SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) - Cleanup continues after strong winds and rain blew into San Diego. As a result of the storm, many trees toppled over, including several at Balboa Park that crashed onto cars. One of the victims of that recent storm was Ashira Apple. That's not a person, it's a Toyota Camry with a personality and an owner to match.
“I commuted to school each way so slept in it between classes, taught my siblings to drive in this car. Did a million road trips, moved to three states in this car and sang loudly and off-key in this car,” said the car’s owner Hannah Tunnell.
That car and Tunnell have gone everywhere together. Her name Hebrew for "I will sing"
“Because I knew that’s what I was doing every second I was in her,” explained tunnel. “She used to be a shiny red and I always had an apple scent in the car.”
Last summer Tunnell's work with zoos brought Ashira Apple to Colorado where a massive hail storm rolled through.
“Baseball size hail in the middle of the night which wrecked the windshield,” said Tunnell.
But Mother Nature wasn't done yet. A second storm hit days later.
“That one destroyed both windshield and left hail dents all over the car, but car was still drivable so I drove it back home,” said Tunnell.
That's right, back to San Diego where Saturday, February 2 Mother Nature hit again.
“Around 5:45 we came out and just saw a crane and saw the tree, but I kept thinking that’s not my car,” added Tunnell.
But it was wrecking Tunnell's Saturday night, because she told News 8 that is was the night of a first date.
She decided to leave Ashira at Balboa Park and returned Sunday to meet a tow truck.
“It’s been a very good car, but I don’t think we're driving this one off.”
Yet Ashira started right up - enough to drive on a flatbed for perhaps her final farewell.
“Not a single thing happened to it that I had any control over. It’s actually a faithful car and I’m going to miss it a lot more than you should a car,” said Tunnell.