Enjoy the Journey

For those waiting for the arrival of their anxiously awaited 2010 Prius...don't forget to STOP, and enjoy the journey as it has unfolded.
For many, it began as rumbblings and rumors in 2007 about the possibility of an upcoming new generation of Prius, possibly a Plug-In, maybe even with Lithium Ion batteries. There was much conjecture on fuel economy and how far it could go on battery ONLY.
Then, in 2008, spy photos began to emerge and there was rumored to be coming, Vans, 2-Door models and an assundry of vehicles bearing the Prius moniker.
Late in 2008 the actual pictures and some of the correct facts of the Prius were confirmed.
In January of 2009 the North American International Auto Show in Detroit was the next big event for us, and we were all excited to see in the flesh for the first time the NEW 2010 Prius, and leaving probably more questions than answers!
We were then all waiting for the actual vehicle model configurations and packages.
Many of these details began to slowly trickle out, most of us thought the packages were to be the Silver, Gold and Platinum packages (NOT knowing these were the designations for the Prius Prefferrential units.
The next stop along the path, For those fortunate to receive an invitation, was the Toyota Ride & Drive events, we again anticipated hearing about the results of their hands on experience with the new vehicle, and hoping there would be answers to the many questions that had been requested of them.
Next came the wait for the magazine opinions, and the hold that was placed on them. We tried (without success) to beg/borrow/cajole any tidbit of information from any of the PC members, but alas, they would NOT relent..
Once the magazine critics had been peruzed, discussed and mulled over and over, by all of us, we next prepared ourselves for PRICING!
We made games and had poles on what the pricing structure would look like and who could get the closest to the correct price for a given model.
After pricing was announced, we moved steadily on to our next anticipated milestone, which happened to be...Release Date.
Through this whole process Doug Coleman was kind enough to keep the PC members informed on Toyota's stratagy and proceedures, and Dealers like Jeff (Jabber) with Pauley Toyota, imparted much valuable information like shippments and allocations, along with information from Dealer Daily, NOT to mention information on how the Dealer process works (things like Hold Back, WFC, TDA, etc.).
Now that we had the facts straight, we'd seen the car at the Auto Show, we knew the various models and packages, some of the lucky ones had driven the car, the magazines had written about them, we knew the Prices and we had a good idea when they'd be hear...all that was left was to actually get to purchase them, and NOW even that is coming to fruition!
I think those of us who've been waiting for a 2010 model, we should all take a moment, step back and take time to really contemplate this amazing journey we've all been taking.
Though we're all anxious to receive our coveted autos, this trip, this journey, it's truley been the best part of the journey!

David (aka Blind Guy)