Big Honkin' Truck

This is the new truck. Well, new to us. After driving a Ford Ranger since '90, this feels really big, even bigger than the van. Lee is really liking it though. It's a Chevy Silverado & it seats up to 6, although I wouldn't put adults in the back so much. It's fine for the kids tho.

The engine is a V8, I think, so it is plenty capable for hauling something heavy, or putting a camper on there or something. It does suck up the gas though, so I don't think we'll be using it for that sort of stuff very often. The trailer stuff is all there, with wires for lighting & everything.

Living in a town where you haul your trash to the dump, and you have a burn pile for yard waste, it really is handy to have a decent truck. It will be especially handy for our annual Christmas Tree Hunt with the extended family. Since we moved up here, we've had to split ourselves amongst the other cars. I think we dragged the Nissan Sentra up there once or twice with chains on the tires, but I never attempted a van. We would use the Ranger here & there, but that only seated 3, so that meant 2 of us didn't even go on the tree hunt. The years we didn't have a truck, we'd have to arrange a separate trip to go pick up our tree from someone who did have a truck, or we'd ask someone to drop it off on their way back north.

This will be a lot easier - not only for getting there & back with a tree, but also for the cookout part. I will be able to cart along my cooking stuff from camping and use my own propane stove to make our hot dogs and, most likely, Lee's chili. We can pack an ice chest with drinks & the whole bit. I like it much better if I don't have to split all my stuff up between 3 cars so we can make our contribution to the potluck!

Also, we're not done with our home improvements. This truck will be very helpful in moving the bigger gear around - the drywall sheets were kind of tricky in the Ranger last time. We are hoping to do central heat/air as the next project, and it will be easier to load equipment into a big truck (actually extended) bed, vs. our little Ranger. And this one is even lined!

Other improvements besides the size: The Ranger's seat was mashed (just gave out) and I had to sit on chair pads to drive it. The window was all full of spiderweb cracks from various rocks and a car seat (empty!!!) hitting it at one point. The bench seat lever to move the seat forward & back had broken in the fully back position, so I also needed a cushion of some sort to lean against when I drove as well. The Silverado has fabric seats and air conditioning. The Ranger did not.

We got it for a really good price, and more than half was paid out of the settlement from the accident with the Ranger. Lee's foot is pretty good now, and he's back to walking to work.

I guess it was time for us to move up in the truck world!