I almost missed the milestone.
With everything going on in my life the past few days, I barely noticed that my odometer on Cardachrome was at 99998. I was two miles away from it reaching 100,000 miles – and, for that matter, more than two miles away from my home. And somewhere on I-787, just as it did when the car achieved 75,000 miles, the odometer tripped over to 100,000 miles.
With that in mind, I remembered the journeys I took with Cardachrome this year. At least three trips to Canada. A November trip to Niagara Falls to photograph the fireworks. Trips to the New York State Fair and the Massachusetts Big E. And several trips to New York City.
As opposed to my previous car, my 1991 Pontiac 6000, maintenance on the Saturn has been rather uneventful. Any maintenance needed has either been fluid replacements – oil changes, windshield fluid, etc. – or standard tire replacement and maintenance of that nature. I’ve had the power windows fixed – they were installed improperly at the factory and both my front driver’s side and front passenger’s side windows popped out of their channels almost simultaneously – and the rear driver’s side door replaced (courtesy of an icy patch of road in Vermont).
However, not every part of my beloved Cardachrome has made this journey intact. Apparently car batteries aren’t designed to last 100,000 miles or six years… and my battery was having trouble starting on cold days. The first time, I got a battery jump from AAA. The second time, I got a battery jump from my local independent mechanic. The second jump was a clear signal to me. Get the battery replaced. So I did.
With the exception of an icy skid in January that caused me to have my rear driver’s side door replaced (so technically I have a 2005/06 Ion), I’ve really never had any trouble with my car. And there’s not much more I can ask of a car – just get me where I need to go, help me bring back my purchases from the market, chauffer my passengers and guests in comfort.
Normally I’d be celebrating 100,000 miles of roadworthiness.
Of course, I’m also thinking about what’s going to happen in 53,000 miles.
Because once my car reaches 153,000 miles, it will pass the number of miles achieved by my old Pontiac 6000. And then after that, the next mile marker will be 250,000 miles.
That’s the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
Another cool marker of measurement.
Chuck The Writer 