2. Meet "Carla," The Little Toyota That Could

Before I introduce our pride and joy, let me first explain WHY it is that we chose this car rather than some big, snazzy contraption, better designed for exploration. Maybe then you'll be less inclined to judge...
Keep in mind, throughout this entire process, our bottom line is to spend as little as possible. We would much rather dish out the dough for things we want to DO along the way. This means we need to cut costs wherever we can, including our Bat Mobile.

1) We decided long ago that this was going to be a one-way drive. Nothing kills the "Hooray!!! We made it!" mood faster than realizing that you still have to hoof it all the way back. No thanks, we're flying. 

2) Unless you live under a stump or are Justin Beiber, you've probably noticed that GAS IS EXPENSIVE.  Pete and I are painfully aware of this and we don't want to spend any more on gasoline than we have to. This rules out RV's, trucks, vans, and Airstream trailers. (Bummer, because I've always wanted one of those.) 

3) Persuasive Pete convinced me that it made more sense to get a beat up clunker for this trip rather than a newer vehicle. No reason to spend heavy money on a car that we will be leaving behind. Let the penny pinching begin! 

4) Pete can turn almost any vehicular disaster into a drivable delight! This made it possible for us to spend less on a fixer-upper. As I say anytime I break something, "Pete'll fix it!" And he does :-) 

(I'm telling you, ladies, that rich stockbroker bachelor ain't got nothin' on a guy who can fix your car.) That being said,  

A Productive Pete is a happy Pete :) 

5) Idle Pete is not a good thing. He becomes a captive of Reddit, downs entire pints of cottage cheese, and feeds my cat too much 'nip. Believe me, it's better if he has a project to occupy his off-duty hours. This travel prep presented a perfect opportunity for him to work his mechanical magic. Bippity, boppity, BOO.  

So, we searched high and low for a car that was safe, but not too jazzy, small, but big enough to sleep in, and cheap, but would get us from Saunderstown, Rhode Island all the way to Seattle, Washington. 

That brought us to "Carla." 

Me: "Do you have a name for it?"

Previous Owner: "Car."

Pete: "Aren't vessels supposed to be feminine?"

Previous Owner: "Car...la." 

Aaaaaand there you have it. 

Carla is a 1990 Toyota Camry wagon, the last of the Mohicans if you will. You'll be hard-pressed to find many like her out and about these days, but she's still chugging along.  She was on her last leg (or wheel) with one of Pete's customers, throwing tantrums and refusing to pass inspection. We bought her with the understanding that she would need a LOT of work and a mechanical miracle. 

And so Pete and I came to own this little car that would become our very own Frankenstein's monster. She needed a lot of TLC, not to mention Lysol, as well as a variety of structural and technical repairs. Pete has been all about the preventative maintenance, replacing her timing belt, water pump, and self esteem. I'm on clean up/spruce up duty. We've been happy to do it, though. You see, fixing her forces us to spend productive time together instead of watching limitless back-to-back episodes of The Walking Dead, which we've been known to do. And now, thanks to us, Carla is no longer home to a whole family of mice. So that's a plus... 

Cleaning Day 1: Gutted the beast and vacuumed her innards.

I'll admit, at first I had reservations about taking a trip in a car that's been on this planet longer than I have.  In her lifetime, Carla has driven nearly the equivalent distance between the Earth and the Moon. But, our little Apollo makes up for her imperfections with character and charm.  

She's been keeping us on our toes and forcing us to be creative in managing her shortcomings. 

Here's a perfect example:  

One of Carla's license plate illuminator thingys was busted, so Pete welded her a new one out of junkyard metal scraps. 

He also built her a new rear hybrid wiper from a 2000 Ford pickup & a 1970's MGB convertible.

No, I don't know what that means either, but it works so I don't question it.

Pete wanted me to make it VERY clear 
that it was I who chose that color.

Initially, Carla's hatch did not lock.

Now it does. 

Bazinga. 

Carla was sporting a little rust in her old age, so we lined the cracks with a foam sealant. Now she looks less like an old car and more like a rabid dog...

To block sun & nosey neighbors, I sewed some light curtains and secured them with Velcro. This way, we can tack them up and down as needed.

Yes, I'm well aware that I would fail as a 50's housewife, but you've got to give me credit for creativity. And yes, those are glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.  So I'm embracing my inner 5-year-old, so what? 

Cozy, no?

And this is our hideous futon! It's surprisingly comfortable. It's not much space, but it's not as cramped as we expected. Plus, we didn't even have to remove the back seats, we just folded them down. This will make it easier for us to sell Carla at the journey's end. After all the work we've put in to her, I think we'll be truly sad to see her go...

This brings me to the bittersweet truth about Carla. This is a drive&ditch operation. She is not coming home with us and this is likely to be her final voyage. That means we have a few options regarding her ultimate resting place. Our last stop will be at my godfather's home in Burien, WA. His one condition of hosting us is that we not leave some disasterous vehicular carcass in his driveway. A very reasonable request, so we'll have to dispose of our precious eyesore elsewhere.

According to Pete, we could:

A) Sell her

B) Junk her

C) Push her off a cliff

D) Run her off a dock

E) Set her on fire

F) Turn her into a rocketship and blast her in to space

Aaaand so on and so forth. As I have a say in this decision, I think it's safe to say we will be choosing either A or B.

Ok, now I know she's not much, but she is exactly what we need. We're college kids! We don't have a lot of money so we had to get creative in managing to spend as little as possible. Carla may be a bucket of bolts that's foaming at the mouth, but she's got great gas mileage and enough spunk to go the distance. 

Didn't I say this was going to be interesting? 

Buckle up, folks!

Next step: Packing & Prep. T-minus 47 days...

Cheers, 
Liz