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Reminds me--I saw in the news yesterday that an alligator was spotted recently in Lake Erie in the Erie, PA area...not native to the area.

That is exactly what I think when landing and you see Grapevine Lake. Boaters, jet skiers, but where are people supposed to swim? The central to lower Midwest also has this issue in its bodies of water. They are pit vipers, so sort of related to rattlesnakes. Ditto for huge Lake Houston. People should not be swimming there. Alligators in that one ... at the very least.

I guess you and your wife have a standing date night on the same day each year? You are sooooo on track for a minivan. Keep the MKC and eventually pick up a Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid. That way, you can still have the MKC as a daily and then the mini-van for dad duty. Plus when you take the seats out, they have so much room. The Pacifica is also easily the most comfortable riding of all of the mini-vans. The Honda is the sportiest, the Kia is the most available luxury, the Toyota is somewhere in the middle. And you can get a 2022 Pacifica Hybrid Touring-L with adaptive cruise and rear entertainment for like $25k Two options: 1. Save up your order until its big enough to make sense for Lowes to deliver it, and they deliver for like $50, no size limit, often times next day. 2. How close is your local U-Haul? I've got two very close to me and I can go get a trailer for 4-hours for like $20. I'm sure either the MKC or Rover can tow it. Set up an online account for U-haul and the process can be super quick. In either case, the final cost will be lower than $100 weekly fillups from running around in a 150/1500 size truck. They have one of the best owner retention rates of any truck, still today. People keep them forever and then go out and buy another used one. But the newest ones are 11 years old now and there were only 17k of them built in the final year, so your chances of finding a decent one are dwindling by the day. I'm speaking from the heart here when I say this. I absolutely LOVE my Avalanche, but there are times when I really wish for something smaller. I'm seriously thinking of going with an R1T instead of the EValanche for myself when the time comes. I know you are doing construction, but it's just not worth the gasoline costs and hassle of wheeling around such a big vehicle day to day. If I had the space for a fourth (6th?) vehicle, I could see myself getting a final-gen Volt or ELR to run around in most days.

I just noticed something about the Aviator. That armrest flips up to a storage container underneath, a Lincoln-specific feature that dates back to the 80s Lincolns, Continental specifically. I loved that extra bit of storage in my Continental. It was a tidy and easy to reach place for me to store fuel and turnpike receipts to turn in for reimbursement without stuffing them in the glovebox or wallet. The car didn't have a center console, but even then, mine in the Avalanche can get messy with receipts.