Growing up

I own my first car!

As I have somewhat hinted at in past posts, I have been looking for a car recently. It was just time in my life that I had one, and with Grandma Mabon's help I am able to afford a car now. It will certainly make finding and keeping a job much easier!

I looked for about 2 weeks, did some test drives, did a lot of internet research, and finally decided on a vehicle - a dark green 1999 Chrysler LHS. It has 87,500 miles on it, is in nearly perfect condition, and I was able to get a full service record and talk to the prior owners. It's a luxury sedan, with all-leather interior, all-power, and is overall totally sweet. And the trunk is large enough to stash 5 or 6 bodies. That could come in handy.

This is the car I negotiated the deal on this past Monday, and so Grandpa knew I might be getting a car this week. When he called yesterday to see if I needed him to run me anywhere I said yes. I had him take me to the nearest State Farm agent so I could line up insurance. I worked out with the agents what coverage I would need, and told them to wait for my call. As soon as I wrote the check for the car I called the agent and she activated the insurance. Perhaps I am a worry-wort, but I was not driving that car off the lot without it being fully covered. The actual process of buying the car was easy. The process of getting to the town where the car was is quite another story.

The car was in a town to the Northeast of me, a place called West Union. There is a town about 10 miles to the West of West Union called Hawkeye. My grandma and grandpa grew up in the Hawkeye area, and Grandma's brothers and sister are still there on adjoining farms, two of which are the original family farms. On our way to West Union we stopped at one of the brother's places (not the brother with the corn) to check in and say hello. As we sat talking a large storm front moved through, producing lots of thunder and rain. When the rain slackened we ran back to the truck to keep going to West Union, via Hawkeye.

I checked my phone when we got in the truck and noticed I had missed a call from Mom, so as Grandpa was driving toward Hawkeye I was listening to Mom's message. "Grace, there's a tornado warning for Hawkeye. The storm is supposed to hit there at 3:45. Call me." Hmm.. it's 3:44... I looked out my window as Grandpa's phone started ringing, and as I grabbed it to answer I watched a funnel cloud come down roughly two miles from us.

Holy shit.

We kept driving, getting into the town of Hawkeye itself. As we hit the city limits another funnel formed, this one a little over a mile away. The storm was moving toward West Union, which meant we held tight in Hawkeye for a bit. Grandpa made some calls to the family in the area, some of whom were most likely outside working. After he finished his calls we drove a bit further into Hawkeye and passed the fire station. The doors were wide open and the trucks were missing. There were firefighters standing outside the station, getting reports from spotters on hand-held radios. Grandpa whipped the truck around and pulled into the station to get the scoop from the firemen.

While he was talking to the firemen I got out of the truck so I could see the sky better and I called mom to get the latest radar reading. I don't think I have ever seen a storm move as quickly as those clouds were moving yesterday. Mom informed me that a cell was just finishing passing over Hawkeye and was headed straight for West Union. She also told me that there was another storm cell about 20 miles behind the one that were were currently under that was also headed to Hawkeye and West Union.

We waited at the fire station until the 'all clear' was given for Hawkeye, at which point Gramps was saying "Lets go get you a car!" We got out to the highway that would take us into West Union when I told him I wanted him to stop for a few minutes so the storm had time to pass over West Union and we wouldn't drive into in. From talking to Mom I knew we had a short window of clear skies, but I also felt we had the time to wait out the first cell.

Grandpa stopped on the side of the road for a few minutes and we just sat and watched the sky. When it looked a bit clearer up ahead we continued on, passing a storm spotter every half-mile or so. By simply looking behind we could see the next front coming in really quickly. We made it to the dealership with hardly any time to spare before the rain started again in earnest.

I had called the dealer a few hours earlier to let him know I was coming to get the car, but I think once the storms started he decided I wasn't coming (if I had known how bad it would get I wouldn't have gone). He looked a little surprised when Grandpa and I blew through the doors of the dealership, but he was ready to finalize the transaction.

We got set up and he was entering all the purchase information into the computer when the tornado sirens started blaring. They lasted about 45 seconds before shutting off. The dealer determined the sirens were a false alarm and kept going on the paperwork, taking about 20 minutes to finalize everything. Just like that, I became the owner of a car.

As Grandpa and I waited for the dealer to bring the car around we were looking out the front window of the dealership and watched as a tornado came down a few miles up the road. While watching that, out of the corner of my eye, I caught some movement and turned to see what it was. Not half a mile from where we were standing a tornado was forming from the ground up. Spookiest darn thing I've seen in a long time.

Both tornadoes quickly dissipated and the Western horizon was looking less threatening - white skies versus the rolling black and green above our heads. The minute the car was brought around I was out the door. I barely took the time to shake the dealer's hand and say thanks before jumping in my new car and heading due West. I wanted to get the hell out of Dodge.

I went directly back to State Farm to get my final insurance paperwork and pay for the next 6 months, and then it was straight home. My afternoon and evening had been long enough and I was ready to be in and done!

And that is the story of how I purchased my first car. :)

Pictures to come. I promise!

Love!

~g