Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A man and his truck: A love story that will surely stand the test of time.
At least until this particular man gets too tall.
A Washington photographer is melting hearts with a series of photos of her 2-year-old son — Miles — driving his beloved Little Tikes Cozy Truck around town. Miles’s mom, Alaina Carr, bought him the truck for Christmas back in 2014.
“He is constantly on the go, so his truck fit his little personality perfectly,” Carr told KSL. “Just in the past few months was able to touch the ground and figured out how to make it go.”
Carr first got the idea for the series — which she’s entitled, “The Adventures of Miles” — when she noticed her boy pretending to order food at a drive up window.
“He would lean out the window and yell, ‘Fries! Nuggets! Uh, fries! And toys! Thank you,’” Carr said. “Then he’d pull forward to collect his food. I thought it would be hilarious to take him to an actual drive-thru to get some food, and that’s how the idea was born.”
She posted the photo of Miles “driving” through a local fast food restaurant on her Facebook page, and got such a positive response that she decided to continue the series. Since his first trip to the drive-thru, Miles’ adventures have taken him to the mechanic for a tune up, the gas station for a fill, the car wash for a nice cleanse, the prom, the bank to deposit the contents of his piggy, and the mountains for some off roading.
Miles and his truck have managed to stir up a little trouble too — he’s been pulled over for speeding by a local policeman, chased by the paparazzi, learned the anguish of hitting a deer (stuffed, for all you animal lovers out there) and suffered through a tow when his truck “broke down.”
Since one can never predict when inspiration will hit, Miles’s truck comes with the family wherever they go.
“It stays in the back of my car now so if we go somewhere and an opportunity arises, we have it on hand,” Carr said. “When we go somewhere, he’s asking if we are driving the truck.”
While the photos are whimsical and hilarious, they actually take quite a bit of planning. Carr told KSL she has to schedule the shoots with local businesses at times when they won’t disturb other customers. And there’s certainly not enough trunk space in Miles’s truck to cart around all the equipment they need.
“We have to make sure we have all the props and make sure his clothing matches the story we’re trying to tell,” she said.
Despite the fact that Miles loves driving his truck, posing for a photo isn’t always an easy thing when you’re 2.
“His older sister Rory stands by with a bag of gummy bears as his reward for doing the photos,” Carr said.
Carr says she’s been pleasantly surprised by how eager and willing her community has been to help with her project. An accidental idea will now be a family treasure forever, and it’s pretty great that Carr allows the rest of us to come along for the ride too.
“I did it so he would have these memories when he’s older,” Carr said. “When it took off and became so popular, that was just an added bonus.”
