Peyton is 3 months today! I can't believe it! Oh I want my life to slow down. I want my girls to stay little tiny and I want to enjoy and record and remember EVERY SINGLE SECOND of their lives! It's so true when they say that being a parent is the hardest thing you will ever do! We are going to celebrate Peyton's 3-4 month birthday and Sierra's 2nd birthday by buying a new-to-us car. But, we must pay our memories and dues to the Lincoln before we say goodbye.
The Lincoln won't smog and the repair is looking to be too much money, so we are having to say goodbye to the Boat and let it sail as we bring in a more "practical" vehicle into our loving family of 4 and hopefully more.
For the last several years we have been driving Jeff's grandfathers Lincoln Towncar. Though definitely not the "cool" car to drive in your twenties...or thirties...or forties...or fifties...it has been an awesome, reliable, and comfortable car! The Lincoln came to us before kids and we have loved it through kids. But, I must say it has had some happy and funny (once you look back on them, NOT at the time) memories.
I remember the very first time I ever rode in the Lincoln. Jeff's parents were taking us to I think pizza down in Coloma. We all piled into the Lincoln. Jeff and I in the plush back seat and Bob and Barbara in the front. Bob drove with his golfers hat on and they told us stories of grandpa and grandma driving this car around and how they used to "mug" in the back seat (that's make-out for all of us under the age of 80). I remember feeling like it was a couch driving down the road and how I felt as if we were floating on clouds. It was unbelievably comfortable. Matt Molinari told us it was the kind of car that allowed us to turn our right turn signal on 2-3 miles before our exit.
Fast forward a couple years and, through a series of circumstances, we were in need of a car. The Lincoln was GRACIOUSLY handed over to us from his parents and thus began the record of being the youngest couple ever to own a Lincoln Towncar. :) However, we were extremely grateful for it. We got over any embarrassment that ever may have arose when we sat in it and realized how comfortable it was.
Now, this Lincoln is not just any old Lincoln, it's what Aunt Diana calls a "pimp mobile," complete with red leather seats, red carpeted flooring, red side panels, red roof, a red dash, and a red steering wheel...oh yea!
We lived in Reno at the time we inherited it...this poses a problem when it has Rear Wheel Drive. That is awesome for southern California, but not so much in Reno. We were living in Married Student Housing on the UNR campus when we had a very cold and very snowy storm. The snow piled up about a foot and then after the walkways and road were shoveled and plowed it added another 2-3 feet. Thus we had a HUGE pile of snow attached to the front of the Lincoln. We couldn't drive it in that weather so it stayed put. However, after a couple days and the roads were clear we decided to take it for a spin. We did not realize that the snow piled in the front of the Lincoln had turned to ice and attached itself to the front of the car because as soon as we backed up the ice ripped the hood ornament right off. :( Sad day. I carried that hood ornament around in the car for another 2 years before it got lost one time when Sierra was playing around.
Fast forward to our move to Marin County in California. We were greeted by several Lincoln Towncar friends there, but they were all driven by people 2 to 3 times our age. But, that was OK because by now we were SO grateful for a good reliable car that we could care less what people thought! The students loved the car and always wanted to ride it in.
The introduction of carseats to Lincoln was another story. Though it is hugely spacious and could fit a multitude of carseats. The seats are not designed to handle them. The Lincoln seats are SO plush that we cannot secure a carseat well enough. In fact when we make a turn often Sierra's carseat moves and she is leaning to one side of the other depending on if we took a right or a left turn. Ha. Not the safest, but funny to watch.
The Boat served us well in the bay area and only had some minor hiccups that were annoying, but mechanically it was ok. First the drivers side window just stopped working one day, along with the power seat for the driver and the power mirrors. So the seat was forever stuck in that position and for the remaining life of the Lincoln the driver would need to open up the door when talking to someone, doing business at an ATM, going through the drive through, etc. Then Jeff drove through an automatic car wash once and it ripped the antennae off the car and there went the radio, of which the buttons had fallen off of just shortly after we got the car. The day we took Peyton home from the hospital the drivers side rear window was rolled down for air, and did not roll back up. So, it was stuck down, while the drivers was stuck up, and oddly enough the rear view mirror had broken off the windshield and was dangling. Talk about a stressful, yet joyous, day. Peyton was brand new and starving so she cried all the way home while Sierra yelled "ow ow ow" with the wind blowing her thick curls all over the place from the broken window meanwhile Jeff has to lift up the dangling mirror every time he needs to change lanes or see out. It was an eventful day.
At this point the battery was also dying and the jumper cables are in the trunk. However, because the trunk doesn't go down all the way, you can't open with a key, so you have to use the button in the glove box. This is totally fine, except when the battery dies, then you can't access the jumper cables. Three jumps later and a move to Placerville and we finally buy a new battery and no longer have to store jumper cables below Sierra's feet. :) We fixed the window and mirror, and replaced the battery, breaks, rotors, calibers and did a complete coolant flush all since Peyton has been born.
The last straw was when I went to smog it. It passed in all areas except it's smoking white exhaust out the pipe and was only one point away from failing the hydrocarbon limit. Thus prompting a discussion with our mechanic and decision to retire the poor, tired thing.
To date the Lincoln is 20 years old and has 177,000+ miles on it. It's really been an awesome car but now that we have two kiddos it's not as practical, per say...
We started our car search and research about 2 months ago but didn't get serious until The Boat didn't smog. I was embarrassed to even look at minivans and I kept searching SUVs. However, what I found was that I could get more bang for my buck with a van and better gas mileage. Plus they are designed for families and that is what I have. Two people that I know that drive minivans helped me see a different perspective that prompted my more serious shopping of the minivan. My friend Heather said, "You're more embarrassed to drive around a minivan than a Lincoln Towncar?"--I wasn't embarrassed to drive around a Lincoln because I was so grateful for the car, maybe I will feel the same way about a minivan. And, my sister-in-law Michelle said, "Well for 1 you can't see yourself in the car when your are driving it...and, being a mom is your identity so it's ok." They were both right. Who am I kidding, I am a mom and will most likely be a soccer mom. I might as well drive the soccer mom car with the trick seats that tumble under, the safety attachments for carseats, the sliding doors that open automatically, and the large, deep back space that fits my double BOB stroller. I mean, let's face it...I am a mom!
So now the Molinari's are officially on the search for a minivan. We will let you know when we have success.
