On Saturday we took the big leap (okay, mediumish leap) and bought SK a new ATV. His had been giving us mechanical issues (including sporadic and frequent loss of brakes) for a while and when we head out to do 30-40 miles in the woods, we want to know we won’t be leaving the little one for dead. (Just kidding. We always tow him out.)

He’d been riding a 2005 Polaris Sportsman 90. Here’s what it looked like new:

And here’s what it looked like after TK learned to ride on it and rode it until he outgrew it and then SK learned to ride on it:

Now that he’s got the basics down and hopefully won’t be crashing into trees or the back of his dad’s King Quad anymore, we bought him a 2010 Polaris Outlaw 90. Shiny!

And not so shiny after his first 17-mile ride:

Unfortunately, on Sunday, his dad took him out for a quick ride before we had to head for home and the Outlaw came out of the woods on the tow strap. I drove down to the trailhead with the truck and we loaded it up. Probably something got in the fuel system during assembly and they’ll get it all fixed up (under warranty, of course). He’s not too bummed, though, because he got about 25 miles, he knows it’ll be fixed, and he took a picture to school today to show his buddies.

I ended the weekend just five miles shy of hitting two thousand miles on my Rincon, but I was beat. Next time.