Episode CLVIII: Rusty Jr.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce to you the second car I've ever owned, a 2016 Mini Cooper that we call Rusty Jr.

Long-time readers may remember that for many years I owned an old Nissan truck named Trusty Rusty, which was formerly owned by my grandpa Shearer. Thus the new car's name, although the color is technically "Volcanic Orange." There are a few similarities though.

Interestingly enough, I was car shopping online via AutoTrader, and the perfect car just happened to be in Long Beach, CA. So my dad drove down and took it for a test drive, then the dealer shipped it all the way out here to Dallas. Our first family trip in Rusty Jr.? In-N-Out, to spend some Grandma Shearer gift cards!

We just recently came back from our first road trip in the Mini Cooper, and it was great. We drove out to Searcy, Arkansas to attend the wedding of Jenny Martin. Here we are hanging out on the campus of Harding University in Searcy (Rusty Jr. in the background).

The road trip was also a convenient excuse to meet up with my parents and sister. Here are all three Moms celebrating Mother's Day with their sons.

And of course Elliot got to share some quality time with his cousin. Here they are practicing "sharing."

I personally didn't need my own car, as I have a pleasant bike-ride to work, and was just fine with our one car family. The real need was so that I could help out taking Elliot to daycare. Here we are playing peek-a-boo out the back seat, right before dropping him off. I think he's enjoying it.