A Mule for Sister Stacey

Because of the hospital visit, I didn't get a chance to write about us buying a Kawasaki Mule as a birthday gift for Stacey.

The other day when we were at the Kawasaki dealership getting the tailight ordered, we looked at a Mule that had all the options Linda and I had talked about. We were not planning on getting one, but it was setting there and had the options we wanted, so we decided to get it for Stacey's birthday present. She can't drive a car, so we thought she would like driving the Mule in the fields and on some of the trails on the farm. We were right, Stacey has been smiling about it whenever she drives it around the farm. We have made several 'training' trips around the place and up and down the fields to get her aquainted with the ins and outs of driving a vehicle with a steering wheel and 'gas and brake' pedals. It was a little crazy at first, as with any new driver, but the more 'seat time' Stacey has, the better she has become. Linda and I were talking about when I taught Nana to drive in the Pendleton School parking lot. Nana always reminds me of how I made her stop and buy gas. She didn't want to stop at the gas station, but I said she couldn't drive very far without buying gas, so she might as well learn how from the begining. She pulled in and at that time, the attendant came out, she said, "Fill it up!" and he did. She paid and away we went. She realized that wasn't that hard and she has been driving ever since. Now, back to Stacey. She is doing well and has learned to back up while looking where she is backing. She can go down the hills using the brake to slow down and has made trips to the mailbox with me riding along. We haven't let her venture out alone yet, she still needs more practice.