The Major Purchase

I received a rather insistent instant message from Ashleigh several days ago asking that I be less cryptic and more forthcoming about the purchase we made that I alluded to several posts back. She managed to get it out of me, but assuming there were others of you who wished to know... here's the answer: we got a new (second) car.

I think my resolution to find money for a car somewhere has grown out of a few facts:
1. Not that it will ever be an issue, but I would like to think that *if* there were a nuclear disaster at the power plant less than 10 miles from here, I would be able to pack up myself and the cats and attempt to evacuate.
2. The weather is turning cool enough that I don't want to be out walking in it -- in part because the cold, dry air has caused me asthma problems.
3. I have time to do things in the morning before work most days, but without a vehicle, my choices were limited.
4. I had started getting nervous about taking our older car on the driving trips that we have begun to make more regularly.

I'd been researching what to buy for several weeks and running the ideas by Daniel. My greatest goals were to get the safest cheap car on the market, and to get a few features we missed in the Rav-4 we sold when we left California: a manual transmission, a hatchback for hauling purposes and cruise control. We actually went car shopping while Dad was here to go to the dealership with us.

We settled on a Nissan Versa liftback and bought the one car on the lot that had the features we wanted and only the features we wanted, keeping the price within reach. That car just happened to be black. I think it's cute.

We're enjoying making the mileage climb from the initial 7.8 miles the odometer boasted. Dan takes it to work most days, and we cleaned up the Corolla so both of our cars are reasonably spiffy. I have the Corolla most days, which is working just fine.
We celebrated the large purchase (as is the tradition in my family) with a lovely dinner... this time at J Betski's in Raleigh. That was also my birthday dinner. The food was absolutely amazing. All in all, that day (October 27) was quite memorable and fun.