Here are ten facts about our family van.
Because you asked.
1. We won our van in a church raffle. It cost us a whopping $100.00.
2. It is the largest vehicle I have ever driven. (Surprise surprise.) Once upon a time, we bought our first minivan—a Honda Odyssey, which I loved. I was pregnant with our third child at the time and I remember thinking, “How in the world do I drive this big thing?” How little—how very little—did I know back then.
3. We bought this big van because we planned to fill it up with children. A commendable goal, but we hit a snag after Child #5, otherwise known as Four Miscarriages in a Row. (Not to be a downer or anything.)
4. Parking lots can be a challenge, but I’ve gotten pretty good at navigating them. One doesn’t park a van this size anyway—one docks it.
5. It’s good to be very cautious when driving a 15-person vehicle, and that’s all I have to say about that.
6. No, I changed my mind. That is not all I have to say about that. Lean in close and I will tell you a secret: Driving this van makes me very nervous. We pray to the Holy Guardian Angels every single time we get in it. It’s just too huge a vehicle to make mistakes.
(We got it in the parking ramp.)
7. That said, this van drives very well on the icy Minnesota roads, provided that you’re very cautious. (See Numbers 5 and 6.) The only problem is that given its rather boring color, we tend to plum disappear in a blizzard. Remind me next summer to paint it plum.
8. Yes, it costs a lot to fill the gas tank—about $75.00 a pop! (not including pop) It would be far more cost-efficient to drive a hybrid, but you don’t fit eight people into a hybrid, unless you want to pipe circus music over the loud speakers every time you disembark.
9. That said, this van is very roomy. Almost everyone has the space they need, except when we’re in a “bickering” mood. And then this van is much too small.
10. Finally, you have to be careful when you drive a van this size because you’re sending a message to the world, whether you like it or not, whether you’re thinking about it or not. People see our ginormous van—and they see our ProLife bumper sticker—and they think they’ve pretty much got us pegged.
Little do they know that we’ve got layers.
All for the greater glory of God,
You are right about the white being a disadvantage in winter … but white probably stands out well in almost any other season.
Funny, we really don't see many cherry-red 15-passenger vans. Bet 'they' wouldn't be involved in many accidents!
I've seen your barge many times and I am so insanely jelous that I need to go to reconcilliation over it. We now drive 2 vehicles whenever we go anywhere as a family. We have been looking at 15passenger vans for a few years now and some day we will be able to afford one. I need to count my blessings. We just became a 2 vehicle family thanks to a very generous great grandmother and I am so very thankful for it. Reading about that $100 though…that makes it even tougher. I am happy for you guys though!
oh Margaret, my hope was to fill one of those of our own, but we have only been blessed with six children… The look on my dh's face when I would lament years ago about hoping to fill a 15-passenger van is forever etched in my mind… priceless!
God bless your family.
I love my 15-passenger van! My 16 y/o daughter loves it as well… took her driving test in it! Not sure I could have done that at her age! I love that I can see everything… I feel nervous when I drive anything smaller. HOWEVER, you are right, people do think they have us pegged when they see us coming! 🙂
Luckily, I had a lot of experience driving my sister's 12 passenger van. As a result, my mini-van was no big deal when we got it 2 years ago!
How cool that you won your van!!!
We have some friends with 8 children who have a cherry red 15-passenger. They call it "Clifford, the Big Red Van".
Our first (still first) van is an Odyssey that we also bought when pregnant with our third. (No four miscarriages, though, I'm so sorry.)
Honey, it takes a real woman to drive a van that size (especially when the woman is under 5' tall.) I couldn't commit to 15 passenger, that's why we did 12. Like Lori N, hubby's face when I said I would love to fill every seat was priceless…
We're thankful for what we have and why, oh why haven't you put on the backup sensors I gave you????
Oh and I forgot to tell you that we call our van Silver. Every time I have to step on it to get on the freeway, you can hear the kids yelling from the back '40, "High Ho Silver! Away!"
In all fairness, the Science Museum ramp is a little tight.
LOVE it, Margaret! We are expecting #3 in June and debating just how big to upgrade. Funny, my husband is the one who keeps talking about filling every seat while me (the pregnant one) gets a little pale. (we will have our third just before our oldest turns 3) LOL.
I linked back to you in my quick takes today. I have several friends in similar situation who will enjoy your post! God Bless your beautiful, blessed family!
I've got the same van, and I'm just as nervous about parking it as you are! (although it was funny… the first time I EVER parked it in a parking space with cars on either side, I got out and laughed when I saw that on my left was a Mercedes and on the right was a BMW!)
My neighbors have jokingly promised to paint ours in bright Partridge Family technicolor…
We have one almost identical except ours is a GMC. 15 passenger length with seating for 12. Same ugly 'rental van white' but hey, beggars can't be choosers. It was used.
We got it when #5 was an infant and it seemed sooooooo huge after our minivan. Now I have 8 children, three of which are teens, including a 6ft 13 year old, 3 carseats and a baby due in June and it has gotten a whole.lot.smaller.
It was great when we drove from CT to WA and back the summer before #6 came and each child had a seat for their bum and a seat for their stuff.
Ours also has some matching scratches-usually from me trying to go through too tight drive thru's and the like.
When I went from sedan to minivan I was scared of the size then from minivan to full size petrified me. Now, the only problem with driving something so large is that when I drive dh's Beetle I tend to go a wee bit too fast. 😀
BWV (Big White Van) will have to last us a while longer as dh's dream van (Dodge Sprinter diesel) isn't happening unless someone drops a sack of money on our porch.
Wow, and I thought my hopes for a minivan were grand, haha.
I lol'd reading this post! We have the exact same van. Well, almost. Ours is a Ford and I see that yours is a Chevy. And we too owned a Honda Odyssey before "the beast" that we own now. We bought ours used from a Seventh Day Adventist church. They had used it for their school van. 😉
Anywho… I was wondering about your comment that it did well in the snow. We live in Colorado and it is terrible in the snow. Is yours 4wd? We need chains just to get around in a few inches practically.
Thanks for sharing.
God bless!
We too have almost the exact same van, white Chevy 15 passenger, complete with pro life bumper stickers.
We've been driving ours for 7 years (bought used) for our 9 kids. Ours has a few more bumps and bruises, some Christendom College bumper stickers, Ohio plates, but it could be your van's brother and its still running strong! Love the look of the "progressives" as they pass our van shaking their heads at us "kooks".
I have two friends with 15 passenger vans. One is green and is known as the "green bean", and a brown one known as the "coffee bean" does yours have a name?
I like the word "dock" – yes, that is the best word! I will no longer complain about parking my Honda Odyssey in the dinky parking lots in Hawaii.
Perhaps you should call it "The Ark."
My only experience driving one was at a charity golf tournament – I had to shuttle spectators from the far reaches of the parking lot to the gate. It felt like Iwas driving an 18 wheeler.
You are a brave woman to drive that monster.
We have a 12 passenger in midnight blue (I'm sure Our Lady got it for us!). The kids were going through a Transformers phase at the time, so they named it Blue Streak. The name stuck, although they eventually stopped drawing pictures of "what he looks like in robot mood."
I have the same van in pewter! My boys called it The Millenium Falcon when we first got it (I cried. A lot. That thing's TWO FEET longer than a suburban!!!) We now call it The Monster Van, because really, when the sun is behind you, the shadow looks like a sesame street charecter. My daughters (one 15) LOVE it. Honestly, finally, now, I do too! It's kind of a vehicle that nearly drives you!
I'll have to tell my husband about "docking" vs "parking", he'll get a real kick out of that! Lets just say that I've gotten a lot more "unintentional exercise" parking that beast than I would have in a smaller vehicle. Way back of the parking lot, every time.
We have friends with a white van like yours. Every time they came to visit us they would roll down all the windows and sing Irish tunes all the way home. They are a wonderful family but not one of them can carry a tune in a bucket so it was always entertaining for the whole neighborhood. Good times are always abundant with big families.
Funny comments, I needed a pick me up. Simply the greatest!
My favorite car ever was my Black Taurus Stationwagon. It was totally decked out. I loved that car. Unfortunately I rearended someone and totalled the whole car. We only had two kids at the time, but some funny stories in the short time we owned it.
DS
HA! Love it! We have a 12 passenger sandstone color van we call the bus. They really fit in the science museum parking ramp???? I've been swapping with my dh's 8 passenger Astro whenever I need to park in a ramp because I didn't know there was a ramp tall enough!
We too have a beastly pewter-ish 15 passenger van hauling 9 kiddos- I call it The Tank, because it is usually camouflaged with the road elements of the seasons. I've learned it's easier to back in than to back out – and yes, "docking" is a perfect term. I haven't been stuck in the snow, but I have had a couple occasions of 'rock the boat' to get it into my driveway. I must admit though, on snow days I used to take kids out in the suburban, but I am a little more leery with the van. 'Tank' was in the shop this past winter and I had a rental minivan. After Tank was fixed, I got in, and was SOO excited to have it back – scary, but true!
LOVE it! We just got a new-to-us Suburban as we wait for #4 to make her arrival this spring and it's been a little bit of an adjustment. I did suggest to the husband that we just go for the passenger van because at this rate … lol! He wasn't going for it so my dreams of getting a used passenger van with the name Tabernacle Bible Baptist Church (or something similar) painted on the side will have to be deferred. 🙂 I do love my "urban bus" though.
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