Goodness Village volunteer, Misty, dropped off a beautiful fall wreath for our door
“Turn off the news and get out in the world. It is full of wonderfulness and humanity.” – Lori Puente
What a whirlwind this particular episode in our reluctant Myelomaville adventures.
Our original plan was that Dave would come out and get his T Cells collected on September 13th. (Well really mid-August, but the pharma canceled all of them in August which is what put us in this precarious situation and the femur break.)
Our plan was, he would fly out to Arkansas a month later to get them infused back to his body and I would meet him in our 20 yr old VW Passat at the airport so we could avoid the rental car fees. Forget that I was hopeful our Passat could make the trip! It’s in good shape and runs well, but it is old.
I bought our 2001 Passat used in 2007. I have enjoyed and loved that car. When we got my cute little used California VW EOS hardtop convertible Dave took over the Passat. It was perfect. We had a touring car and a fun post-kids car.
Since moving to the Sacramento area from Maryland, we have been enjoying regular trips up to South Lake Tahoe. We are Marriott Vacation Club owners and they have three gorgeous properties up there. Two in S. Tahoe. So when the kids come from Annapolis for golfing or winter skiing, we load up the Passat with suitcases, groceries (I empty the fridge), and all their gear and head up from 23 ft above sea level to 7900 and then 6500 into the Tahoe Basin. It just hasn’t been big enough. I’ve been urging Dave to give it up and get an SUV. Something with 4 wheel drive for when the snow hits Echo Summit and they won’t let you pass without 4WD or Chains. Something a little bigger so the kids don’t have to be packed like sardines in the backseat. He has looked at me and dismissed the idea for about 5 years. He only drives 3 miles to the office (and not even that during Covid). We have ZERO car payments. I get it. I do. (We are so grateful for our club ownership. Dave had intended to take me to faraway places but with going out of remission several years back, he just didn’t feel comfortable doing that. So we have utilized it to go to Tahoe which is just 2 hrs away. It’s like having a second home there as many people do, but I don’t have to do anything but show up with our stuff!)
S. Lake Tahoe
So as we were sitting in our house in Elk Grove, with our emergency bugging out packing going on to get Dave here in time for the T Cell collection I said, “I know! Let’s get our Tahoe car in Little Rock while we are there! It will solve the rental car problem, we can have a GREAT road trip home, and we’ll have our Tahoe car. Dave said, “OK, that will work.” WOOHOO! Little did I realize just how awful the car market is right now. I, of course, read about it. The chips are holding the new cars at the port unusable and unsellable. The used car market has taken up the new car drought. I reached out to a few peeps I know here and they all said, “good luck with that plan! it’s really bad.” Sigh. But I was determined.
Of course, I had been eying the VW Atlas since they came out. “Wouldn’t that be the perfect Tahoe car?” I would point to them every time we passed by or dropped off a car for service and Dave would pretty much ignore me. Haha So I decided I would have to throw myself at the mercy of the VW Dealer here. And I decided I had to find a way to get them invested in us. In our story. Help us to solve this problem.
I left Dave at the infusion center for the 4 hours he needed and took myself there. I walked up to a sales guy and asked to speak to the guy who runs the place. He looked slightly worried and I said, “No worries. It’s not a problem. I just really need help.” The dealership manager came out looking like what is this about? I introduced myself. I gave him the quick cliff note version of Dave, Myeloma, the institute, his great opportunity to have this revolutionary new treatment, the femur break, and being here for over 2 months with a rental car. That we were VW owners and my first car was a 1971 VW Beetle. That our dealership in Elk Grove takes excellent care of us, and I was hoping he would do the same. That I needed a salesman that liked to solve problems.
He took on the challenge, handed me back to the guy that I first spoke to, Mazen (he’s from Egypt! Came by himself 10 years ago and speaks amazing English. I told him I would have thought his parents brought him over as a child his English was so perfect. He was absolutely perfect and knowledgeable.) So the hunt to find our perfect car began. With Dave in the clinic on the phone on and off, and me telling Mazen what we needed and why. I only had two required must-haves. It had to be a V6 to make the climb easily to Tahoe. And I didn’t want captain seats in the second row. Everything else is optional. The cool sunroof and the tow package I was hoping for, but I was willing to let it go. Dave only wanted a darker interior. So it turns out that the Atlas Cross Sport was smaller and yet HUGE for us and would totally handle the job. They only had TWO on the whole lot. Can you imagine? One was new and one was slightly used. I wasn’t sure I would like the All-Wheel Drive vs 4 Wheel Drive, but that’s the only way they come. So we took it out for a spin and I wasn’t bothered by it at all. It was more money than we hoped to spend, but it wasn’t like I had many choices. And there was no incentive for the usual wheeling-dealing and haggling for either side of the sale. And it had everything I hoped for but didn’t require, and a little too much more! I think my dad would find flying the SR-71 less complicated! It’s really not complicated. It’s a car. It just has all these cool fancy electronics you can do amazing things with. We are now in a more modern 21st-century car and it is unexpected all the things they can do now.
Then as I sat there with my knitting while everyone was doing their thing to sell a car, I started to worry about how this could possibly happen. We didn’t even bring checkbooks! Then I dug into my usual mode and much of what I write about on this blog. Don’t worry about the HOW. Just the WHAT. With that, I realized it had already happened. I found the car. It was perfect. Now I just needed to let the guys at the dealership figure out all the workarounds to help this crazy lady who came in demanding help. haha And they came thru like gangbusters! I drove away with our new car before Dave was done. Mazen even followed me to the LR Airport to return my rental car!
When I pulled up to get Dave and brought him down, he stood (with his walker) in front of the car in the circle and said, “YOU DID IT!” I said, “WE ALL DID IT!” And while I’m jealous as all get out this will be Dave’s car, I’m enjoying the heck out of driving it all around Little Rock gathering things we need for the long haul. Many of the conveniences I’m learning to utilize and fully enjoy. It’s truly been a godsend.
So my heartfelt thanks to McLarty Volkswagon! You and everyone came through for me and I will hold you near and dear to my heart forever. They ROCKED in Little ROCK!
2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport
