I'll use this thread to post an update on life.
The last 16 months have been pretty life-altering for me. The upshot is I am now:
1) Single
2) Homeless
3) Unemployed
All but the first was what I wanted. But now that it's true, I'm completely embracing it. I'm currently on what I call my "new life walkabout" which means I'm away from my cars. Except for Minerva and the Tacoma, the whole fleet-and-kaboodle, including all my tools, are in storage near Seattle. The Tacoma is being useful to my kids and friends in Seattle, and is what I've used for getting around Seattle while there. Minerva is at Carbahn in Northern CA...why is a long story that I'll tell once I know for sure how it is going to end; let's just say for now that I'm getting free storage.
Just to put some flavor on my walkabout, here's where I've been since early Sept 2021:
- Montana (pheasant hunting)
- Reno (I drove Minerva from Seattle to play with a bunch of dudes I met on the Internet)
- Portugal
- Houston (again to thang with a bunch of dudes I met on the Internet)
- Across the US SW in my daughter's sprinter van (NV, CO, NM).
- Belize/Costa Rica/Columbia
- Tucson (quail hunting)
- Across Colorado skiing (Steamboat, Vail, Aspen, Purgatory, Silverton, Wolf Creek)
Now in Europe... and the reason I'm posting in THIS thread:
After many years of lust, I finally added a Defender D110 to my fleet. His name is Mario - named Ivo's 4 year-old son.
I've been planning a long European ski trip this Winter and a driving trip through Southern Europe in the summer. Plus there's a potential I will be working/living in the Netherlands (I'm nominally from the Seattle area). Instead of renting an SUV for this epic ski trip, I decided to go big and just buy a used Defender. I considered a 25+-year-old D110 that could come back to the US with me, but I realized I really wanted the creature comforts of a later model (2007+). If I end up living in Europe then I'll keep it. If not, then after my European travels are over later this year I'll sell it.
I found my dream rig on an online sales site in NL and Ivo graciously did the inspection and purchased it for me. Last week I landed at AMS and hung with Ivo and Tim and Francis and Ingrid and did a stereo upgrade, ate stroopwafles, and drank Dutch bier. I also had Ivo's mom's home-cooked meat and potatoes. I've been driving around Holland for the past week getting used to Mario and having a blast. It's everything I hoped it would be.
Details:
2009 Land Rover Defender D110
Tamar Blue (code 817)
Trim: T (anyone know what this means?)
Originally sold in Italy and imported to NL last year.
95k km on the clock (I've put almost 1500 km more on it in the past week!)
Pr0n:
Cheers to all of you and sorry I've been AWOL. I am planning on going to The Vintage in May...