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The Last Haul

My husband is a die-hard do-it-yourselfer.  Over the years he has taken on more household projects than I can possibly count — everything from tiling bathrooms and rewiring our former 100-year-old home to finishing the basement in our current house and all sorts of odd jobs in between.  He’s always hauling something.  So almost six years ago, back when gas prices were somewhat reasonable, he decided to get a pickup truck.

One cold, snowy January day, I got on the internet and scoured used car listings until I found a few possibilities.  I got on the phone and wheeled and dealed until I got one down to a price that we could afford.  Then I called my husband at work and told him where it was and what the price was, and he drove out to take a look.  Later that day, he drove home in a big black Dodge Ram pickup.

The truck has been good to us, and my husband and his friends have certainly made good use of its hauling capabilities over the years.  But lately it’s been requiring a lot of maintenance, and between the maintenance costs and gas prices, we’ve decided that it’s time to trade it in for something more economical.

Last week, we made one last haul with the truck — we picked up columns to replace the ones that were rotting on our front porch.  When I went outside to take “before” pictures of the porch, I realized that it was probably the last haul with my husband’s beloved truck, so I snapped this picture for posterity.

truck

Sure enough, on Tuesday of this week, after weeks of researching and hunting and haggling, my husband drove the big black gas guzzling machine to work for the last time.

And at lunchtime he gladly traded it for this:

honda

Oooooh, are we ever having fun driving it.  The truck was fun.  But this is fun in an entirely different way.  For almost six years, we have owned an over-sized pickup truck and and a minivan.  We almost forgot what it was like to drive a car.

I do sort of miss the truck.  I tend to get sentimental about our automobiles.  I know my husband will miss it at times, more for practical than sentimental reasons.  But we are enjoying our new set of wheels, and we certainly don’t miss the gas charges.  Now, if we can only manage to drive it without getting a speeding ticket…

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11 Responses

  1. Very nice! It is nice to drive a car after driving something bigger. I enjoy driving TK4’s car once in a while – much different than my Sequoia.

  2. So sad! I used to drive a pickup truck and do miss it sometimes. But my husband has a totally old and beat up one, so we’re not completely truck-less. I think I just like driving it to see people’s reactions to a little lady like me (5’1″) driving this huge truck! By the way…love your fall blog look!

  3. They still make cars? LOL
    My husband is a die hard truck lover. I love trucks too but drive an SUV instead because I have the kids to haul around. Maybe it has something to do with both of us being so tall. LOL. Who knows!
    Enjoy your new wheels my friend. Don’t forget where your windshield wipers are! LOL
    Hugs.
    Kim

  4. We have a car and a little truck (Ford Ranger)…but we want to trade in the truck for a small SUV (more of a glorified station wagon, only with a third row). Then my husband would drive the car to work and it’d be our in-town vehicle for our little family…and the SUV would be for when I go back to after-school nannying next year (more room for kiddoes), for out of town trips, and for grocery shopping, etc.

  5. We have a big black pickup truck too. We have discussed trading it in for something more economical, but so far have kept it. Husband used it to haul lawn gear for his lawn business this summer, and we use it for tailgating. And we have to have it for camping, because the people fit in my car and the gear fits in his truck. But it is still tempting to downsize to something smaller.

  6. Pretty car! I sold my car (a good old ’98 Monte Carlo) and now drive a Suburban! I don’t have kids to haul around, but it is very useful and I like sitting up higher!

  7. Oh my. McDaddy is currently researching trucks to trade in our Toyota 4 Runner. I showed him the pictures of the truck and the Honda and he was all, “Alrighty then” – too bad we didn’t know, we might have bought your truck =) The 4-Runner doesn’t do the best job at hauling our camper and he too wants to be able to haul stuff. =) Love the new bloggy design. Would love to have the know-how to change color on a whim!!!

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