A Car Saga

Have you ever been stuck on the side of the freeway?

Not fun. Let me tell you how it happened for me. About 2 weeks ago, I went to meet my new cute nephew in the hospital downtown. I met Jake at his work in our white Honda Accord, drove us there, dropped him back off at work, and went on my way. It was a hot, windy summer day, and Cami fell asleep on the way home. I was driving along, just passing 5300 South exit, when all of a sudden I felt the car do a big downshift. It's an automatic, so no need for downshifting, buddy. At the same time, the check engine light came on, the power steering starting going out, and all the other lights on the dashboard came on just as I was veering off the right lane into the shoulder of the freeway. Luckily, I made it to the side before everything shut off. Unfortunately, I had JUST passed a nice, safe exit, and was now stuck on the side of the freeway with cars whizzing past at unfathomable speeds (ok maybe just 68 mph, but still). Cami was sound asleep in the back seat, which was nice, and thank goodness I have a cell phone! I called Jake right away and told him I was stranded and my location. Poor guy had just gotten back to work and had to leave again to come rescue me. I'm glad he has a job that lets him do that!

I sat in the car and waited about 15 minutes for him to arrive, and then I saw my knight in shining armor through my rearview mirror, pulling up in the good ol trusty Buick. I got out, fighting against the hot wind and trying not to get killed by passersby. He popped the hood and took a look, but couldn't find the problem. The car wouldn't even turn over. So we unstrapped Cami's big ol car seat and I transferred it into our Buick, and Jake told me to go ahead, and he would wait for his dad to come pick him up and help tow the car. So off I went, leaving my knight in the dust on the side of the freeway with a broken car.

Jake's dad is a saint! He left work too, to pick Jake up and bring him to our house to pick up HIS truck which we have been using to get supplies for the basement. Then they bought a tow strap, went back to the stranded car on the freeway, hooked it up to the truck, and towed it to the next exit and back to my brother-in-law Abe's house near 5300 S. What an adventure! He let us keep the car in front of his house until a few days later when Jake and his friend could look at it. The repairs that it needed turned out to be a new timing belt, which hadn't broken all together which is good cuz it didn't affect the engine, but had torn. And some other little things. The car also needs an oil change and new tires. Our poor little Accord is our good car, so this all wasn't a planned expense! Abe ended up helping Jake tow the car over near our house to a place where it's being fixed today and will be ready for pick up shortly. Just $1,000 later, we'll have our good air conditioned car back.

In the meantime, I've been driving the trusty Buick for the past week or so, and Jake's been driving his dad's truck. The Buick and I go way back. It all started in York, PA across the street from our house. The nice old 75 year old neighbor man was selling his maroon Buick, and my dad fell in love. With the car and the price. (And color...) So we inherited the nice, luxurious, roomy, plush back seated vehicle into the family. After I went to BYU, we were in need of another car down in Provo to share amongst the siblings. So my dad ended up driving this non air-conditioned, not-even-vents-working car out to Utah. I forget the exact year, but it was here for me after my mission and I started driving it for good. We weren't sure it would survive the long trek across country, but miraculously it did, so we figured maybe it had a year or two left in it.

I drove it every day from Centerville into Emigration Canyon during my internship, and that's when I got a rock chip that started cracking from the cold and ended up spreading all across the windshield once it got warm. Oops. My dad eventually sold it to me (for pretty much nothing) and I continued driving it once Jake and I got married. Once I got pregnant with Cami in the hot summer and was driving to work everyday, Jake had pity on me and finally switched cars. Thus, I became the driver of his cute and comfy air conditioned white Honda, and he became the Buick's best friend. Bless his heart.

He's been driving in that hot, cracked windshield, paint peeling car for 2 years now and never complains. He doesn't worry about his image, or mind that the back of his shirt is all sweaty and wrinkled by the time he gets to work. He doesn't complain about not being able to accelerate more than 5 mph at a time, or not driving over 70 mph. It's actually kind of like a pimp mobile, cuz the seats are all low and plush, and you barely see over the steering wheel when you drive. The miles this baby has racked in? Currently 207, 377! Now that's a good car. Granted, it is currently making lots of funny noises like tin cans and screeching cats, which makes it kind of embarassing to drive. But luckily my dad is coming in a week and will try to turn the noise from screeching to purring. We are going to drive this thing until the day it dies. Then what, you ask?

Then it's time for a mini van.