…and counting!

     The odometer on our PT Cruiser rolled over to 200,000 yesterday as we were driving to Longview.  That’s a lot of miles in nine years.  When you live in Oysterville, everything is farther away!
     But, to be honest, we’ve done a lot of traveling in this little car.  We bought the Cruiser in June 2001, just after I retired from teaching, and took it on its first big road trip in the fall of 2002.  We travelled around the perimeter (more-or-less) of the United States visiting friends and relatives and seeing many wonderful ‘byways’ that we had not been to previously.  On top of that three-month-16,000-mile trek, we go to California once or, sometimes, twice a year.  And so the miles add up.
     We really like the Cruiser.  It still gets between 30 and 32 miles to the gallon.  It is roomy, with enough head-room for tall Nyel and plenty of storage/haulage space.  And, so far (knock wood), we’ve not had any major problems with it.  With all those pluses, of course, it stands to reason that Chrysler has chosen to discontinue making PT Cruisers.
     It’s the story of my life with cars. One of my best auto experiences was with a Volkswagen Bug.  I picked it up at the place of its manufacture in Wolfsburg, Germany, in the summer of 1964.  After touring Europe all summer (back roads, again), I was able to bring it into the U.S. as a used car.  It served me well for ten years and then I gave it to my son who used it for another ten.  I replaced it with a Super Beetle in 1974 which was also a great car.  But, like PT Cruisers, Bugs and Beetles are no more.
      What will be the next car of choice? Undoubtedly, it will be a duel-fuel or other alternative-to-gasoline type vehicle.  Or will the Cruiser last until Dial-A-Ride is the best option for us?  We are putting off those hard decisions for awhile yet.  For us, it’s 200,000 and counting.