Goin' "Green"

Rachelle got a new car yesterday. We actually went to the Toyota dealership looking for a car for me, but we came home with a new Prius for Rachelle. Possibly the coolest car I've ever driven. So many electronic gadgets, storage compartments, flashing lights and gizmos! There isn't even a real "key" to get in or start it. You just have this little hunk of plastic that has to be close to the car when you reach for the handle and it opens, and as long as the "key" is somewhere inside the car, you start it by pushing the "POWER" button. Too friggin' cool! That said, it did take about 5 minutes to figure out how to put it in PARK after the test-drive (HINT: PUSH THE BUTTON MARKED "PARK"). Makes perfect sense, but who would've thought there would be a button for that? I've driven dozens of different cars as an owner, renter or "borrower", and not one had a "POWER" or "PARK" button. I might find things I don't like about it after we've had it for a while, but I'd definitely have to recommend the Prius to anybody looking for a mid-sized, mid-priced car. Lots of bang for your buck. Anyway, we ran up to the wineries up above Placerville today, just to see how it handled on the freeway. A surprising amount of power for a little 4-cylinder. The xA really struggles up the hills and this thing just cranked right on up. Rachelle might not want to let me drive it too much, though. It's got a fancy display that tells you how much gas you're using, whether the electric motor or the engine is actually driving the car, battery charge, etc. It's entirely possible I'll wrap it around a pole while I'm giggling about the 87.6 mpg I'm getting.

I've been told that I will also be getting a car this month, but I'll believe that when I have the keys in my grubby little hands. It's going to seem a little strange to have two nice-ish cars, but I guess that's the payback for driving cheap, crappy cars for a couple years. Having a paid for car to trade takes some of the bite out of a decent car, especially if you can get something on the trade. Needless to say, we're not going to be trading in the Ranger. Paid for? Check. Low miles? Check. Vinyl seats, 5-speed stick and crank windows? Unfortunately, check. We'd get about $100 for it.