How would you feel about taking a ride to Florida?

...Said the Ranger to his mom and dad. Why Florida? Well, because shortly

before Ranger deployed he sold his former dream car in anticipation of

finding his next dream car. The search turned out to be very long...

And nation-wide! So very early on our last day together we packed up and

headed for Shalimar, Florida, which just happens to be near Eglin Air

Force base, which just happens to be where Ranger completed the third

and final phase of Ranger school. He was looking forward to seeing it again!

As usual, we arrived way too early for our appointment with the seller

of the car Ranger lined up. So we drove down to Miramar Beach and had

lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise, which totally lived up to its name!

It was a gorgeous day to be in Florida!

Although I cannot imagine a bad day to be in Florida...

We've been to Florida a few times. Miami and Orlando. But this part

of Florida... The Gulf side, is sooo much more beautiful! As much as I

wanted to stop and shop, we were on a schedule to find Ranger's next

garage queen. You see, Ranger has exceptionally high standards. When

he decides to buy a car it has to tick off very specific boxes. First on his

long list of boxes is low-low mileage and a car that has been garage kept

This is nothing new... This is Ranger picking up his new GTI from its seller. A

sweet older man that collected cars and stored them in a storage facility no less!

And although he joined the Army a year after buying the GTI and does not have

a garage of his own, Ranger maintained it in pristine condition. He even paid to put

it into a climate-controlled storage locker during deployments after he modified it...

Just to keep it looking better than it did on day 1. I like to think he gets that from me!

So low-mileage garage queens are difficult to find... However, following a six

month search, Ranger finally found one he thought was worth checking out!

Right here in sunny Shalimar, Florida! Owned by a retired Air Force

officer who we found is as fanatical about caring for vehicles as Ranger is!

Clearly, this was meant to be!

And, as soon as they drove away for the test drive,

we knew we would be driving back without him!

Ranger said he knew that too!

After the test drive and the deal was done, off we went!

It was a thrill to see him get the car he really wanted...

And deserves to own...

Especially considering how hard he works!

It was a long and unexpected drive. But in the end, it was definitely

worth it. Because not only did Ranger finally get his new garage queen...

We had the added bonus of several hours of uninterrupted time with him!

We were so happy and grateful to be able to welcome him back from another

stinking deployment. It was a great time. But sadly, our visit did have to end...

He went his way back to his base and, we continued north to go back home!

In a few weeks Ranger and his garage queen

will come home for leave... And I cannot wait!