Best day of snowboarding at Bear Valley
My first Subaru was an '83 tan wagon my brother Matt and I shared. After high school graduation I was hit head-on by a drunk driver who drove away and when found had no insurance. My nose is crooked because of this.Short lived love, I learned to drive a manual transmission in this Suby and my dad took me to Bear Valley's parking lot (ice lot) to teach me some winter driving skills. I had to acquire 10 hours of "snow driving" before they would allow me to drive to the hills alone. (This was in addition to 150 driving hours in normal conditions before we were allowed to get our license. Oddly enough, I LOVE to drive!)
"Beast", my second Subaru, served our adventures quite well. Beast took us to Yellowstone, BC and many wonderful adventures. Beast was christened so due to the way he fearlessly raced up snowy passes (something my Volvo wagon could never accomplish safely). One day the snow was so bad we had to roll the windows down to allow the burm to keep us on course.
I loved the Acura, but two wheel drive was pretty unbearable. As I could go no faster than 20 mph safely on the snowy roads I threw in the towel on a car I love. Steve had been trying to get me to trade for a Subaru for a LONG TIME, but I just wanted to stick to a car for once (I've now had three since we've been together). My expectations for a different vehicle changed drastically from: must have LL Bean and all the bling to: just give me a car with AWD, heated seats and a heated windshield wiper (formerly the all weather package) the rest is rubbish. It was a journey to get to that point, I had to drive hyper cautiously in a few storms and rationalize that if I wrecked I was going to slow to be fatally wounded.
Reality really set in while I was driving to the dentist. As slow as I was going, there was no way I was going to be able to stop at an intersection; so I turned right. Following that glorious moment, it was like a slip and slide and I was grateful to arrive at the dentists parking lot. Locals tell us the real snow season hasn't even hit!
Online I had found what seemed like a really good buy on a "used" Subaru. (This was the same day Buddy ate all the chocolates, so I dropped him off at Deuter to hang with Steve.) With Steve's blessing, I headed up to Subaru of Loveland. I had my reservations about negotiating on the Suby, you never know with a trade-in. The sales team was nice and we were able to cut to the chase. Steve headed up with Buddy after work and three hours later we were given keys to our new-used Subaru.
Steve told me I couldn't call this one Beast. He suggested B2 (Beast 2), but it seemed a bit to "techie" for me. I gave a few suggestions which were too effeminate for Steve to use casually. As I got to know the Suby, I fell in deep love and found the name for it! Below are pictures of our new addition, Heracles (a.k.a. Herc). A Greek mythological hero, Heracles is known for strength, courage and ingenuity.
Finally Buddy can ride with me! I was a dog snob with my Acura.
Plenty of ground clearance.
It comes with "sportshift" which saved me while driving the Acura. Also, it has a mp3 jack!
Steve's diggin' on the cloth interior. He abhorred the black leather seats in the Acura.
I'm really grateful for a car that will keep us safe in our adventures!
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