4/18/11

Weekend Adventures

Oh boy, it seems like it has literally been forever since I've posted!! This have just been hectic here so I'm so glad to have a back to normal-ish week.  This weekend will be super busy again however.  My entire family is coming up here to have Easter on Saturday.  I can only imagine how it'll go.  We have 19 just in our immediate family.  We haven't all celebrated Easter together in quite some time but I've always had a lot of fun on Easter.  We always have an Easter egg hunt, lots, and lots of food, bubbles, tons of outdoor activities, and we always fly kites!  My mom also always tells the Easter story.  Wonderful times.  Anyway, this post is about this past weekend!!

Saturday Rob and I got up after a measly 2 1/2 hours sleep to get ready put the dogs in their room, pack up what we needed and waited for my mom and dad to get here.  They have a van and were driving us down so we could get the car, and then Rob and I would drive the car back and mom and dad would follow us.  The car is Robs moms car, she is currently in Kansas City with us but had to leave her car in Joplin.  She is currently unable to drive so she said Rob and I could have her car because ours is 1) super tiny, and 2) our transmission has been slipping.  This car has been sitting un-driven or untouched for about 2 and a half years, and although it's not super old, we knew we could have problems.  It also still had 2009 tags.  My mom and dad had suggested making a bill of sale just so if we got pulled over we could show we had just bought the car and were taking it to Kansas City to get it titled and licensed.  The trip to Joplin was pretty good.  Had a few stops for snacks, made fun of each other, good times all around.  When we finally got to our destination, is where it just seemed like our luck had caught up with us!  There was a huge crack in the windshield, the tires were flat, it was covered with leaves and debris.  We were prepared for the tires but not for the windshield.  Then we lifted the hood and as with most cars the battery was corroded and completely dead.  Thankfully we were prepared for that too.  We knew we'd have to go buy a battery.  Everything else was looking pretty good.  Rob went to work getting the battery out but because of the corrosion had to really use some force.  One side he got undone pretty quickly, the other side he ended up breaking the bolt.  Not a huge deal thank goodness.  Robs mom was very unorganized when she left for Joplin in the first place, and all of her bills, and paperwork were in trash bags in the truck.  Stuff was everywhere.  Rob was pretty sure the title was in the car, but I had looked everywhere and couldn't find it.  I was kinda freaking out because I knew we needed a title!!  I gave up however, and we got the battery and headed out to the Wal*Mart to get a battery and some baking soda to get the corrosion off the battery connectors.  When we first got in Wal*Mart and showed the guys the battery they didn't think they were going to have it in stock, and they didn't.  However, they were able to cross reference it and got a battery that would work it was just about a 1/2 inch shorter on each side.  They rang it up and of course, Rob forgot his wallet in the car and had to go out and get it.  We finally paid, then went shopping for baking soda and my mom being the quilter she is had to check out the fabric department.  We finally left there and went back to the car.  Rob had brought an air tank and filled the car tires full enough they would get us to a gas tank to fill completely.  We put the battery in, and then the moment of truth!  We turned the key to see if it would start.  And it didn't.  It just clicked.  Of course I was thinking we were doomed.  Thankfully the battery just wasn't getting a good connection because of the bolt Rob broke.  And of   course we forgot to pick one up at Wal*Mart.  Vice grips saved the day!  We clamped the vice grips on the battery, turned the key and she started right up!  Then Rob had to undo the vice grips and we headed to the gas station to fill our tires.  Along the way we noticed the car had quite a shake to it.  We were hoping and assuming it was a tire and thankfully we were right.  One of the back tires was wore unevenly and had a huge bubble in it.  We opted not to buy a tire and hope/pray we'd get back to Kansas City.  We also had to gas it up as it had been sitting for so long and only had old gas in it's tank.  While Rob filled the tank I washed the windows and checked to see if I could find the title.  I did!! I was so relieved.  I put it and the bill of sale we had made in the glove box.  We had to wait for someone to get done filling their tires, then pulled up to fill ours.  Rob grabbed the hose, pressed the button and started to fill, but then the machine stopped working!!!!  All I could think was this could only happen to us.  We tried to see if it would work to no avvail.  So we then had to go to the next station, and pay a dollar...A DOLLAR for air.  We got everything filled up, and met up with my mom and dad who were at a flea market.  The flea market was really cool.  I'd never been to one before. I quickly discovered I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE not just vintage books, but vintage/antique kitchen appliances and plates, cups, spoons, etc.  I didn't buy a thing but I do want to go to some in our area!  Rob was amazed that they even had vintage/antique tools.  He was in heaven.  He even found a mini clamp to use on the battery in the car so we wouldn't have to get the vice grips and do it manually every time.  By this time it was late afternoon.  We decided to forgoe eating lunch earlier in the day and saw a billboard for Lucky J Steakhouse and Arena.  Talk about adventures!!  We walked into the main eating area and they had a bar with chairs, a walkway, a row of windows and it looked out into an arena filled with horses!  We had dinner and a show.  I also ate fried pickles for the first time ever.  I rather enjoyed them!!  We left there and headed out on the open road...finally!  We drove for about 50 or so miles with little to no problems.  The car had started to kinda stall out a little, but we had assumed maybe it was the old gas.  We stopped not too much after that because my mom and dad were tired and wanted to stop and get some coffee.  We stopped for about 20 minutes or so.  They napped a bit and got coffee and then off we went again.  This time we only got a bit farther.  I think total we had drove 62 or so miles.  The car refused to accelerate.  We had to pull off on the side of the highway to see what was going on.  It was dusk, and Rob had gotten out to see what was wrong under the hood while I sat in the car and waited.  Mom and dad had stopped behind us.  It was then that I looked in the mirror and saw a cop!  I was just awestruck that we hadn't even got pulled over but we were still having an encounter with an officer.  And we were sitting in a car with expired tags, and we only had a flimsy hand done bill of sale.  The officer walked up and Rob talked to him and me.  Rob explained what was going on, and showed him the bill of sale.  The officer said that in all honesty the bill of sale wouldn't help out at all, but he wanted to see the title.  ((THE TITLE WE ALMOST DIDN'T HAVE!)) and looked it over.  He asked why we hadn't signed it and we said it was because his mom sold us the car but the title was down here in the car.  He said while he was there with us we needed to sign it because if a state trooper stopped us we would get in trouble.  So we did as he said and signed it.  He gave us the go ahead to leave the car on the side of the road while we got it fixed and ready to go.  Right before the cop had talked to us Robby had checked the one thing he didn't check before leaving Joplin.  The transmission fluid.  He said it was low and so off we went with my mom and dad to buy some.  It was 8:30 or so by this time, and everything was closed.  Rob finally found some, and we went back to the car and filled it up.  It was low an entire quart!  We got everything fixed up and off we went!! But for only a few miles.  We were still having the same issue.  The car didn't want to accelerate.  We pulled off again and he decided that maybe it was because of the battery.  Most cars don't need a battery to run after they've started because of the accelerator.  Rob was skeptical but I said he should just do it because it was better than the alternatives.  He put the vice grips on at an angle as tight as he could and shut the hood.  And she purred like a kitten the rest of the night!!  Not one more problem.  It was a little scary thinking a pair of vice grips was keeping us going, but I wasn't going to complain.  We made it back home at about 11:30 or so.  Needless to say I thought we were going to get home at about 6 or so!!  It was a very good trip altogether, but a bit too much drama!!  Hopefully next time it'll be much, much smoother!!

Hope I didn't bore you guys with the worlds longest post!!

1 comment:

aimymichelle said...

man what an ordeal. at least it wasn't TOO bad. things could have been worse for sure.