The Functional Vehicle

When choosing a vehicle, please remember all seasons of driving.  If you are in a temperate locale, a small, fuel-efficient car is a beautiful thing, but if you are living in the Northern Tundra, you may want to think over all the consequences of driving a small, low to the ground vehicle.  We are experiencing (another) blizzard of a century (in less than 5 years), and SD and I have been watching small, sporty, low-to-the-ground vehicles get stuck in the snow.  The eagle has landed, so to speak.  Frequently in the middle of an intersection.

So, when  choosing a vehicle, think not only on beautiful summer driving, but think of (gasp!) winter.  Winter is a horrid time that quite often makes it difficult to drive about.  Think on all the things you must haul, and where you might have to go.  

When you have turned all these things over in your head, find the vehicle that suits your needs best.  Sometimes, listen in to your inner 14 year old boy, sometimes, listen to your inner 67 year old mother, but in the end, do what is right for you.  

Wide, large, squishy tires do well in the snow, and having a very high clearance from the ground very often allows one to drive over the snow, and having a long bed on the back of your vehicle allows you to haul a lot of stuff.  Having no back seat is occasionally a disadvantage when it comes to bringing home groceries, but it also keeps one from having to  deal with noisesome passengers.  

For our winters, I would recommend a truck.  A truck much like this:

This would be about the perfect vehicle, if only it were red.  Alas, it is blue.  My sister would beg to differ, as she has passengers.  So I found an ideal vehicle for her as well:

 I think all her passengers would fit nicely in this.

But, in all considerations, please remember, you are not driving only in the pleasant months of summer on dry, clean pavement.  Winter is always right around the corner.