Our Odyssey - HAL 9000

Suzanne has wanted a minivan for a long time, and so we finally (thanks to some good investment returns) purchased this happy gray wheeled box for our travel enjoyment. It's a 2016 Honda Odyssey that we purchased "slightly used", it having enjoyed a brief previous career as a rental vehicle (no bullet holes or loose engine parts, though). It seats six in style (and seven in a pinch) and for some reason Duncan greatly prefers the vast legroom and middle row reclining seat to the practical yet small back seat of the Mighty Truckasaurus. HAL also has a multifunction information screen, which as of yet has not turned malevolent (but time will tell).

We did splurge on a custom specialty license plate supporting the Arizona Science Center, the POD BAY wording (and the vehicle's name) a subtle homage to an interesting little movie that came out about a half a century ago.

HAL is also becoming our "go to" vehicle for our Big Road Trips. Although it doesn't have the huge cargo capacity of the truck, the 25+ miles per gallon is a nice bonus in these times of expensive hydrocarbons. The seats fold down to create bonus room if needed, and if stuff won't fit inside, there's a roof rack to which items (such as difficult adolescents) can be firmly secured.

Like most of our other vehicles, HAL is equipped with 2-way radio equipment, and has a distance measuring instrument that serves as a super-accurate speedometer and odometer just perfect for Suzanne to see if Richard's obeying the speed limit. The Odyssey also has a small yet bright Federal Signal rear-facing emergency light for when the need arises, and we've added colorful retroreflective accents to the side and rear of the vehicle for improved conspicuity at night, and to allow us to find our gray Odyssey amid the zillions of other gray minivans populating parking lots across the nation.

See you on the road!