The descent from Washington to California is rife with hills, peaks, and valleys, resulting in often-laborious climbs for my luggage-laden Dodge Stratus.

“You can do it, put your BACK into it,” I rap to my car playfully, meaning it as helpful encouragement. My car says nothing in response, and I immediately feel self-conscious and more than slightly embarrassed. Does my car think I’m a huge nerd???

No. Of course not. Actually, I don’t know. Maybe he does. Regardless, my car’s the strong, silent type, needing as little distraction as possible so that he can focus on the task at hand. He hums quietly under his breath, scaling mountains at my request, struggling to accelerate on demand. I give him a loving pat on the dashboard and thank him for taking such good care of me. I feel like Atreyu in The Neverending Story, on a journey of love and integrity, ambition and bravery. My car is Falcor, aka the Luck Dragon. He is my protective guide and servant, a beast of honor and strength. He is my friend.

We pass many other cars on the I-5 South.

Like people, they come in all shapes and sizes, colors and ethnicities. The classic Chevy models from the fifties, sixties, and seventies always make my heart skip a beat. I reach for my Blackberry and take pictures through the window as we’re going eighty miles per hour, which is probably about as safe as it sounds.

I tell my car not to be jealous, that they’re only eye candy, nothing more. “I’m allowed to look, aren’t I?!” I reassure him that not even the flashiest Chevy Nova in Vintage Green could take his place, that I’ll love him forever. He seems sufficiently pacified.

I think back to when we first met. I was with my dad at a Toyota dealership, and in the odd company of an array of Tacomas and Corollas, Priuses and Tundras, my lone Dodge Stratus stuck out like a sore thumb. Gray and unassuming, he was the dark horse in a pasture of white ponies. Although I’d had my heart set on a pick-up truck, his smooth, effortless confidence won me over. I know it sounds cheesy, but he had me at “test drive.” I later found out from a Carfax report that he was originally an Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which made me wonder just how many people he’d been with before me, if he’d always practiced safe emission, and so on. No matter. I’m glad he had lots of previous partners, as he’ll never have to wonder what he may have missed out on by settling down in favor of a long-term relationship. With all of the journeys and adventures I take him on, he knows – he HAS to know – that with me, monogamy will never mean monotony.

[Read Part 1: Road Revelations: So Long, Seattle and Part 2: Road Revelations: Pit Stop Etiquette]

• Personal