eats coolant.

I didn't know what to do so I just prayed the Rosary to take my mind off it. I came into my office and googled used Dakota pickups in southwest Ohio. This truck was the third one I found. I emailed LuAnn and she never came home at 4:30 as usual so I left a message to stay at work and I would pick her up, go for dinner and go look for a truck.

After dinner, we drove that hilly ride to the river. We drove it, I liked it, we negotiated a price, notarized the title and I drove it home.

When I got home just now Sable was all over me and I looked her in the eyes and said we have a new ride. LuAnn burst out laughing.

We do have a new ride. It is not new, but it is new to me. I have no doubt it will be as good as the last two have been.

Too bad they don't make them anymore.

Ed