More Than Friends? 2

Coming up on five years… Soon our time spent with Sequoia will surpass the time we have spent with any other vehicle. Looking at the odometer, this big tree has smashed all my records for time behind the wheel. We’ve now driven nearly 100k km.

That’s not a lot by most standards, but given that I seem to swap out vehicles seasonally, and generally have multiple options in my rotation, this is a major achievement.

But where is this going?

As I age, a big comfortable vehicle has become more and more appealing. Squishing myself into a tiny coupe was fun when I used to imagine that I was a race car driver. Now I am clearly not that.

Bills and obligations keep me up at night. As I lie in bed, fighting to imagine how I can make other people’s big dreams a reality, I fantasize about an apocalypse. Some cataclysmic event that provides me an out. Some event that would genuinely test my abilities as a human being and allow me to shine in ways that the current reality might not.

It’s a shit dream… but at my side in that dream is generally a 100 series Land Cruiser.

The Sequoia is not a 100 series Land Cruiser. Unlike the Land Cruiser though, it has a shit tonne of space. I.E. Room for seven people. Room for cameras and other work gear, plus… surprise… two sets of 19″ Porsche race wheels. Room for 4×8 sheets of pegboard… and kids. I’m in love with how much this thing can carry.

Mechanically there are disappointments, but it’s really not THAT far away from a Land Cruiser.

It’s also already in my garage.

When I trek through the winter wasteland that is central Alberta, and snow flies and drudgery awaits me at either end of my voyage, I want two things. I want to be comfortable. I want to know that whatever the fuck happens, I’m going to get to my destination.

So far, the Sequoia has accomplished those two things exceptionally well. As a result… I think I might start investing a bit more love into it.