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Rosie had the dream, The Operator went along with it, only on the proviso it was a Mustang.  Rosie wanted the American cruising dream of a convertible, wind in her hair, sun on her face cruising the highways like a celebrity wearing big sunnies, what we discovered was….convertibles are not really that practical…..

Somehow the Mustang was ‘upgraded’ to a Chevy, The Operator was OK with that, Miss Avis informed us we have one available in yellow….The Operator put his foot down and said he wasn’t driving a yellow car, classic red it was then.  Rosie was very excited, it was a gleaming beast in the dull parking lot, cool looking, low slung with a hint of young rebellion and danger, a total mid life crisis car!   Now to put the bags in the boot and hit the highway, after 10 mins of trying every suitcase configuration known to man their was no way two suitcases would fit in the boot of the Chevy, Miss Avis told us it had a bigger boot than the Mustang…. the second suitcase was now officially our backseat travelling companion for the duration.  Undaunted, Rosie was still excited as she lowered herself into the car, note to self, it may take abit of manoeuvring to get myself out of the car with my dicky joints as was very low.  Never mind, off we go!  Driving out of San Fran and onto the open country highway Rosie excitedly asked The Operator to put the top down.  He looked at me oddly and asked if I was kidding….Rosie didn’t get that one….we had a convertible, the roof is only supposed to be on when it is raining, surely.  The Operator said there was no room to put the top down as the suitcase was in the boot…what?…the roof folds down into the boot and the suitcase is taking up all the room the Operator patiently explained…YOU ARE JOKING!!!!

The only wind in my hair was the air con on full crank.  My next question was about the suspension…it seems pretty hard.  Yep, said The Operator, the only suspension this car has is the seats…they were very comfy, thank god.  An hour in, Rosie was still grizzling about the roof, The Operator said the only way we can travel with the top down is put both cases in the back seat with a seat belt around them….Rosie was pondering this when another red Chevy fresh from the airport collection depot pulls up along side us….sitting in the back seat was a pink polka dot suitcase next to a manly tartin one, belted in and all ready for an adventure…it screamed ‘stupid tourist hiring a convertible and not thinking about where your luggage goes’…it looked that stupid Rosie quickly abandoned that idea.

Rosie had to be satisfied with arriving at our hotel at the end of the driving day, taking the baggage out of the car and then…pushing that button for the top to roll back and going out cruising to explore the lay of the land and blow the cobwebs away from a days travelling.  Blow the cobwebs away these trips certainly did, convertible are horrific on the open road…the wind whistles and whips around you even though you have your windows up to deflect, Rosie’s hair was whipped into a tangled mess, The Operator relinquished his hat only to discover the sun burning his balding pate’, it got too cold, and things, I assume, were bugs were hitting me.  Cruising in town was a more enjoyable experience, nice and slow, still a tad chilly but this was the cruising dream I had from TV and books.

It always puzzled me as to the ‘real’ reason why Thelma and Louise drove their convertible over the cliff…they couldn’t stand to be in the poor performing, uncomfortable thing one second more….next time we hire a more practical, adult SUV.