Josh had business in Austin on Monday and then Dallas on Tuesday and Wednesday. Since it was spring break, Josh invited us to tag along. We could do some fun things there and geocache a little. So we woke up early Monday morning and headed to Austin. About an hour outside of town, Beck told me he was going to barf. You know me and barf. He had a smile on his face so I wasn't sure if he was kidding so I gave him a paper bag just in case. A few minutes later he barfed in the bag as planned. Thank goodness. He then says he is hungry. Scared to give him anything I gave him only a few peanut butter crackers. The next thing I know the check oil light on the car comes on. It isn't staying on but flickering on and off. We stop at the nearest gas station and check the oil. It reads fine so we keep going. (and I got to throw away the barf bag) Those sensors on cars are often wrong. Right? So we think. Just out side of San Antonio the car starts making a funny sound. As to not be late to his important meeting we push on the Austin. I made a phone call to the Toyota Dealer in Austin and plan to drop Josh off and take it in. The sound gets worse and we have to slow to 60 because the car will not go much faster. We were kind of in the middle of no where and we needed to get to Josh's meeting. Are we the only stupid people who didn't stop? Would you have stopped and called a tow truck to get your funny sounding but still running car from the side of the highway? Well on I-35 we hear a super loud bang/thud and the car dies. We make it over to the side of the road and call the Toyota dealer back. They send a tow truck and a van to pick up the kids and I. We had to wait about an hour. Josh has a runner from the law firm come pick him up and he gets to his meeting. The Toyota dealer was super nice. He gave me a sequoia to drive around. I leave there to take the kids to lunch and Hogan starts telling me his throat hurts and that he is cold. I check him and he is burning up with fever. We postpone lunch and go to a nearby walmart to get Motrin and throat drops. At lunch he wont eat. I knew there was definitely something wrong. Beck is fine at this point by the way. He ate all his chik-fil-a and there is no more barfing. Josh calls when he is finished with his meeting and we go pick him up. He calls the dealer and decides to go back to the dealership to check on the car. Remember he needs to get to Dallas. They take him back and show him the engine is toast. We blew a rod and it's not worth fixing. We begin looking for a new car but they didn't really have anything we wanted. As soon as they find out we will not be buying the sequoia we are driving they quickly take it back. We wanted something slightly used. Suburbanish, captain chairs in the middle row, leather, tvs and four wheel drive. We were just a little picky. LOL Oh and I like Black and maybe would settle for white. We try to get a rent car so we can finish our trip (remember he has business in Dallas the next day) however, not a rent car in Austin. South by Southwest was going on and they were all taken. Argh... The dealer lets us borrow a Camry to take us to a hotel so that we can get some rest. It is 7:30 in the evening by this point. Hogan had fever again and the kids were all super tired. It was so nice to get to hotel. We ended up calling my parents and they had to drive all the way to Austin and come pick us up the next morning. Josh had to reschedule his trip to Dallas. We got home late Tuesday evening. The poor kids had been in the car for two days straight. You should have seen all the car seats and suit cases tied on to the top of my moms car. If you have ever traveled with Josh and I you will know that we totally over pack. LOL Hogan ended up being fine today. Must have been a virus. So today I wanted to just do something fun with the kids. We met my sister at McDonalds for lunch and then did a little geocaching. Then we went to see Sesame Street Elmo's Green Thumb at the American Bank Center. I sweet man from our church called me and gave us the tickets. The kids enjoyed it and got to do something a little fun for spring break. Elisabeth got to spend the night with a friend as well.
So now I am driving our big black truck. It was Josh's truck but he got tired of trying to park it in Austin plus during the summer diesel was outrage. It was like 5.00 a gallon. He got a toyota highlander and parked the truck in the driveway. It had been sitting in the drive way for months and I felt bad about it. It is a nice car, just huge. It is a pain to park. But I am so thankful. I have a car to drive and nobody is hurt. We are now on the hunt for a new car. Which I am secretly (or not so secretly) happy about because I really hated my van. Here's to hoping the rest of spring break is a little less stressful!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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8 comments:
Wow! What a story. I really hope things get better! My sister is selling their tahoe. I don't know if that is big enough for you. Let me know if you are interested. Great car, but no TV.
Oh my! That is quite an adventure! Next time you all come to Austin we need to get together. Miss you guys!
Did you cry? Yeah, I totally would have cried.
I wanted to cry but I fought it tooth and nail so that I wouldn't scare the kids.
Oh my goodness. I'm sorry -- what an awful time! I'm glad everyone is better. Well, everyone except for your van. I hope the rest of your week is easy and enjoyable!
Email me if you want to talk Tahoes. We got what you want -- leather, middle row bucket seats, entertainment package with DVD and navigation system. We didn't get 4 wheel drive though. LOVE IT.
ah man! No fun! but it left a toory to tell later an an exciting blog post! :) Hope you find the perfect car!
What a story... but glad that you guys are safe and sound back home... we have a sequia and love it but we are followers of Toyota... I hate to hear about your toyota... a little scary while driving.
Sorry to hear about this bad experience. I am glad you were all okay though. Good luck with the car shopping.
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