Is there anything as "uncool" as a senior citizen driving a minivan? I mean, in this day and age of EVs, SUVs, and jacked up pickup trucks, how lame is it that we choose a Chrysler Town and Country? Answer: we are trendsetters.
Our first minivan was a Dodge Voyager way back in the 80s. Three kids, running the roads to school, athletic events, grocery shopping we were among the first "Soccer Mom" practitioners. As the kids got their licenses we evolved into the multi vehicle class; VW Jetta's and Jeeps. For a long time our driveway looked like a used car lot.
And then in 2007 we decided to sell the house and drive around the country. Didn't know our journey would continue to this day. We explored RV's. Too expensive and too burdensome. Really limited flexibility as to where you could go, where you could park, who you could visit, unless, of course, you were towing a car behind you. Not to mention fuel, RV park rental and maintenance costs.
We decided on a Chrysler Town and Country Touring Van. We put a Thule on top in which we packed our tent, sleeping bags and camping gear. And then, for our first trip out and about, we put down the rear seats and packed it full of everything we thought we needed or couldn't live without. Organization was key.
Connie loved being up higher and the reclining, heated seats. Great road visibility. The dogs settled into the space between the two front seats... on fluffy pillows, of course. I mastered the speed control. It was the perfect Spartan vehicle for our cross country travels. And , since then, it is perfect for schlepping everything from moving the kids to building supplies. And now, grandkids.
I remember sheltering in place in the van in a concrete car wash as a tornado swept through Mobile, Alabama. And sleeping in the back in a truck stop in Katy, Texas. It was the perfect platform for camping in the National Parks, which we did a lot. Diving the PCH from San Diego to Portland, Oregon would have been a nightmare in an RV.
When we returned to Maine for the summer, we thoughtfully reconsidered our "stuff". We offloaded a lot of clothes and extraneous things that no longer seemed necessary and created enough space to upload two additional items. Connie chose her massage table. I packed my guitar. And the driving adventure continues. Six times coast to coast, exploring this amazing country, visiting friends and family.
Three years ago we sold "Big Blue" and purchased... wait for it... another silver Town and Country, a model from the last year they were to be manufactured. Our family laughed at us. But now sweet vindication. Our niece with her young active family loves her new van. Our daughter-in-law's sister bought one after the birth of her second and third children, twins. My sister and her daughter and son all got vans for their growing tribes. My daughter and son-in-law routinely borrow the van to haul cribs, trash, bicycles. Recently he suggested I give the van to our grandson when he is of driving age...in 12 years.
So now we are cool. Visionaries. Trendsetters. Practicality over style. Versatility over popularity. Minivans and Senior Citizens get a bad rap. Just sayin'.
“Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blown-in-the glass bum relax and go along with it. Only then do the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”
― Travels with Charley: In Search of America
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