Finding My Car

Searching for my midsize white SUV --  Toyota Highlander -- in a parking lot is a challenge. A white car is a popular color in Arizona and there are a number of midsize SUVs in a parking lot. They all look alike from a distance. Which one is mine.

When full timing for 13 years I had parked the Silver Slug (one ton Ford truck) on the far side of parking lots. Trying to park a 20 foot truck in spaces designed for compact cars was not going to happen. It was just a lot easier to park the truck where there were no other vehicles.

I've continued the habit of parking on the fringes of parking lots. Now the reason is to delay that inevitable ding from another car door.

It was easy to spot the behemoth (Silver Slug) from a distance. Not so with the Highlander. I am not the only midsize SUV out there. Finding Oyster (my name for the car) among the many SUVs gives me exercise as I search for my car. Okay. So the minimal exercise is not a bad thing. 

That was when I started to think of ways to reduce the parking lot search. My first thought was to mount a small flag on a roof rail.

Then I considered another solution. How about a surf board atop the car. That would certainly make it unique in the parking lot and easy to spot.

However, in the interests of simplicity and avoiding the purchase of a surfboard, it seems best to get the exercise as I walk the parking lot looking for Oyster.

Finding my car via a walk in the parking lot is good. And it costs nothing.