If Cars Could Write Letters Home

Having wheels has made such a difference for us while we're in the boatyard this summer!  (BTW, the car is for sale available at the end of the month; 2010 Civic with only about 35,000 miles for $13,500, message me if you're interested and I'll put you in touch with the owner.  I can attest that its in excellent shape and drives great!)

Dear Mom,

When you told me you were going to loan me to some cruiser friends for the summer, my first thought was an eye-roll.  Oh, joy.  I get to make endless trips from some dusty boatyard, to the hardware store, grocery store, West Marine.  Bor-ing!  Mom, how could you? I’d have a lot more fun spending my summer back here, hanging out with my sister and brother, the other cars in our family.  But okay, you asked me to do this favor, I’ll do it, it’s only two months, here we go.

You know, Mom, in American society, cars are pretty much taken for granted.  That’s one thing about cruisers, my new temporary humans know what it’s like to not have a car (or a washing machine, or sometimes a microwave, it’s like voluntary poverty, anyway) so they appreciate me.  They said I really, really, enhanced their lives.  That I make them feel like grownups in the US because they have a car just like everyone else, that people who live on land automatically assume everyone has this ability to get around wherever they need to, whenever they need to.  After being so long without wheels, they think I’m wonderful.  I feel so special!

And you know, a lot of my time is spent just as I expected, shuttling groceries and boat parts.  Just yesterday I moved two brand new heavy batteries, there’s no way they could have done that without me.  They had to empty some lockers in order to access the parts of the boat they were doing work on, so they rented a small storage unit to hold the stuff they had , and I was mandatory (again!) in getting their possessions to safety.

In among the boring day-to-day boat life errands that I’m so important for, I’ve also taken my temporary humans on some adventures. Un-be-lieve-able!  I was stuck in the biggest traffic jam I’ve been in for a while outside of Washington, DC (that part wasn’t so fun).   And I got to visit the Naval Academy (I got an awesome special parking permit to get through the gate security for that one), and Annapolis, and Dragon Boat races, and a pirate invasion in Beaufort, and a girl’s night at a neighboring marina.  I also spent a few happy hours hanging outside of the local bars while my humans were inside.  One of their friends works at the boatyard and owns a silver Civic just like me, but a couple of years older, and we’ve become buds when we hang out in the parking lot on weekdays.  That is, on the days he doesn’t ride his bike to work.

Here’s a photo of me in my regular parking spot in the boatyard.  Not too shabby, eh?  I went to the "spa" for an oil change last week and we almost got lost -- embarrassing, we drove up and back on the main highway because we couldn't find the shop, but (obviously) we finally got there.  I’ve even got a car cover for really hot days, like my very own portable garage.  I can’t believe how quickly this summer is passing.  In just a few weeks it’ll be the end of August and I’ll be back home, with LOTS of stories to tell my sibs.  My temporary humans will be done with their boat work (we all hope!)  They won’t need me when they’re sailing on the ocean, but I’m glad I was able to help when I did.

Love,
Your Honda