The End of an Era

SOLD!

What?!  Is it true?

We posted Jonathan's truck on KSL last night and literally, 1 minute after we posted the ad, he got a call which led to someone driving from Brigham City to buy this 1991 Toyota Pickup that Jonathan has been driving for the past 11 years.  We hope they love it as much as Jonathan has! 

 Last night he mentioned that his 11-year relationship with his truck has been the longest relationship of his life, even longer than his relationship with me.  So, I knew when he was comparing his truck to his wife, this was serious.  Jonathan may be in the mourning process for a little while, so if you see a tear in his eye, you'll know why.

We've known this day was going to come, we just can't believe that it finally did.  It hasn't been driving great for the past year.  Jonathan had his mechanic check it out probably 5 months ago and he said that it was only running on 5 pistons, it was leaking power steering fluid and oil, and a couple of other things, but other than that...it was running great.  So, we just kind of decided to keep driving it and keep saving so we could get him a new car when the time came.  Well, registration was due and unfortunately, it wouldn't pass emissions. Even with our good friend, JD's advice on how to work the system, Jonathan had already decided he was ready for a new car. 

 He drove that truck from Buena Park to Woodland Hills (far!) for 7 months, then from Valencia to Woodland Hills for 3 years...all in horrible LA traffic.  Old truck + manual transmission + LA traffic = ornery husband (and rightfully so!)  He now works downtown, and while it's not even close to LA traffic, I often think he would enjoy the commute just a tad more with a newer, nicer car.  When we first got married we bought a new civic which would make a lot more sense for him to drive on his commute since mine wasn't that far, but he wanted me to have the newer car.  When our family outgrew the civic just recently and we got our minivan I thought he would drive the civic.  Nope, sold it because the truck still worked fine.  So now that he comes home with headaches daily because of the fumes and our garage stinks after he parks the truck in it, I think it's about time Jonny get himself a new car!  He definitely deserves it!

I've had a love/hate relationship with this truck for a long time, but for Jonathan, it's mostly just been a love/love relationship.  He bought this truck a year after his mission and has been driving it ever since.  He always said that I fell in love with him because he drove a truck, and while I have always laughed at that statement, he may be right. The truck represented to me Jonathan's sense of adventure, which I absolutely did fall in love with.  He has taken this truck camping, biking, skiing, rock climbing and on many other adventures.

He took me mountain biking on our first date in this truck.

We drove in the truck together to Lake Powell while dating where he kissed me for the first time.

While engaged we took a trip up to Grand Targhee in the truck where we slid off the canyon road in a midnight snowstorm (thus the love/hate relationship).

After just 3 1/2 months of marriage, we moved ourselves to California in the truck.

I got stuck in the truck on an exit ramp on I-5 because the clutch gave out.

And, there's nothing that Addy loves more than riding with her Dad in the front seat of his truck, from driving around to look at Christmas lights to picking up pizza and treats, Addy knew that the truck meant one-on-one time with Daddy.

So, To our dearly loved (occasionally hated) reliable Toyota truck:

Thank you for all the memories!  226,000 miles is a whole lot of them.  We hope you enjoy your new home and that you will look back with fondness and love when you think of Jonathan.  (Yes, this is an inanimate object)  Jonathan will look forward to power windows and power doors (never had those before in his life) and a transmission that shifts all by itself. 

Love, The Eberhardts