Me and my Toyota Mini-van
Originally bought when i still resided in Cincinnati, but the legend of the van really took life in Charleston, West Virginia. The van was perfect for me, I could keep all of my camping and fishing gear in there and load in my bike, still leaving room for the middle seat to fold back to create a nice bed for me to sleep on. It was an outdoors person dream.
I took that thing in so many places and also got it stuck several times. I remember one time at Babcock State Park when I drove it down a long and steep rocky hill road to get to a great fishing spot I had been told about by a local. I was so impressed by the van for making it down, I really was worried it would get stuck. Little did I know I was on a dead end road and would have to retrace that route to get home. I did not think there was going to be any way back up it. I started out going slow but the van did not have the power for it. So I had to get a running start and just attack the hill. What seemed like small rocks when going downhill earlier, felt like boulders going up! I was bouncing everywhere, things shook and rattled in the van. I was just hoping it would hold together. Rocks flew up and hit the bottom of the van with thuds. My gear flew everywhere. But somehow the van stayed together and rambled its way up the hill like a champ!
There were many more great van adventures and stories (ask me about Mark and surfing on the van. I loved that little van. It ended up catching on fire one night in the garage. I awoke to see smoke filling my townhouse and immediately started taking all my valuables out of the townhouse and putting them into the van, only to notice that the smoke was coming from it!! I used the extinguisher to put it out. Apparently transmission fluid leaked onto the alternator which was still hot from driving and started smoking, not sure if there were ever flames but it did smoke A LOT! After that I decided it was time for a new vehicle.
I ended up giving the title over to a waiter as a tip at a restaurant we visited often. He fixed it up and it ran just fine. I was always sad seeing someone else driving her around town. I loved that van, but I fell in love with my new Jeep Cherokee pretty quickly also.
And it has now come full circle back to a minivan. A Dodge Grand Caravan. I wonder what adventures it will hold for us. I am sure there will be some, there is always adventure somehow for me :)
Caravan Update: While the exterior and interior of the Van is in great shape. I cannot say that much for the engine :( First we replaced the exhaust manifold, the catalytic converter and oxygen sensor. While it did sound 100% better it did not run any better. So we ended up replacing the CMP and CKP sensors, replaced the timing belt, cam key, and spark plugs…nothing. On to clean out the fuel injectors, still nothing changed. We are currently in limbo now awaiting more tests and attempts to find the problem. $900 so far and still hoping to find the issue and get it fixed. This is kinda par for the course for us, but it is getting old. We need a working vehicle soon :( :( :( And when it rains it pours! The flywheel is now broken and will cost $400 to fix. Unbelievable :( HAPPY UPDATE! The van is running!!! And running like a champ, just gotta get the A/C working now, and new tires and shocks!! *LMAO*