Ready for the Road

I wasn't sure it was going to happen! It was well over a year ago that Landon took Driver's Ed. (although he hadn't gotten his range and roads in during the class, and it was taking forever to get them done). It was almost a year since he turned 16 ... and when he did finally get all the necessary hours in and passed his test, we still didn't get around to getting his actual license. I had to look into getting insurance (doubling our current monthly payment, and that was WITH a good grade and multi-policy discount) and we didn't have a car for him to drive ... I was SO dreading car shopping though, I just wanted something to fall into our lap.

Then Courtney and Clay had a baby. With baby #3, the car that Courtney had brought into the marriage (that Clayton was currently driving) wouldn't work for their family, and they bought a minivan. They offered their Toyota Corolla  to us for a steal of a deal and we grabbed it ~ the only problem? The car was a stick shift.  Landon was not thrilled about that, but after just a few days of instruction, he mastered it (as I knew he could). 

So the week before school started, we took the car in to pass emissions and safety inspections, then we had to pick up the car title and go get it registered. We got Landon's license, got a parking permit and ... whew, we made it! Landon was ready to drive to his first day of 11th grade.

Last year we had a carpool. Landon would get picked up in the mornings, and I'd do the afternoon pickup. But our carpools from last year weren't going to work this year, and my mornings were already committed taking Callahan to school (starting at the same time, in opposite directions). I didn't really have a back up plan for the morning, so I was very relieved when it all worked out. It also totally frees up my afternoons (saving me almost an hour every day), as Landon picks up Callahan on the way home. Of course it also saves money on gas ... not enough to make up for the increase in insurance, but what can you do?

It's been nice having an extra driver around ... he's been helpful running a few errands here and there. He likes the freedom of being able to run to the store on his own if he wants. When he went to watch the football game at school, I was thrilled not to have to go pick him up at 10:00. 

After a long road ... he's ready *Ü*