To celebrate our one year anniversary, Patrick and I rented a convertible and drove to Morro Bay. We had recently bought our first house so it was kind of extravagant at the time but it was worth it. We had a great time driving down the coast.
Patrick didn’t really talk about wanting a convertible which wasn’t a surprise since he rarely mentioned wanting anything. When he saw the PT Cruiser he really wanted to get it, even though we knew it was likely to have issues. I’m glad we did buy it! In 2015 we celebrated our 23rd anniversary in Pismo and we took the Cruiser with us. I took the picture below as we drove down the coast with the top down! During that trip we drove into San Luis Obispo to go to Patrick’s favorite sandwich place, the Lincoln deli. They had great sandwiches and a huge selection of craft beer. We stopped there anytime we visited. He must have been really excited to be there because we were only there for a few minutes when someone came in and yelled that someone’s convertible was on the middle of the street! He had failed to put the car into park and didn’t put on the parking brake either! Luckily no one was harmed and no damage was done!
Later in the summer we celebrated Mom & Pop’s 50th anniversary in Cayucos. The girls drove the Cruiser to the coast with their cousins Caitlin and Gianna. Once they hit Highway 1 the top came down again and they had a great time too!
The rest of the time the car was mainly used to get Camille to and from school. We noticed right away that it ran through oil quickly so we knew there was some sort of leak. Patrick also mentioned something that was likely to need replacing but I have no idea what it was. He showed Camille a little bit about the oil but nothing major. I know he did teach her to watch the temperature and he regularly checked things and kept the car running.
After he died, for the first few weeks and months, there were s lot of things I knew I should take care of and the Cruiser was on that list. Frankly I didn’t care about any of it. Eventually I would start caring that the pool was turning green and I needed to handle routine car maintenance but that was several months down the road. I couldn’t remember when the oil had been changed in any of the cars so I finally just took them all in. After that I put oil in twice, over the next 8 months!
A while back the registration renewal came in the mail and I had a sinking feeling that it would need a smog check and I also suspected it wouldn’t pass. I waited until almost the last minute to take it in because it was easier to wait until school was out. I had them change the oil first and, of course, it was extremely low. When the technician came out to tell me it didn’t pass I was not surprised at all. He seemed to feel bad telling me so I tried to explain to him why I wasn’t surprised and that’s when I felt the tears threatening.
His loss is so acute at times when I remember just how much he took care of for us and what a great job he did. I really don’t care about the car needing repairs. Whatever, it’s just money. And I do feel more independent but I also miss him and all of the things he did.
I need to decide how much I will spend on the Cruiser before it becomes a money pit! It’s not the most dependable car but it has been a great first car for Camille! Mainly I don’t want to sell something he enjoyed so much! For now I will keep my Options open!