S&YE183 - Wicca Wanders

[00:00:00] Hello, this is Ru and you can find me on Instagram at Wicca Wanders. You are listening to episode 183 of Subie and YOU podcast.

[00:00:21] Hello everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Subie and YOU podcast. This week we welcome Ru, who goes by Wicca Wanders on Instagram.

[00:00:31] So we will get into her story here in just a little bit. I hope everybody had a great weekend and I hope everybody was able to get out and do something fun.

[00:00:42] Whether hitting the trails or going for a hike or whatever it is that you enjoy. The summer is just about over for those of you that have kids in school.

[00:00:54] Life is going to change again because you start up with school and things become different and challenging at times.

[00:01:04] You get to the end of school, you get to summer, we enjoy the summer, then we have to go back to school and now that's where we are at again.

[00:01:14] It's going to be different for me because my son graduated from high school and now he's going to start taking some college classes at a local junior college.

[00:01:24] So it's going to be a different life for him and a different life for us too.

[00:01:29] So for all of you that have younger kids, older kids in junior high or high school, I wish you all well for the school year to be starting up soon if it hasn't already.

[00:01:42] The Subie and You podcast is brought to you by Eccentric Designs. For those of you who don't know, Eccentric Designs is a small, community-driven business that offers custom-fit vinyl overlays for most Subaru models.

[00:01:54] This includes various designs for the rear reflectors, taillights, and side taillights. I also offer fun decal designs like the popular fender stripes and stickers.

[00:02:03] To find designs for your Subie, head on over to eccentricdesigns.com. There's always more projects in the works, so be sure to follow at eccentric.designs on Instagram.

[00:02:14] As always, thank you so much Eccentric Designs for sponsoring the Subie and You podcast.

[00:02:19] Speaking of Eccentric Designs, as many of you know, I bought my son a 2010 Outback a while back and it has begun.

[00:02:28] So I ordered some rear reflector overlays from Eccentric Designs so that he can put those on.

[00:02:34] And I guess a little birthday gift for him for the car.

[00:02:39] He's got some things in mind and I do too. We don't know exactly what we're going to do just yet, but this is a start. A way to personalize it and make it his own.

[00:02:50] So we'll see where this journey takes him with his Outback, but I'm excited and I know he's excited too. So thank you so much Eccentric Designs.

[00:03:00] Alright, we have another patron question of the week and this one comes from ChewyRoo.

[00:03:05] It was one that I had to think about for a while and then as I was thinking about it, I was like, that was really... I didn't really need to think about it that much.

[00:03:14] But his question is, if you had to pick a last meal, what would it be?

[00:03:20] There was a question that my daughter used to ask me years ago and she would ask me, if you were told that you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

[00:03:32] And it was... I just like, I didn't even have to think about it, but it was always sushi.

[00:03:39] So for my last meal, of course now that I'm vegan it's different, but sushi is all about flavor.

[00:03:47] So if you think how can they make sushi vegan, there's a lot of vegetables, there's sauces, there are mock meats.

[00:03:55] And for me, sushi has always been about flavor.

[00:03:59] So if you can take something that doesn't involve fish and make it taste good, then why can't it still be sushi?

[00:04:07] I don't think the definition of sushi means that it has fish in it.

[00:04:11] And if you look up the definition of sushi like I did, it says a Japanese dish consisting of small balls or rolls of vinegar-flavored cold-cooked rice served with a garnish of raw fish, vegetables, or egg.

[00:04:27] So... vegetables. There you go. There's your vegan sushi.

[00:04:32] Anyway, every time I have eaten sushi, even when I get completely stuffed, I want to keep eating more.

[00:04:41] Because I just love sushi so much that I can be completely just like, I'm done, but I want to keep going.

[00:04:51] Because it's just... you know, you get like... and my favorite type of sushi is rolls.

[00:04:55] Like that's... even before I went vegan, that was what I would get all the time was just rolls.

[00:05:00] My brother introduced me to them out in San Diego, and I just got hooked on the rolls.

[00:05:06] And I've had so many different flavors and types of rolls, and they are just... they can be so, so good.

[00:05:14] So, to answer your question, ChewyRoo, that would be my last meal.

[00:05:19] Would be just a big, giant table of sushi that I can just go to town on and just really indulge myself.

[00:05:28] But, why do I want to think about my last meal? Come on, man.

[00:05:32] No, thank you so much for your question. That was a good one.

[00:05:35] Alright, now that we are into the month of August, we're into it pretty good.

[00:05:40] Subaru is celebrating Subaru Loves Learning throughout the month of August.

[00:05:46] As I mentioned earlier, school is starting up soon, if it hasn't already.

[00:05:49] I don't know that anybody started up this early. Hopefully not.

[00:05:53] But what a perfect time for Subaru to celebrate Subaru Loves Learning.

[00:05:57] So, Subaru of America, Inc. will donate $10 for every Capstan Backpack sold on SubaruGear.com to AdoptAClassroom.org up to $1,000 in total.

[00:06:09] Valid on purchases from August 1st through August 31st.

[00:06:14] So, be sure to go into SubaruGear.com, look for the Capstan Backpack, and purchase one to help support a great cause.

[00:06:23] And while you're there, be sure to use the code SUBINU24 for 20% off your Capstan Backpack.

[00:06:29] And, if you want to browse the site and find some other items, you can use the code for those as well and save 20% off your entire purchase.

[00:06:38] And if your entire purchase is over $50 after the 20% discount, you automatically get free shipping.

[00:06:46] Thank you so much, SubaruGear.com for sponsoring the Subaru GNU Podcast.

[00:06:51] Thank you for this great discount code.

[00:06:54] And also, thank you for contributing to AdoptAClassroom.org and putting together all of these great fundraising events.

[00:07:03] Speaking of fundraising, Faulkner Subaru and many of the area's Subaru Ambassadors are collecting school supplies at a pre-meet before Boxer Fest for the annual Cruise for Fooz.

[00:07:15] The pre-meet will take place at 7am at 449 Eisenhower Boulevard in Harrisburg.

[00:07:21] Boxer Fest is happening this Sunday, August 18th at York Fairgrounds in York, Pennsylvania.

[00:07:28] If you are unable to make it to the pre-meet, Faulkner Subaru and the Subaru Ambassadors will be collecting school supplies during Boxer Fest to support Fooz Elementary School in Harrisburg.

[00:07:40] This has always been a great way to support Subaru Loves Learning.

[00:07:45] So if you can make the pre-meet, they would love to have you out there.

[00:07:48] And if you can't make the pre-meet, be sure to pick up some school supplies and drop them off at the event at Boxer Fest.

[00:07:55] So thank you so much, Faulkner Subaru and Subaru Ambassadors for putting together this great fundraising event, which I know has been going on for many, many years.

[00:08:06] This episode is also brought to you by MeleadesignFirm.com, where you can find many of your aftermarket needs for your Subaru.

[00:08:14] Including, of course, the Mele brand items, including the battery mounting systems, battery tie-downs and other great Mele products like the engine bay caps.

[00:08:26] But they also have products from many other great brands such as Anderson Design Fabrication, Anti-Gravity Battery, iWire Wiring Solutions, as well as products from Nameless Performance, Off the Line Performance and of course, Primitive Racing.

[00:08:42] Thank you so much, MeleadesignFirm for sponsoring this Subie and You podcast.

[00:08:47] And now it is time to get into the conversation with Rue and hear all about her Crosstrek and her Subaru journey.

[00:08:54] So let's get into this and see what she has to say.

[00:08:58] All right, here we go.

[00:09:00] Hello, Rue. Welcome to the podcast.

[00:09:15] Thank you for taking some time on a Sunday to record with me.

[00:09:19] Definitely. I appreciate you having me on the podcast.

[00:09:23] So before we get anything else started, I have to ask you the most important question and that is whether you prefer waffles or pancakes.

[00:09:31] This is going to have to be waffles 100%.

[00:09:35] Okay. Okay. That's fair, I guess.

[00:09:38] Now that we got that out of the way, we can get into your Crosstrek. But is this your first Subaru?

[00:09:45] This is my first Subaru.

[00:09:48] So what year and trim level is your Crosstrek?

[00:09:52] It's a 2018 Limited.

[00:09:55] So what got you interested in Subaru and why a Subaru and why a Crosstrek?

[00:10:03] Yeah, so I got my Subaru and I fell in love with them after one of my best friends had a 2017, I believe.

[00:10:13] It was a first generation. I know that for sure.

[00:10:16] And I just love the safety features behind it.

[00:10:19] And when I was with her, I was the only one that was ever sober.

[00:10:24] So I was always the one driving because she had the nicer car out of us two.

[00:10:29] So we had to take the nicer car, which ended up being hers, which ended up me driving it.

[00:10:36] Yeah. And that gave you good experience of driving something that you wanted.

[00:10:40] So eventually.

[00:10:41] Oh, yeah. Yeah, I got the feel of it and I just loved it.

[00:10:46] Yeah, they're definitely nice. I'm glad that I eventually got one too.

[00:10:50] So Crosstrek crew.

[00:10:54] So I originally, once I was pretty set on getting a Crosstrek, I knew that I wanted an orange one or maybe not so much wanted an orange one.

[00:11:03] But that one definitely caught my eye the most.

[00:11:07] And so anytime I'd see one, my late husband would send me a message like, hey, I just need a Crosstrek.

[00:11:13] And ironically now still today, I have a voicemail that I've saved on my phone and the voicemail just reads, baby, I just need an orange Crosstrek.

[00:11:23] Love you. Bye.

[00:11:25] Oh, that's nice. Yeah, that's something that you can go back and listen to and reminisce. That's cool.

[00:11:31] Yeah, I really liked the first gen Crosstrek and like I wanted one.

[00:11:38] And it's like I was whenever I was thinking about getting one.

[00:11:44] And by the time that I was ready to get one, they had come out with a second gen.

[00:11:47] And I was like, no, why did they change it? Because I love the first gen so much.

[00:11:52] And then like I started liking the second gen. It started growing on me.

[00:11:57] Now the same thing is happening with the third gen because the third gen I was wasn't so sure about it at first.

[00:12:05] But then I think my daughter buying one and being close up to one a lot more often now, it's really growing on me too.

[00:12:13] And hers looks really nice, especially the color.

[00:12:15] But yeah, I totally get that where it's like you, you know, so you had a good experience driving the first gen and having like just kind of getting close to it.

[00:12:26] And then I'm guessing that just like really helped your decision to like, hey, well, I guess my next car is going to be a Crosstrek.

[00:12:33] Yeah, it was for sure kind of just like the start of a unhealthy addiction.

[00:12:43] Anytime that I seen an orange Crosstrek because that was where I originally wanted to go was if I wanted a new car, it was going to be a little Crosstrek.

[00:12:54] And so anytime I seen one, like text my husband all the time, you're like, oh, my God, a Crosstrek. It's orange.

[00:13:02] Or we would send pictures of just random people's cars because it was an orange Crosstrek.

[00:13:08] Yeah, I the orange one is the very first one that I saw.

[00:13:13] And so it was like I really liked it at the time.

[00:13:16] But I know that like if I had bought an orange one, I probably wouldn't want one long term.

[00:13:22] I mean, every time I see one, it looks really good.

[00:13:26] I just don't know that I would want to have have it for myself, you know, long term.

[00:13:30] But it does. It is a nice color.

[00:13:32] It's nice to look at. But I'm kind of in that same agreeance with you.

[00:13:37] I a gray one kind of fell into my hands.

[00:13:40] And so when I got that one, it was just OK, we're going to do everything accented.

[00:13:46] And that's just kind of I took off with that is I love the orange and the black combo.

[00:13:52] And so it was kind of like the best of both worlds for me.

[00:13:56] But also, if I wanted to change it up, I could pull the orange stuff off and change it to something else.

[00:14:03] Yeah. And I noticed that you have a lot of orange accents on the inside, like around the steering wheel and around the dash and or I guess like the center console.

[00:14:11] Where did you get those? Because I've seen I've seen people do the steering wheel, but I haven't really seen so much dash things that you've done.

[00:14:20] I think that looks really nice. The accents look really good in there.

[00:14:24] Thank you. So all of the pieces, they're just like plastic.

[00:14:29] You rip a little sticker off and just push it on there.

[00:14:32] They're all from Amazon. It's like the trim pieces you get for a specific year.

[00:14:38] And I think they're just making them for second generation and on.

[00:14:43] But it was a good just way to kind of pop the orange more.

[00:14:48] OK, so you're not taking like the pieces off and replacing them with an orange piece.

[00:14:54] It just pops on top of the existing pieces there.

[00:14:57] Yep. Just like stickers on there.

[00:14:59] Nice. OK, well, that's good.

[00:15:00] It's nice to be able to do that because then you can change that if you wanted to.

[00:15:05] Eventually, like you said, if you don't want to do the orange anymore, then you can just take those off easily and replace it with a different color or not replace it at all.

[00:15:13] You're exactly correct.

[00:15:15] So what was your first mod that you did on your car?

[00:15:19] And like when you bought it, were you planning to mod it or did you just buy it and you're like, oh, I'm just going to keep this the way that it is?

[00:15:27] So my first real modification on there was definitely the ladder.

[00:15:33] I got it from Nash Fab.

[00:15:35] I was pretty excited about it.

[00:15:37] I didn't know exactly where I was going to take the track, but I knew that I liked the ladder.

[00:15:43] And so I got that on there.

[00:15:46] And now it really helps with getting on and off of the tent or in and out of the tent.

[00:15:53] And so that's helpful.

[00:15:54] Recently, I just got rear-ended like a month or so ago.

[00:15:59] And yeah, thankfully I had a spare tire mount on.

[00:16:05] It's just like a hundred dollar one from Amazon at the time.

[00:16:09] I currently have a rigid armor one on the way, but I have the Wolfbox dash cam.

[00:16:19] And so I got to record getting rear-ended and I didn't notice it at the time, but the, when I got rear-ended it pushed into the ladder.

[00:16:30] So it doesn't sit.

[00:16:32] Wow, man.

[00:16:34] So I'll, I haven't done it, but I'll end up ordering another one.

[00:16:38] It's just not been priority because I got accepted into Boxer Fest.

[00:16:41] And so I immediately pulled the trigger on buying a swing, a tire swing.

[00:16:49] But another ladder will come very soon.

[00:16:52] Started the mods and now I haven't stopped.

[00:16:56] Yeah, it seems to kind of go that way where once you start doing it, then it's like, oh, well maybe I want this and maybe I want that.

[00:17:03] Or maybe I need this part or, you know, this mod, whatever it may be.

[00:17:06] And I know a lot of times people build them out for their specific circumstances.

[00:17:12] So I know a lot of people have functional mods, but then of course there are aesthetic mods too where it's like, oh, I've just, I got to have that.

[00:17:19] So like what were some things, are there any of them that were just purely aesthetic where it's like, I don't really need this, but I think it looks good and I'm going to do it.

[00:17:29] My favorite aesthetically pleasing modification is definitely the grill.

[00:17:36] It just looks so nice.

[00:17:40] I did have to preorder it.

[00:17:42] It was one of their first coming out pieces with the Crosstrex, I believe.

[00:17:48] I had seen it on PYD Dad Wagon.

[00:17:54] Oh yeah.

[00:17:56] And so he had it and I just loved it.

[00:18:00] He has the emblem instead of the, like the Subaru lettering.

[00:18:04] And so it was an option with preordering it.

[00:18:08] You got the whole shebam, which included the clear lights, the amber lights, and then the emblem and the lettering.

[00:18:18] So that was pretty nice because separately, I think those are about $30 each.

[00:18:23] So doing the preorder included.

[00:18:26] So if I want to, I can interchange it a little bit.

[00:18:29] Oh, that's good.

[00:18:31] Nice.

[00:18:32] Yeah, I didn't realize that.

[00:18:33] I thought that you got one or the other, but being able to interchange that, that's nice because then you can switch it around when you want.

[00:18:38] That's really, that's a good feature.

[00:18:40] Oh yeah.

[00:18:41] I don't know since, I don't know if they'll still do the preorder with having all four.

[00:18:46] I don't know if it was just, again, the preorder or not.

[00:18:51] I don't know if they'll still have that sale, but I would definitely jump on it if they do have it going on.

[00:18:56] But so with that, you could do either the clear lights or the amber lights.

[00:19:00] And so I definitely had to do the amber considering the rest of my lighting is amber.

[00:19:05] So who's the manufacturer?

[00:19:08] Who's the brand?

[00:19:10] I believe that's Garage Alpha or it could be Alpha Garage.

[00:19:16] One of the two.

[00:19:18] But yeah, it was super nice.

[00:19:20] I had a little bit of trouble with it when I first got it.

[00:19:24] I didn't get the lettering.

[00:19:27] And so I had a message of them and they responded super quick, got them sent out as soon as they realized.

[00:19:34] But yeah, it was a really good company to deal with, especially some are just, oh, well, I guess we'll have to reorder.

[00:19:41] Yeah, that's nice when you can have, I mean, customer service is so huge.

[00:19:44] When you take care of people, then they'll come back, they'll tell other people and then people will want to do business with them.

[00:19:51] Exactly.

[00:19:53] So I highly recommend that.

[00:19:56] Yeah, I've seen that on some other Crosstreks too, and it looks really good.

[00:20:00] And it's definitely something I've considered because it's a nice addition.

[00:20:05] And like you said, it's aesthetic, it's not needed, but it changes the front end a lot and makes it look really good.

[00:20:14] And the ones that I've seen look really good.

[00:20:18] What would you say has been your favorite mod?

[00:20:21] Yeah, so I have an aux beam switch panel for inside of the Trek, so I can control them super quickly and easily, especially.

[00:20:32] I know it's not allowed or legal, but going down the road by myself, I'm like, well, let me just throw on these amber lights at two o'clock in the morning or whatever when nobody else is here.

[00:20:42] And it just completely illuminates everything orange.

[00:20:48] So that is through the aux beam for the switch panel.

[00:20:52] And then I have all rigid armor, no, rigid interstitials.

[00:20:58] And it's the Amphibro series from the light bar that I have on my bumper and then the light bar that I have on the roof rack.

[00:21:12] And then I have the pot lights as well.

[00:21:14] Okay, and that's your favorite mod.

[00:21:16] That's cool.

[00:21:18] Oh yeah, it just goes so much with the orange.

[00:21:21] Yeah, I need to get, I don't need, but I want to get a light bar at some point.

[00:21:29] Because all I have, I have some LED headlights that I replaced and that's changed everything.

[00:21:36] Like the LED headlights I have are so nice.

[00:21:38] And then I have fog lights, amber fog lights, and then I have ditch lights.

[00:21:42] But I don't have anything that's like, you know, I don't have a light bar.

[00:21:45] And so I don't really have a way to like really, really light stuff up.

[00:21:49] But that would be nice at times because there are some times when I go down some dark roads and it'd be nice to have that extra light.

[00:21:56] So what would you say has been the most useful mod that you've added?

[00:22:00] Yeah, so definitely most useful is 100% the lift and the hand in hand with the skid plates.

[00:22:09] Just because, I mean you can't really do anything without both of them.

[00:22:13] Or maybe you could, but then you're worried about protection underneath and things like that.

[00:22:19] I was invited a few times to go out before I had my skid plates and I kind of pushed it off because I had been getting told that some of the trails were not friendly if you didn't have skid plates.

[00:22:34] One of my friends that lives in Charlotte, he drives a Subaru Outback and he just full sends this thing.

[00:22:45] And I am so envious and he looks amazing doing it, but I don't know if I could full send my truck like he full sends his Outback.

[00:22:54] Yeah, and it depends on where you go because like we went out to Bastrop, which is about an hour and a half from me and took my daughter's cross track out there with nothing.

[00:23:02] I mean just 100% stock.

[00:23:05] And those trails are pretty, there's nothing there really that at least in the areas that we went that you would need skid plates, but they're definitely good to have.

[00:23:15] Because if you don't have a lift and you can get through some trails without a lift, then it's still good to have that peace of mind for the underbody protection.

[00:23:26] And you don't want anything to happen for sure.

[00:23:30] Yeah, it definitely gives you that peace of mind of things.

[00:23:34] Yeah, and have you banged your skid plate up enough to know that it's giving you the protection you need?

[00:23:41] Some places have really been banged up more than others and hit it to the point where I'm like, ooh, but definitely scratched it out a bit.

[00:23:54] Yeah, it's nice whenever you're out on a trail somewhere and you hear it hit or scrape and you're like, I'm so glad I have that.

[00:24:03] Because it's like you don't want anything drastic and bad to happen.

[00:24:08] So it's nice having that peace of mind that you can get out on the trail and not worry so much.

[00:24:14] Of course, you don't want to do anything super crazy, but it is nice just to have that and be more at ease when you're driving.

[00:24:20] Now with your mods that you have on there, have you done a lot of them yourself?

[00:24:27] Oh yeah. My dad is very... he wants to help me and he wants to teach me, but I think that he just gets so excited to be working on it.

[00:24:38] He tells me all the time he is an 18-wheeler mechanic, a diesel mechanic. So he goes out all over where I'm located.

[00:24:50] And so he has people telling him that he sees this orange cross track or this black and orange cross track all the time.

[00:24:56] And so he's like, yep, that's my daughter.

[00:24:59] But so I've done all the modifications with the help of YouTube, except the lift and except wiring.

[00:25:09] I didn't trust myself for the lift just because both my kids are in it 24-7 and I've not done something that big.

[00:25:18] Maybe if it wasn't my daily drive, I probably would have jumped on it, but not with the safety of my kiddos.

[00:25:26] And then wiring, again, my dad just takes over as soon as I'm like, hey, can you help me do this?

[00:25:33] And then I'm just kind of watching.

[00:25:35] Yeah, it's definitely important. I mean, like you said, with a lift, if you've got your kids with you all the time, you don't want something to happen.

[00:25:44] And then you're like, oh, I shouldn't have done that.

[00:25:47] Yeah. And then especially getting quoted prices for install around here, I got quoted for my pod lights close to a thousand dollars.

[00:26:00] But that included the purchase of the lights and the lights were about $299 plus shipping and tax.

[00:26:09] So let's just say like $350 max.

[00:26:12] So, I mean, that's just outrageous.

[00:26:14] Yeah. So almost a thousand dollars and only a third of it is for the parts.

[00:26:19] Yeah. And maybe, maybe it's because I'm a female or maybe it was just the industry of like installing modifications, but I don't want to pay that.

[00:26:33] Yeah. I mean, I'm guessing that also would include like all the mounting and wiring and everything, but that's still crazy.

[00:26:40] Nope. Do it yourself.

[00:26:41] I agree. I agree. I do think maybe the wiring specifically would have been more expensive.

[00:26:48] I was debating on doing my skid plates, having somebody else do them. And the quote on that was significantly cheaper, but I just ended up doing it myself either way. So it was fine.

[00:27:02] Yeah. Skid plates are easier and it's fun.

[00:27:05] Yeah. I did when I was installing my skid plates, I put the truck on ramps and getting underneath it gave me so much anxiety that I put like pieces of wood behind the tires. Like I was getting on this thing and jumping to make sure it was not moving.

[00:27:25] Yeah. I know that's, I do that too. Even when I know it's going to be okay, I still, it's like this thing is like heavy. It's up in the air, it's above me and I don't want it to fall. It never does, but still I get that.

[00:27:40] That peace of mind, especially with the lifts, like most your body can clear it. So it's just in your head, you know?

[00:27:47] Yeah. That's good. Yeah. It's nice to be able to do it yourself one, because it's just kind of fun to put your own mods on your car. And two, it's just like you get that satisfaction of being able to change your car up and know that you did it yourself.

[00:28:03] And then lastly, it's always nice to save labor costs, you know, unless you have like friends that will help you out. Then you just, you know, pay them in other ways, take them to dinner or something or take them off road with you. So it's, it's always nice when you can do it yourself.

[00:28:19] So I saw that you have a rooftop tent and so obviously you get out to go camp, but were you tent camping before that? And do you have a favorite spot to get out to camp or do you go to different spots?

[00:28:33] Prior to roof rack tent camping, I was ground tent camping. And when I was doing that, my favorite place was Max Patch. It has since been canceled. You're no longer allowed to camp up there just because people have just taken advantage of the environment and it's really went completely down.

[00:28:59] So they have had a four year ban on camping up there, which is unbelievably unfair, but also the environment really needed it to just kind of regrow everything.

[00:29:14] How long have you had your rooftop tent and how often do you get out to go camping with it?

[00:29:19] We like to try to go like once a month. We've been from Florida to the beaches to just like finding some trails. We've taken it to some drive-ins and popped it open to just watch a movie while in the tent. And that's super nice.

[00:29:38] I've had the tent probably close to a year as well. That was one of my first big purchases after I decided I was like, okay, going to go through this whole off-roading thing. I actually had the tent before my new roof rack came in. So it was just sitting in the box in the garage waiting to be installed.

[00:30:05] Yeah, it's like, I know that's one of those things where it's like you have the anticipation of having something and not being able to put it on yet. And just wanting to be able to just get it in there. Because I bought a skid plate for my daughter for her birthday.

[00:30:21] And we haven't been able to put it on because she's been gone, but it's also been raining like every single day. And so it's like the first I think next weekend hopefully we'll have some time to do it. But it's just like sitting in my apartment waiting to be installed. And it's not like it's a hard install, you know, I mean, it's not it's pretty easy. It takes a little bit of time. But yeah, we need the rain to stop here. Rain is good, but not like for weeks.

[00:30:52] Yeah, I agree. We've had some fallen trees super frequently with all the rain. I think the ground is just over saturated at this point where it's just like down. We've been losing power all the time. And I don't know, I'm sure that we're getting the same rain you're getting.

[00:31:11] It's possible. Yeah, it's moving down there. So your profile says weekend warrior. So what does that mean to you?

[00:31:21] For us, it's just kind of like me and my family's time away from our routine. Like we get out and do things on the weekend, whether it be camping or just hiking or just anything that's not able to happen during the week as we're all in school and have 15,000 things to do Monday through Friday.

[00:31:43] But as soon as Friday afternoon hits, it's kind of free to, I don't know, enjoy the weekend. So weekend warrior.

[00:31:52] Yeah. Now are you getting out and doing stuff every weekend? Like weekend comes and it's like, all right, let's go. We're going to go do something.

[00:32:00] We try to with the rain recently, it hasn't been able to do anything. But we try to frequently. We just recently got back from a three national park checkoff list. So we did that and that was pretty nice.

[00:32:17] We went all the way down to Key West and I think that was kind of the farthest that I've drove Wicca since I've had her. And so we camped along the way in like the springs. We popped the tent open just like 10 feet away from just jumping in this clear as can be springs and then down to Key West.

[00:32:38] Very nice.

[00:32:40] It was just beautiful.

[00:32:41] So how long of a drive is that? Did you calculate the mileage to go from where you were to there or like did you keep track of total mileage for the whole trip?

[00:32:52] So total mileage for the whole trip was 3000 miles.

[00:32:57] Wow. That's a good trip.

[00:33:00] Yeah. It was a whole oil change.

[00:33:03] Yeah, because when I drove up to Madison, Wisconsin, just putting it in navigation, it was 1100 miles one way. And you know, of course I drove around some while I was there and then I took a really long way to get home. So I know that 3000 miles is a lot. That's a good trip.

[00:33:21] It was definitely enjoyable.

[00:33:24] So how did Wicca do as far as like being on the road for a long period of time as far as like comfort and everything else? Everything just fine?

[00:33:35] The only complaint I have about Wicca is no lower back support in the front seats.

[00:33:45] Yeah, yeah, I get that too.

[00:33:48] I always put a travel pillow. I just like stuff it through my back in the seat and after that I'm perfectly fine. But other than that...

[00:33:58] Yeah, well at least it's an easy fix, you know?

[00:34:01] Yeah, yeah. You could just stuff something in there.

[00:34:04] Yeah, it's not like something where it's like, oh, well, we're stuck. We can't do anything about this. So that's good.

[00:34:10] Yeah.

[00:34:11] So where would you say now, I mean, you took that long trip and I know you've been to other places, but like what would you say the most exciting place has been that you've been to?

[00:34:20] Yeah, so my daughter has been camping significantly. But as far as completely off-grid camping, she's done none of that.

[00:34:32] And I saw our first experience with that. I was supposed to meet up with two female trekkers and that's Moth Trek and Falkor the Subaru, I believe is the other tag.

[00:34:46] And Falkor ended up getting sick. So she ended up canceling out the day before.

[00:34:51] Oh, that's not good.

[00:34:52] She ended up being okay, thankfully. We were pretty worried about her the whole time. But my daughter wasn't supposed to go on the trip. It had been planned for about two months.

[00:35:03] I was checking off everything that I needed on the list and like three days before, I think that it really clicked that I was going to be gone for the whole weekend.

[00:35:14] And so evidently she just made her own decision. Like she started packing her bag. She's like, I'm going with you. And so I had to have this long talk with her.

[00:35:25] Because where we're going was Cape Lookout. And that's across the ferry. You're on an island. We were there for three days, Friday to Sunday, and there's nothing there. There's not a grocery store. There's not a bathroom.

[00:35:43] If you wanted to drive all the way back to the ferry departure area, there was a showering area and things of that nature. But we weren't going to go back to it. Once we were camped out, we were camped out.

[00:35:59] And so I met up with Moth Trek. We went over on the ferry and that experience was amazing, but also really scary. On the ferry, they had up to six vehicles and five with trailers. They're averaging six, but then they had to do it by weight distribution and stuff like that.

[00:36:24] So getting over there wasn't intimidating. But on the way back, they had this huge diesel truck beside me and Moth Trek that carried this camper plus an ATV behind it.

[00:36:43] And he's so long, he takes up the whole side of the ferry and he still had to pull up past the barrier. So his foot is literally off the boat. Me and Annie, which is Moth Trek's driver, are just sitting there like, nope, nope, nope.

[00:37:06] Yeah, a little unnerving, huh?

[00:37:08] Yup. They had to take off the whole barrier for his side and thankfully the barrier goes 50-50. So in front of Wicca was still a barrier, but I was just sitting there thinking like if this truck goes down, that weight will come down with it.

[00:37:25] But we had a great time while we were there. We seen the lighthouse, which was super cool. The only thing we didn't like was the amount of bugs that happened to have been there at the time. And so we camped out, we watched sunset, sunrise. Everything was completely off-grid, so we brought coolers and things and cooked out on gas and things like that.

[00:37:52] My daughter, again, has never been full full camping like this and she's fine with peeing outside and things like that. But when it came to like number two outside, she's like, what are we gonna do, mom? And I'm like, guess we're going to have to dig a hole, babe, because that's what's happening.

[00:38:11] That's your only option.

[00:38:13] Yup. So she didn't like that part, but the rest of it she was all for. She pretty much lived in a bikini the whole entire three days that we were there and it was just a really good time.

[00:38:29] That's good. Yeah. Nice memories to create for yourself and for your daughter. So that's awesome.

[00:38:35] Definitely. I think Annie drove from Missouri, so she ended up staying halfway, I believe in Gatlinburg and then drove the rest of the hours. So I believe her total trip just to go to Cape Lookout was about 18 hours, which is pretty intense.

[00:38:55] And I am beyond proud of her for that. She also does have some family in Cape Lookout area, so she was able to get some decent rest while they're not just camping.

[00:39:06] Oh, that's good. And she drove it by herself?

[00:39:10] Yeah, she drove it by herself. Super, super cool girl. Would definitely hang out with her any time that she came.

[00:39:18] That's good. Yeah.

[00:39:20] We have another trip planned to go back to Cape Lookout in November. Hopefully the bugs won't be out then.

[00:39:27] The bugs can be problematic and just annoying.

[00:39:31] I think they call them sand fleas or the no-see-ums is what they call them. And they were deadly.

[00:39:43] Nothing killed them. The repellent just pissed them off and then you were just getting bit times too. It was not fun.

[00:39:54] It was not fun. The first night, I don't know how they got in the refract tent, but we ended up sleeping in the car because they were so bad in the tent.

[00:40:05] Wow. Yeah, that's no good. So have you had an opportunity to meet up with other people that you've met on Instagram?

[00:40:12] I've met up with Molly and she drives a first generation Crosstrek as well.

[00:40:21] She's got the whole white and green theme going. Very new to the community. So it's nice to talk about modifications.

[00:40:31] She actually just got the same new grill that I got. It was nice for us to be able to meet up and compare how they looked on the first generation and the second generation.

[00:40:42] So that was super cool. I have a few buddies in Charlotte, which is about a two hour drive.

[00:40:52] And it's off-roading the Outback and that's nuts. So we've met up a few times and he's pretty cool. His Outback is crazy. It's completely cut in places that I'm trouble cutting.

[00:41:12] But he just full sends the thing, doesn't care about nothing. Mud everywhere.

[00:41:20] I've been around some people that full send and they drive it like it's not going to break.

[00:41:30] But then when I was out in Colorado, I can't drive it crazy because I have to drive all the way home.

[00:41:40] But I've been with other people too where they'll say, oh yeah, well I gotta drive home too. And I'm like, okay.

[00:41:49] But I just gotta take it easy.

[00:41:52] So now since you've been in the community for a while and I know that you've seen other people, their Subarus and stuff.

[00:42:00] Is there somebody else's Subaru out there that if you could drive it for a day, you would? And why?

[00:42:10] Yep. So definitely if I could drive any three, let's start off with Mako Trek.

[00:42:18] She's based off in California and she probably has no idea that I exist.

[00:42:22] But I think she should get a restraining order against me because I stalk her car.

[00:42:28] It's the blue Trek. I don't even know what year, but she has yellow accents with it and it just looks so aesthetically pleasing.

[00:42:40] Anytime that I see her post, I'm like drooling.

[00:42:44] And then it's Brittany the Cross Trek, I believe is the other tag.

[00:42:51] And he's out in Virginia and he just has the ultimate off-roading vehicle.

[00:42:59] He's done everything that you could possibly think. Plus he just does it all.

[00:43:05] He's wrapped it and it's that nice khaki tannish color. That's just one in a million Trek. I would just love to drive it for one day.

[00:43:16] And then my last one, and I really like his Trek, but I also really like the owner of it, Little Trekka.

[00:43:25] He was one of the first people who supported my build and one of my first followers that just continuously built me up or supported me in a way of just sharing or commenting or telling me that he appreciated my build.

[00:43:43] And so I believe he's closer to California as well. And he drives a 2024 and it's the new Alpine green.

[00:43:53] And it is just beautiful to look at. He's put an exhaust on it, which I think is crazy because Cross Treks are just slow.

[00:44:04] It sounds nice though.

[00:44:07] It does sound very nice, but you're not going nowhere.

[00:44:11] True, true.

[00:44:13] But his is super nice and I think he was just sponsored by some tire company. I can't remember off the top of my head.

[00:44:23] So that's amazing for him. But yeah, I don't know. Just amazing communication and support from him.

[00:44:30] So I definitely would like to appreciate his Trek and take it out for a day. Plus he lives closer to the desert and I think I'd just love to take on that ecosystem.

[00:44:39] Yeah, yeah. That would be fun.

[00:44:42] There's so many nice Subarus out there that are just built out crazy and people that are just full sending it and hitting some awesome trails.

[00:44:54] And I'm just like, man, I would love to be able to go out there and drive their car because some of the places that people are taking them, there's no way Pearl could make it. So I would have to drive somebody else's car.

[00:45:06] Especially being with a daily driven car. It's like you want to go to all these cool places, but then it's like you said, you have to drive at home.

[00:45:14] Yeah, that's the tough thing about it is like even when I go out and do some mudding, you know, it's like I know it gets all up underneath.

[00:45:24] And if I can't go wash it off right away, I know it's going to take a long time to get it out, get it off.

[00:45:30] And especially the wheel wheels because the wheel wheels are the worst. Takes forever.

[00:45:33] Oh, completely agree. I was just outside scrubbing the wheel wells for a good minute before I was just like, it's going to rain tomorrow. It'll do something right?

[00:45:47] Yeah, I know. And there's this spot, like there's this church down the road that usually collects a lot of water when it rains in their parking lot.

[00:45:55] And so I'll just drive back and forth through there and let it just clean out the underneath and the wheel wells.

[00:46:01] And I went by there last night and there wasn't any water and I was disappointed. I'm like all this rain and there's no water there? Come on.

[00:46:08] I hope they didn't like fix the problem to where it drains better now because like I need that spot.

[00:46:13] Yeah, you got a free car wash.

[00:46:16] Basically, yeah, especially at least the undercarriage. But you know, it's gone.

[00:46:21] So with the places that you've been, like you took that long trip, you've been to some other places.

[00:46:26] But do you have and seeing all these places that people are at in other parts of the country, do you have a bucket list spot or spots that you want to go explore with your Crosstrek?

[00:46:38] A hundred percent. So I'm currently in nursing school and so I graduate in December of next year, so a little over a year and a half or so.

[00:46:51] And once I graduate, I think it would be really amazing to go and take maybe even like a month cross country.

[00:46:59] And one of my big things is I want to knock off all the national parks and most of them are on the other side of the US for me at least.

[00:47:08] And so one of my big things is I want to drive through a tree.

[00:47:14] Yeah, that's so cool.

[00:47:16] Yeah, so I definitely want to hit up like Washington, Oregon, California, just the whole opposite of where I'm at.

[00:47:26] Just spend a whole month just vacationing, sleeping in my tent and just surviving off of canola bars.

[00:47:34] Yeah, that would be a good trip. A long trip, but it'd definitely be fun.

[00:47:38] So what are some spots like near you that you get out to?

[00:47:44] I enjoy the parkway a lot, the Blue Ridge Parkway. Just finding some trails off of there.

[00:47:53] They're not, I would say they're more so mountain biking trails, but they're just big enough for the truck to go through.

[00:48:04] And I think that's kind of making it a good experience because you like don't know if you're going to fit through these trails.

[00:48:12] And so it's nice to be able to explore.

[00:48:15] And I feel like since mostly the parkway trails are mountain bike trails, it doesn't really get driven a lot, if that makes sense.

[00:48:24] So I enjoy that. There's another place close by about an hour away and it's called 105.

[00:48:33] And so I've been up there a few times and that's just a nice camping area.

[00:48:40] Some great overlooks and just enjoying the mountain view.

[00:48:45] Yeah, mountains are very nice. I wish we had more close by here, but unfortunately we don't.

[00:48:51] So who are some of the people that you get out with to go hit some trails and go exploring with?

[00:48:58] Do you have people local to you that you can meet up with?

[00:49:01] So I've been out with a group of four recently, probably about a month ago.

[00:49:10] And that was 828 Crosstrek, Molly, which is Felcore, the Subaru, and then Matt, which is the off-roading Outback.

[00:49:23] We went and did like a whole stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we mostly stayed on roads.

[00:49:28] It was just kind of like, let's meet each other's faces and make sure we're not going to kill each other.

[00:49:35] And, you know, get some pictures of the cars together.

[00:49:40] Molly and I, and she's down in South Carolina, so we're about probably about two hours away from each other.

[00:49:47] We like to meet up halfway and go explore a lot. So that's nice.

[00:49:52] I sometimes feel like, for me at least, I like to go out with the girls instead of the guys.

[00:49:59] Just because the guys are like, no, no, no, you can't do this. You're a girl. Do you know?

[00:50:05] Yeah. Watch us.

[00:50:07] Yeah, exactly.

[00:50:09] Well, that way you can like just be with, you know, like you said, other girls and y'all just kind of do whatever you want.

[00:50:14] Do what you're comfortable with and don't have to have anybody tell you you can't.

[00:50:18] Exactly.

[00:50:20] Yeah. Don't tell us what we can't do.

[00:50:24] So like owning your Crosstrek for a year, like when you, like how have you changed over the course of the time between like when you first bought it to now?

[00:50:37] Like, you know, what has, like, what have you noticed about yourself that has changed?

[00:50:44] I've definitely been more involved in the car community. And with that, I see just this huge positivity that is just kind of with that and the Subaru community especially.

[00:50:58] So that's been a amazing, just like positive addition to my life.

[00:51:05] I don't know. I feel like this may sound slightly condescending, but I kind of more so developed that I don't really care attitude towards people's opinions, if that makes sense.

[00:51:18] And I don't know if that's maybe because I'm like, oh, I don't care. Like, usually when I was first doing my modifications, I think I cared more about what other people would like.

[00:51:31] And now it's like, I, it's completely mine. I don't care how your opinion is. We all have our own opinions. And so it's just kind of like sometimes some of my friends in school are like my Subaru and my kids are my whole personality.

[00:51:50] And that's kind of how it is. But it's okay. I enjoy it. And my kids enjoy it too. They get to help with the modifications when they're able or they get to climb on the ladder and sleep in the tent. And so they love it too.

[00:52:06] Yeah, I mean, it is your build. You get to do what you want to with it. And, you know, it shouldn't, you know, for all of us that are doing our builds, you know, it shouldn't matter what other people think, you know, we're not doing it to please other people.

[00:52:17] It is nice when you get comments from other people, you know, and compliments and people getting excited for you to do, you know, a new mod or something. But, you know, it's just, we should, you know, do it for ourselves first always.

[00:52:32] I completely agree.

[00:52:34] So how would you say that your Crosstrek best matches your personality?

[00:52:40] I have a really dark humor. And so I think it's just Wicca and the whole skeleton, the 666 vibe is just all me wrapped up into a beautiful Subaru.

[00:52:58] And like, what does Wicca mean?

[00:53:01] So Wicca was just kind of more like the darker side of things. And it's okay to be like happy when you're going through like a darker time in life. And so I ended up getting my Subaru after my husband died in 2022. And so we had two vehicles at the time, and both of them went down the drain with him.

[00:53:29] And so I ended up getting the Subaru as a reliable car. And then it just came into, I don't know, maybe it started as a distraction on like getting my mind to not think about how I'm raising two kids by myself.

[00:53:45] And more so like I'm doing this with my two kids without anybody else, if that makes sense.

[00:53:54] And so Wicca was just, I don't know, like there's positivity in the darker times.

[00:54:02] Yeah. And I mean, like other people, I've known other people that have had their Subaru and they went through a tough time when they, you know, through the loss of somebody or, you know, something else pretty bad.

[00:54:16] And like having that focus on their car and having something to kind of create in a way and use their energy and focus and creativity kind of, you know, helps you build something positive and fun.

[00:54:35] And like you said, can kind of help you get your mind off of something tragic that has happened. And so, I mean, I know you said that you feel like that's kind of what it did, but or was kind of potentially doing, but like, has that really helped you a lot with the car and being able to build it and have it in your life?

[00:54:55] And now having this community of people and other things that you can do because you bought this particular car?

[00:55:02] Completely agree with you. I feel like I got the car and when I first kind of started in the Subaru community, I kind of felt like day one little trucker from, I believe, California is where he's at.

[00:55:18] It was just on my personal. I didn't have a car account and I just, I loved his whole aesthetic. And so every photo I would share it just like showing some appreciation and then he would start doing it back. And then I was like, okay, I'm doing this. I feel like I'm in the community now.

[00:55:37] And eventually it was, I'm going to take this more so kind of into its own account. And so I made Wicca her own account and then that's kind of when it really took off. I think I started my account in October and we're almost at a thousand followers, which is pretty cool.

[00:55:59] It can build up pretty quick.

[00:56:01] Yeah, it's crazy for me because my personal account is going to go under soon compared. It's like my car account and seven or so months has gotten almost a thousand followers. And then my personal account that I've had for 10 years has like 1,700 and I'm like, oh,

[00:56:25] yeah, that's the way it happens. So if you could describe your cross track in one word, what would it be?

[00:56:32] I kind of like the word wicked. It's like positive, but a darker side of the positive. If that makes sense.

[00:56:41] Yeah, yeah, it does make sense. I get that. Yeah. Like with driving your car, your cross track around, do you get a lot of looks and like compliments and people asking you questions about it when you go places?

[00:56:56] I feel like for me and just like the skeleton vibe of the cross track, you either love it or you hate it. And there's no middle to it really. And I, for me, I've experienced the older population giving me dirty looks, whereas the younger population are taking photos of my car and I'm like, here's a sticker.

[00:57:20] Yeah, I think maybe the younger population just kind of gets it more and maybe the older population is just kind of confused. You know, like, why would you do that to your car kind of thing?

[00:57:32] Yeah, I agree. I agree.

[00:57:34] Have you, did you mod any of your other cars or put decals or anything or were they just your car and you didn't really do anything with them?

[00:57:43] Before Wicca, I had a Jeep Cherokee and it had one of the huge long antennas in the hood. And so I zip tied a mini skeleton to that.

[00:57:59] And so the vibe of the whole like skeleton has been an ongoing thing of mine. But again, with that one, you either loved it or you hated it.

[00:58:14] Yeah. So, I mean, what's nice too about these cars is it's a way for people to express themselves. And like you said, it's kind of sounds like, you know, with you with the way that it matches your personality is like it's very much an extension of you and your personality.

[00:58:31] And I think like for, I mean, like, do you like drawing attention to yourself or are you okay with getting attention? And I only I asked that because you have quite a few tattoos. So it's like, it's not like it's it doesn't get noticed, you know?

[00:58:48] So I grew up in a household that everybody had their own thing going on. And we were all covered in tattoos. I got my first tattoo when I was 14. And I don't even think it was so much like I wanted the tattoo, but it was like I wanted to fit in, if that makes sense.

[00:59:08] Yeah.

[00:59:38] Yeah.

[01:00:09] And I can control like what's going on the car or what's going on my body. And I think that's just kind of like a nice way to look at life, if that makes sense a little bit.

[01:00:23] Yeah, yeah, it does.

[01:00:25] I definitely don't. It's, it sounds goofy, but like in the warmer weather, I almost put on more clothes because I don't want to talk to people about my tattoos.

[01:00:39] Yeah.

[01:00:41] I have them. I enjoy them. But they're for me, but I like I'll have these periods of time where I don't care and not necessarily flaunting off tattoos. But if it's hot outside, I'll wear something less, if that makes sense.

[01:00:59] But I don't know. I think it's more depending on how I feel in that moment. Either I want to show off or I don't. But I don't think there's ever a time where I'm like, pick me, pick me. Does that make sense?

[01:01:13] Yeah, yeah. So the reason I asked that is because like sometimes people are okay with attention personally for themselves, you know, like they don't mind getting kind of seen, you know, and then other people are like just kind of want to cower away and not talk to people and not be around people.

[01:01:32] It seems like whether you're the type of person that you're very outgoing and you're okay with attention or you're very shy and you don't like attention, it seems like all of us want attention with our cars. Like, and we like the attention we get with our cars. It's like, we like people looking at our car when we drive by because like I've had some people look at mine just recently and I'm like, it's okay. You can look, you can look.

[01:01:58] Just enjoy it.

[01:02:28] I agree with that. I haven't really thought of it in that way. But now that you've said it, I'm like, oh, that's exactly what I've done.

[01:02:58] Yeah, I mean, and we just, you know, we have fun with it. And it's just like, it's a different kind of outlet that we can use to not just express ourselves, but just, I don't know, have fun in a new different kind of way, you know, especially with a car that maybe we never did before in our lives.

[01:03:20] And there's some people that are really young and they get started in this community and they have like all these years to look forward to of being in the community, having fun with a car. And then there's a lot of people that are a lot older that don't start this until they're older. And then it's like feeling like a kid again, you know, having fun.

[01:03:42] Yeah, yeah. It's a great way. I think that's, I think with my separating my personal account and my private account, sometimes I'll go on there and find these accounts where you don't know what the driver is, who the driver is, where they even live. But you see this awesome Subaru and you're like, I don't care who drives it. Like I want to be in the passenger seat.

[01:04:08] Yeah, totally. Totally. So how would you say that owning your Subaru and being part of the community has changed your life?

[01:04:16] It's definitely added an additional outlet for me, especially like stress and things of that nature, just because I can get on my phone and check on random people I've never met in my life and just ask them how their day is doing or I like their build or vice versa.

[01:04:39] And it's just brought so much positivity and I wouldn't maybe even safety into like a comfortable situation of enjoying the car community, but also enjoying your life. And so I think those go hand in hand with just, I don't know, being more involved and being more positive on things.

[01:05:04] Yeah. And I mean, so before you had this car, you were doing, you were camping before?

[01:05:10] Yeah, we were just tent camping though. Nothing crazy.

[01:05:14] Yeah. So would you say that your Crosstrek has helped you enjoy the outdoors more?

[01:05:19] Significantly.

[01:05:21] Yeah, it definitely can get you places more. I mean, you had a Jeep before, so you probably had some experience with that, but, you know, it's like, because I had the car that I had before, it's like I would have never been able to take it to places that I've been able to take Pearl. And it's like, it's so fun to be able to just get off the pavement and go to places that you haven't been able to go to before in previous cars.

[01:05:48] Yeah, I completely agree with that. I don't think any of my cars previous to this would have gotten me half of the places that I've gone with Wicca.

[01:05:58] Yeah, it's just, I mean, like my fascination with going off road goes back way, like way back to when I was a kid. And so it's just, it's kind of like fulfilling a lifelong, not, I wouldn't say like dream of like, oh, I want a car that can go off road, but like feeling like that kid again, who was driving my grandpa's lawnmower through the tiny little ditch in his front yard, you know, just because it was fun.

[01:06:26] And I'm going through the grass and there's this little dip that was very subtle, but it was just fun to be doing that and not be on the road.

[01:06:34] Yeah, it gave you a little bit of that adrenaline rush where you don't know if you're gonna make the hole or not or fall off the lawnmower.

[01:06:43] Yeah. So that was fun. But do you think that now having this Subaru, and I know you've only been into it for a year, but do you think that you would probably always own a Subaru?

[01:06:55] Yes, I've already thought into that. When I first got Wicca, I was really kind of searching for a manual, but she just kind of fell into my hands. And honestly, the closest manual Subaru was like five states away and an extra like 10 grand. And I was like, no, not happening.

[01:07:20] And so I do think it's going the opposite direction. But when I do get another car, I'll end up going more towards WRX and having kind of both sides of the Subaru community.

[01:07:36] You said that Wicca just kind of fell into your hands. So you just kind of ended up with that color, I'm guessing. And you talked about the orange before, you talked about the first gen Crosstrek. So were you like actively looking for a Crosstrek? And how did it fall into your hands, if you don't mind me asking?

[01:07:57] No, that's a very relevant question. After my husband died, I was a single mom of two. And I was working when I could. And so my community that I was working with, all my co workers just kind of came in and really helped me whether it was just the support of checking in with me or bringing food for me and my two kids or just being present.

[01:08:27] And so one of my co workers in specific, his name is Steven. He and I have, we're now dating.

[01:08:37] Nice.

[01:08:39] He ended up having a Subaru at the time, which he let me drive. So this is Wicca. He let me drive Wicca because my transmission in my Jeep went out. And then my husband's car was already like on its last leg.

[01:08:59] And so none of them were safe for two kids at this point. And so he let me drive Wicca. And I drove Wicca just trying to save money for a down payment. And on my birthday, he like tricked me into going to the DMV and put Wicca into my name.

[01:09:20] That is very cool. That is super cool.

[01:09:24] So did he just give you the car basically?

[01:09:28] Yes.

[01:09:29] Wow, that is really nice.

[01:09:32] He now has a 2020 Forester. And so I like, tried to kind of match the Forester to his vibe. And he's very geeky and Star Wars loving. And so I ended up putting a Star Wars like wrap on the side of his Forester.

[01:09:58] So we've kind of gone his own personality on his car. And that's pretty cool.

[01:10:05] That's nice. So what was that day like for you when he tricked you into going to the DMV? And I mean, just having somebody give you a car.

[01:10:16] Unbelievable. I put up a fight because I didn't want it to happen as much as I was like, completely flabbergasted and blown away by his generosity. I was, I've always been in the situations where it's okay, what do you want from me type thing.

[01:10:38] And it was that it was just, I want you and your kids to be safe. And I was like, okay, if you want to do this, let's do some sort of payment plan or something. And he jokingly was like, okay, let's do a payment plan. And I was like, okay, set up the numbers. Whatever you want, we'll do it. And he said, a dollar.

[01:11:08] There's your payment plan.

[01:11:10] Yep. So that's kind of how I fell into Wicca. And this was when we were just friends at the time. And so now we're dating. And it's been life has been so much more beautiful and positive with them both in my life.

[01:11:30] Yeah. And I, didn't you not too long ago, like release some, like a little, what were the, what are those things called? You like released them into the air?

[01:11:43] Yes.

[01:11:44] Can you kind of, I mean, I know it's not super related, but it's, it's life and your story and your journey related. And I thought that was really cool.

[01:11:53] Yeah. So my high school sweetheart and I were together for nine years and he's a dad to both my kids and he was in a fatal motorcycle accident in 2022. And I was pregnant with our son at the time.

[01:12:16] And so every year on his death date, we released little lanterns for him and we're not really, at least I'm not religious, but his family is religious. So it's a way for all of us to kind of come together and appreciate one another and understand each other and be able to write little messages on these lanterns that may or may not get to him.

[01:12:43] But it's, it might be more selfish for us because he's not here, but I think it's a way for the family and friends for him to be able to just, I don't know, appreciate him on the day that he died. If that makes sense.

[01:12:59] Yeah. And your current boyfriend though, he was there too, right?

[01:13:03] Yep. He was there. So we worked together and so that's how we kind of met. So they knew each other to the extent of if he, if my late husband would come and see me at work and things like that, but we didn't know each other. We didn't care for one another outside of work, if that makes sense.

[01:13:25] Yeah, no, that makes, yeah, yeah.

[01:13:26] But then like after Nick died, it was, I was 25 weeks pregnant with my son Henry. And so then my pharmacy, because I work at Walgreens in the pharmacy just kind of came together and supported me in any way that they could. And so when people, grief is different for everybody.

[01:13:52] And so as time went on, not that I needed people to care, but people started caring less. And I think that in some situations people need you to care more. And Steven, who I'm dating now stayed for all of it.

[01:14:14] And so one thing led to another and we would go on hikes together and both of my kids fell in love with him, which it wasn't as difficult for me to introduce him because they've already met him.

[01:14:29] If that makes sense.

[01:14:30] Yeah.

[01:14:31] And so it started off hiking and then hope my daughter wanted him to have sleepover. And now I can't get him to leave.

[01:14:43] No, that's good. And I think that's nice that he was there in support of, you know, releasing the lanterns. Because I've seen that in other situations where somebody had somebody pass away and the new person in their life was very supportive of when something came about and they were doing something to honor, you know, the person that they did have in their life.

[01:15:05] And I think that's really nice. And I think that makes you, I think that makes you feel good. And to know that he's there to support that and, and the fact that your kids love him, that's great.

[01:15:16] I definitely think it strengthens the whole relationship. We've kind of stepped into like this family of four now, and he'll never take the place of being my kid's dad, but he is taking the place of what he can and what the kids allow him to be.

[01:15:36] Yeah.

[01:15:37] And he has these open conversations with my daughter all the time about Nick and where some people would immediately shut things down. He is open and completely.

[01:15:51] It just makes me blown away and the abundance of respect that I have for him because he wants to have these conversations that puts him in such an awkward position, but allows my children to be able to express and talk willingly is incredible.

[01:16:09] Yeah, yeah. That's huge. That's really huge. We've kind of gotten to know you a little bit more, but this is where we get into the segment where we, you know, I asked like actual personal questions, but who is Rue?

[01:16:21] Rue. So that's my nickname. I have been called Rue by my friends and family since I was too young to remember. I guess when I was younger, I was fascinated with Mulan and the little dragon off Mulan is Mushamu.

[01:16:40] And so it eventually changed into Mu and then my real name starts with an R. So then it changed into Rue and then it's gone from there. So my peers will call me Rue or friends or family. There's a select few that know me as Regan and I'll accept either or. I just may not respond as quickly to Regan.

[01:17:06] Usually people only use that my real name whenever I'm in trouble. So it's like, oh, do I want to respond?

[01:17:15] Well, you know what's really cool is Rue is also short for Subaru and you now own a Subaru. So it was almost like a foretelling of what would come in the future in a way.

[01:17:27] Yes, I completely agree with that. One of the first communities that I outreach to was Mountain Rue and I think that was specifically just because Rue.

[01:17:39] Yeah. I have to reach out to them. Come on.

[01:17:42] Yeah, exactly. Like give me I need the bumper sticker. I need it.

[01:17:47] Yeah. Well, besides like your Subaru in the community and like getting out camping, what are like what are some of the other things that you're most passionate about?

[01:17:57] Definitely my children. I feel like most of my life is things that they like to do. So whether that's my daughters and dance or my son is really into anything that's dangerous and could send him to the hospital.

[01:18:15] You should go have him hang out with Travis Pastrana then.

[01:18:19] Yeah, no kidding. I feel like we have a punch to the local ER, honestly. But we I enjoy a lot of things from art to books to music. I think music was really helpful in my grief process.

[01:18:41] So I feel like my music tastes changed from like a heavy, completely different from what I grew up listening to. And I don't know, I feel like music's a huge thing for not only me, but my family as well.

[01:18:56] And then I work a lot and I'm in nursing school. So as of right now, I'm either studying, taking care of kiddos or I'm trying to do something with WICA.

[01:19:13] Yeah, it's a lot going on. So where were you born?

[01:19:18] I was born in Saginaw, Michigan.

[01:19:21] OK, how long did you live there?

[01:19:23] I lived there for about three years. So usually I tell people that I'm from Asheville, North Carolina, because I've been here for the longest portion of my life.

[01:19:36] Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, I've been to Charlotte. Charlotte's beautiful. And I've been to, I think Chapel Hill. I think that's about it. But North Carolina is nice. I like it.

[01:19:49] Yeah, you kind of have the best of both worlds with the beach, but also the mountains.

[01:19:54] Yeah. What is a favorite memory from your childhood?

[01:19:58] Oh, I had a rough childhood.

[01:20:02] When I was growing up, me and my sister would go to a gymnastics night and they would play really loud music while you just got to jump in crazy foam pits and just do full gymnastic parkour.

[01:20:19] Nobody was really watching you, completely sweaty. You didn't have a care in the world because you're like 10 years old and you don't have these opinions of people judging you. At least back then you didn't.

[01:20:32] Yeah, those are always fun. I know we took my kids to gymnastics night a couple of times. And then we have some places here where you can just go and jump and do that kind of stuff. That's always fun.

[01:20:44] So you already said what you do for a living, but you're going through nursing school. So is nursing like a dream job for you? And that's why you're pursuing it?

[01:20:55] Yes. Nursing has been my dream job for quite a long time. And I don't want to say setting kids held it back because by all means, it just prospered me wanting to do it. But long-term, I want to be in pediatrics or if I had the opportunity to be in expedition, I think that would be really cool.

[01:21:21] Expedition nursing is pretty much being the only nurse with a doctor, hiking Mount Everest and things like that. I wouldn't say I'm going to hike Mount Everest, but like Hafto in California and things like that, you'd be the person to provide first aid to whomever needed it during their trip to and from. I think that'd be really cool.

[01:21:47] Yeah, that does sound fun. What other hobbies do you have besides getting out and driving your Subaru? Or do you have time for hobbies right now?

[01:21:59] Hobbies are few and far between with studying and kiddos. I do like to paint. I've painted my wall behind me.

[01:22:09] I noticed that. That looks so cool. It's like a mountainscape.

[01:22:14] Yeah, so I like to paint a lot and I have a pretty huge Lego collection, which is as embarrassing as it is awesome. I guess that's really cool.

[01:22:26] Legos are always cool.

[01:22:28] Yeah, they're very therapeutic. But also just like the Crosstrek, they are very expensive.

[01:22:36] Yeah. What is something that makes you want to get out of bed every day?

[01:22:40] Definitely my kids, 100%. Even if I didn't want to get out of bed, guess what? I got a kid in my face.

[01:22:48] Yeah. What is something that makes you want to stay in bed?

[01:22:51] Just like being exhausted all the time.

[01:22:54] Yeah, I get that. Yep. What would be your best bit of advice to give to someone about anything?

[01:23:01] Yeah, so definitely when it comes to advice, I have kind of came to this look on life where in life and in death you don't decide.

[01:23:15] And maybe that could be more so accompanied by my grief side of things. But you just don't get to decide on anything.

[01:23:24] You don't get to decide when you go out. Maybe you do, but it's important to enjoy the little things and enjoy the big things and be uncomfortable and just try everything and all the aspects of that life can give to you.

[01:23:45] I don't know. I think it's important to just kind of take a step back and look at your whole, everything before fully, I don't know.

[01:23:58] I think it's, yeah, I understand what you're saying.

[01:24:02] Yes. I just think it's super big to just enjoy everything and all the little things and I don't know, kind of just full send it if that makes sense.

[01:24:11] Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. Full send it unless you have to drive it home. A long way.

[01:24:18] Yeah, exactly.

[01:24:21] Yeah. Well, is there anything that you wanted to share about Wicca or about yourself that I didn't ask or that we didn't talk about?

[01:24:29] Yeah, so definitely exciting things coming soon. I'm going to Boxer Fest and that was kind of just a whim decision considering where I'm at. It's either I can drive the eight hours to Florida into there or I don't know what goes on down there. I think it's Subi Fest or something like that.

[01:24:50] Yeah, it's Subi Fest, Florida.

[01:24:52] Or I could have done Boxer Fest in Pennsylvania. And so I had been seeing online this reading temple that is like a poster for car photography. And I'm like, okay, well, I'll enter into the show.

[01:25:11] And I didn't know my nursing schedule at the time. And so I was just finger crossing it that it wasn't going to mess up with anything. And I'm going to have a rough day on Monday coming back, but it's going to be worth it.

[01:25:25] Yeah, definitely.

[01:25:27] So yeah, Boxer Fest is super exciting. I got accepted into the show recently, about four or five days ago. I just got my first sponsorship by Rigid Armor.

[01:25:42] Very nice. Congrats.

[01:25:44] Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. I bought the swing and everything and they got some extra goodies in there for me. I'm hoping, fingers crossed, that that gets in before Boxer Fest happens. And I'll get the swing installed and whatever other goodies or whatnot. And then I got engaged!

[01:26:06] Yes, I did see that. I saw that on Instagram. Congratulations. That's so cool.

[01:26:11] Yeah, so I got that. That happened within a week.

[01:26:16] Yeah, that's awesome.

[01:26:18] Yeah, thank you.

[01:26:20] You're welcome.

[01:26:21] I also have All Wheel Drive Fest coming up, which is specific to North Carolina. I think it's in Uruari, I believe is the name of it. But that's like a three hour drive for me and that's in November.

[01:26:37] And I'm pretty excited about that. I get to meet up with some other people that I've been talking to. I don't know, I feel like I've had and created this huge relationship with complete strangers that I don't even know half of what their faces look like because it's just their cars.

[01:26:55] And so I think it's going to be really amazing just to put a face to a car or a voice to a car instead of just their car, which will be super cool. And I'm very excited for that.

[01:27:07] Yeah, because SoftRoadNation had their one year anniversary out in San Diego and I went out there and I met a bunch of people that I had connected with on Instagram.

[01:27:17] But I would see all these people walking around and I'm like, I don't know who they are. Like, I don't know what their account is because there's people that don't post pictures of themselves on their account sometimes.

[01:27:28] So the people that I did know, I was like, okay, who is that? What's their account? Who's that person? And what's their account? You know, because I had to try to and then trying to keep all of that straight, you know, meeting a bunch of new people for the first time. That's really tough, but it's fun. It's so fun when you get a chance to finally meet people.

[01:27:47] I completely agree with that. I think it would be helpful like first time meets maybe put in their Instagram handle or shirt or something.

[01:27:57] Like, hi, my name is...

[01:27:59] This is my name. This is my account.

[01:28:02] Exactly. This is what I drive specifically. Just put a picture of it on your collar.

[01:28:07] With actually Boxer Fest as well, I got a special limited edition sticker of Wicca that I'll be handing out and that'll just be for Boxer Fest.

[01:28:19] Oh, that's cool.

[01:28:21] Yeah, I'm pretty excited about that. I get all my stickers through Ride or Die.

[01:28:26] Oh, yeah.

[01:28:28] Yep. Super great. Love her and I love her little Gio too. So I have about like a hundred stickers, which I assume will probably go pretty quick. So whoever finds me first, I'll have my pockets full.

[01:28:43] Yeah, and that's really cool. I mean, it's nice to be able to get accepted and go through that process and then be able to show it off and just kind of have fun.

[01:28:57] Boxer Fest is really cool. I like the way it's set up because I went there in 2021 and it's a really good venue. And there's obviously a lot of really nice Subarus out there. And I know you'll have a good time.

[01:29:10] Thank you so much for taking the time to record on a Sunday and, you know, taking time out of your day because I know you're busy and you have a lot going on. But so I really appreciate you doing that.

[01:29:21] I appreciate you asking me to be on your show. It's an honor and I'm so excited to see where your show goes and how it grows. And I'm excited for you.

[01:29:32] Thank you. Thank you. I hope you have a good evening and enjoy the rest of your day.

[01:29:37] I appreciate you. Thank you.

[01:29:38] You're welcome. Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Subie and you podcast. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Rue. And Rue, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to record with me and share your story and share your journey.

[01:29:55] Just wanted to drop a quick reminder that next Sunday is Boxer Fest. So if you haven't gotten your tickets, get your tickets. And if you have never attended but you are able to, if you're close enough to go to Boxer Fest, I highly recommend checking it out.

[01:30:09] It's a really great event. And I know that you will enjoy it if you decide to go. So thank you all so much for tuning in to another episode. Hope you all have a great week. Hope you get to hit some trails or just enjoy time with your Subie fam. Much Subie love.

[01:30:28] The Subie and you podcast is hosted by Raphael in a closet in Houston, produced by Raphael in a room next to the closet in Houston and edited by Raphael on a computer in the room next to the closet in Houston with music by Luke Ruiz in another room in Houston.

[01:30:45] You can find the Subie and you podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, including Apple podcast, Spotify, and many more. To support the podcast, please head over to patreon.com slash Subie and you podcast. Once you join, you will have access to the discord channel and discord chats with other patrons.

[01:31:01] If you'd like to get in contact with the show, you can find them on Instagram at Subie and you podcast online at Subie and you podcast.com or by email Subie and you podcast at gmail.com. That's all for this week.