Goodbye, Neon.

<----What my car probably looked like at one time.

Ah...the end of an era. My longest relationship so far is over. 11 great years of service over in an instant. A brief little warning - a tiny illuminated image of an old-fashioned oil can shining ever so brightly on the dark console, just below it evidence of 177,000+ miles that I hoped would keep on going for another couple of years. But no, it's now a money pit.

We've had road trips, quick trips, stressfully crossed the border in Tiajuana, been to Crested Butte in blizzard conditions, had a run-in with a deer on the way to Oklahoma, almost hit three deers on the way to Telluride, had a couple of fender benders, flat tires, never snow tires!, lost hubcaps, had the gas tank ripped open in the middle of Kansas, had the window broken on the very first day we were united, were almost ripped apart after a few years one day in the parking lot of my 14th Street apartment, were ripped apart overnight just over a year in the Highlands but reunited three days later missing contents and an ignition switch, we recently hauled the 3 largest men on earth plus 2 more men from LoDo to SoBo, camped out in Puerta Penasca, have been without a radio for 5 years or more, new side-view mirrors thanks to the deer and Aunt Diane & Uncle Wes, new-used radiator fan thanks to Dad and an Okie junkyard, ah the list goes on...

Thank you so much Grandma for co-signing the loan for me when I was 19. Thank you so much Mom for secretly giving Grandma money for one payment in case I missed a payment. Thank you Mom, Dad, Grandma for helping me make my payments (and keep my credit good!) when I couldn't.

I got $225 for it and it's bound for the scrapyard for recycling.

Probably a blessing in disguise. Now I don't have to decide whether to sell it or store it for my trip, but I'll be hoofin' it between now and then!

Goodbye, Neon.