(100,000) Miles of Echo

My car turned 100,000 on Sunday! In fact, it blew right through it and now sits at 100,250 and going strong. There are few things I get as much pleasure out of than watch the odometer turn milestones, something I blame completely on my dad. In honor of this latest one, I thought it would be fun to recount some of the memories I've had with my little Roller Skate over the last 5 years.

I purchased it in Sept '05 in Omaha. My friend, Annalea, flew to Omaha to road trip it back to Chicago with me. This was an appropriate way to christen the vehicle as it has become my little road trip warrior, effortlessly cruising the interstates of America at 40+ mpg, her fuel efficiency has enabled a generally low-earner to travel the country in affordable, reliable fashion.

Within a month, she was broken into. This was the year I had a car broken into 4 times. It became quite a joke with my roommate at the time in Chicago as the perpetrators somehow managed to ONLY steal crap. I had a broken cd player, a box of goodwill donations, a shovel, a scraper and my FLOOR MATS stolen that year. It wasn't until the Echo got back to Omaha that something of value was taken (my new stereo). that's what you get for trusting the suburbs.

Chicago, Omaha, Chicago, Chicago, Omaha, Des Moines, Omaha, Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Omaha, Kansas City, Kansas City, Omaha, Chicago, Kansas City, Sioux City. Apparently, I need to get out of the midwest. I claimed near duel-residency between Omaha and Chicago for 6 years and the 7.5 hour commute became a breeze. Tanks to the fuel efficiency stated above and a lot of bladder training, I became the master of turning that drive into a one-stop only trip!

I dated long-distance for the better part of a year and the roller skate took me back and forth to my Kansas City fella. We would meet in Craig, MO (it really doesn't get more exciting), take trips to rock climb in Arkansas and Missouri and camp out illegally in the park (shh). Many of these adventures were made possible thanks to the Echo. In fact, I doubt the relationship would've lasted as long if I would've had to pay more to get back and forth to him.

My ride has ONE hubcap as the rest have all rolled off the wheels at different points. I guess they didn't fit right. It is also missing a side mirror as a *friendly* neighbor decided it needed a bat to it. My mechanic tried to reattach it with electrical tape because I was too cheap to have it actually fixed. A day later, I watched it slowly fall down toward the side of the car before plummeting to it's demise in the middle of traffic. I am still too cheap to replace it.

Bracco came home in this car! One of the greatest gifts I've been given is my pup. But you all know that already! He loves car rides...he attacks animal statues and oncoming traffic from the car. I now laugh a lot harder, more often on road trips when he's in his back seat. He has, in his protective behavior, managed to scratch up my dash board, leave a think blanket of hair on the back seat and a LOT of nose prints on the windows.

Most recently, my car managed to take on all of my earthly possessions and bring me out to Colorado. Here we're trudging through deep snow, muddy gravel roads and dodging flying rocks on the pass. Her windshield is cracked in FOUR(!!) places and, despite fancy new snow tires, is still sans hubcaps. My car has taken me into new towns and discovered hiking trails. Her plates are now green, rather than blue.

A lot of miles (although still surprisingly lower than the national average...i bought it at 48k), a lot of memories. I plan to drive her into the ground. Perhaps this summer we'll see Utah, Wyoming or Montana. Tomorrow we drive BACK to Omaha for Christmas. While there are days I dream about owning a sweet vintage truck with a topper (although my eco-conscience would never allow for it), I love my little roller skate.