Well, I saw it and drove it today.  I love it – and I’m buying it!  I struggled over the decision, thinking about the fact that it’s not a gas sipper, but I’m going to really enjoy this truck.  It rides great, it’s super comfortable, and has a very nicely laid out interior – and it looks awesome!  Here are the baby pictures!

(click images to enlarge)

I may not keep vehicles for very long, this has to be a record – I had my Tacoma for thirteen months and now it's gone.  Gone to be stripped and crushed with thousands of other Tacoma's suffering from a serious frame rust problem that forced Toyota to buy them back to get them off the road.  It's not a good thing when you hit a bump and your frame collapses!  This isn't a "recall", it's an actual buyback program – Toyota realized that this was such a serious problem with the 1995-2000 models that they are buying them back for 1.5 times the Kelly suggested retail price, offering a free rental car for 30 days, AND offering an additional $1,000.00 towards the purchase of a new Toyota truck.  Wow – talk about customer service.  So my poor rusty truck has been turned in, I'm waiting for the check from Toyota, and I've put a deposit on a brand new Impulse Red Tacoma Access Cab with the TRD off-road package.  I'm psyched – it is supposed to be in on Friday.  I probably won't have the financing in place by then, but I'll be able to test drive it and drool over it!

We're still recovering from the DC trip – wow, was that a good time – other than the heat, that is – days and days of temps around 98 and 99 are not exactly my cup of tea.  But we had a blast – we hung out, swam in Steve's pool, and partied with close friends.  It was so great seeing everyone again, and it was so great to reconnect with Robin and Tony – it's been like twenty years since I've seen them.  And we had a great time with Nisah – I hadn't seen him since he left Babson.  If you find yourself in DC, we highly recommend Oyamel – it is a fantastic Mexican restaurant that serves traditional antojitos. The food, atmosphere, and wait staff was awesome!