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Cool as beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Until now, little did I realize that my love affair with the van/minivan began decades ago at the ripe old age of eleven.

My father's business partner owned a van. A Volkswagon Van, to be precise. Blue. Through my eleven-year old eyes, that van was the cat's meow. I used to stand at the end of the work day and watch his family pile into that van. Four kids and sometimes friends. As I look back on that image, I always likened it to the car commercial which kept piling in person after person into the van, only no one could see that the people were exiting through the opened side door as the next person came it. The concept was the van was so large, it held infinite bodies of people. Just like how many college kids can this telephone booth cram?

This image stayed with me into adulthood. As we were growing up, my father owned Volkswagon Beetles. Every two or three years, he would purchase a new one, and with pride would always take us on that virgin voyage of the "bug" ride. Out of respect we pretended to be impressed, but how does one feel about being packed into a vehicle like sardines in a can?
How cool is that?

We still hate traveling by car anywheres. When we ride in my brother's subcompact car, we are so stiff we have a hard time getting out. As so with the much cool convertible. What's so cool about arriving at one's destination having been wind-whipped and hair teased to a bird's nest level?

Yes, I love space! I love to be able to move around in a vehicle, not play footsies or sit on someone's lap while we bounce for many hours in a rigid car. We did not purchase our first minivan until we became a one-car family; a Toyota MPV. The slick shape of that minivan attracted me. The compact size also drew me. It was blue, and had racing stripes. I thought it was luxury compared to cars we had driven, even the beautiful red BMW which my ex-husband owned before we were married. When we separated, that Toyota minivan held a single mattress. I was impressed!

When I met my present husband, it was a plus because he too was a van/minivan man. How cool is that? Together, we purchased our first recreational van, a Chevrolet Mark III. Beautifully upholstered with cushiony seats boasted Captain's chairs. With a higher roof-top, at my height of over 5 feet, I could practically stand up in that van. Many memories came and went with that van.

One night we decided to do an impromptu camping

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