When I came to visit Dan at the farm for my first time, one of the first things we did was climb into his ’84 Ford Ranger and take a tour of the property. He had worked some long hard hours clearing out cut lines for eventual fences and I’m sure just wanted to show off.
The Ranger was named Randy. He was our farm truck. He was lifted, mud tired out and had a bigger engine installed. He was the one piled high with firewood after an evening of splitting. He was the one rigged up in the rain to move the chicken coop. He was the one who got us around the property on the cut lines. He was our version of a quad or side-by-side. 
Last week while we were stacking firewood, we had headed back out for another load. I was driving Randy as Dan was manning the gates and keeping an eye on the wood splitter behind. I heard Dan yell up from the back “OK baby, giv’er!”. So I gave er. There was a snap, a grind and a few clunks…and I had managed to kill poor ol Randy. I took out the CV joint, meaning that instead of our four wheel drive machine, we now had a two wheel drive with a broken front axel. Whoops!
So with sad hearts and many memories, we laid ol Randy to peace. He was a great truck.
It didn’t take long for Dan to scour the internet and find us a suitable replacement. We went and picked her up on Tuesday evening, and she’s a real beaut. She is a 1991 Suzuki Carry, with lift kit, winch kit and snorkel. She’s also a right hand drive five speed so looks like this girl is learning to drive standard…backwards! I’ve named her Suzi-Q and am excited for the adventures and memories we will get to share together.
Well, good luck with this driving project! You are courageous, without a doubt.