Our departure from the U.S. this time included closing the book on one part of our life that has been there since we met. In 2009, long before I met Sue, I bought a very shiny, dark red Saab 9³ convertible. It was first my, then our go to car. Sue had a very sensible and reliable Prius, that did everything a car should do (including being very economical) while I had a car with numerous mechanical issues, minimal storage (especially with the top down) but was incredibly fun to drive. So of course, whenever we went anywhere we took the Saab.

Our first big road trip was from Chicago to Denver and back. Any reasonable person would go straight west, basically I-88 –> I-80–> I-76. A 1,000-mile straight shot across the boring American Midwest. But oh no, not us. We went Chicago to Minneapolis (caught a Twins game and visited the Mary Tyler Moore statue) then headed to Fargo, ND; Crofton, NE; Carhenge (yes, it is what it sounds like), Cheyenne, WY, then finally to Denver. Great fun, lots of stops along the way and our first memory-making road trip. The car only broke down once – (yes Sue, I know that is supposed to be an emdash, but I don’t know how to make one in WordPress. Here you go —) in the teaming metropolis of Crofton. Luckily we found a great mechanic who quickly fixed it and got us on our way with only a short delay.

Our second major road trip was from Chicago to the Grand Canyon, then up to Zion, Bryce and Arches National Parks. We were lucky enough not to have any car issues on this drive other than when we were driving on a two-lane road with a couple-hundred-foot drop and someone decided to pulled out of a scenic overview without looking. Sue braked, honked the horn, swerved just enough not hit them all at the same time. I am an excellent driver. I saw that near accident coming. I, on the other hand, was cowering in my seat and attempted to not shit my pants. (Yes, I was successful in that…barely. Lucky for me.)

In 2020, we moved to Maryland to be near our granddaughter. The drive from Chicago east is not particularly interesting across Indiana and most of Ohio, but as you get close to the Appalachians, the view and the drives become more interesting. Because we were relocating, we had both cars, so I drove the Saab and Sue drove the Prius. I am sure I got the better end of that deal, but I got way better gas mileage.

In 2021, the Happy Idiots tour started and we stored the cars at my sister’s house and only drove during our trips back. After a few years, my sister decided to move and we decided that we only needed one car. We did the only thing that would make sense (read: the only thing that Steven was OK with), we got rid of the reliable but boring Prius and kept the never particularly reliable car, whose company had shut down 10 year’s previous and whose parts were getting hard to get.

We now needed a new “storage facility” for the Saab. My mother agreed to let us store it at her place in Florida. At the time were staying in Washington, D.C. and when it was time to leave the U.S., we hopped in the car early one morning, turned left onto14th Street and then drove 1,000 miles on the same road because 14th street turns into I-395 which turns into I-95. One road the entire trip until we turned right to get off the highway about two miles from my mother’s place. We did it in one day, stopping for lunch and dinner by the highway. It was summer, but the car was full, so the top had to be up. 😦

For the next few years, when we returned to the U.S., we would ship the car to our starting point, usually Chicago. Inevitably we drive from there to Maryland, then down to Florida. We loved the drives, sometime the top was up, sometime the top was down, but always the car handled beautifully.

This year we made the decision to let go of the car. The cost of shipping and repairs was rapidly making it more expensive than it would be to rent a car while we are visiting. At 20 years old, the transmission, engine and suspension were all getting well past their sell-by dates, and list of things that we just weren’t bothering to repair (or couldn’t get repaired) was growing longer.

We donated the car to charity, and they arranged to pick it up our last day in the U.S. It was a little bit sad, (now I’m sad again reading this) but also time to remember all the happy memories. We just wanted say thank you.