Trip to Ohio Had a Few Hitches

Things started out smoothly although we were  a bit behind schedule in our departure.  Nothing new about that.  We just never seem to leave at the predetermined times we set for trips.

The van was loaned to us from a sister church.  It had a few quirks – like once in a while the heater kicked in blowing out hot air.  Not a good thing when it’s 90° outside!

The real hitch in the trip was Seth’s new truck.  The transmission went out before we were half-way and all he had left of his standard transmission was 4th gear.  There were times the guys had to do this…

but that was only part of the time.  There are other ways of getting a truck to move.  One is to not come to a complete stop when you need to get to a gas station but instead,  look both ways before you turn and just keep rolling in to the gas station.  Another way is to give it a push from behind with another vehicle.  You do understand that you have to do this to keep from burning the transmission up completely and then not having even 4th gear?  We had some interesting looks. 

One man, stopped at a red light, looked at us with his mouth agape as we gave Seth a push-off with our van. 🙂  Then when we arrived at the toll booth to pay, the lady asked Seth, “Do you know that person behind you?  He’s getting quite close.”  Seth assured her that he did and explained his situation.  The gate arm that lifts after you pay your toll, raised and he was off with a push from behind from the van. 🙂

Shortly after the transmission had problems, his fuel  pump went out.  He then had no power. 🙁  This was the new scenario until we reached Elk City, Oklahoma.

A nice little town, Elk City was.  At one light there was a whole gaggle of geese crossing the road going to the park.  It reminded me of the story Make Way for Ducklings.

The best thing about Elk City was this… 

where apparently we weren’t the only ones with problems.

It was a relief to get out of the van that was spewing out warm air from its vents but the heat outside was worse.  Off to W*l-Mart we went to stay cool and kill some time while the little Mazda was worked on.  Everyone was happy to see this familiar store.

We really wanted to buy something fresh since we smelled anything but and the luggage was in the luggage trailer to stay until we reached camp – but unfortunately, we didn’t find a thing.

After doing all the shopping we wanted to do, other entertainments were sought.  Aisles were blocked as we stood around chatting waiting for THE phone call that THE truck was ready.

Finally, the call was received.  Yeah, it’s all ready to go.

Wow!  They did all this in the parking lot of an Auto Z*ne?!   The fuel pump was fixed and we were good to go again in 4th gear!  The little Mazda made it all the way to camp – 700 more miles – all in 4th gear.  Thank you, Lord!

Do you have trips where you run out of gas or your car breaks down?  Do share.

Stay tuned.  More pictures to come…