Pep Talk: Rent the Minivan

Hello, Pep Talkers….

Here’s a Classic with a follow-up!

A Classic Pep Talk from 2023

Last week, we went to a family reunion in Austin, Texas. And, back to 2004. By that, by that I mean we rented a minivan for our three-night stay, one night in the city and then two nights out in the Hill Country where we’d been assured the Ubers were few and far between. (True.) Our crew consisted of my husband, myself, our two grown boys and their significant others, plus luggage. We were offered a big brand-new SUV at a discounted price, but, to the Avis employee’s surprise, my husband said, “We’d prefer the Pacifica.”

Good call.

Our family is a minivan fam. We loved our white Dodge Caravan with the fawn-colored leather seats. (It had been driven by the dealer’s wife for a year before we bought it pre-owned. We never could have afforded leather seats in 1999.) For twenty years, that trusty vehicle carried us to a million sporting events, birthday parties, road trips, spring breaks and Target runs. It then became a film equipment vehicle for both my sons at the start of their careers. We sold it to a house painter about 4 years ago and I cried a little. When we all piled into the rental at the Austin A irport, I felt a wave of nostalgia. A warm, wonderful wave of nostalgia.

We don’t often drive around in one car on a family vacation anymore and we’d never had significant others in the mix. The whole weekend was filled with satisfying experiences from gaming and sporting to sightseeing to laughing and reconnecting. Turning around and seeing the faces of my boys in the back of the minivan was the cherry on top.

So rent that minivan, crank the tunes of your children’s youth and enjoy.

2026 Follow Up

A few updates: The significant others remain significant and, of course, there’s a new baby in the fam and a new puppy. Good thing we have a Pacifica to call our own! That’s right , literally days after I published this Pep Talk in 2023, my husband bought a used minivan for the second time in our marriage. A Pacifica, of course. From a rental car company. Honestly, it looked exactly like the one we rented in Austin. Another good call. It remains a comfortable, trusted vehicle suitable for long road trips and dump runs and photo equipment hauling and grandchildren, puppies and old dogs like our dear departed Steffi who loved that minivan. Long live the minivan.

Lian Dolan

Bend, Oregon

More:

Now that the World Cup is over, I’m Reading

Two books down this week. One in hardback and one on audio, both bestsellers who don’t need any help from me. Still, I recommend both. I held The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett in my hands and read it the old-fashioned way: early in the morning with a cup of coffee and a warm puppy. It was a rich, emotionally satisfying book set in Oxford, Mississippi in the 1930s with a memorable set of sisters and one of the sharpest orphans I ever met. I listened to The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson, a light breezy read about a group of Millennials friends in the throws on midlife and their Gen Z observer who writes it all down. I mention the generations because it’s key to enjoying this book. If you have Millennial kids, you will relate to this book more. If you don’t, it might make you cringe. But I enjoyed the audio version read by Marin Ireland. Find these books and all my summer read picks here. Today I started listening to Blood River Witch by TJ Martinson and reading an advanced copy of The Queen of Roses by one of my favorite historical fiction writers Julia Kelly. (If you love gardens and historical fiction, look her up.) This book is set in Pasadena and Altadena which is a fantastic surprise for me! I already love it.

Friends, Family in Bend, Oregon?

Come see me at Roundabout Books on July 30^th at 6:30PM

Weddings! Friendship! A Hot Mayor of New York! We’ll cover it all at this fun book event for Abigail and Alexa Save the Wedding at a beautiful bookstore in Bend. My sistre Liz will be there, too, if any Satellite Sisters are in the area. Please come. Tickets and info here.

My friend and book coach Nicole Meier will be interviewing me! Looking for a developmental editor/book coach or good writing podcast? Check out her website here.