Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Meet Louie.

The newest member of our family has arrived:  a big, big van.

With another baby on the way, we were out of room in our trusty little Honda.  Time for something bigger.

We debated the merits of various options, but I really did not want the standard 12-15 passenger van.  I came across the Dodge Sprinter as I was doing my research, and I was intrigued by the seating arrangement (seats with headrests!  seats with shoulder belts!  a sliding door!) and the diesel Mercedes engine.

After many months of looking online (nothing nearby was in our price range -- and the passenger version is fairly scarce), I located one in St. Louis.  Bob was there for work a month or two ago, and visited the Sprinter.

We went out to buy it this past weekend.

Wow.  There was some immediate buyer's remorse on my part.  This van is embarrassingly big.  It's huge.  It's taller than everything else, longer than everything else, very very easy to spot in a parking lot.

I'm starting to like driving it (it handles surprisingly well), but parking it still puts the fear of God in me.

Without further ado, meet Louie:


I think I'm going to like him.