19 ½ years = 7,100 days = 150,000 miles

Last night I hit 150,000 miles on my little red Honda CRX. I had loved their sporty look since high school in the early 80s, but always thought it very impractical since it had only 2 seats. But eventually I decided to throw practicality to the wind and bought one. July 6, 1991 (which turned out to be the last year they made CRXs). And in case you're wondering why I can remember the exact date, it's because it was my sister Janet's birthday and she was the only one I told beforehand that I'd bought it. Yeah, I still remember driving it home... mainly because I had to learn how to drive a stick really fast and I stalled it several times right in the middle of afternoon traffic on State Street.

But yes, I soon figured out how to drive it and a couple months later I took a couple weeks off and went on my own little road trip. It wasn't far, just down to Phoenix and back to spend a few days with Grandma Alice, but I took the scenic route and stopped at every scenic overlook or monument or whatever happened to be on the side of the road. I saw Cedar Breaks and hiked to the beautiful Alpine Pond there, toured the Glen Canyon dam, and went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I even got the car up over 100 miles per hour out in the middle of the desert (please note: this is not an activity I'd recommend for my children!). I had a lot of fun.

Of course, this was all back before I was married. I remember riding with my friend Joe and he made some comment like: "surely you don't think that just because you've got this car now, you'll get married?" (Joe sometimes seemed a bit obsessed with finding a wife.) I assured him that my reason was just that I'd wanted a CRX for a long time. But I no sooner got back to work from my little road trip than I really noticed for the first time that incredibly cute little blonde behind the front desk. She was so far out of my league, but I impulsively threw caution to the wind and asked her out. Less than a year later we got married and my friend Joe went out and bought himself a cool sports car.

But if I thought the car might be impractical then, how much less so nineteen years later when I've got 4 kids? The kids said I looked like Mr. Incredible driving it. Really?!? I've been working out, but I didn't realize... oh, they just meant I'm a big guy and it's a really little car. But it's had so few problems and still gets about 36 miles to the gallon. I probably should get something bigger and easier to fit kids in, but that would mean a car payment, too. We'll see how that goes, but for now I'm happy with 150,000 miles.