I just bought my third Chrysler minivan. Yes, number THREE.  No, I didn't own them all at once. Just one at a time. But, I'm a three-peat customer --  Practically a poster-mom for Chrysler minivans at the very least.

As a teenager my very first car was a VW bug, but it was my destiny to drive a minivan.

Here I am in approximately 1976 with our family's full size Chevy conversion van.  It was loaded with memories of my family driving around the country on vacations, and using it for various farm activities. These were the days when minivans were still a far off dream.
 
 

At some point between my childhood and my maturity, Chrysler invented the minivan. And, when I had kids of my own, and I began driving them and their friends around, I realized the practicality of a minivan. It would fit in the garage (unlike the full sized van on which I'd learned to drive), and it would carry lots of kids, and lots of groceries...
 
 

My first minivan:  1989 Dodge Caravan I got this beauty quite used in 1996 when it was already several years old. It had one sliding door on the passenger's side only, to let kids in and out on the curb side. No rear air.  After a few years, it barely had any air conditioning at all. Still, I was so proud.  I drove it for almost 5 years, until it was 12 years old.

It was boxy, but it was good!  It seemed to serve my needs at the time.
 

My second minivan: '98 Chrysler Town and Country

In 2000,  I stepped up to this maroon Mommy Machine. This was style!  I remember thinking how wonderful this was because it had a sliding door on both sides of the car! And rear air conditioning!  And leather seats! 

The leather was so easy to keep clean, which is a definite plus when the vehicle's main function is as a family car.  On camping trips, I attached a big snail top luggage carrier on the roof.  I drove this van for almost 7 years. It's hauled lots of Girl Scouts, taken us to out of town sporting events, cross country vacations, and it carried us and our pets safely out of New Orleans when we evacuated from Hurricane Katrina.

Recently, my old Chrysler T&C hit 100,000 miles and was nearly 10 years old. It was time for another update. 
 
 

My 3rd Minivan:   2006 Dodge  Grand Caravan   "Special Edition"

So now it's 2007 and once again, I have another Chrysler minivan. This time I traded in the old van on a used 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan "Special Edition".  It's loaded with goodies. It even has a sun roof. That just seems so wrong, but I am enjoying it anyway while I taxi my kids around town, listen to my ipod, and toy with the navigational system.

The "Stow and Go" seating is the best thing about it -- and the huge roominess in the  trunk area is a dream come true. Now my groceries no longer roll all over the floor of the van -- a much needed improvement from my last two minivans. Now if only Chrysler would invent something that would carry the groceries into the house and put them away.

This latest minivan has a name. We call her "Silvia" (because she's silver).  It's also aptly called "The Mother Ship", because of it's mom-car usefulness, and because the sliding doors and rear hatch will all open and close automatically, not unlike an alien spacecraft.
 

So now that I am practically a Poster Mom for Chrysler, it seems fitting that the powers-that-be at Chrysler should send me a cool coffee mug, a t-shirt or a hat or something!  So how abuot it, Chrysler, please send the creator of MomsMinivan.com a cool pair of sunglasses from your gift shop so this minivan mom can look cool while she drives your cars!

Anyway, I expect to be driving my Special Edition Caravan for many years. Meanwhile, I can't help wonder what my next vehicle will be. I'm on a roll now that I've owned three Chrysler minivans.   I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
 

~ ..· ´¨¨))   -:¦:- 
        ¸.·´  .·´¨¨)) 
      ((¸¸.·´  ..·´   Road Trip Mom -:¦:- 
     -:¦:-    ((¸¸.·´*
 
 

--Laurel (Road Trip Mom)
 

I'll update this article if Chrysler responds!  (posted 6/30/2007)
 

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