When I lived in Tucson in the 1990's I traveled to the shows by myself. There was a wonderful group of sheltie people from Phoenix who all traveled together. They welcomed me into their circle and I loved this group. Many of them had RV's and would stay at the show grounds. I had a Honda Civic hatchback which could fit 3 shelties and my stuff. I stayed in hotels, but would set up with the Phoenix group.
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| Moving from PA to ID- PA Plates: Acadia |
At the time, the Phoenix group were mostly couples in which showing dogs was the hobby of the women and the men enjoyed the camping, the comradery, cars, and being helpful and fun, and yes, sometimes showing. One time my civic developed a flat tire and these guys changed my tire as I prepared and showed my dogs and they got it patched and ready to go by the time I was ready to drive back to the hotel. This whole group made dog shows fun.
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When I was ready for a new vehicle they strongly recommended the Chevy Astro Van. It was a popular dog show vehicle and I listen. I got my first Astro in Arizona. It was a gray rear wheel drive (RWD), which was fine in sunny and dry Tucson. I did agree it was just what I needed. That van moved to Pennsylvania with us, but being RWD, I found myself "sledding" down icy hills and needed to get a different Astro. I did have it for many years and I have a funny story about that gray Astro which I will tell in a different post. I don't think I have any pictures of that van, which is too bad.
Chevy made an all-wheel drive (AWD), which was perfect for my needs. I got this (2004) van in August 2005 for $17,500 and it had 16,293 miles. It took me to shows all over the mid-Atlantic. Every time I got in it, I was heading to a dog show, which is exactly where I wanted to be and the association made me happy to drive it. This van was heavy and safe, easy to drive, and had all the room I needed. It loved to drive on the highway, and I loved to drive it.
It made the move to Idaho with us (photo on the road is from that move) and then it traveled all around the Idaho, Montana, Washington and Oregon to dog shows. Idaho was not very good to this van as I didn't get to as many shows, most of the driving was not highway as we think of it here in the east and the van was not as happy on those roads, it lived in our workshop which had mice, and those mice did damage including peeing on the carpets (a smell I never could really get out) and nesting material would come out of the air conditioning vents. One trip it broke down (a hose blew- I bet it was the mice), not far from home, but far enough it required friends to come rescue us and the dogs. The mechanic tried to tell me that they couldn't get the part for it because of its age and Chevy no longer made the Astro. Mike saved the day by finding the part at a junk yard.
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| Moving from PA to ID |
After that experience I decided I needed a "parts van" and purchased a 2003 Astro just to ensure the blue 2004 would never be "unrepairable" again. Hindsight- that was a waste of money. We never needed any parts from it and when we moved to Connecticut, the blue van made the move, and the "parts van" ended up back at the Pennsylvania farm- not a very convenient place if a part was needed. It's still drivable.
I had a really hard time with smell from the mice and found myself not wanting to drive the van. I tried scrubbing the carpets- but Wow, the smell was relentless. Of course I had so many positive associations with this van. Over the 21 years I had it, it transported many generations to shows. It transported my most important dogs. It was a staple and it took me a while to mentally divest myself. As you can tell from this overly long post about a van, I still love that van and everything it meant.
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This week, I donated it to charity. I hope that it still had enough value to contribute to a cause I care about. Thank you Chevy for a great Astro Van.
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