The Honda Turns One

Barely four months into retirement Logan's tumor returned and

we embarked on a seven month odyssey for another miracle, for

more time. We were traveling about 1500 miles a week,

commuting to Birmingham for an experimental drug therapy in

a clinical trial. Since we both were away from home five days a

week, Cindy stayed behind to manage the homestead and care

for the pets. Her transportation was our venerable 2003 Ford

Crown Victoria which had 190,000 miles on the odometer. Logan

and I drove the 2014 Ford Focus which was sporting 120,000

miles. Making the chemotherapy appointments was

crucial. By this time, Logan was confined to a wheelchair and

a breakdown on the highway in the middle-of-near nowhere

was a real concern.

We had talked about a new car for nearly two years, but after

years of sacrifice to become debt free the idea of making car

payments again made me nauseous. I procrastinated like a

man in route to the gallows. The time had come.

In all candidness, I would have preferred one of the

larger, three row SUV or full-sized half-ton pickups. However,

once we factored in our most desired options (new not used,

industry leader for reliability, AWD, decent gas mileage, good

safety rating, versatility in design, and we considered the

OMG sticker prices) we put a large down-payment on a

2022 Honda CRV.

Now a year into ownership with 17,000 miles, I can say I have

no buyer's remorse. The CRV is to autos what the "little black

dress" used to be to ladies fashion. It doesn't exactly stand

out, but seems to fit every occasion.

The Crown Vic, to this day, has the best front seats I have ever

experienced. It's long wheel-base and V8 engine whittle away

interstate miles as effortlessly as a politician wastes your money.