So, we start the New Year with A NEW CAR!  After 14 years, it became obvious that it was time for a new car.  A 2018 Ford CMax Hybrid, an automatic that can be towed FOUR-DOWN!   No more shifting up and down over and over again in traffic, etc.  Having an automatic  transmission has gone from a would be nice to have to a must have because we are getting old!

We had only intended to go look at it - 5 hours later we were driving down the road towards Mesa with grin on our faces.   Dave really wanted a Hybrid, and 2018 was the last year that Ford made the CMax, so we were delighted to find a new one (well a demo with 2000 miles on it) at a price we could afford.   Even better, the dealer we bought it from does a lot of work with snowbirds and has set up to do the installation of the base plate, etc., for towing!

View of the back - complete with a hatch that you can just click on the remote opener and up it goes!  I really like this feature.  Also, to adjust the height, plus to close, you just stand back and click again on the remote!

The large back up camera screen is also great for maps, etc and it uses Apple Car Play, so the phones sync with the car.  Of course, this is going to take a lot to figure out what all of these teeny, tiny, little icons mean and which to push.   It also takes some getting used to the fact that when you start up you don’t hear an engine - just a little “car ready” statement that you can go since as a hybrid you only require the lithium ion battery to do its thing.  On cold mornings the engine turns over, otherwise when in town we run mostly on the battery.  We are still learning how to coast and brake easily which regenerates and transfers energy BACK into the battery!   We’re getting around 40 mph now - when we figure out how to optimize driving this will go up.   When running on battery it is VERY quiet!

We did have a quiet holiday season - after our concerts.  Dave’s brother Bob and his fiancé Susan found FIGMENT coffee mugs for us!  We will really going to enjoy these when we are in the motorhome come spring!

Of course Megan & Kenneth sent us Starbucks coffee and my mother sent money for dinner out.   Our gift to ourselves was a new iPad - slightly larger than my mini iPad.    

We also enjoyed another evening at the MIM for a Jazz concert with the  Special EFX All-Stars with Cheile Minucci (who we saw in 2008 in Gainesville, Florida).  And have tickets to see Kris Kistofferson in a couple of weeks.  We last saw him in 1975 at SMU in Dallas!

We will post more as we explore our new toy.