Truck change

We have always loved trucks in this family, but until we had horses we didn't really have a permanent need for one. Then we somehow ended up with two trucks to satisfy two different needs.

Gus was our first, the combination family and trailer hauler--comfortable enough for five adults and with enough power to haul two horses all over Sonoma County for trail rides and up to Slide Mountain to chase cows. Gus (short for Augustus the Alligator Green Towing Machine) came to us at the end of 2006 when we had reached the end of the line with a Volvo station wagon that turned out to be more costly than it was worth to us.

Shortly thereafter, Steve bought Sam (a 2007 Nissan Frontier) to be the camping vehicle. Sam was good, but not great as it turns out. To get all the camping gear in, we had to add a camper shell that then made it nearly impossible to see out of Sam's back end.

Steve is fairly picky about vehicles, as am I it turns out. They not only have to do their jobs, they have to be entertaining to drive.

Sam's demise was that he was less fun to drive than Gus. Gus' demise was he only had a 4-speed transmission and a maximum tow rating that did not allow for a three-horse trailer and/or or altitude.

Enter the Ford EcoBoost--a six cylinder, twin turbo motor with 365 horses under the hood and a tow capacity of 11,100 pounds.  This truck seemed--on the surface at least--to solve both our truck needs in one lovely package.

Max the magnificent towing machine 

Meet Max. (Yes, as a matter of fact I do name all my vehicles.) Max is more fun to drive than Sam--despite being an automatic--and holds more cargo in a better configuration and actually gets better gas mileage. Oh yeah, really. Max also has a six-speed automatic, versus Gus' four-speed, so will drive and haul more efficiently.

Not to mention his obvious physical appeal.

Girls love trucks and I am no exception!