Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ‘cause I can’t go; I have to finish this patio…

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I lost track of how much material I hauled in my old all-wheel-drive 1999 GMC Safari Van for my yard projects this year. A glance at the tickets for last month alone shows 1200 lbs of boulders and 6000 lbs of gravel. I try to limit the weight per trip to no more than 1000 lbs, for the sake of my back and the longevity of the old van. As consideration for my neighbors, I only bring in enough material for two or three days work. Having stockpiles of bricks, boulders, sand, and gravel in the yard would be an eyesore.

Both the old van and I need a break. Next week the GMC goes in for a host of repairs including a coolant leak, tie-rod ends, front and rear brakes, drive belt, etc. After she gets out of the repair shop, I will then mosey her down the road and purchase new tires. Once she is again roadworthy, on every fair weather day that remain in this year, I will either be down at the landscape center loading up or back home putting it all in place.

I sure hate to keep putting money into a vehicle that I could not sell for half of what I will spend on these repairs but even with 163,000 miles on the odometer, the old GMC continues to be the perfect mule for what I need to do. After the repairs, I still will not trust it for long trips. However, for muscling material and equipment around locally, and for clawing through winter snow, I cannot readily find anything better.

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