This one here is a tricycle. It seats 7 people:
This is a jeepney and I think it seats 25 or more if the operator places a bench in the middle:
This is the habal-habal which I am not so sure if I would ride:
I admit the first weeks when we got back here in the States I sort of miss the tricycle especially when I need to go somewhere. We were borrowing my in-laws' truck to go places but when Mike is using it and I'm stuck in the house that's when I wish there were tricycles right around the corner just like in the Philippines.
Before we moved back Mike had been doing some research on vehicles. He decided we needed a vehicle with all wheel drive or four wheel drive, but not a pickup. He owned a pickup since the early 80's and can only remember a few times that it was actually used as it was intended, as a truck. Also, the cost of operating a pickup is more than a small SUV or sedan. Looking at our finances, he figured out the year and model that we can afford to get. He made a mental list of what we want in the car like miles to a gallon, the car's mileage, it has to be an AWD and so on. And, he was very specific in the car's color, yes ma'am, the color is a big thing for him. According to him it has to be a "tactically neutral color" (thanks John O'Conner) - whatever that means. Some car salesmen get it, others didn't 😏😁. But what he really wants is a conservative color, no gaudy gold or purple or neon green, etc..
So off we went car shopping one day and, as expected, as soon as we walked into the car lot we were greeted by a very young gentleman who looks like he's about Zach's age. He was extremely accommodating and very friendly and, Mike thought, must have just started in this field. He "borrowed" somebody else's desk and we were seated. Mike told him what we were looking for and what we needed. He told him the price range we want and gave the poor salesman a warning: that if he tries to sell us a car that is more than the amount he stated, EVEN IF IT'S ONLY ONE CENT MORE, that we will walk out. I thought "oh boy, the poor guy."
It turned out there was a 4D AWD Subaru Forester available in our price range. We test drove it and between Mike, JJ and I we agree we all liked it. Back at the dealership we made our offer along with the request that a hitch for a trailer be installed in the vehicle. We agreed on the price without the trailer hitch. It would add another $1,000 to the price of the car which is more than what we know the installed hitch would cost. They would need to fix a rattle under the hood and detail the car before delivery, so two days after, we came back with a cashier's check for the amount and after further inspection we drove it home. We also asked the salesman to keep an eye for us another Subaru in the next week or two in the same price range as we will be buying another one.
Mike's Subaru Forester ("tactically neutral color," according to him):
We then found another Subaru sedan which we bought for my use. It was priced way below our budget so Michael went ahead and have a trailer hitch installed in the Forester.
The Subaru Imprezza rides nicely and smoothly and its a/c cools quickly. I drove it to Wichita and it did well on I-70. We also took it to Scranton on country road and did well too.
So far we are happy with our vehicles. We plan to drive them until they quit on us hopefully for another ten years, hahaha. By then we should have saved enough to pay cash on our next purchase. Debt-free living is the way for us and we like it that way.
Thank you all for following our journey to and back from the Philippines. We love you all and God bless.
