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I'm almost ashamed to share this information because I'm generally a very frugal person. I try to bargain shop whenever possible. I generally do not pay more than $20 for any one article of clothing and $10 and under is preferable. I make exceptions with a good pair of jeans and shoes. When a pair of jeans fits my new mommy figure then I don't look at the price tag. I just blindly approach the counter and hand them my credit card (Shhh! don't tell my hubby!). And well, shoes, especially running shoes, are an investment as far as I'm concerned. I've been running long distances (3 or more miles) since my college years. And a good pair of running shoes makes all the difference (right now I'm lovin' my Asics Kayano).

I recently discovered this same price=quality phenomenon with double strollers. I spent no less than 100 hours online researching double strollers. Ask my hubby. He will verify this fact. With the addition of our son, I would now need a double stroller -- one that could tackle our indoor and outdoor adventures. I researched every double stroller's size, weight, folded dimensions, open dimensions, accessories, car-seat compatibility, cup holders, storage baskets, parent consoles, wheel size, ease of use folding and pushing indoors and outdoors, available upgrades, etc. I built several Excel spreadsheets to hold all this data so I could see each stroller side-by-side. I visited all baby supply stores in my town including Wal-mart and Target. I test drove no less than 10 double strollers. I finally decided to order a Schwinn double jogging stroller with a swivel front wheel. It seemed to have all the features that I wanted for a fair price. We took the Schwinn on a mini-vacation to a nearby town and soon discovered that this was not the double stroller for us due to its wide dimensions and because it was not car seat compatible. So as soon as we got back into town I returned it and resumed my research. 

Alas! I happened upon one of the greatest double strollers known to man. And it should be because I paid about $650 for this fine piece of machinery. It's called the Valco Runabout TriMode Twin made in Australia. One look at this machine and you know the Valco company meant business when they built this stroller. It rolls like a dream, maneuvers with one hand, and has the coolest looking rims of all strollers (very important feature, of course!). I'm embarrased by the fact that I would pay this amount of money for a stroller since there are plenty of strollers on the market for $200 or less. But I have found that once again paying more for a product can make all the difference. I have found the perfect stroller that will glide easily through the shopping mall while I'm eating a gooey chocolate chip cookie from the Cookie Company and one that will also bump and jump over rocks, grass, tree roots, and curbs without giving my kids motion sickness. If you are in the market for a nice double stroller, I can recommend the Schwinn. But if you are in the market for the finest machine on earth, I'll have to insist on the Valco.