Why Im Driving a Yeti – Maybe You Should Too

If you know me, you know I am NOT a mini-van driving kinda girl. Yes, I have 3 kids but I don’t think that requires me to drive a mini-van. However I will say that for our tour here in Germany I have crossed over to the ‘other side’ and am now a Momster sporting a Yeti (aka Minivan)! I know my friends back in AL are just cracking up at this recent change in ‘ride’ and I have to say I’m with them, I’ve officially ‘taken one for the team’ and have befriended the Yeti. Now nothing against you if you drive a minivan, I have many friends who do and love them, I’m just not one who will ever be in the ‘loving’ a minivan category and I’m fine with that 😉

Why a Yeti you ask? Well it all started back in Japan with we had the Beast. You can see the monstrosity here 🙂 While it served it’s purpose for us in Japan, I hated that thing with a passion! I mean look at it! I felt like a bus driver driving that thing with my nose all up in the windshield! The engine was underneath the front seats and it just made it awkward for driving. So when we got the minivan we knew we needed to ‘name’ it, I mean its so much better to say I drive a Yeti instead of ‘van’ or ‘minivan’ right?! So when we were brainstorming trying to think of names like Beast I thought of our sweet little friends J&J and the Yeti’s we got them before we moved and viola, the Yeti was born!

Before arriving here we were debating if we wanted to send our Tahoe over here on our dime, it would’ve been around $1500 and the Tahoe was a 2003 with only 76,000 miles on it. It had been to Iceland with us and we got it shortly before Bea was born in 2003. We decided for several reasons (size, gas purposes, ect) that it was time to say farewell to the long-time people mover that we had enjoyed. After getting here and finding that parking the Yeti can sometimes be challenging I’m confident we made the right choice.

So a week after we arrived I needed to decide what we wanted for our 2nd vehicle. We had shipped the Lexus over and Mr. B was going to drive it. I had used it in AL because I had to drive so far to take Boo to school and pick him up each day, it was much easier on gas than the Tahoe. It was during this time that I started to think about what driving a van (gasp!) would offer our family here. We’ve tried traveling in the Lexus but with 3 kids in the back seat that is not real fun for anyone, especially when one of the kids is adult sized! So I decided that our best plan of action would be for me to get a van, and a few days later we found the Yeti.

One of the downfalls to PCSing in during non-PCS season is the lack of availability of used vehicles for sale. I really didn’t want a white van, we overpaid for it, and it has some issues but we were at the mercy of supply and demand and we needed a 2nd car ASAP. It being white drives me crazy because during the winter and the rainy weather some days I feel it should be called a Sasquatch instead! We have found that the Yeti has a few friends around here as we’ve seen a ton of them so at least he’s not lonely.

So despite my resistance to driving a minivan why am I now driving one?! Well there are several good reasons, as there would have to be 😉 And if your on the fence maybe these will help you too.

The kids have ‘self-designated’ spots already

First and foremost was the spaciousness of the inside and begin able to take road trips without the kids being smashed on top of each other. There is plenty of room for them to be separated and all have their own space. It has also been great for giving others rides! Since we’ve been here I’ve met several great families and funny enough some of them have been because of the Yeti! One family I seen walking on base with their 2 little kids in cold weather looking a bit lost. I had a feeling they were staying in TLF and new to the area because I’d been doing the exact same thing a few weeks earlier. I pulled over and offered them a ride and we’ve been friends ever since. I’ve also been able to take a newly arrived family to the commissary and also pick them up when they were stranded on the Autobahn when their car broke down. So immediately after getting the Yeti I was starting to see the benefits of it not only for our family but to help others. Another reason that caused me to lean towards a van was that after we arrived we had sponsors who helped us but the did not have a vehicle large enough to fit us all in it, so I knew that if I had a van I’d be able to help future families we may sponsor. I had a ‘new’ friend who bought her minivan over and took Bea & I to the commissary, I drilled her about her thoughts on driving a minivan here which I think helped sway me a bit. Especially when she took me to the post office and we had to pick up 7 HUGE boxes, they would’ve never fit in a car! Plus when family & friends come to visit we’ll have a vehicle large enough to pick people up and drive them around without having to rent a vehicle.

The other reason for wanting a van (or larger vehicle, which is why we considered the Tahoe) is to be able to haul large stuff around. I like to refinish furniture and do DIY projects. You can’t really fit 2×4’s and such in a the Lexus and large furniture is out of the question. A week after we bought the Yeti I was able to put it’s furniture carting ability to the test and help out a friend. She had went to pick up 2 end tables and thought for sure they would fit in her car but after arriving realized there was no way they’d fit. She called me up to bring the Yeti and it worked like a charm, well minus the fact that I had little knowledge about how to get the seats down, but I’ve gotten that resolved now 😉 The great thing about the the Yeti is that ALL of the back seats can fold down into the floor leaving a huge open space to transport whatever. I was SO thankful for it when we had to move from TLF to the Wiedenhof off base. We were able to get it all moved in one trip, just barley, LOL! When we move out of here it’ll take several trips because we’ve since had our Unaccompanied Baggage delivered and we used the Yeti the other night to pick up some wardrobes. I also foresee some girls trips to IKEA coming up in the near future. It also has a nice deep trunk as well.

I love that it has automatic sliding side doors. This is great when I’m coming out of the post office with boxes in my hands or when the kids are with me. I wish it had an automatic back door too but hey beggars can’t be choosers they say 😉 It does have an issue with the front drivers door, it needs to be fixed and has to be locked and unlocked manually. That is a pain but I’m dealing with it until we can get it fixed. It also works great for when my hands are full of groceries because if the kids aren’t with me I put them in the side instead of the back.

Last but not least I use the center console for our traveling command center. Here I keep a copy of the the Panther Paws book, the ‘blue book’ from base with all the phone numbers, and a little german phrase book. I also put any printouts for info that we’ll be needing on the trip there as well. It’s great to have all this already in the car and not have to haul it in and out every time. Plus storage for our first aid kit, extra cup holders, car chargers, ect.

So yes, I am the new owner and driver of a Yeti! Does that make me like driving a minivan…um not really but I know it’s only temporary, LOL. It will be great for our 3 years here and then we can say good-bye and I have a feeling I won’t be sad about it at all. I do have to say that both Mr. B and I were surprised at how nice it’s been for traveling. We’ve been traveling to every away basketball game, so we’ve been traveling almost every weekend and have been driving 1.5 to 3.5 hours away for each game. Plus the additional ‘fun’ traveling we’ve been doing. The kids are able to recline in the 2 bucket seats and relax on the backseat so they are all able to sleep comfortably. There is plenty of room for all our ‘junk’ as well. Do I love it, I wouldn’t go that far, but I am happy that it’ll get us where we need to go while in Germany!

So do you drive a Yeti or something similar?!