[Capt Spaulding]

I'm sadly considering say adios to my blue baby. I bought her in 2015 with the idea of turning her into a road-trip / GT car. It worked out well. My wife and I drove her from home in South Texas to the DC area in 2017 and had a great time. Spent some money and time on GT upgrades (lighting/wheels/tires/sharpening the suspension/OEM XT oil temp regulator/quieting the cabin a bit) and made her even better. In 2019 we drove her a couple of thousand miles around West Texas. Again, we had a ball.

Then Covid hit and our travel plans did a faceplant for 2 years. Now, we've discovered we're not as young as we used to be and 500+mile (or even 300 mile) days in the BRZ pretty well wreck us. Our thinking is that it's the noise level in the cabin that is the major culprit. But, she is a bit cramped and the ride is rather firm

For the last two falls first I (in 2021) and then my wife (a couple of weeks ago) flew to Seattle and drove the 2400 miles down here with our youngest son in his Outback Wilderness. We think his has car spoiled us. It's much smoother and quieter than the BRZ, and is much more willing to take side trips down unimproved roads.

It's not nearly as much FUN to drive on winding roads, but down here it's a 200+ mile drive to find winding roads. So, the BRZ has become a garage queen. At 7 years of age she has a bit over 22,000 mile on her odometer.

So, we're considering swapping the BRZ in for a new OBW and trying to take some trips out to the mountains - west and east. Do some exploring, take some pictures, that sort of thing. William Least Heat Moon Blue Highways kind of stuff. If those still exist. Not sure yet. I still walk out in the garage, see the BRZ, and my pulse quickens a bit. I can sit down at my work bench and just look at her for hours. And it's far from certain that, even in the OBW, we're still up for 500 mile driving days. I guess we'll see.