Orem
Oct 2020
Some of our destinations this fall have been chosen because of logistical purposes. We visited Denver because we needed quick and easy access to an airport.
We decided to visit the Salt Lake City area because of the availability of larger vans. We desperately needed to upgrade our minivan-with-a-cargo-box to a more spacious 10+ passenger van.
So we began looking in the SLC/Provo area and found an adorable home in Orem just north of Provo. This was an older home that had been renovated and we loved our stay here. It was located ON the huge Scera park and a close walk or drive to the Altogether Playground, so it was a perfect location.
This location was also extremely close to hikes in the nearby mountains. Donnie and the girls first trekked the Stewart Falls. The trailhead was just a short drive from Orem. Amelia loved the pink maple leaves covering the ground and the trees. It was beautiful. It was like Vail’s yellow aspens but with lots of pink sprinkled in. The end of the hike rewards you with the falls which were beautiful. The girls were in their Keen’s and so we splashed in the shallow river at the base of the falls. The hike was amazing and we were looking forward to many more in the next few days.
But things didn’t go as planned. While playing “monster” on the playground in Scera park, Donnie fractured his ankle after jumping off of the playground equipment. The next few days were not very fun as we were forced to stay inside until Donnie could bear weight on his foot again. This also made it hard to car shop because Donnie couldn’t even drive (it was his right foot that was injured).
Eventually Donnie was able to bear weight with crutches and then finally with a boot/brace and we were able to get back to van shopping. We had settled on Ford after looking at Mercedes, Nissan, and Dodge passenger vans. After a disappointing experience with a dealer in the area, we decided to visit a Ford dealer. They had a couple used Ford Transits that we test drove but we didn’t like the extended cargo space that they had; they just felt too big. But then that evening we learned they had just received a new Transit 150 with a medium roof which was exactly what we wanted but were really hard to find.
We were conflicted because we did not want to buy new. We had always been practical and didn’t need the bells and whistles that the van offered. That evening we looked online and found some similar used vans but they were in California - too far to drive to and we were running out of time.
In the end, we decided to buy it. Our vehicle is such a key part of our life right now, and we were in a time crunch (we had accumulated too many toys and clothes to continue in the minivan). We were never warm and fuzzy about the decision because it was the largest purchase we had ever made (except for a house). But we LOVE the van and are starting to appreciate those bells and whistles on our long road trips.
Our 10-passenger Ford Transit. We named him “Dumbo”.
A size comparison of our old minivan and a Ford Transit.
Every time we see a minivan now we think they are so tiny!
Our first drive in the new van was a trip to the Loveland Living Aquarium near Salt Lake City. Donnie still wasn’t able to do much walking but he was able to hobble around an aquarium!
A few days after purchasing the Ford Transit we loaded up and headed for Moab to explore Arches and Canyonlands!