“I won’t come back with a truck.” That’s what Richard said when he left to get our car serviced.
He came back with a truck.
To be fair he had not purchased a truck, it was a test drive. But still.
When made the decision to move to Northern Alberta we quickly realized our Toyota Matrix was not going to cut it. There are about three times more new trucks than new passenger cars sold in Alberta, probably more in Northern Alberta. By April 19, 2013 Grande Prairie had 266cm of snow. A friend of ours who used to live in Alberta advised getting windshield insurance and this sentiment has been echoed by other previous Albertans. The reason? Gravel from the dirt roads chipping the windshield.
We’ve been researching and test driving trucks over the last few months. I’ve been interviewing unsuspecting truck owners everywhere. A Dodge Ram driver at my son’s daycare says it sucks gas. The father of the bride at a wedding a few weeks ago is on his second Ford F-150 and loves it. My neighbour with a Hemi swears by it.
I test drove a Dodge Ram last month. As I hoisted myself into massive truck with my British mother-in-law was perched in the back seat I had a strong feeling I had no business driving this monster. As I pulled up to a red light some lady in a small car (all cars look small from the Ram) almost hit me. And then there was the turkey struggling to stay aloft as it flew in front of my windshield. No joke. I’ve never even seen a turkey fly before. I’m not even sure I knew they could. I was slightly less intimidated by the time I got back to the dealership unscathed and when I scooted back into the Matrix the car seemed a bit dinky and fragile.
As of today I am on team Ford F-150 (cheaper, more common, full-size) and Rich is on team Toyota Tacoma (more expensive, better mileage, mid-size). Every F-150 owner I’ve spoken to loves their truck.
So when I test drove the Tacoma I didn’t really want to like it. But I did. A lot. I hardly felt a bump driving over train tracks, I could take corners at more than 1 mile an hour and no turkeys dive bombed me. It was easy to drive, not the monster the Ram was and more like driving a big car. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I kind of liked the monster.