Can't believe it, but we broke down (finally) and bought a mini-van of sorts. It's a 2005 Honda Step Wgn (8 seater) with dual electric sliding doors. Of course, with Tom being Tom, it's fully loaded. We have leather, the bigger 2.4 l engine, etc, etc. He also picked out custom rims and wheels for the Step Wgn. And like most of our other cars (with the exception of our Porshe and Jeep which are both red), the new family cruiser is black.
Claire is thrilled with her new car. She is convinced that Hondas are better than Mercedes because she now has more room. She doesn't like the lack of leg room in our C200 Kompressor. James also give the "thumbs up" to the Step Wgn. He can climb into the car on his own and can usually get into his car seat (if he's not holding too many toy taxis in his hands). James also enjoys having a larger view of the road. More double decker buses, taxis, trams, mini buses, motorcycles, cars, and dogs to see! Tom is now driving the Merc, and we sold our Lexus.
The one problem with our new purchase is the height of the Step Wgn. Car parks in Hong Kong can have height restrictions. The specs state that the height is 1.78 meters. This is before the new rims/wheels, so I'm not sure of the actual height.
When I drove James to speech therapy this week, I suddenly freaked out approaching the car park. There was a large sign dangling down with the words, "Maximum Height 1.9 m". At this point, I was unaware of the Step Wgn's height. There is no sunroof to open up and view our progress into the building. The rather cool roof panels are opaque so I couldn't see up. I prayed and slowly started driving up the ramp. Lots of vents, exposed pipes, and areas of lowered ceiling. We managed to get up to the hourly parking on the 5th floor with no trauma. Thank god! Grocery shopping isn't going to be so easy, I fear. Our local Park N Shop has a 1.8 m height restriction in the garage. And all the low points are on ramps! There are a few spaces outside the entrance to the car park. Hopefully I'll be able to snag one of these each time we shop.
I also had a flashback on Wednesday as I slowly drove into the initial height restricted car park. My cousin Kerry and I flew to Florida on our own when we were in 4th and 5th grades, respectively. My mom drove us into Boston's Logan Airport. We were late and she zoomed into the parking garage. "Crunch!" Our van had roof racks that were too high for the garage. My mom reversed, pulled to the side and abondoned her vehicle. We raced inside the airport and made our flight. My mom is one cool woman! I called her this morning while driving Claire to school. We both laughed at the memory. We also wondered why we duck inside our cars when we think there might be a height issue! Why?
Cathy, my step-daughter, was very amused by the change in vehicles. "That car you got there looks like quite the minivan...you are officially the Mom driving the minivan." Great, that does wonders for my self-image!
Oh, and the best part of all. Our new license plate is MF 2884. So watch out, this mom has attitude!
