We're Baaaaaccckkkk
We made it home. The trip went well, all things considered. There were some mildly annoying moments and everyone was really tired, but we made it.
Mike picked us up at the airport and then took us over to their house where we parked our van. We transferred the bags, got the kids settled into the car and then headed for home. And that's when the fun really started!
Recap - two very tired parents, two totally exhausted kids, 4 large suitcases, 6 carry on bags. Sounds like the setting for something really wonderful to happen doesn't it?
The parking brake light was on, but the parking brake wasn't on. Hmm...that's weird. The lights on the dash board seem darker than usual. Hmmm...The radio starts flipping on and off, on and off. Hmmmm...The headlights go out. Lights on the dashboard go out. Radio goes out. Car starts making some really strange, loud buzzing noise. Based on the evidence we are either trapped in an urban legend and the next thing we can expect is to see a guy with a hook for a hand OR the battery is dying.
"You need to pull over." Seemed like a good idea, but Chad uttered my 8 favorite man words "Let's see how far we can make it." Yes, ok, that sounds like fun and I'm thinking that's going to be about 3 more feet. Next thing we know the power steering goes out and I hear him say "ok, I'm pulling over." 3 feet. I called it.
So here we are on the side of the road. It's dark. It's cold. The coats are packed in the suitcases. The girls are crying and scared. I'm being assalted with questions like:
"Are we going to be ok?"
"What happened to our car?"
"Are we going to freeze in this car?"
"Are we going to have to stay here all night?"
As well as your classic plaintive wail "I want to go hoooooommmmmeeee." Chad is sitting in stoney silence. Oh boy, this is fun.
I climb in the back and dig the kid's coats out of the suitcases. Get them snuggled up as best I can and then we sing and wait. While we wait Brynn says "Hey, I got an idea! Let's just call the hooker man. He come with his big hook and hook our car and take us home." She's a good little problem solver for 4, but finally, Mike shows up with a neighbor to jump start our car.
They get it hooked up, jump it, it starts up and 10 seconds later...shzoooom. Dead. What to do? I'm staying completly out of it. I'll be in charge of the children and someone else can figure out what to do with the completly dead mini van.
They decide to push it off the road and into the parking lot of the high school where it so conveniently died. So I'm supposed to steer while they push, however, given where we were parked we seemed to be missing one key element - traction. Ice, slush, snow. Yeah, that baby wasn't going anywhere. At least not in the forward direction.
So they come up with a new plan. Wait for a break in the traffic and push the van into the road. Once they get it onto the dry road they will be able to push it forward and I'll steer it into the parking lot. It worked, but wow...watching the cars coming in the rearview mirror as they push my children and I into the dark road in the car so dead the hazard lights won't even come on...scary.
Now parked in the parking lot, sort of, we decide to take the girls and I home while Chad and Mike go to Wal-Mart (the only thing open at 11 PM on New Year's Day) and buy a new battery.
The plan gave the van enough juice to get it home, but something is clearly wrong with it. The battery and brake lights are still on in the car, so we think it is running on straight battery power, no alternator. Next Tuesday the van will be taking a little trip to the mechanic and I'm sure I'll be writing a sweet little check that day. In the meantime, we'll be a one car family because I don't want to take the chance of getting stranded somewhere with the kids.
The car never breaks down on a Tuesday morning at 10 AM in front of Checker Auto Parts, oh no. It waits until a holiday, in the middle of the night, when we've been traveling all day and are already edgy and tired and then decides "yes, this is perfect. This'll get 'em good."
Welcome home.
Mike picked us up at the airport and then took us over to their house where we parked our van. We transferred the bags, got the kids settled into the car and then headed for home. And that's when the fun really started!
Recap - two very tired parents, two totally exhausted kids, 4 large suitcases, 6 carry on bags. Sounds like the setting for something really wonderful to happen doesn't it?
The parking brake light was on, but the parking brake wasn't on. Hmm...that's weird. The lights on the dash board seem darker than usual. Hmmm...The radio starts flipping on and off, on and off. Hmmmm...The headlights go out. Lights on the dashboard go out. Radio goes out. Car starts making some really strange, loud buzzing noise. Based on the evidence we are either trapped in an urban legend and the next thing we can expect is to see a guy with a hook for a hand OR the battery is dying.
"You need to pull over." Seemed like a good idea, but Chad uttered my 8 favorite man words "Let's see how far we can make it." Yes, ok, that sounds like fun and I'm thinking that's going to be about 3 more feet. Next thing we know the power steering goes out and I hear him say "ok, I'm pulling over." 3 feet. I called it.
So here we are on the side of the road. It's dark. It's cold. The coats are packed in the suitcases. The girls are crying and scared. I'm being assalted with questions like:
"Are we going to be ok?"
"What happened to our car?"
"Are we going to freeze in this car?"
"Are we going to have to stay here all night?"
As well as your classic plaintive wail "I want to go hoooooommmmmeeee." Chad is sitting in stoney silence. Oh boy, this is fun.
I climb in the back and dig the kid's coats out of the suitcases. Get them snuggled up as best I can and then we sing and wait. While we wait Brynn says "Hey, I got an idea! Let's just call the hooker man. He come with his big hook and hook our car and take us home." She's a good little problem solver for 4, but finally, Mike shows up with a neighbor to jump start our car.
They get it hooked up, jump it, it starts up and 10 seconds later...shzoooom. Dead. What to do? I'm staying completly out of it. I'll be in charge of the children and someone else can figure out what to do with the completly dead mini van.
They decide to push it off the road and into the parking lot of the high school where it so conveniently died. So I'm supposed to steer while they push, however, given where we were parked we seemed to be missing one key element - traction. Ice, slush, snow. Yeah, that baby wasn't going anywhere. At least not in the forward direction.
So they come up with a new plan. Wait for a break in the traffic and push the van into the road. Once they get it onto the dry road they will be able to push it forward and I'll steer it into the parking lot. It worked, but wow...watching the cars coming in the rearview mirror as they push my children and I into the dark road in the car so dead the hazard lights won't even come on...scary.
Now parked in the parking lot, sort of, we decide to take the girls and I home while Chad and Mike go to Wal-Mart (the only thing open at 11 PM on New Year's Day) and buy a new battery.
The plan gave the van enough juice to get it home, but something is clearly wrong with it. The battery and brake lights are still on in the car, so we think it is running on straight battery power, no alternator. Next Tuesday the van will be taking a little trip to the mechanic and I'm sure I'll be writing a sweet little check that day. In the meantime, we'll be a one car family because I don't want to take the chance of getting stranded somewhere with the kids.
The car never breaks down on a Tuesday morning at 10 AM in front of Checker Auto Parts, oh no. It waits until a holiday, in the middle of the night, when we've been traveling all day and are already edgy and tired and then decides "yes, this is perfect. This'll get 'em good."
Welcome home.
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