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Daddy Driver: Lost in Austin with DadLabs' Clay Nichols

February 13, 2008

Name:  Clay Nichols

Where I live:  Austin, Texas

Our Family Car:  2003 Mazda MPV

Number of Kids:  3

Ages:  9, 6, 3

Clay Nichols & Family
Macho, Ranch-Road Mud Accents Optional

Website:
www.dadlabs.com

Thing I love most about my car:
Almost paid for, yet only 30K miles.

Thing I hate most about my car:
l the rubber-neckers and paparazzi

Nicknames we call the car:
Love Machine of Volcanic Hotness, the van

I don't leave home without:
Huge tub of premoistened Costco wipes

Longest road trip with kids:
5 hrs down to Port Aransas on the Texas Gulf Coast.  The kids freaked a bit on the short ferry ride to the island, but porpoises showed up and saved the day.

Favorite driving music when alone:
Son Volt, Wilco, Kathleen Edwards, Amos Lee, Ryan Adams

Favorite driving music with kids in the car:
Jack Johnson, Calexico, Shaggy, Van Morrison

Worst car moment:
I have a terrible sense of direction.  I have lived in Austin for over 15 years and still can't make it to the gas station without getting lost.  Not such a big deal until I had kids.  My Oldest, who is very much an oldest child, hates to be late. So for five years, starting when the kid is about four, whether we're going to the grocery store or the wilds of downtown, every time the kids gets buckled in, my son would always ask "do you know where you're going?"  To have your competency called into question every time you settle behind the wheel can be tough on a guy's ego.  So I bought a Garmin.

Last car before kids:
1996 VW Passat GTX Station wagon - so I was pretty domesticated even before kids.

Weirdest item in the family car right now:
My wife's purse.  She leaves it there 24/7.  Who the hell leaves their most valuable possessions in the car all the time?  And she never locks the car.  I'm announcing this hoping one of you will take the opportunity to teach my wife a lesson and make a few bucks in the process.

Drive thru dining?  Where?
No way.  I'm one of those people.  Car...must...be...spotless.

My next car will really be a:
Volvo C30 in a crazy two-tone color

When successfully finding his way around Austin, Clay Nichols shows up as Creative Director of Dadlabs, a site that helps today's dads "tackle the issues of today: from breast feeding in public to head lice to poop in the tub."

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