On a side note ...

I wanted to tell you about the "dealership" where we bought the CWV because it's kind of cool. We don't know all of her history, but we do know she spent some time in San Antonio and "was owned and maintained by the government," according to the Craigslist ad. The kid working at the dealership in Cedar Park said he bought her in an auction.

The dealership building is teeny tiny, about the size of my two car garage. Maybe a little smaller. It's like a large shed. A large shed with a sign in the bathroom declaring it a "Man's Place. Leave the Seat Up." (Which, on a second side note, is something we've discussed a few times lately.)

Anyhow, it was a tight space and I had a bunch of questions for the kid while he was trying to get our paperwork together. Yes, it's a family business. A year ago they sold it to a friend who claims to have since made one MILLION dollars off it from charging people $35 a week to park in the lot and advertise their cars. Dang! They also rent back space to sell their own vehicles, a fleet of large passenger vans and busses.

As we were wrapping things up, the kid's dad stopped by with two younger brothers in tow to help clean out a newly acquired blue van. The dad told me they got into this business when they started buying large vehicles to haul all of their FIFTEEN (15!!!) children around in. Same mom. Same dad. ONE of them is adopted. Don't worry, they know which one.

And in case you were wondering, they were ALL homeschooled. "It keeps them pure." And they are all very polite and disciplined. Alls you have to do is take a heavy hand to their backsides for the first 5 years. They learn pretty quick and voila! Great kids! Personally, I couldn't parent that way, but I could see how homeschooling 15 kids could make that necessary. I only met three of the family's kids that night, and they were all super polite and the one who seemed to be running the show really had his act together.

Of course I had about 50 more questions, but our paper CWV plate was printed and laminated in  a hurry, and before we knew it we were out the door ... so I guess that's all we get to know until the next large van purchase ...