vroom vroom.

it's the end of an era, folks. my days with my trusty volvo are coming to a close. many a mile, many a road has been travelled, and while i am eager to get a new car, it is certainly bittersweet. along with the end of my volvo days comes the end of my vermont license as well as my vermont plates! i'm a bit overdue, as i have lived in colorado for 2.5 years already... but it still feels significant.

the volvo has been named garby for about five years... after several names that didn't stick, he was randomly named garby (short for garbanzo) in colby walker's kitchen on my first ever trip to colorado. most likely colby doesn't even know that. it was certainly years before garby ever came to colorado!

garby and i have driven approximately 110,000 miles together. we have experienced one minor accident, one minor speeding ticket and several parking tickets in various cities. we have driven across the country three times, and have driven an average of 50 miles a day for the past year.

in my first month at my current job, my boss (who is also a volvo owner) came into the office one morning after parking next to me. she said "eliza, i have never seen a car that so accurately represented its driver." and it is true- the assortment of stickers that somehow ended up glued onto a car which i once proclaimed would never have stickers represented my values and places important to me... an aloha foundation sticker, vassar college, NOLS, AMC, tree decal, and of course my crazy rowers.

i wanted to write about garby on here because i know that most anyone who would be reading my blog has some sort of tie or memory to an adventure that occurred in the volvo. perhaps you drove to school, to barre (with the base pounding), around lake morey or even across the country in it. perhaps we held hands, or sang loud songs or listened to books on tape.

despite his leaky tire, his front wheel drive, and his fading controller, garby has been a faithful, powerful and comfortable transporter. not to mention his extreme safety, his handy tape player (i sure will miss that), and his heated seats. i can only hope that my next ride will be as smooth, safe and successful.

tomorrow we are off to salt lake city, where there seems to be a colony of my hard-to-find dream car. with any luck, my next post will be welcoming a new co-pilot to my highway!