Bad “kar”ma? Nah, just life. Where to begin… Our truck is still in the shop, it’s been at least 3 weeks but we don’t want to rush what we know (ok hope) will be a masterpiece of reliability. Especially since we added on a new transmission. We asked the mechanic to check the tranny while it was all apart. He called with the news that there were some metal shavings, but nothing significant. We didn’t want to risk it, based on our experience lately we decided better to be safe than sorry. The dealership agreed to pay a third of the cost to get the engine repaired, and we are grateful for that. The blessing in this endeavor is that we will basically have a new truck when we begin our journey. We finally have a name for the truck, after days of trying to find a name that would fit, it came to us during a conversation about our ever growing expenses. The idea of staying here for another year has been brought up by a few people, including the hubby and it was at this moment that I said, “Love, if there’s a will there’s a way. We can make this work. Oh my, that’s what we should name the truck and trailer!” And so it is, we now call the truck Willy and the trailer Way. Since Willy has been in the shop, Rio, (named after the Duran Duran song, her name is rio) my 93 Nissan Sentra has been wanting more time in the auto salon as well.
Last week while Mitch was on his way to work she just started loosing power, all the lights on the dashboard came on, radio shut off and she began sputtering . He was almost to work, but decided to head to the nearest gas station in hopes that she was just out of gas, the gauge doesn’t always read accurate. Not the case, she wasn’t going anywhere. He pushed her to a parking spot off to the side and had a friend pick him up to go to work. AAA picked her up and took her less than a mile to a mechanic we have used many times. We chose them for convenience although we had previously banned them because their $80.00 verbal quote for a tune up turned into $345.00. But to make things “easier” ( oh, the inconveniences we encounter trying to make things convenient) we chose them, and they said it was the battery, and all was good…. For a week. Wouldn’t you know it, after running errands the other day we get two blocks from home and the same thing happens. Thankfully we coasted on home, right into our driveway. Down to one car, Ruby Sue the Subaru, my mail car. She is dirty, stinky, dusty, loud, and rough looking but I tell ya, she’s a super star in her own right.
We took Rio to Oldies but Goodies, a detail and auto shop in Cheney, where we initially talked about taking her. They do great work, always call with a price before actually doing the work, and they call when the work is done. So nice to know there are still some places with good customer service. It was the alternator. So now Rio the rock star is back on the road.
She has almost 250,000 miles and I’ve had her for all of them except the first 12,000. She’s been to Canada, Mexico, through all the western states and as far as Arkansas. Not to mention her 10 seconds of fame in a commercial as a klunker with a hub cap falling off, but she did it with pride. Plus Ali and Eli both learned to drive with her. Why am I so attached to my Rio? Because before her while in the military at age 20, I had a orange 65 mustang that would get stuck in reverse, the door would come open when turning a corner and the passenger floor was rusted out, but it had a cool 8 ball gear shifter that sealed the deal. Ironically the previous owner took it off before I took possession. Go figure. Following that purchase I let myself get pressured into buying a little Mazda truck I didn’t really want and ended up with me crying from the salesman yelling at me because I wouldn’t post date a check for money I didn’t yet have. Rio was my first wise decision in the automobile purchasing world, with one dollar as a down payment in 1995, her and I have been a pair ever since. I had a Nissan Xterra that I named Lucile the automobile, she was great but ate up gas like crazy. Then there was Jethro the 85 C10 Chevy that would get us about 5 blocks before the transmission would slip and we’d have to pull over and put it in park for a second before heading on down the road. The new owner is bringing him back to all of his splendor, and we are so happy to get texts and pics of the progress he’s making during the rebuild. As time comes closer for us to leave and we sell off all our belongings, including my Rio and Ruby Sue I just hope that they bring their future owners great days of the summer’s breeze blowing through their hair and take them to memorable experiences that last a lifetime. May we all experience our breakdowns in life with peace and acceptance; because it will happen, that’s just they way it is.
Goin' Road Trippin' 