Got wheels, will travel

We decided on a make and model: the Ford Freestyle. What? You have never heard of a Ford Freestyle? That's funny- neither had we. Turns out Ford has this little well-kept secret of a crossover with up to 7 seats and the option for captains chairs in the second row. (From 2005-2007 it was called the Freestyle, from 2008 on it's been called the Taurus X- thanks Mark and Mandy for the tip-off!!). Has decent gas mileage too. Once we test drove one, we were sold. But we couldn't find just the right used one to buy. All the ones in our price range had too many miles on them, had a bench instead of captain's chairs or was a rebuilt title (uh-oh). Then Saturday night I did a desperation check on Craigslist of the Portland area. Perfect! A Freestyle in our price range with only 45,000 miles on it and captain's chairs (and no console so getting to the back is easy)! So we immediately moved on it and Monday morning had it in to a Ford dealership for a pre-purchase inspection. It checked out, so I arranged for a babysitter and got a $27 Amtrak ticket to Vancouver WA (across the border from Portland). I took the train down Tuesday afternoon and the used car dealer met me at the station. Uhh- when I got into the Freestyle I was overwhelmed by the yucky smell of a cheap motel. Hmmm. Probably a smoker had this last and then the cleaning attempts made it smell the way it did. But I knew we could get it detailed better and it wasn't a reason not to buy the car. Mentally I had prepared through the purchase point with the dealer, but had failed to think about how I was going to have to drive 3 hrs home! It was long and boring, but we're excited about our new wheels!Here's what Stephen is excited about: when he laid down all the seats, he said "my truck!"