Daddy's Back!

Turns out it wasn't such a long 20 days after all. I bought a Super Duty today.

Now hear me out. I did NOT buy the $60k dream Super Duty. Another dealership down the road just happened to have a used one that caught my eye in a big way. I was just innocently driving by when I saw it and cut across three lanes to fly into the dealership parking lot. Clearly the Universe wanted me to have a truck. Now. This particular rig was my dream Super Duty back in 2007. It's got all the bells and whistles that they had in '07, it's the exact color I wanted, AND it has the bonus of being outfitted with some seriously aggressive wheels and tires. HOT!

The great thing is I picked it up (after a lot of haggling) for a mere $28k (which I verified IS the KBB value) so I kept the Yaris! This truck will definitely get me by until the 2012 Super Duty comes out. It's so sweet! I'd post a pic but it's dark now, and the truck'll be covered in a foot of snow by morning. I'll post a pic next week when it feels like (and actually is) spring again.

Why did I bother to keep the Yaris? I like it. It's my Bouldermobile. And I like Gerard having something to get around in (he won't drive anything bigger than a Jeep). Also I like to be able to park on the front row at Whole Foods and take just one parking space. The Yaris is for in-town errands and occasional jaunts to work, while the Super Duty is for out-of-town, the horse ranch, moving crap, hiking and snowshoeing expeditions, road trips and just plain cruising on beautiful summer afternoons.

And while I'm on the topic of the Super Duty, I've done a lot of reading up on this forthcoming redesign. One thing I thought was particularly intriguing was that its max towing capacity will actually be such that if you were to load that beast up to the max, you'd legally be required to get a commercial trucker's license to tow the load. Wow! I had to pause and asked myself, "Why on earth would you ever need that?" Well I wouldn't. But it would sure be cool (in my world) to have. In addition, this'll be Ford's first 100% American made diesel engine, and it'll also be the cleanest one yet produced. In talking with a co-worker who specializes in hydrogen fuel technology, I learned that diesel engines in the US are actually 10% more efficient than gas engines, and the technology is in place to boost that to 20%.

I'll be following the buzz on Ford's new engine closely over the next 20 months. I bet you can't wait to read all about that.

I'm so ready to hit the open road again.