The wheels on the Bus go round and round...

...for someone else now.

Some time ago, my wife mentioned that she thought she might prefer to have a truck instead of the Suburban. We camp and boat and the ability to just throw some firewood or bikes in the bed of a truck would be much more convenient. The Suburban was great for group trips and stuff. Which is how it became affectionately known as "The Bus" to us and several of our friends. We've tossed the idea of trading it around semi-seriously a few times but had never really taken action on it.

For the past month or so, she's been browsing the websites for nearby dealers and found a couple that she really liked. The one she really wanted sold before we had a chance to go look at it. Last Thursday, she sent me an email with a link to another one and then called my office to discuss it. It was very similar to the one that we just missed out on. I looked it over and decided that if I did decide to trade, this truck could definitely be one of the front-runners. The dealer was only about 30 miles from my office so we decided to run up there Friday afternoon and at least check it out.

Well, one thing led to another and......



The Bus was traded for an '06 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab 4x4.

And it drives and rides as good, if not better than, the Bus did. And after parking it in the carport, I realized one reason why it rides so well. It's at least a foot or more longer than the Suburban! You'd never guess that by just looking at it. Or at least I didn't notice it. For the engineering-deprived readers - A longer wheelbase equates to a smoother ride.

We drove it to the lake yesterday and it pulls the boat as good as the Bus did but I need to flip the ball on the hitch over so the trailer sits more level. It's high in the front now due to the difference in ride height between the two trucks. Pulling the camper will be the real test for it. The camper is probably about 1000 pounds heavier than the boat is. I'll find out pretty soon since I have to pick the camper up from the shop one day next week. I think it will handle it with no problem. It has a heavier duty rear-end than the Bus had and it toted the load just fine. I just have to install the electric brake pack but that's just a matter of popping off a cover, plugging in the wiring harness and replacing the cover. Then mount the box under the dash and secure the wiring up out of sight and out of the way. No biggie there.

And I'm digging this free trial of XM Radio, too! We'll probably end up subscribing to it after the 3 months is up.

I need to go park the boat back in the shed and get to work on that hitch. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday.