Zoom-zoom, putt-putt, vroom-vroom

It certainly was a full weekend! And yes, I realize it's hump day; I've been really busy, so BACK OFF!! As you know, Mendy has launched herself into the car buying frenzy, so naturally Grace and I go along for the ride. Saturday, after the eventful group ride with CT, we decided to go car shopping. I knew the day was going to be long, so I resigned myself to occupying Grace while Mendy went nuts on test drives. First was Subaru, which had some great cars and SUVs, but the package combinations missed the mark in the feature-to-cost ratio, or simply didn't have what we wanted in package combinations. We both liked them, though, so that would be sort of a bench mark in a way.

Next was Suzuki, to check out the XL7 and Gran Vitara, mostly for an option in case the Roadster didn't sell and Mendy had to carry two payments. They were nice, but not particularly inspiring. The XL7 had a lot of features, but the loaded out version pushed into a new category at the price-point. And, again, they just didn't trip our triggers.

Then came Mazda, and the CX-7. By now I was getting a bit frazzled by Grace, and my patience was wearing thin. I caught a couple of the features, and let Mendy go test drive. She really liked it, and I briefly test drove after her. It had a nice ride, and leather seats, but something just seemed weird to me. Perhaps it's the whole new "crossover vehicle" thing. It's like a minivan with a chopped roof, no sliding doors, and maybe all wheel drive. There's almost no off-road pretenses, like I would expect from an SUV. Still, it was a peppy car and handled well. So far, this was in the lead.

We left and went to Nissan, just to see the other side of the spectrum. I've always appreciated the XTerra for it's true-to-advertising purposeful design and build. This is a truck you can take off road and drive hard, while having room and features. Not quite a smooth or well appointed as a crossover, but way more capable in other areas. Mendy liked it, with it's plentiful power and good seating position. The sales guys told us about a CPO Pathfinder at the same price, so we briefly checked it out. By now my nerves were frazzled by Grace, and I was happy to leave, and even happier Honda was closed.

Sunday we went to Frankie's Fun Park to have some fun! Grace played putt-putt, which was an interesting treat in sportsmanship and athletic prowess. She plays with some sort of combination of croquett and shuffleboard, and liked to pick our balls up and move them when she darn well feels like. It was fun, though, and afterwards we walked over to the go kart track. Mua ha ha ha ha ha! She said she wanted to ride them, and fortunately she was above the minimum height restriction. I strapped her in next to me in the two-seater, and she had a BLAST! As we came around on the 2nd lap, I asked if she was having fun, and she yelled "YEAH!" at the top of her lungs. At the end of the ride she wanted to go back around, but it was getting dark. We promised we would come back, and I will make good on that promise. What a great time.

So, Monday we test drove the CX-7 again and checked out the Pathfinder. Monday night we took the Pathfinder home, and Tuesday took it to test drive a 4Runner. That was a really nice truck, too, but felt a bit odd to me. The features in it were great, though.

Tonight, a new vehicle should be parked outside our house (which we have to go pick up in a minute) for good. I'm not going to spoil Mendy's thunder, but I'm glad the Great SUV Search of 2007 is over. And I'm glad we've had such fun the last few days.

I did some running, cycling, and swimming, too. Most of it was really great, but some was troubled (notably, the Saturday group ride). If you want to see the numbers, check out my training log linked at the right. Sorry for the novel!

Oh, and one last note, Mendy and I were feverishly looking for Chicago Marathon info Sunday evening, and any clues of our friends running. Man, what a disaster that was! I'm glad everyone we know was okay, and hopefully you'll find another, better, race to do soon!

*cough*myrtle beach half*cough*

*cough*Jess and Tiff*cough*

:-)