So we're off...Off our rockers, off on vacation, out of our minds to think that a car, purchased in a spur of the moment whim on Craigslist for the princely sum of $495, would make it out of the owner's back yard, much less the 300 and some-odd-miles to Fredericksburg, VA. Yet, here we are.
The cramped quarters in EZ bring to mind another infamous road trip, that of three newly minted college grads on a quest beyond their provincial upbringings. That trip, my good friends, Q and David, piled into my 1983 Honda Civic for a cross-country expedition filled with adventure, skunks, spilled beans, an encounter with a small town constabulary and a short trip into the Twilight Zone. Thing is, that small car, probably about the same size as EZ, didn't seem so small. Close quarters for the poor soul in the back seat, sure, but not stuffed to the brim like some Dust Bowl refugee as our current vehicle seems to be.
Granted, we weren't carrying a a five gallon keg of homebrewed Belgian-style ale, enough electronics to place us on the NSA's "Persons Of Interest" list and the general ephemera one tends to collect and find necessary as the road of life winds on. Naaaaaaaa.... It's probably just the spare tires that don't remain in the car when we exit that is enhancing the claustrophobic ambiance.
Crowded or no, EZ seems to take no notice of the extra burden, humming right along at a few miles per hour above the posted limit. Now this is the thing that gets me. Here we are in 2009 and we still need the force of legislation to ensure that our motorized exoskeletons will achieve an average 35.5 MPG by....wait for it....2016! EZ, in all her battered glory and carrying a wide (or is that "weird"?) load, managed 35 MPG on this first leg of our journey. What did they know in 1988 that is so difficult to comprehend today? Who knows, if the economy hasn't yet reached its nadir as we all so firmly hope, Wendy and I might find a Hummer on the cheap for next year's run.
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