A Childhood Quest Fulfilled

Pink Landrover
Originally uploaded by steveandamylou.

On roadtrips growing up (which were frequent due to both grandparents living about 3 hours away), my Dad made up a game for my brother and I, we called it the "Car Game." It may not be unique to our family, but we loved it and it really helped to pass the time. We would each get money for spotting different cars along the way. My Dad came up with all sorts of categories of cars: i.e. Red Buick $0.01, Navy Blue Dodge Pickup $0.05, etc. We would get $1 or $2 for more unusual cars. At the end of the trip, we would earn a few dollars (which felt like a million bucks to us!). My brother usually did better than I, being more astute at makes/models of cars. There was one car that was never attainable over the many years we played the game: A Pink Landrover, the Holy Grail of the Car Game. Recently, I spotted this Pink Landrover in Oak Park parked in front of a shop. I raced home to get my camera and my cell phone (as unusually I had neither with me at the time). When I came back to the shop 5 minutes later, it was gone. Fortunately, I described my plight to some friends who have helped capture the car in question on camera (in front of the same shop). I am sure it is the same car as in my whole lifetime I have never seen a Pink Landrover! When I first saw it, I called my Dad to tell him the good news--neither of us could remember the reward that we had decided upon years ago...it was either $25 or $50. I'll leave the amount up to my Dad and his conscience. I'm just happy to have beat my brother to the prize (for once). I'm going to fully enjoy gloating about this one....