Don't Tell Rocky

Shhhhh!

We're shopping for a new squirrel.

In addition to archiving a couple of old blogs, another of our "Kansas City To-Dos" has been to check out local Jeep dealers for a new Wrangler. Of course, we love of our squirrel. But, truth is, we wish he had four doors, especially when we're going out with another couple. If I have to fold my body into a pretzel to fit in that back seat one more time, I'm not sure what kind of heinous act I might commit!

The last couple of days we've visited three local Jeep dealers. Paul has been corresponding with one for a few months. He was off yesterday, so we scheduled an appointment with him today. But, yesterday we decided to drive about 15 minutes north of here to visit another dealer just to see what they had in stock. There we met a very friendly fellow who was fun to talk with, but really didn't seem to be terribly interested in selling us a car.

"What's new since 2005?" Paul asked.

"An engine and that's about it," replied the mellow salesman.

Even if you're not a car salesman, if you did a side-by-side comparison of our 2005 Wrangler with a 2012 version, you'd see a lot more differences besides the engine. Guaranteed. But, I digress.

We did spot a brand spankin' new "Gecko" colored Wrangler that became the subject of my daily snap. That day-glo green had us thinking about our friends Sue and Doug and their new day-glo orange Jeep, which is appropriately named "Crush". For a brief moment we imagined meeting up with our Jeepin' friends and taking our glow in the dark Jeeps off roading. It would be quite a sight!

We left the neon Jeep at the dealership and prepared for our appointment with Paul's pen pal this morning. We were eager to see what inventory this salesman had to show us. Shortly after pulling into the dealership, we met the salesman in the showroom. We exchanged handshakes and pleasantries, then Paul suggested we head outside to see what Jeeps he had for sale.

"Uh no!" The salesman responded. "I don't want to go outside."

"But, that's where the cars are!" We thought silently in unison. The looks on our faces had to be priceless.

He went on to explain that he was suffering from seasonal allergies and was heading out to see his doctor as soon as he was "done with" us.

As a life-long seasonal allergy sufferer who spent 42 years of my life in Kansas City, I had one thing to say.

Suck it up! (Let me remind you, dear readers, that we had a scheduled appointment with this is dude. If he wasn't feeling well, he could have called to reschedule. We most certainly would have understood!)

Instead, we wrapped up this waste of time meeting and made a beeline for another dealership. With our fingers crossed that we might actually find a salesman who actually wanted to sell a Jeep, we pulled in and were promptly greeted by a friendly and polite sales professional.

Paul explained the reason for our visit. We want four doors. As members of the Freightliners Owners Club, pricing is quick and easy. (We get a deal!) We know pretty much which bells and whistles we want on our new squirrel.

"What's stopping you?" The sales pro asked.

Logistics, was the answer.

You see, Rocky has a pricey auxiliary braking system on board, which we'll want to have removed and reinstalled in our new Jeep. And, of course, our new squirrel will need to have a baseplate installed. And, eventually we'll have to make sure the moose and new squirrel match up just right. Between all of that uninstalling and installing, it makes our heads spin.

"We can take care of that for you, " our new favorite sales pro replied. "And, we'll give you a Jeep to use while we do the work."

Yes. We are close to sold!

Now it's really just a matter of finding the new Jeep that has everything we want. And, if we can't find one, we'll order a 2013 model to be ready in time for our return to Kansas City this fall.

Meanwhile, our trusty squirrel is clueless. He has no idea what might be in store for him.

We need him to travel many more miles with us between now and then. So, for now we're keeping a secret.

Please don't tell Rocky!