The 75,000 Milestone

It happened just as I pulled off I-787 toward downtown Albany yesterday.

And despite breaking every single rule of using a cell phone in a car, I had to take a picture of the moment.

Because if I didn’t capture that moment right then and there… I’d never capture it.

And at approximately 8:30 in the morning on September 18, 2014…

My 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt SS, colloquially known as “The Blackbird,” hit 75,000 miles on the odometer.

Now granted, I didn’t drive 75,000 miles in that car.  There may have been a previous owner or two, as far as I know.  But I was there when the Blackbird reached 50,000 miles (last August 2013, as my girlfriend Nicole and I drove back from the New York State Fair).

But when I get to a milestone like this, I try to capture it with whatever camera is handy.  And in this case, I used my BlackBerry Q10 to chronicle that, yes indeed, the Blackbird reached the 75,000 mile plateau.

So what does that mean for me?  Well, it now means that I can officially place a bumper sticker on the car’s rear fender.  I did this a few years ago with my 2005 Saturn Ion “Cardachrome,” where I added a Hamilton College window cling to one of the side windows.

Oh big deal, you grunt at me.  C’mon, Chuck, you could have put a bumper sticker on that car at any time.

Maybe I could have.  But for me, the 75,000 mile bumper sticker symbolizes a connection I have with the car, to the point where I can actually add some sort of distinctive decoration to it.

Besides… I’ve had this bumper sticker sitting around, waiting for an opportunity to use it.

That bumper sticker is a bright blue Jericho Drive-In bumper sticker.

See, years and years ago, when families visited various entertainment locales like amusement parks and drive-ins, some employee would add, upon request, a bumper sticker to the family car.  Yeah, it showed off the family’s loyalty to the amusement park or drive-in – sort of like those “stick family” decals on the rear windshield – and, for the business itself, it meant free rolling advertisements.

I received the Jericho Drive-In bumper sticker last year; I was shooting a polar panorama at the drive-in, and between features one of the employees handed out bumper stickers to all the patrons.  Yep, just like back in the day.

I didn’t put the sticker on the car at that time; I simply left it on the car’s little shelf, behind the back seats.   It was visible from the rear window, but that was about it.

Until today.  This morning, after I take the Blackbird for another car wash (it picked up a TON of mud at the Orange County Fair Speedway last week), I’ll add the little bumper sticker, chronicling the car’s 75,000 mile journey – as well as the nearly two years the Blackbird has been in my possession.

Okay, so it’s kind of a hokey tradition – putting a bumper sticker on a car after its odometer trips 75,000 – but to me, this is more than just a “hey your car didn’t die on the highway” moment.

So let me ask you, my wonderful readers.  Take this moment in the comments section and tell me about your car, how many miles it has achieved, and what have you done with it – both in terms of keeping it roadworthy and comfortable, and in terms of adding any sort of decorative bumper sticker or window cling.

Do you have one of these on your car?

Or maybe you visited South Carolina and came back with one of these?

Or has your car been on the road so many years, that you still have one of these on the fender?

Tell your story and let’s share them together.

And keep these stories in mind…

Because somewhere in 2015, I’m estimating around late October or early November…

The Blackbird should hit 100,000 miles.

Don’t know where I’ll have driven when that happens…

But rest assured, I’ll find a way to get a picture of the odometer in that moment.