We won't accept anything short of an adventure these days!

So after much thought, we decided we were in the market for a truck. But according to Jake, it wasn't going to be just any truck. It had to be a Toyota Tundra, or a Toyota Tacoma. (He's been drooling over these since a few years ago). And you know, we DO only have 2 kids, and the Mazda 5 we have been driving IS a little cramped, so why not!?I hopped onto the internet and began the search. Anyone who knows me, knows that once I start a search for something on the internet, I refuse to be distracted from the task until it's complete. So I spent a couple days mostly just sitting in front of my computer, using and abusing search engines, and making phone calls to numerous dealers. I finally narrowed it down to 3. These were the best of the best, and I figured I'd let Jake choose after I reached that point. It was HIS dream truck anyway.

Tuesday afternoon, after we made arrangements with the dealerships- we headed on our Journey. Our first stop was Baldwin Park, CA. About 1 hour and 45 minutes southwest from us. We made it about 1 hour and 15 minutes before "Sir Pukes-A-Lot" (Jess) gave an award winning performance starring none other than fruit snacks, goldfish, and yogurt. BLECH!! Were were supposed to trade the Mazda in, and now it was going to smell like vomit!! We stopped at a Target in Burbank, CA (home of the Jay Leno Show), and ditched the vomit covered car seat and clothing. After buying a new car seat, a Large bottle of Scented Lysol, and clothing our two year old in his second new outfit of the week (this same thing happened a week ago), we were on our way again. One last nap in the Mazda.

5:00. Baldwin Park, CA. Truck #1. Black 2006 Toyota Tundra Crew Cab with 172,000 miles (55,000 on the replaced engine) for $10,000. The sales guy came out and showed it to us. We weren't too excited about working with this guy due to the seemingly short tempered attitude he expressed towards us when we asked him questions over the phone earlier that day. Long story short, we didn't even test drive the truck because we got a totally bad vibe from the guy. As we were looking at the truck, he started yelling at another customer, who was a woman, about forgetting some piece of paperwork that she needed. He must have been having a rough day, because he was acting like a total Jerk. Not to mention a the truck had a broken windshield, bald tires, and a big dent from an accident on the passenger side. (None of which were disclosed to us over the phone!) On to the next (in LA 5:00 traffic of course).

6:30. Downtown Los Angeles, CA. Truck #2. 2004 Black Toyota Tundra Limited Edition Crew Cab with 108,000 miles for $11,400. This thing was P-I-M-P-E-D out. Flashy 20" rims, custom bumpers, racing pedals, bumpin' sound system, DVD system, custom center console (probably to conceal weed), 8" lift, and low profile gansta tires. You can imagine just how "white guy" we looked standing next to this thing. Jake did his best to try to look normal as we took the already nicknamed "mexican drug mobile" on a test drive. Jack was impressed with the little back seat consoles that he assumed were made just for his airplane toys. Oh- and there was a patch on the driver's side door that looked like it had been a bullet hole. Really? We would have been pulled over within 2 days if we had bought this thing.

8:00. Stopped at a Carls Jr downtown, and Jake was almost too afraid to leave us in the car while he ran in to get some eats. Let's just say that maybe if we HAD been in the gansta mobile, we might've felt a little safer.









9:30. Dodge Chrysler Jeep Dealership in Ontario, CA. They stayed open just for us. Truck #3. Dusty Blue 2004 Toyota Tundra SR5 Crew cab with 66,000 miles for $12,888. It was B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!



4.7L i-force V8 engine, Tow package, Rhino Liner, power rear window to access the bed, the biggest moon roof I have ever seen, normal looking wheels, beefy tires, CD player, cassette player (perfect for Jake's MP3 adapter), sparkling interior, clean carfax, and no bullet holes. This was a T-shirt, Jeans and baseball cap Truck. This was Jake's truck. As the kids ran around the mostly dark dealership office, one trade in appraiser, one sales manager, and one loan officer, worked as quickly as they could to get us squared away and out of there. They were great.

11:30. Deal closed. Belongings transferred from Mazda to Tundra, keys exchanged, and on our way. We had a 2 hour drive home. Jake wasn't complaining though. He had his dream truck, and it was more roomy inside than any vehicle we have previously owned. Definitely a good fit for our family. Undulating highways made for an entertaining maiden voyage in the currently nameless family Truck. We sipped hot chocolate and ate popcorn from a gas station we found on the way, and life was feeling good.

1:30am. Pulling into our apartment complex. Jess now screaming that he "just wants to go to my own bed!" Brakes engage. Jake gets the most nauseous look on his face as he glances down at his shiny new key ring. He looks at me, and I know what we've done. The now closed, Dodge Chrysler Jeep dealership, 2 hours back in Ontario, was in possession of not one, but 2 keys. The key to the Mazda, and our only key to our apartment. *massive eye roll, followed by a long deliberate blink*

LOCKED OUT.

We looked at each other with that familiar "I can't believe we just did that" look as we shook our heads. Well, we wouldn't have given it a valiant effort if we didn't at least TRY to break into our own house.

2:00am. There was no breaking into our house. We called the emergency line for the complex, and a nice lady answered and explained to us "we don't deal with lock-outs at this hour." Fantastic. We don't know how to deal with lock-outs at this hour either!! "Both of our personal cell phones are dead, and we don't have any way to look up any numbers. Can you give us a number for a locksmith?" We asked. "No." she stated.

Okay. 6 hours until the apartment office opens and we can get a spare key to our apartment. We have no more diapers for the boys. I have to go to the bathroom....... really bad. Jess screaming. Jack is laughing because I have to go to the bathroom really bad. Jake is staring blankly at his work phone that seems useless at this point due to it's lack of a 411 feature. Okay, time for a game plan. Local CVS for diapers, water bottles, and wipes. Then to a hotel. Simple right? Wrong.

First hotel: no rooms available. What? Weird. Second Hotel, right across the street: no rooms available. Huh?! Third Hotel: "Sir, there's a southern Baptist convention in town, and every single hotel room in Lancaster is booked. You are going to have to drive to Valencia to find a room." Blank stare. Unbelievable. Called about 8 other hotels in the area just to double check. Yep. All full. Baptists.

3:00am. Parked in front our apartment. Again. What do we do now? And then the brilliant idea of the night. Our upstairs neighbor has been out of the country for two weeks. Phone books were delivered one week ago. Jackpot. Jake runs up the stairs and gets a number for a locksmith. We convince him to come and and get us into our house. He'll be just 30 minutes. 30 long minutes.

Jake is smiling. Jess is sitting in his lap "driving" daddy's new truck. I am dying, trying not to pee my pants after having to go to the bathroom for nearly 3 hours. Jack is laughing uncontrollably due to the fact that mommy is about to wet her pants, and his maniacal laughter is only accelerating the process.

3:30am. I hear "Mommy! you can come in and pee now!" from Jack, who was standing next to Jake and the locksmith on our porch. That statement was followed only 3 minutes later by: "And mommy, we are hungry."

4:00am "Sigh." The kids get in bed. Jake stands next to the bed stretching. I brush my teeth. We look at each other and Jake says, "Well- it IS a pretty cool truck."





It better be. ;)