We have finally arrived in Alabama...after 12 days! Our 5 day trip had many unexpected turns along the way, but we made it today and are at a hotel that actually has internet access. First we set off on Jan 29 so we could make it to my mom's by Jan 31 in order to see the superbowl on Sunday. Thursday went fine with the exception of the late start. Friday was smooth as well, although cold as hell in Oregon and Idaho. However around 5pm things took a turn for the worst. We pulled off the highway to get gas and out of nowhere our Chevy 3500 which was towing a 24 foot trailer with everything we own in it began to smoke and smoke bad. We lifted the hood and out poured black smoke everywhere. Looking around we realized we were in the middle of nowhere in Idaho and it was about 7 degrees. A woman stopped and asked if we needed help and of course we did so she called the mechanic of the town and although he was closed, he graciously came to see if he could help us. Before I continue....let me set the scene: the town we broke down in is called Glenn's Ferry, ID. It is one of those towns you see on horror movies where the unsuspecting people break down and all of a sudden they are hunted by cults or crazy townspeople. Everyone in Glenn's Ferry knows everyone and everybody closed at 5pm for the weekend. Well as I am surveying our situation and scoping out the landscape in the event my fears come true, the mechanic arrives. We are able to move the truck and trailer about a block down the road to his garage, which was across the street from the only cafe/motel in town. Turns out the transmission was shot! Great....now what?
Well the stars were in alignment for us because Glenn's Ferry happened to be the best place we could have broken down in. The mechanic contacted his mechanic/towing friends in a city about 30 miles away called Mountain Home and within an hour or so we had a huge tow truck who took the truck and trailer to a mechanic in the bigger city to replace the transmission. Unfortunately that would not be until Monday or Tuesday. As luck would have it in Mt. Home also has an airforce base which was a welcome site from the horror movie town. We tried to get housing but they were booked so we stayed in Glenn's Ferry for the night. We did get a hotel in the city for the remainder of the weekend.
The next day Donnie was able to talk to the mechanic who was going to work on his truck and he said it could be anywhere between $1500-$4500 to fix the transmission! Now we only paid like $2500 for the truck so now we were debating on whether it was worth it to fix the truck. Plan 1) Fix truck? Plan 2) Get a uhall that will pull the trailer and get on the road and worry about getting the truck later; Plan 3) Buy a new truck and get the hell out of dodge! As the day progressed, plan 3 was looking good so we went to the ford dealership and bought a ford F-350 turbo diesel duely (sp?). We did not even test drive it. Apparently we were the talk of the little town. After signing the papers we drove to the blue truck and unloaded it to the new one, hooked up the trailer and were ready to roll. By the way this type of thing is very uncharacteristic for us - we always take forever to purchase anything. So the next morning we left the frozen tundra of Idaho and headed to my mom's. We got there Monday evening.
A sigh of relief overcame us once we got to my mom's, but the stars apparently got confused once in Salina. That night at Walmart someone stole the pin that holds the trailer to the hitch on the back of the Lincoln and the trailer tipped while we were driving. At least we were on my mom's street and about 4 houses away. Then the tires on that trailer lost some tread so now we had to buy 2 more tires. Still things could have been worse.
Thursday arrived and we left for Clarksville to crash with our friends for a day or so. The trip which normally takes 10 hrs started out great (uh oh...sounds like we have been here before). Just as we got to St. Louis we saw signs that the interstate we needed was closed in both directions - WTH!!! So we followed the detours which took us around St. Louis twice on 2 separate highways and then put us right back on I-70 which was the road we were on to begin with. Of course this happened at 5 o'clock traffic so by this time it was almost 8 and we still had 4 more hrs ahead of us so we stopped at another hotel for the night and did not get to TN until Friday afternoon. We were going to leave on Sunday but decided to stay and extra day and we left this morning. Only a 7 hr drive left and this journey is over....haha. So after a full day of driving we get to Montgomery, AL and take an exit that we think is wrong once we are on it. We turn around, get lost and end up on a toll bridge. The lady did not charge us and told us to turn around and directed us to the right spot, but I did not hear her because my dog was barking so loudly at her I missed the most important direction - TURN AROUND! So Donnie turned around and Shelle went on down the road until I realized I was lost!. Finally getting back in the right direction it turns out that once again we were on the right road to begin with! We pulled into the hotel around 8pm which brings me to right now - facebooking, checking email and blogging. And the 75 degree weather was pretty awesome today!
Tomorrow we have to find a place to stay so hopefully it will only take us a day to find a house. At this point I am not picky - just give me 2 bathrooms and a fenced in yard for the dogs - I am tired of being in hotels living out of suitcases. All in all, even with all the mishaps, things could have been much worse so I am thankful that we all arrived in one piece. At least these will be memories that we can tell for a long time - after all not everyone has broken down on the Oregon Trail in 7 degree weather.
Not even sure if I have pics at this point but eventually I will find my camera cord and see what I can post. I appreciate all the shout outs on facebook. Will keep you posted.....
