Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly --Author Unknown

As we all know, every spirited adventurer needs a good getaway vehicle. I mean, can you picture Scooby Doo without the Mystery Machine, or Batman without his Batmobile? Well, this was my baby; the sweet little butt-kickin' truck. I called her Shady Lady.

The Lady was a tricked out little '97 Toyota Rav 4. There were studded vinyl dice, chrome license plate holders in the shape of sexy babes, and of course, the name spelled out in silver across the windshield...

above: Shady Lady, ready to make a speedy getaway out in front of the creepy old Jackson House... vroom vroom

The truck was jet black with a silver-gray interior; there was also a studded leather steering wheel cover. It was soooooo me. It looked like a big bad tough truck except it's small, and very cute! When I first saw it, I thought it would drive really rough, like a truck. I was amazed at how smooth she rode though, she handled like a dream. Plus, she was manual, I love driving manual... makes me feels somehow more in tune with the road <grin> And although she rode so smoothly, she still had cajones. That little truck was pretty tough; I knew I could depend on good ol' Shady Lady to get me out of some pretty wild terrain, as she also had 4-wheel drive.

above: the Lady lounges in her parking space at home after a long day on the road

Whether it was negotiating down the narrow, rutted terrain of Whipporwill Valley Road, or prowling up and down Route 9 in search of mystery... the Lady held her own. And talk about great gas mileage- it seemed like she never ran out of gas!! All in all, she was a fantastic little truck- stylish, sensible, and strong. And that's very important to me; I spend a lot of time behind the wheel, whether it's driving around for work, or just going out exploring. Having a vehicle that I can depend on is really important.

Unfortunately, somebody-who-shall-remain-nameless did not pay the car payments as they were supposed to, and the Lady got repoed... *sigh* It was a horribly sad day, that little truck took me to a great deal of the places that you will see here on this site. The Shady Lady will long live in my memory as one of the best vehicles that I have ever owned... Viva La Rav.

I am now driving a bigger, slightly older-but-tougher truck- a GMC Jimmy that I like to call 'James'... and James is doing good by me so far. We've traveled the desert wastelands from Texas to New Mexico to Arizona to California, and back, multiple times now, and James handles it like a champ...

...so keep an eye out for James and I on our many upcoming road adventures... you will be seeing lots more of us on the weird, wild highways and byways of the land!