A little more than 11 years ago we found out that we got the internship with Intel and that even better, we were going to be working in Hudson, Massachusetts. We were very excited and then it hit us. What are we going to do for a car? The poor Subaru had no chance to make it to the east coast unless it was towed by something or thrown on a train. We had to get a car, but as poor students, what could we afford? Julie started to search the newspapers for decent, cheap sedans. She found an ad for a 7 year old Mazda 626. We checked out the reviews (quality - check), took her for a test drive (ran fine - check) and negotiated it to our feeble budget (cheap - check). Weeks later, her toughest test was on.
We drove down to LA from Provo for Mike and Kim's wedding, turned around, packed her up in Provo again and made our way to Hudson. One week, both coasts, and she gobbled up the miles. Every weekend we were traveling somewhere new: Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, etc. After returning from the internship, she settled into her life as the family car. She brought 2 babies home from the hospital, moved us to Oregon and carried us to who knows how many meetings, soccer practices, basketball games and band performances.
Although oxidation set in early, she continued to cruise on with only oil changes. Julie pushed me to get another car. I have to admit, she was was looking pretty bad, but I couldn't justify anything until a couple months ago. We had some friends visiting and Julie and the girls met them out at the coast. I had another day of work, so Connor and I headed out in the Mazda the next day. I'll be honest, I was a little worried, but she kicked in and had no problems. I was surprised and proud enough that I bragged to Julie that she would never die....and then we had to come home. After we got back, I noticed a strange sound that would kick in after starting her up and driving a half block and it didn't go away. I held it from Julie for about a week. There was no way to hide it any more. Z had to be retired.
We have spent the last couple months trying to find a suitable replacement and pulled the trigger on Saturday. Z will be donated to hopefully be given some good attention and regain a little of her good form to help another family. So to you Z, thanks for the memories. You were a GREAT car!
The replacement...
The girls have dubbed her Graysie...
These are for Luke....
Here's the girls during...
And here's the girls after....
We had a good time. I have to say I really liked the Tinker Bell show the best. The girls said their favorite was all of it. I'm glad we had the chance to go.
These are for Luke....
Here's the girls during...
And here's the girls after....
We had a good time. I have to say I really liked the Tinker Bell show the best. The girls said their favorite was all of it. I'm glad we had the chance to go.
