We Interrupt This Report...

Later today I will continue with my report on last week's sojourn with the Benjamins in the northern Highlands, but there is something we'd like to tell you: We have a new car. Well, it's new to us at least. Isn't it pretty? We traded our 2003 Renault Scenic for a 2005 Renault Grand Scenic mainly to get better gas mileage and more power. For those of you who know and understand about these things, our old car was a 1.4-litre petrol engine (i.e., it burned regular gas and was underpowered for its weight). Our new car is a 1.5-litre diesel engine which not only is a more powerful engine but is turbo-charged so that it feels and responds much peppier. We had hoped to get the promised 40 mpg with the old car but averaged around 34. What with the cost of petrol over here, 34 just isn't good enough. Diesels are known for being much better on mileage. When we test drove this car week before last, the odometer reading indicated 49 mpg on the tank at that time. Both have manual transmissions. The old car had 5 forward gears but the new one has 6, a sort of cruising over-drive for highways. Unfortunately, neither car has cruise control but we're getting used to that.

We are loving the way the car looks, feels, and drives. The previous owner took very good care of it because it is like new inside and out as far as we can tell. The pick-up on this car is amazing, especially in comparison with the old one. One important result of the additional power is being able to overtake (pass) another car much more quickly. Those of you who have driven these roads with us know how very important that is.

Unlike in the States where the registration tags stay with the car's owner, here in the UK the tags stay with the car. Our new license plate number is MM55 DFL which we remember as "Mimmy 55 Don Fancies Lynn" ("Mimmy" being what the grandchildren call me).

The Grand Scenic is about a foot longer than the plain old Scenic. The extra space is in the boot (trunk) which also has 2 fold-up additional seats should we ever need to use them. For now they are tucked away beneath the floor of the boot storage area. Other than that extra foot in length, we are told it is physically the same as our previous car but it doesn't feel that way to us; it feels higher and posher, more like a van. We look forward to transporting future visitors in greater style and with space to spare.