Upgrayedd

Upgrayedd with two D's for a double dose of car rental fun.

Budget Car Rental is my choice in Las Vegas. Two hour waits because they run out of cars doesn't discourage a true CB (there was a soccer tournament in town that weekend). We arrive at the McCarren Airport car rental center (which is about the the size of the Charlotte Airport). The rental center is just a seven minute shuttle bus ride from the airport. In the new rental center every agency has its own large office. Now the Budget center is about the size of a bank. The counter is fifty feet long and has ten or so customer windows. The problem is they only have two agents to serve the twenty people waiting in the rope line. The old airport kiosk had three agents. It takes about 10 minutes for the agent to process one customer (15 minutes for the chatty agent). We finally get to the counter and I'm praying that the Griswolds have returned the Family Truckster . Luckily I get the no-nonsense competent agent instead of "Chatty Cathy". But, there is a problem, they have run out of full size sedans. I'm willing to take the smaller Ford Fusion (last time they offered me a F-350 Crew Cab diesel pick-up) but instead she offers me a free upgrade to a Lincoln Town Car. How sweet, I get a senior citizen babe-magnet to drive for three days.

I find the silver beauty pictured above waiting for me in the luxury section across from the Kia Rio's. I have to get used to the programmable seat that retracts two feet when the key is removed, but the rest of the car seems to be the usual "fake-fancy" American bland. Without the use of a tugboat I launch this boat out into the streets of Vegas. Except for the ten foot long hood the car is pretty ho-hum. It did cruise well at 78 mph and got about 26 mpg but otherwise I can't imagine paying 48 K for this (more than the cost of two Honda Elements). I guess I am a senior citizen because I didn't turn any heads driving this "Sun City" edition Lincoln. I must be a senior citizen because for the fifth year in a row I missed the exit for the rental car return.