The trip to Waco that wasn't....

When it rains....it monsoons! Well, remember how we were going to go to this really neat craft fair this weekend? Didn't happen.

We started out fine, everyone was cooperating and we got on the road smoothly. Until we stopped for gas in Houston, and everything went downhill from there! I had to feed the baby, so Hubby took the opportunity to check the oil, which needed adding to. Then he removed the ridiculous amounts of pine needles that had fallen into the hood of the car from our pine tree. Finally, we were back on the road, and no sooner had we made it onto the highway, than our car starts smoking!! Smoke was pouring from under the hood and into the car vents!

We pulled over and tried to figure out what in the world was going on?? Within 3 minutes, a tow truck was pulling over to help! He had just happened to be driving by at that moment!

The boys were absolutely thrilled to ride in the tow truck as he took us - free of charge- to an AutoZone nearby. Once there, we tried to assess the problem and see if it was fixable. Of course it started raining while Hubby was under the hood.... He added water to the radiator(?) and we tried to drive down the road to a car dealership. At this point, we were just going to see if a dealership with a mechanic would either give us an estimate, or buy it for cheap!

We didn't make it very far, when the smoke started up again. We pulled into a church parking lot and prayed, waiting for an answer or Divine Miracle, whichever came first! Low and behold, out walks the pastor, who was only at the church that day for a brief moment! He offered to help us get to a Christian mechanic nearby and we followed him there. They said they would see to our car within the hour, which was great news to us!

Meanwhile it's lunchtime and we have three kids who need to be somewhere other than a mechanic waiting area for the next 3 hours.... Pastor Don speaks up before we could even voice our concerns and invited us back to his house for turkey leftovers! And that's how, instead of being in Waco, we ended up at the pastor's house from the Houston First Church of God eating turkey!

The mechanic's shop called a while later, and Hubby went to see what the estimate would be. It turned out to be a big deal, and would cost $1200 to fix! Not a good thing when the car is only worth about $2000. The problem was completely unrelated to the low oil, or the annoying pine needles!

So....we called some friends to see if they could come pick us up in Houston, an hour and a half away. (The only people left in town at this point, as most of our friends were in Waco, or with family.) Thank goodness for good friends! While we waited on our "ride" we enjoyed hanging out with Pastor Don and his wife Debbie. They have 20 grandchildren, so there were lots of toys and even a playground for the kids to enjoy!

We got home late Friday night, with our poor car left alone in Houston until we could get back to tow it home. Then, Saturday morning, I woke up with a stomach virus and was feeling horrible! Thankfully, MIL agreed to drive with Hubby and the boys back to Houston and help pick up our car. The car is our only "family friendly" vehicle since Hubby drives a Jeep, so we couldn't have all gone together even if I felt well. The web was becoming more and more entangled. They drove to Houston, picked up a U-Haul truck and a dolly he had reserved, and drove back home once again!

So, in summary, I didn't see Waco, but I saw way more of Houston than I ever wanted to! And we have no family car until this one gets fixed. The boys and Hubby went to go have another Thanksgiving meal with my uncle and his family near Galveston. Baby girl and I are stuck here at home, quarantined and without a vehicle.

What a crazy weekend!!