...they have my first car. Yes, friends, the "Japanese suburban" is now owned by someone not of McNeese blood for the first time since 1991. It has faithfully traveled across countrysides, traversed over highways and byways, and sped through the backwoods of East Texas, but, alas, it will not hold two car seats or get Michael to his job without leaving our pocket books empty of gas money. So, it was time.
Vanna, show them what they've won...
Precious memories...
I wish I had pictures of me the first day I had my license getting into this truck, but we McNeeses are generally not a sentimental bunch...so there is no picture of that day. But I did take "adios" pictures on the lot of the Huffines dealership. For what did we trade this beauty? I will tell you, dear friends, when I have at least 10 memories of the red truck in the comment section of this blog or on Facebook. To help us all walk down memory lane, let me ask a few questions:
Tell me about the time you first saw me in my vehicle. How old was I or what were your impressions of such a hot chick driving such an amazing machine? Ha!
Best road trip you ever took in the truck with me?
Have you ever ridden in the back seat of the little truck? Did your legs ever unfurl?
Have you ever hidden in the camper, waiting for me to get in the truck after a long night of working at the mall, and then bang the back window, making me almost wet my britches? (I'll let them post and repent of such a sin)
Has the truck ever moved anything for you because you didn't have room in your car?
What else?
I'll start with my first memory of the truck. I went shopping with my family for the red truck when we lived in Houston. My dad wanted a little truck, and I remember sitting in the back seat of several extended cabs with my brother Lee, "test sitting." I was in junior high, and he was in elementary school. We preferred the Toyota PickUp over the Nissan because in the back of that one, you sat facing each other...not appealing to stare at your sibling across the backseat. At our ages, the Toyota actually seemed roomy (because we both weighed under 100 pounds and we under 5 feet then). Aaah, 1991....actually, we might have both been in that category until we went to college. Oh, well.
Comment friends and you'll see the new ride.
11 comments:
sonic snack trips after school!
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Eric Kirkland
I would like to put the rumors to rest and lay claim to hiding of the truck outside North Hills Mall. Natalie, I'm sure, had just worked 12 hours straight at Frullati. I climbed into the back, which was never locked. I was probably in there for a half hour before she wandered out. I could smell strawberries and pineapple as she approached the car. She got in, I "let her know I was there" and she "let me know she didn't appreciate my introduction." The rest is history. Does it make you old when the mall where this took place no longer exists and the parking lot is full of weeds?
More FB:
Wendy Kilmer
I'm kind of sad that I didn't ride in it one last time before the end! It's been a long time since I have been in it! I feel like sure we went on a road trip in it, but I can't remember a specific one. Is there one I'm forgetting? I'm remembering our road trip to HU with Drew, including getting pulled over for going 3 miles over. But pretty sure that wasn't in the truck. But like Julie, I can picture being up front, crammed in back and sliding around in the way back. I feel kind of old that I can't remember more specifics. Was it really that long ago???
Lee McNeese
I remember riding home from Richland down holiday and talking you into finding out what would happen if you put it in reverse while driving 30.
Greg McNeese
What a great truck...and connected to so many great memories. The McNeese/Eubanks ski trip with the back "Southern-engineered" for long distance "comfort" is definitely in my top 10. One of my personal favorites is my 1994 Father's Day present - 2 little oak trees - brought home by Suzie in the back of the Toyota. Those 2 trees are now taller than our 2-story house.
One of my other favorites is the role the Toyota played during a time when every vehicle in the McNeese family was red (real red, not maroon, etc.) Natalie's red Toyota. Suzie's first red Volvo. Lee's red Jetta (followed by the red Jeep). Greg's red '69 Ford pickup (we kept that one for 15 years). Any psychology at play there?
Who was it - Mario and Sean - that gave you such a hard time about having a mattress in the back?
(BTW: it was Mario Wilson}
이요 셉 (Joe)
My last memory was hauling that bad a$$ across four states, and I'll refrain from commenting what else may have happened in the back of the truck ;) Congrats on the new (I know what it is).
Julie Kiser
I have so many memories in that car! I have ridden in the front, crammed in the back, and in the very back. I can't remember specific funny stories, but I remember being 16 or 17 years old in that car and man, was our life different. Who would have ever thought when we rode from early morning prayer group at the Hatchetts to the donut store or back and forth to the Wallers that you would be driving your child around in it someday? What a car!
Another funny memory in a different car...do you remember when we rode back to Searcy together in the old Civic and cleaned the interior with wipes the whole way there??
Also, was it the truck that you flew over the bump in as you thought you were getting on the freeway in New Boston but it was really a dead end service road? I laugh out loud anytime I drive past that spot!
{Yes, I think I bent a wheel rim at that exit. Scariest thing I've ever done as a driver...Dad, don't read this.}
Suzie Lightfoot McNeese
I remember the ski trip to Colorado when your dad rigged it up with a crawl through area from the front to the back. I think that is when we started adding all of the decals on the roof.
Lindsay Owens Rose
That hiding in the back story sounds familiar. I remember going, "you idiot!!!"
Stacey Tedford Mayo
I remember riding with you in the red truck when it became airborne and flew us over London and the British countryside, making horrible exploding noises...wait; I think I have your red car confused with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Sara Wheat Tyler
hmmm - I guess I never met the "Japanese suburban" but I know the sentimental side - I have my own Japanese Wonder Car too :)
{the Toyota spent much of it's life in Pasadena hidden in the labyrinth that is underground parking at Fuller. It was like entering/exiting the bat cave}
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