My husband and I recently flew to Raleigh, NC to settle our youngest in at NC State University. Our flight was relatively uneventful, unless you count my purse having to go through the screening/x-ray process 4 times. We landed in Raleigh to bright beautiful skies and one of the most efficient airports I have ever been in. On our way to get the rental car, my husband kept asking if my son really rented the smallest car. Yes dad, he replied, you told me to rent the cheapest one. Really? Really!
My son and I stood outside Hertz waiting for my husband to secure our transport. As time ticked by, I looked at Connor then we both looked at the shiny orange and black sports car and said at the same time—he’s upgrading to that car! Not 2 minutes later, a Hertz employee bursts out of the front door, leaping like a gazelle towards the car and exclaimed loudly in a sweet southern accent, “the Challenger’s hittin’ the road!” Connor and I busted out laughing. Leave it to boys and their toys, and my husband and his cars.
The Hertz guy fired up the engine of the 2011 Dodge Challenger RT and it was LOUD! He pulled the car around for us and was almost giddy with excitement. Do guys really get that excited about cars like that? My husband came out of the building with a Cheshire cat grin on his face. I just rolled my eyes. I crawled into the back seat and had my son sit in the front seat so he could help my husband navigate—he had been to Raleigh several times before and knew his way around. By the time we made it to the hotel, I had leg cramps from being folded up in the back. Not much room in those kinds of cars!
We parked at the hotel, unloaded our stuff and came back out to go see the college campus before dinner. As we were walking towards the car, I noticed a gentleman following us. Then we heard him address us—Hello there! My name is Scooby. I have a motorcycle club and our colors are orange and black. You have a pretty sweet car there and we would love for you to ride with us tomorrow. I have a bunch of friends who would love to have their pictures taken with your car. Okayyy, sure we will think about it, thanks!
We tooled around Raleigh in the Challenger, capturing attention where ever we went. I could see people looking and pointing from my back seat cubbyhole window. Of course, my husband has to drive like a maniac, chirping tires and putting the pedal to the metal. After our dinner, we drove back to the hotel and parked in the middle of Scooby’s motorcycle club. At least if we parked by them, they would be respectful and mind the car—no dings.
The next morning, we took off for breakfast. Boy, those Southern people sure do love to eat breakfast out! Could not find a table anywhere, so we ended up at the local K-Mart to get Connor hooked up with school supplies. When we came out, I noticed a giant scratch on the front bumper, like someone backed into us. OMG! What do we do now? Go find somewhere to eat of course; doesn’t everyone do that after they discover a scratch on their bumper? We ended up at Golden Corral. Ick, but it was food. We took the rental agreement in with us and sure enough, there was no indication that the car was previously scratched. Fortunately my husband signed up for extended rental coverage through American Express and was able to submit a claim for the bumper. I think I was the only one who ate that afternoon….my husband was on the phone the whole time and Connor was so nervous he looked like he was going to barf. Poor kid could barely choke down a small salad and two onion rings. He’s my child that will eat anything that isn’t nailed down, live or not. I was loving the chocolate fountain! Anyway…
On our way to my son’s dorm, we heard a couple of shout outs to us—love your car man! Good grief! As we pulled up to the dorm, the young man assisting in the parking lot had my husband unroll the window. “Dude, first I want to say, I LOVE your car! And you can park in the lot over there” He parked, we unloaded and both boys left me standing next to the car as one went to find a dolly and one, well, I don’t know where he went, but I was there alone. At least three people told me how much they liked the car. Really? Its ORANGE! But I guess people like orange cars with black stripes and a racing fin on the trunk.
We got Connor all set in his dorm, said our good-byes, had some tears(all mine)and set off to the airport to drop off our scratched rental car. After a bit of rough navigating(my husband and I could never be on The Amazing Race together)we made it to the Hertz return lane. A pimply faced kid is standing there all smiles with return sheet in hand. Wow, did you have fun in this car? It’s a great car, you were lucky to drive it. Yeah, ok, but we noticed something when we came out of a store. Oh the scratch? Yeah, that was there! They just forgot to mark it on the sheet. Phew. My husband gave him the keys real quick and caught the shuttle to the airport before Hertz could change their minds!
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that my husband rented this car. When we were in Virginia for a family wedding in December he upgraded to a high end Cadillac. He took our two boys to Miami in January and rented a Mustang convertible. This time, the Challenger. We don’t have any trips planned anytime soon where we will need a rental. But there has been chatter about, can you guess? Buying another car for him to drive this winter. He is starting to worry about the snow and his Jaguar…..I knew it would be a problem even though he insisted it wouldn’t be. Maybe he can rent one for two months. I bet that Challenger would be available!
