Last Saturday we picked up our 2007 Honda Accord. We had driven up to The Lot on Friday evening, then over to Colorado Springs (two hours each way) on Saturday morning. We finished the day by driving home Saturday night (four hours).

Driving in Colorado Springs city traffic reminds me of why I don’t live in town.

The Honda runs fine and looks good for a 2007, but there are a few items that need to be resolved. Floor mats are needed, as are new front brake rotors. There is some brake pedal pulsing during higher speed stops, a problem I had with the old Honda. Replacing the stock rotors with drilled and vented rotors cured that problem before, so the same fix will be applied to this Honda.

Pam wanted to order a “bra” to put on the front of the car, giving it some distinguishing character; trying to find a plain white Honda in a parking lot could take some effort! Additionally, with all the rock chips that hit the old Honda on our regular commuting route, the car bra solution should protect the front of the 2007 from ugly paint damage.

Here are a few photos:

2007 Honda – front

Interior

Dashboard

View from back of car

Engine compartment

All parts and pieces (floor mats, rotors, La Bra) are on order and will be installed within the next couple weeks. After that we hope to have many trouble-free miles of use.

For now the old Honda is parked up on The Lot to use as an occasional / local trips / 2nd car when needed.  At 415,000 miles, the 2001 has earned semi-retirement and light duty.

2001 Honda at The Lot

While the “new” car was the big news, it is not the only news. Despite the heat I managed to get the first load of firewood cut and stacked along our driveway.

First firewood cut – 2017

And, at work…I now have an assistant. Actually, it is my previous assistant who decided to return to the area for family reasons. He applied for his old job and was re-employed. This means I will have minimal training to do — just the items that have changed in the last 7 months — probably a good thing. I’m glad to have him back.

Record or near-record heat has made life here a bit miserable (100 degree + miserable). We run our evaporative cooler in the mornings to get the night air into the house before we leave, then again when we get home to cool down the place before bed time. Outside activities are somewhat restricted to early morning hours and not much during the day or evenings. This is much too hot for this time of the year!

We will be entertaining at The Lot again this weekend; Pam’s high school classmate, Jon Morse and his wife Mary Kay, will be in Breckenridge on a western state vacation sweep. They plan to make the hour drive from Breck to The Lot this coming Saturday. I have met Jon before; he visited us in Arizona several years back (Jon also played guitar at our wedding oh those many years ago). It will be interesting to catch up with all the news of the intervening years.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

The 2007 Honda does have a bit of cigarette smoke residue smell in the interior, which will likely soon be replaced by doggie smell.  White is actually a better color for a car in Colorado than the red of the 2001; white reflects those high altitude sun rays.  The 2007 has fully tinted windows throughout too. Nice.

Retirement House Search: While scanning the internet for houses on the southern Oregon border, my search parameters turned up this house in far-northern California.  Coincidently, it’s located in the same California county where Jerry was born. Would we move to California? Maybe we need to swing through northern CA for a “look see” on our driving trip to the Northwest.  We usually drive the Salt Lake City through Idaho to eastern Oregon route, but could also travel Salt Lake City to Reno to northern California.  Possibilities.

10602 Quartz Valley Rd. Ft. Jones, CA

Happy Trails.