What is Operation V?

Quite simply, it is a car quest turned road trip a la Thelma & Louise. It started a few months ago with a hunt for a used volvo suv. Now, I'm going to spare you a lot of back story here and say that eventually, the right model was found for the right price. Oh, there were other contenders. Thelma was growing frustrated and disheartened by the search though, until a beauty from Hawaii popped up on the radar. For three weeks, no one wanted her. Thelma & her husband made an offer, it was accepted, then rejected over some red tape, and they were told to wait a week. It was while we were talking about shipping it from Hawaii that I, Louise, suggested meeting the car half-way. See, when you buy a vehicle from Hawaii, they have to ship it to the mainland, in this case Long Beach, CA. It might not save a whole lot of money, but it would sure be fun. Plus I have family within an hour of the dock so we have a free place to sleep in Cali.
Of course the husbands, being the practical sort, thought of lots of reasons why that might not be the best idea. It's a long drive. Do you really know the car will be ok? It's January- not the best time of year for a road trip. It isn't really going to save much money. Blah, blah, blah.

 But then something really fun happend: the timing of picking up the vehicle magically coincided with another friend's trip to Vegas. Ok, ok, I know I originally tried to sell Thelma's husband on the idea by claiming we wouldn't go to Vegas, but come on.

 Sadly, Hawaiian V slipped through their fingers. Amazingly enough though, another volvo surfaced in Riverside, CA. Then that one sold the next day, over budget. Crud!


Just when hope of Operation V seemed in vain, another volvo appeared in Riverside. Cue the heavenly laaaaaaa music! Could it be? Finally? After months and months of searching? so close... sooo close.... yes... Yes! YESSSS!

 To make it all even more fun, we managed to convince Stella to come along for the ride too. So there you have it: three friends flying to California and road tripping it back to Michigan, with a little detour in Vegas and lots of silly V jokes. Hope you'll come along for the ride!