Taking the Scenic Route

The car wouldn’t start for a while yesterday and had some odd gauge readings, so we called my Dad to help with some troubleshooting on the car. Zora was, of course, wanting to be part of the action.

It has seemed to work just fine since the repair, so it seems it was successful. Yay us!

As we were driving out to the farm we realized that we haven’t been there in almost a year because of the car.  Zane was totally excited when we got there.  He remembered it well.  Zora, on the other hand, seemed a bit amazed that Grandma and Grandpa were there.  I don’t think she realized that they “lived” anyplace, she just knew that they came to our house.  lol.  Both really enjoyed the squishy ground and exploring the farm. 

Dad and my brother Steve gave the new vehicle a good check, changed the oil, and made some minor repairs.

Zora was totally captivated by the cats and chased them around in glee.

She was suprised and happy to see Grandma come home from work.

And finally, the short video of Zora trying to coax the cat out of the house. 

It was a great day.  We are excited that we have the ability to go out there more often now.

The new vehicle meant that instead of having to cancel the two ST appointments (and still be charged for them), the Reading Explorers playgroup (and still be charged for it), and the autism parents support meeting, we were able to attend them all and had a great day.  The roads were icy, but the Mountaineer handled them great.  In fact, I was shocked at just how slick it was when I got to the meeting tonight and about fell on my butt when I stepped out of the vehicle because I didn’t have any problem parking.

I also didn’t realize how much my old car affected my driving.  I expect the vehicle to stall out every time I come to a stop…at lights, in turn lanes, waiting to turn a corner…and was always careful to leave myself enough space to have time to restart the car if I have to cross traffic (so I needed a HUUUUGE break in traffic to enter the road).  Now I can just go.  It is weird to have a car that responds.  I also didn’t have people pulling in front of me and cutting me off on a regular basis.  In fact, it didn’t happen at all today, and I drove in heavy traffic.

It’s a new world, and I am liking it.

After my folks left and Zach warmed up, he got out the carseat and car manuals to figure out how to get the carseats installed.  After considerable effort in the cold, we had them arranged correctly.  Zora’s is forward facing for the first time.  She was a half inch too tall to be rear facing, so that was exciting for her.

When the car was all ready, we got the kids ready and left to go out for a drive to IHOP for pancakes.  Neither of the kids had seen the new car, so we enjoyed seeing their faces.  Zane stopped short as he rounded the corner, and then walked slowly, confused.  I asked if he wanted to take the gray car or the white car?  He looked at me, and I could see the realization go across his face, followed by an enthusiastic “WHITE car!”  Zora was excited too.  It was hard getting them in their car seats because they were both so excited.  Zane kept giggling and flapping with glee as we drove down the road. 

We stopped at IHOP and the kids got “funny face” pancakes, we got coffee and a breakfast.  We had such a fun time.  It was perfect and wonderful.  Zane was almost as excited as we drove home, and both of them were singing “Old McDonald” in the back seat.  It was so sweet and happy.

This isn’t the actual car because it was too dark to get a picture of it, but this is like it.  A 1998 Mercury Mountaineer!  My parents, brother, and brother’s in-laws all have/had one and my dad knows them inside out and can fix them pretty easily, so it was a good choice for us.  It runs really nice and means we won’t be stuck at home when it rains or snows (unless it gets too much, of course) and shouldn’t leave us stranded.  I am SO relieved and happy.  It gets better gas milage than the compact car that we are currently driving, and it doesn’t rain or snow inside the car.  Yeah!

On a funny note, there is a fish on the back of our car.  (that is coming off as soon as it is warm enough to want to stand outside and scrape it off)  However, instead of the big fish, it is a really little fish.  More of a minnow.  Must have been owned by Minnow-nites.  lol.

A part of me feels weird having an SUV, but truly, it is what almost everybody around here drives (unless they are in a van or truck).  We were the only family on our block with a small vehicle and I was sick of being scared for my life every time I drove it.  I felt like a squirrel in a herd of elephants.  It isn’t even close to the biggest vehicles, but it isn’t small either.  I am very happy.  It was also at a great price with minimal financing, so I won’t be a bundle of stress about payments either. 

My parents are at the car lot, looking over the vehicle we will probably buy one more time (we test drove it yesterday, among a bunch of others…spent all day looking at cars, Mom took care of the kids for us).  My husband is at the bank seeing if we can get a loan with our bank.  If not, we will have to go to my old bank/my parent’s bank, but it is an hour away and I really don’t want to drive there if I don’t have to.  lol.

Hope all goes well.  If I have the energy to, I will write about our day yesterday.  We learned a lot from Dad about car shopping.  The main thing we learned is that it is best to have somebody like that with you when you are looking at the cheaper end of used cars.  There is not a salesman that is able to push my dad around because he knows so much more than the salesman do about the cars.  It is actually rather amusing.

Cross your fingers for us! 

We are officially a one car family now.  (one fairly crappy car, but one car).  Dad came up today and towed the Olds to it’s final resting place on the farm, where it will salvaged for parts.  It will turn on, but won’t stay on once it is put in gear, so he had to winch it up to the trailer.

Zane “fixing” something

It wasn’t a bad car when it was working.  The driver’s side window hadn’t worked for a while, so if you went through a drive through you had to open your door.  lol.  As much as it annoyed me, I was sorry to see it die.