Farewell to the Tribute (or Tribune)

This pic was taken by Travis as we went to celebrate our 2-year dating anniversary, haha!

Well, after almost a decade, the Tribute's run is over. Only with me as the owner, though. She's still going strong, but now she will serve as the transportation for a college student to drive back and forth between UTSA and Austin on weekends I think. After the side-swipe incident, we decided to sell her and see about getting a truck for Travis. I thought it might take more than a week to sell her, so I put her on craigslist on Wednesday evening. By Thursday morning, I already had two people coming to test drive and several others who were interested. We made the deal last night. My first attempt at selling a car. I've learned through this experience that I would NOT be a good car saleswoman....

The Tribune, as Katie affectionately calls her, has been a great transporter through the end of high school, through college, married life, grad school and my first real job. We've crammed many things in there through several moves and she's done a great job at transporting youth to small groups, making the chilly trip to Nebraska for a football game and COUNTLESS trips to SETX and back... She probably knows that trip by heart now, I could probably just put her on cruise and she'd take us there.. No Doubt... I've loved her sunroof in the spring and fall evenings and mornings, the opportunity to store 6 CDS at once, haul many large furniture items and take many naps in the back seat (don't worry, I was not one of those girls who did other things in the back seat!). She's been nothing but ease for me to drive and I will definitely miss her. All of this reminiscing makes me think of the first time we met....

It was Spring Break of my senior year... Instead of taking a cool trip to the beach or a vacation, I was at home sleeping in (I guess), and enjoying all that Lumberton has to offer (haha). My 1993 Acura Integra was such a great car and had survived my first years of driving, but was starting to show its age. I had talked about getting a new car for college and my parents were on board as long as I could find something used and affordable. I desperately wanted an SUV (I have no idea why, I certainly was not thinking of saving money on gas!!), so I did many internet searches for SUVs in the area. Well, I found something worth looking into in Lufkin, my birthplace and the hometown of my grandparents. Well, Travis (my NEW boyfriend at the time) and I loaded up the Acura Integra and headed one and a half hours north on Highway 69 to Lufkin. On the way, we stopped by my mom's parent's house in Huntington and I even remember taking some pictures by the Huntington city limits sign. I think we thought that was cool because it was our first official road trip alone, I dunno... Anyways, we finally made it to Lufkin and we met my grandparents at the dealership. My parents could not accompany us on the trip, so they were there to make sure that we were making a good decision about the car. This tan 2001 Mazda Tribute had 40K miles on it and was LOADED! I was in awe of all of the bells and whistles that she had. I instantly wanted it!! It was perfect for me!! It didn't take long for me to convince my grandparents that this was the car for me, so I called my dad and he talked to the salesguy and my granddaddy about it and they started rolling with the paperwork... We had to wait FOREVER for all of the title transfer stuff, etc., so that was when Travis had his first official talk with my granddaddy. If you don't know my dad's dad, then you are missing out on some great stories. But, he will talk your ear off, so be careful! Don't say I didn't warn you, right Jenni! :) So, Travis survived that conversationa and we finally were able to take the new car back to Lumberton. I later found out that my grandparents offered to pay $5K down on it (Thanks!). Travis and I celebrated by eating dinner at the Lone Star Cafe in Colmesneil on the way home (high class I tell ya!).

I remember that story like it was yesterday. I was thankful for the car, but I didn't fully understand how much my grandparents and parents gave me that day until we bought our first car last year. So, thanks so much, Mom and Dad, Grandmommy and Granddaddy for that financial sacrifice. I know that money does not come easy to y'all but you gave it without any complaints and I love you and am so grateful for that.

Thanks for the memories, Tribune. Here's to finding a new truck for Travis that we can afford! (Please pray about that!)

This pic was taken by Jenn as she accompanied me to Houston for my final wedding dress fitting :)