I Just Wanted Breakfast

Tia wanted to go get breakfast yesterday. We went to dinner Friday night, with the little kids having sleepovers, and talked about getting breakfast together at The Egg and I. She really likes it, and going down there, having some time with each other, letting someone else prepare food, is a nice break. We used to do this when we had one kid, but it’s been a long time since we’ve taken the time to do it.
If we stay home, we tend to start get busy with other things and can’t focus on just enjoying each other. so we headed down to The Egg and I for the second time in as many weekends. This was another great chance for us to get time together after our ski day Friday got moved. The plan was that we’d go Monday, but we can’t ever really get too many quiet times together.
We sat there, talking about life, about our plans for the future, what we wanted to do. It’s a mix of life, plans, financial planning, college discussions, work, and more. We’ve been debating about what changes we want to make in life, and one of those things was Tia’s truck.
She has been wanting to get a nicer truck for some time, and has her eye on a Mega Cab Dodge that adds a lot of room in the backseat. She wants leather seats, and more upscale ride. I can understand that, especially as she makes some long trips in her truck. Not often, but hauling horses, she wants something nice. She also felt the backseat was crowded for the kids, however I don’t think that’s a good reason to buy a new truck. I know the kids want to be comfortable, but that’s a lot of $$$ for comfort, and it’s not like they ride in horrible conditions. Suffering a little on those trips is good for them, and it will build some memories and character for them, in my mind.
However as we’ve been talking, she does want to get something nicer for her, and so we talked about different trucks. She wanted to see a Silverado, which seems to get good ratings. There was a local dealer, non-manufacturer affiliated, and recommended by a few friends. So we swung by there and looked at a few different types of trucks.
We started looking at Chevy’s and Dodge’s that were on the lot. No Mega Cab, but there were lots of 3/4 and 1 ton trucks. We sat in the back seats of a number of them, comparing sizes and features.
The guy was a good salesman, and as we talked with him, he asked a lot of questions and looked at what we wanted. Ultimately his recommendation was that we fix up Tia’s Dodge. He gave us some names of places that would re-upholster her seats in leather, give her some other upgrades, and make the Dodge a better truck. The company, Berkenkotter Motors, only sells vehicles under $20k, so they tend to have older models, but a nice selection, and good prices. We left, thinking about what we wanted to do.
We drove home, talking about it, and ended up deciding to go back and look at the King Ranch Ford F-350. As we talked, Tia started to think that a Ford wasn’t a bad truck, and this one was a good deal, leather, and nice looking. It actually has 4 captains chairs, which means we can’t carry the whole family, but we thought it was nice and we could always buy a bench seat and install it.

It had a great look of a buckskin style leather, and was a 350, so she would be able to tow whatever she wanted. Add in a DVD player installed and a sunroof, and it was really everything she wanted.
So we drove back, drove the car around, and decided to buy it. We spent the rest of the day getting the paperwork straight, and her truck traded in. We got less for it than we could have, which is standard. But as we talked about it, we’re both too busy to take the time to sell it, and so we can live with that.
So she has a new truck. The first Ford we’ve had, and it’s a nice birthday present for her.

Now we need to add running boards, a soft top in the back, and a new stereo and she’ll be in great shape.