Old and New/Used

We hauled a battered canoe back from the BWCA on its roof. We hauled my red kayak on it. We pulled our camper around the Rocky Mountains with it and to upstate New York as well as other destinations. It hauled us to Canada and to Florida. We took countless weekend trips with it. Our kids learned to drive in it. At times it was used as a bus hauling Bandos and the Cross Country team. Sometimes it was used as a truck. But alas, retirement was approaching.

I still really like our old van. It was the perfect size for our family, it was great for traveling, and it could pull our camper with ease. The body is in great shape, and it still doesn't burn oil. But it is a 1997 model and it has 244,000+ miles on it. I'm not sure that I would trust it to go on a long trip anymore because at that age anything could happen.
So our transportation consultant brought out to the farm a couple of used vans for us to test drive over the last couple of weeks. We settled on a 2008 Chevy Uplander with 49,000 miles. It is very nice, but I worry about all the electric and electronic gadgets on it because I know they can be maintenance nightmares. It is a little smaller than the Astro, but is a more comfortable ride and gets better gas mileage. I wonder if it has another 200,000 miles in it?

The old Astro will be cleaned out and advertised for sale. It will be a bittersweet parting.

And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:

Exodus 14:6