Driving in cars to go look at cars

This evening, we went to the Auto Show, which was pretty decent. My dad, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and husband went. We are looking to get a new car, hopefully this year, and not necessarily new, so it's a good place to scope out cars, sit in them, look at gas mileage and other specs.

When we first got there, my 21-month old nephew D was pretty excited about the cars. He was so funny - he got so giddy about being able to sit in the driver's seat. We were looking at one concept car, and I said, "Wow! What do you think?" and he says, "Cooooool car!" It was adorable - and a relief that he was enjoying himself and wasn't bored out of his mind. He was really interested in looking at the engine of one of the cars, too.

Jeep had actually put in a driving course, and my dad and I decided to wait in the 1-hour line for it. We got to ride in a car (with an authorized driver) and go through a course that included bumps, steep hills, and plowing through some water. I joked while we were in line how exciting it was that we got to ride in a car, even though we had all come to the Auto Show in cars. My husband took the photo at the left. I'm in the backseat, gearing up for the steep hill.

When we got up to the front, my brother re-appeared, so he joined us and we got to ride in a suped-up Jeep Grand Cherokee. We were laughing because it had a GPS system in it (in case they got lost on this closed course). The driver didn't say much, but we asked questions. Mostly car-related questions, and then I asked, "Have you ever had someone fart in here?" He said, "No, but that's the first time anyone's ever asked me that!" It really was pretty fun to ride on the course.

When we met up with the family, we saw that Jeep also had a kid's course - they had those motorized Jeeps for little guys to ride around in. Of course we had to get D in one of those! Even though he had to wear a helmet, he loved it (see photo at right). He didn't quite get the idea of using the gas pedal to go, so his mom had to push him around (those Jeeps are amazingly heavy!). It was funny to watch the other kids driving around because they kept crashing into the walls and other cars.

I don't have a really exciting or funny story today, but it was a nice time. I was glad to be able to sit in one of those Scion Xb cars, because now I know I don't want it - it was very uncomfortable and awkward. I think we have pretty much settled on either a Saturn VUE (see photo at left) or a Subaru Forester.

S kept pushing for a Saturn SKY (see photo at right) - but it doesn't have any backseats - and I told him I AM hoping to need backseats someday!

I just learned that one of my favorite actors, Don Knotts, died today. This is sad news to me. If you've never seen "The Incredible Mr. Limpett" you are missing what, to me, is one of the best movies ever. What a comic genius.