180k

we've been gearing up for a party to celebrate our car's impending 180,000 mile milestone for some time now, and a lot of wild words have been shared on how exactly we should get down. we've known all along that the car deserved to be invited to the party, and we've known that it would wish for nothing less than to be revved up to 8,000 rpm's with the horn blasting la cucaracha while it farted some kid's bmx tires at the exact moment it reached the 180k summit. so we tried to keep these humble criteria in mind while we party planned. but sometimes the best parties are surprises. so imagine ours when we got into the car and noticed that we were only 171 miles away from our long awaited event. we decided to let the party become the journey. we'd come so far and at that point we couldn't stop if we'd wanted to. we'd pollute our way to our goal and we wouldn't go home even a digit short of 180,000. it was a true coming of age story for the camry.

along the way we took some pictures as if they were through the car's eyes. so forgive us if the photos are streaked with tears.

The toyota may not be a luxury sedan but it loves delicious gourmet pizza and quaint patio dining so we obliged and ate at Cibo.

Don't be played for a fool and order bruschetta without pronouncing the hard k in the middle, okay?

our car happened upon a latin celebration, possibly wedding oriented, in the middle of the dark desert farmlands of Laveen or Avondale or some other southwestern valley town. this party was like the vip room within the vip room at club rockin' rodeo back in 1999. it was exclusive. you really would have to love to party to make it to this thing because it was so remote. we probably hadn't driven by a structure with lights on in at least four miles, and then suddenly like a desert oasis that sprang with chilled horchata, it appeared ten feet off the road in-between an irrigation ditch and a metal scrap yard.

It turns out that 171 miles is actually a lot of city driving. who knew? so we got tired and called it quits at 179,905 with plans of an epic part two of the 180k party. Then two days later we saw that the odometer had betrayed us with a measurement of 180,024 miles. we don't know where we were at 180k, but i imagine it was uneventful. and now we'll probably have to sell our car out of disgust.
it also turns out that al gore and company are filing a class action law suit against us for our crimes against the ecosystem on that fate-less night last weekend. but here's my question, if global warming is real, why did the temperature in phoenix drop twenty degrees the week after our fantastic fossil fuel burn?
by lindsay & matthew