The Truck Is Mine!!!! (And It Feels Great!)

Today I got to do something that I absolutely love doing.
Pay something completely off!

Yep! See that truck below? It's all mine! All paid off!

No more truck payment! Waahoo!!!!

When I was 16 I got a job at a place called Golden Corral & then bought an old 1986 Dodge Colt (Oh man! I just realized my Isuzu pickup is older than that car! Wow!).

Anyway, it was my first time ever taking a loan out & I remember very vividly picking it out at the America First Repo lot. We drove a bunch of cars, but that was the one I wanted (even though my dad thought the white Mustang that was sitting in the lot would've been cool I went for the Colt).

I still remember taking the loan out on that thing. I think it was for $1500 and it kind of scared me to have to owe someone that much dough.

So, over the course of the next 6 months I paid the thing off. I still remember making the last payment on it & how great it felt to drive it around (even though it probably wasn't much to look at, it was mine!)

Since then I've owned several cars; some I've paid cash for up front (like all the old clunkers I've picked up, fixed up, & then sold) and others I've taken loans out for. Each time I've paid them off the feeling of elation I've felt from making that last payment rocks!

Let's see...here's the list of cars I've owned.
1979 AMC Concord (the "Yellow Banana" as we called it)
1986 Dodge Colt (loved that thing!)
1985 Toyota Tercel 4X4 Wagon (total piece of junk. It'd been wrecked & I didn't realize it)
1987 or 1988 Chevy Nova (basically a Toyota Corolla in Chevy garb)
1986 Honda Accord (I drove that sucker forever!)
1993 Honda Accord (just sold it last month. 225K on it. Longest time I've ever owned a car. I had it for over 10 years)
1983 Isuzu Pickup (twice actually. Once after it'd been through all the kids, then swapped out for my other Isuzu, then I got it back & then sold it again. It still even ran!)
1984 Isuzu Pickup (still own, but it's getting tired)
1983 Volkswagen Vanagon (Valerie hated it)
1991 Volkswagen Jetta (the one dad just sold)
2004 Toyota Sienna (Man I love that thing!)
2005 Toyota Tundra (what I just paid off).

I think there's a couple other "clunkers" in there too....if I remember right I think I owned the VW Rabbit for a time as well and there was a 1992 Honda Accord that I bought from the Hulses, fixed up, & sold too. Oh yeah, and a 1984 Honda Accord that I got for free, fixed up & sold.

Man! I guess I have had a bunch of cars!
But, I absolutely LOVE my truck!

I've never owned a full size truck before (never could justify needing one), and I guess the Tundra really isn't even considered "Full-Size", but oh my gosh I love that thing!

I bought it because I wanted something I could take the kids on errands in (they just won't all fit in the Isuzu) and I also needed something to haul all the inventory in for the business (I haul a LOT of stuff back & forth from my storage shed to my rental unit).

And, since the business was doing well last year, I kind of splurged. For about 6 months I'd been really wanting a truck and I'd driven lots of them & the first time I drove a Toyota Tundra I fell instantly in love with them. They ride like a Cadillac and hey, it's a Toyota so it won't be breaking down on me.

I also was kind of tired of having old cars around that I always had to fix and wanted to get something nice (showing up at a demo in my old rusty Isuzu doesn't exactly say "trust this guy, he knows what he's doing business wise"....so, a 6 month hunt went on looking for just the right truck with the right price.

I'd hunt Auto Trader, KSL Cars, and every other site out there looking for Tundras until one night I saw this one.....only problem was it was in Virginia. However, the price was a steal, it had everything I wanted (and more! Who really needs a sunroof in a truck? But I got one!) so I went for it kind of worried if I'd be able to pay it off & wondering how in the world I was going to get it back to Utah.

I spent 3 long miserable weeks trying to get a transport company to haul the thing back to Utah to no avail. Finally, I said "To heck with it! I'm gonna fly out & drive it home!" So, near the end of January I hopped a plane & flew back to DC, was picked up, went to the dealership, picked up my new toy & drove the sucker all the way home.

I got to see all of the country...well...ok, from I-80 anyway.

Me picking up the truck in Virginia

I made it trouble-free all the way to Lincoln, NE. Dad met up with me there & we continued the drive home until we passed Wamsutter, WY....and then the fun began.

You see, it wasn't snowing..well, ok, there was a little snow...it was BLOWING!


And then it REALLY started blowing!


And then REALLY BLEW!!!

(Yes, that really is a semi off the side of the road).

It turned the road to complete ice....

I thought, "Oh great! I've made it this far & now we have to go through this"
The trucks 4 wheel drive and Dad's skill in driving through the snow is what pulled it through.

If it was up to me, we would've pulled off somewhere, parked it & slept for the night...

Here's what it looked like the next morning once I got it home:


But, it did make it home safe & sound & I immediately threw a carseat in it & Josh got the first "ride".


And, well, the truck is doing it's job incredibly well. The kids absolutely LOVE to ride in it (which is half of why I got it) and it drives like a dream!

Of course, a couple weeks later this happened to it....


But we'll save that for another day.....

Needless to say, it's all fixed & better and the truck has been awesome to own & drive (kind of a hog on gas. Best I've ever gotten out of it was 18 out on the open road driving it home, but I don't drive that much so I really don't care).

But, today after paying for the thing it just feels great to say that it's 100% mine free & clear! (Now if I can keep any cars from jumping out & hitting it I'll be alright)

-Graydon