Last Dance with Mary Jane

In 2005, I bought a red Toyota Corolla brand spanking new.  Her name was Mary Jane and she was an excellent car.

She took me and my family to Oregon, to New Mexico, and back and forth from Austin to East Texas and Louisiana countless times....165,000 miles worth.  I never did anything to her but change the oil and tires, and once I bought a new battery.  I think I had the brakes worked on too.   But for 11 years now she has been faithfully getting me where I needed to go with a minimum of hassle.

On my last trip from Austin to Urania, she got 38 miles to the gallon!

But even though, she has been an excellent car, I felt that with the traveling I have to do, I should look into getting a newer one.

I heard through the grapevine that a woman I knew from high school was looking for a car for her grandson. He just graduated from high school last month, and is going to school in Alexandria, so needed a car to get back and forth.

After meeting him, I realize that he's the kind of guy who needs to be living somewhere else besides the Bible belt.  And I'm so happy that Mary Jane and I can contribute in some small way to help him escape.

I was able to sell her for twice what I was offered for her at the dealership, but the price was still lower than they would have paid for the same car from a commercial seller.  It was a win/win!

The new owner works at the local grocery store and I've seen Mary Jane a couple of times when I've gone to buy groceries.  She is cleaner and shinier than she's looked in a long time.  And I'm gratified to see that he hasn't removed the bumper sticker that says:  Turn off Fox.  Bad news for America.

I have some friends here who are in the car business, and they have been looking for one at the auction. Thursday they called to say that they found what I wanted, a 2013 Prius. It only has 36,000 miles and the price was affordable.


So meet my new ride, Herbie.  We'll be going on our first trip to New Mexico next month, taking my grandson to see his new baby sister. I hope that Herbie will be as good to me as Mary Jane has been.

So long till next time.

Garden Shots

I've been doing a lot of gardening and yard work.  These pictures have been taken over the past few weeks.

Squash plant progress.

Mom inspects the garden

Little green peaches

     Spiders are a nutritious part of the anole diet.

                     

Cukes

Davis' arch rival -- Dr. Claw

Dr. Claw's  minion

Back yard scenes