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I started out bright and early Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 6:00 am and began my cross-country trek in a 1992 Thunderbird that had already gone above and beyond the call of duty over 159,806 miles. The mileage was actually probably already higher, because I set the Trip-o-Meter when I commenced my journey but as I approached Great Bend I realized that surely I must have traveled more than 0 miles. So my odometer still reads 159,806. I have no idea at what point it decided to quit working - I suspect this is a message from the T-bird that it is ready for retirement. Well, you've been a loyal car but no one in this family retires before age 75!
I was a day late in starting because the glorious car had to have something replaced so it wouldn't leak gas anymore - my gas mileage DID greatly improve after this, though.
Around Hays, KS, I noticed that the temperature gauge was up at the tippy-top of the normal range so I turned off the air-conditioning and started my panic-sticken (and hot) ride west. The temperature went down to about the top quarter of the gauge but this still seemed
unnatural. I stopped the car as often as I could but as soon as I started it again the needle shot back up. Thankfully it never got completely in the red. I checked the antifreeze level but I wasn't sure how high it was supposed to be.
I stopped for the night in Casper, WY. I went out searching for Chinese food and instead found an Autozone, where the nice young man informed me that the car was completely out of antifreeze and that I probably had a leak. He filled the tank which solved the problem temporarily (i.e. overnight). I never got my Chinese food because apparently in towns other than Lawrence people shut down for the night at 8:00. I was forced to order pizza.
The next morning I returned to the Autozone and stocked up on Antifreeze and attempted to pour in some SilverSeal with the help of a different nice man from Autozone who I don't think really knew what he was doing because I had to tell him where it went. I needed help because the lever that holds the hood up in the T-Bird had long-since disappeared and though I used to have a
Wyoming
(I don't think this highway actually exists - it's just here for your appreciation of the sign) replacement rod that I kept in the backseat, it somehow ironically disappeared right before I took this particular journey. Of course Autozone was out of the particular style I needed.
So I drove on for about 2 hours but the temperature gauge still kept going back up so I stopped in Sheridan, WY, at Midas that would not be able to look at it for a few more hours. So I checked into a Days Inn to fret and wait.
I got the call about 2 and a half hours later - it would be $700 to fix the water pump and three hoses that were leaking. This seemed like good news to me because I was prepared for upwards of $2,000, in which case I would have had to get a bus ticket back to Kansas. So I was stuck in Wyoming for the night, but it could have been worse.
They fortunately got it fixed the next day (Saturday) and I set off again about noon. The Midas people (as well as my father) said that I should keep checking the level of antifreeze because it would be going into air bubbles or something. So I kept checking
every hour or two and only had to refill it twice (which was super-fun since I had nothing to hold the hood up with).
So I continued driving through the rest of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and finally stopped for the night in Spokane, WA, at a Super 8 where I appropriately watched Frasier (the dad's girlfriend had just driven in from Spokane on a single tank of gas, which I found encouraging).
The next morning I got up early and tried to check out of the motel, and the lady tried to confirm with me that they had told me about the $15 pet deposit. "I don't have a pet." "Then why would they write 'pet' on the form?" "I don't know but I'm fairly sure I have no animals with me". Anyway I apparently finally convinced her and didn't have to pay the pet deposit for a non-existent pet. The girl who "checked" my room also confirmed that there had been no signs of animals.
I forged ahead to Seattle (continuing to check on the antifreeze) and lined up for the ferry in Anacortes. I arrived in Friday Harbor about 4:00 pm on June 1st. I found my apartment
at about 6:00 pm that day - eventually I sort of just assumed that this particular building had to be mine and the key worked so I moved in (there was apparently no need to number the building).
Along the way, I found it a fun game to compare state highway icons.
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silverdragongirl
Katie R
Hahahaha...sorry, I can just see you furtively circling the block for two hours trying to find the right apartment building. And topping off your antifreeze without the thing that holds up the car hood. :D :D :D PS: I will send you pics of the boys as soon as I remember to get new batteries for my camera...