Sara's Car- Celebrating two years with the Hyundai Elantra
Today marks two years since Sara and I met at the Hiland Toyota and Scion dealership on John Deere Expressway in Moline, Illinois after I got off work, and walked away, or rather, drove away, with Sara's nearly new 2014 Hyundai Elantra.
Between the two of us, making payments of $198.66 over twenty-four months, we have inroaded $4,767.84 off of the cost of the car. Add that to the $2750.00 down payment we made with help from mom, and we have paid off $7,517.84. The car was about $11,000 dollars on the lot. So we only have a little over 3,000 dollars on the principal balance. Tax, title, and license come back.
In honor of bringing that sporty little hatch-back sedan into our family, here are some fun trips Sara and I have made since coming into possession of this car.
Trip to Lincolnshire, Illinois- November 17th, 18th, 19th, 2017. Sara and I went to see Newsies at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. We stayed two nights. We got room service for breakfast. We slept deeply. I got stomach cramps from the omelettes. I remember concentrating on Jack Kelly's face in the play, with it being theatre in the round, I got a good look at it; and focusing all my energy on watching his come hither come-ons to Katherine Plummer, waiting for her to give in and kiss him within breathing distance of Sara and me. And that took my attention off of my knotted stomach. Was able to make it to a bathroom and get Pepto Bismol at the hotel lobby during the intermission. Then after the matinee performance, we met Mike Scimeca at the Olive Garden in a nearby suburb. My appetite had returned for spaghetti with marinera and salad. But wait a minute, I didn't bring the Elantra for that trip. It was sitting safely at home, with only the down-payment and one of the monthly payments made on it.
Trip to Lewistown, Illinois, with overnight stay in Pekin, IL- March 9th, 10th, 11th, 2018 for Annie- I had line-coached and assistant directed Annie. I also got to do spotlight, and sing in the choir numbers. Sara came down with me, seeing the Saturday Night performance. Then I drove her back early the next day. But had to get back to Lewistown for the Sunday matinee. It was an excellent trip, though, since I didn't mess up the spotlight. But I did mess up by singing the wrong lines during Annie/Together At Last. I remember Bree Brown reassuring me with a "do it wrong, do it strong." Hey, I'd fed them homemade chocolate chip cookies with Arizona Tea the day before. No one was that mad at me. But oh, what a lot of miles we put on the car...it was my Toyota Camry again, because obviously, I wasn't going to drive back to Lewistown with Sara's Hyundai but without Sara. I had In the Heights as our jam for this trip.
Trip to Jess Fah's house for the Catch Me if You Can cast party. March 24th, 2018. Now for this one, I actually did have Sara's car. It did a magical job of getting us through the freak snowstorm into Iowa, never mind the fact I let Sara off at a curb where she stepped directly into a snow puddle. Wearing flip flops. Also, I definitely did get the underbody of the car stuck in the snow. The car is low to the ground. We did fix the flap below the front bumper. Eventually. We had a good time at the party. I designated drove. I drank soda upstairs. I was driving Sara's new car. In a freak spring snowstorm. As for the other people at the party, they were drinking wine right out of the bottle.
Trip to Peoria, Illinois to see Newsies at the Corn Stock Theatre- August 11th, 2018. This was a risky trip. Not quite a year into payments, Sara volunteered the services of her beautiful Elantra for a trip to Peoria, Illinois. One of the hardest towns in Illinois to navegate. And with traffic that just doesn't slow down. Even when congested. So I was very nervous whne I got spit out from Big Hollow Road to Sterling Avenue, and from that to War Memorial Drive, where we started driving the right way. And I had to turn around. And when I went to switch lanes, I very nearly cut off another car. Sara is tough, and was able to hold it together while I drove, aggressively, in town. And I was trying so hard to be careful. Newsies was delightful, Caleb Johnson did an excellent job as Jack Kelly, having the best chemistry with his Katherine Plummer of any of the productions of Newsies I had seen. (They held eachother, legitimately, which speaks more than mere kissing.) Dinner at Avanti's. Ate the leftover bread and spaghetti at the Baymont off War Memorial Drive. Breakfast at the hotel. Waffles. A stopover at the Barnnes and Noble. I found the CD with Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Wanted the song "Girl From North Country." Made it home safely. Sara helped me get to my Arc shift at 38th Avenue. The Cats soundtrack was our jam getting there and back.
Trip to Lavender Crest Winery in Colona, Illinois. Sara and I went out to see the QC Singers do their Holiday Spectacular. I drove the car there. Sara drove it home. We split a bottle of wine. We even shared it with the rest of the table. But over the course of about two glasses of wine, plus a wassail, and maybe another half glass, I was tipsy. I loved the African songs they started with. The "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and the "Wassail" song made me laugh. As did the "12 Days of Christmas." Jake Walker livened things up with a little Mariah Carey as well. Enjoyed the pork, carrots, and dessert.
Trip to Lewistown, Illinois, with overnight stay in Pekin, IL- March 8th, 9th, 10th, for Once Upon a Mattress. This trip, we did take Sara's Elantra. It got us to all places safely. I had slipped and fallen on ice earlier in the day. So I was a little bit sore on the drive down. Stopped for salad in Galesburg. Found all my costume in time, got into make-up, was able to fit in a clean shave, and made it through my whole performance, including all five of my lines of dialogue, and my tae kwon do improvisation when I offered my services to protect Lady Larkin against the wizard, while accompanying the Minstrel and Jester to visit him on Larkin's behalf, hoping to find out what test the Queen had in mind for Princess Winnifred for her to earn the hand of the Queen's son, Prince Dauntless. Yes, we got lost on the way to Pekin, in Pekin. Yes, we used GPS to figure out our way out of it. We missed Saturday Night Live. But we laid down to bed. And celebrated our anniversary. (A couple days early.)
Trip to Iowa City, Iowa, for Pippin the Musical. This was an awesome trip. Sara offered her car up. I brought the Hairspray soundtrack as our jam. We met up with Alexis Garlisch. We also met up with Bruce and Madison Duling. They performed a very good performance. I know I recognize the guy who played Pippin from somewhere. But I've never met him. I think he just bears a strong resemblance to Emile Hirsch or Alden Ehrenreich. Or somebody else. Maybe Dane DeHaan? Dinner with Phil Kopp afterwards at the Steak 'n' Shake.
So here's hoping to many more years of happiness with Sara's Elantra.
Between the two of us, making payments of $198.66 over twenty-four months, we have inroaded $4,767.84 off of the cost of the car. Add that to the $2750.00 down payment we made with help from mom, and we have paid off $7,517.84. The car was about $11,000 dollars on the lot. So we only have a little over 3,000 dollars on the principal balance. Tax, title, and license come back.
In honor of bringing that sporty little hatch-back sedan into our family, here are some fun trips Sara and I have made since coming into possession of this car.
Trip to Lincolnshire, Illinois- November 17th, 18th, 19th, 2017. Sara and I went to see Newsies at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire. We stayed two nights. We got room service for breakfast. We slept deeply. I got stomach cramps from the omelettes. I remember concentrating on Jack Kelly's face in the play, with it being theatre in the round, I got a good look at it; and focusing all my energy on watching his come hither come-ons to Katherine Plummer, waiting for her to give in and kiss him within breathing distance of Sara and me. And that took my attention off of my knotted stomach. Was able to make it to a bathroom and get Pepto Bismol at the hotel lobby during the intermission. Then after the matinee performance, we met Mike Scimeca at the Olive Garden in a nearby suburb. My appetite had returned for spaghetti with marinera and salad. But wait a minute, I didn't bring the Elantra for that trip. It was sitting safely at home, with only the down-payment and one of the monthly payments made on it.
Trip to Lewistown, Illinois, with overnight stay in Pekin, IL- March 9th, 10th, 11th, 2018 for Annie- I had line-coached and assistant directed Annie. I also got to do spotlight, and sing in the choir numbers. Sara came down with me, seeing the Saturday Night performance. Then I drove her back early the next day. But had to get back to Lewistown for the Sunday matinee. It was an excellent trip, though, since I didn't mess up the spotlight. But I did mess up by singing the wrong lines during Annie/Together At Last. I remember Bree Brown reassuring me with a "do it wrong, do it strong." Hey, I'd fed them homemade chocolate chip cookies with Arizona Tea the day before. No one was that mad at me. But oh, what a lot of miles we put on the car...it was my Toyota Camry again, because obviously, I wasn't going to drive back to Lewistown with Sara's Hyundai but without Sara. I had In the Heights as our jam for this trip.
Trip to Jess Fah's house for the Catch Me if You Can cast party. March 24th, 2018. Now for this one, I actually did have Sara's car. It did a magical job of getting us through the freak snowstorm into Iowa, never mind the fact I let Sara off at a curb where she stepped directly into a snow puddle. Wearing flip flops. Also, I definitely did get the underbody of the car stuck in the snow. The car is low to the ground. We did fix the flap below the front bumper. Eventually. We had a good time at the party. I designated drove. I drank soda upstairs. I was driving Sara's new car. In a freak spring snowstorm. As for the other people at the party, they were drinking wine right out of the bottle.
Trip to Peoria, Illinois to see Newsies at the Corn Stock Theatre- August 11th, 2018. This was a risky trip. Not quite a year into payments, Sara volunteered the services of her beautiful Elantra for a trip to Peoria, Illinois. One of the hardest towns in Illinois to navegate. And with traffic that just doesn't slow down. Even when congested. So I was very nervous whne I got spit out from Big Hollow Road to Sterling Avenue, and from that to War Memorial Drive, where we started driving the right way. And I had to turn around. And when I went to switch lanes, I very nearly cut off another car. Sara is tough, and was able to hold it together while I drove, aggressively, in town. And I was trying so hard to be careful. Newsies was delightful, Caleb Johnson did an excellent job as Jack Kelly, having the best chemistry with his Katherine Plummer of any of the productions of Newsies I had seen. (They held eachother, legitimately, which speaks more than mere kissing.) Dinner at Avanti's. Ate the leftover bread and spaghetti at the Baymont off War Memorial Drive. Breakfast at the hotel. Waffles. A stopover at the Barnnes and Noble. I found the CD with Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash. Wanted the song "Girl From North Country." Made it home safely. Sara helped me get to my Arc shift at 38th Avenue. The Cats soundtrack was our jam getting there and back.
Trip to Lavender Crest Winery in Colona, Illinois. Sara and I went out to see the QC Singers do their Holiday Spectacular. I drove the car there. Sara drove it home. We split a bottle of wine. We even shared it with the rest of the table. But over the course of about two glasses of wine, plus a wassail, and maybe another half glass, I was tipsy. I loved the African songs they started with. The "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and the "Wassail" song made me laugh. As did the "12 Days of Christmas." Jake Walker livened things up with a little Mariah Carey as well. Enjoyed the pork, carrots, and dessert.
Trip to Lewistown, Illinois, with overnight stay in Pekin, IL- March 8th, 9th, 10th, for Once Upon a Mattress. This trip, we did take Sara's Elantra. It got us to all places safely. I had slipped and fallen on ice earlier in the day. So I was a little bit sore on the drive down. Stopped for salad in Galesburg. Found all my costume in time, got into make-up, was able to fit in a clean shave, and made it through my whole performance, including all five of my lines of dialogue, and my tae kwon do improvisation when I offered my services to protect Lady Larkin against the wizard, while accompanying the Minstrel and Jester to visit him on Larkin's behalf, hoping to find out what test the Queen had in mind for Princess Winnifred for her to earn the hand of the Queen's son, Prince Dauntless. Yes, we got lost on the way to Pekin, in Pekin. Yes, we used GPS to figure out our way out of it. We missed Saturday Night Live. But we laid down to bed. And celebrated our anniversary. (A couple days early.)
Trip to Iowa City, Iowa, for Pippin the Musical. This was an awesome trip. Sara offered her car up. I brought the Hairspray soundtrack as our jam. We met up with Alexis Garlisch. We also met up with Bruce and Madison Duling. They performed a very good performance. I know I recognize the guy who played Pippin from somewhere. But I've never met him. I think he just bears a strong resemblance to Emile Hirsch or Alden Ehrenreich. Or somebody else. Maybe Dane DeHaan? Dinner with Phil Kopp afterwards at the Steak 'n' Shake.
So here's hoping to many more years of happiness with Sara's Elantra.