Initially, I figured I would take my car on this trip. It gets good gas mileage (upwards of 34mpg on the highway) and is certainly comfortable enough.
But then I started thinking about the last time I drove cross country, and I began to feel a little less enthusiastic about driving my own car.
See, last time, it was June of 2013, and I was driving from Portland, Oregon (population 645,000) to Poyntelle, Pennsylvania (population 20). I was driving my 1999 Ford Explorer that, at the time, was closing in on 200,000 miles on the clock.
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| She was good while she lasted... |
As it turned out, I ended up spending five days and $2,400 on a new transmission while visiting my buddy Chris in Florence, Montana. I'll be visiting him again this trip. As I'm already tempting fate by leaving on April Fool's Day, I figure there's no need to needlessly exacerbate the problem by driving my own car. If my Malibu breaks down, I'm on the hook for the repairs. If the Explorer breaks down, I call Avis.
So, if a Ford Explorer was good enough to get me cross country last time, why wouldn't it be good enough this time? Instead of putting some 10,000 miles on my car in just over a month, I've decided to rent a Ford Explorer for the trip:
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| The 2020 Ford Explorer |
It's certainly seen some updates over the years, so I think it's going to provide an adequate level of comfort, as well as offer plenty of room for suitcases and photo/video gear. There's an outside chance that my daughter might not be able to join me for the return leg of the trip, so I started to consider the Ford Edge. Then, upon further consideration, I decided that my ass is gonna' be in this thing for five weeks whether my daughter's there or not, so I'm going to want something spacious and comfortable.
The Explorer it is...
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