Sunday, May 20, 2007

These things happen in threes...


It's 5:20 pm on Friday. I'm driving west on Hwy 94. Stop. Go. Stop. Go. Weekend traffic, cabin traffic, rush hour traffic.

I look to my right and notice smoke coming from under the hood of my car. My temperature gage is pushed past the "H".

I quickly merge two lanes and pull over. Panic sets in. Richard is 400 miles away in Iowa. My dad is 300 miles away in Green Bay. I am seven miles from home.

I called my father. I had only one choice: wait for my car to cool down. Then I could slowly drive it home, but if it overheated, I would have to pull over again. I pictured myself driving 500 feet, then pulling over. Drive 500 feet, pull over.

I called Richard. He scrambled to find someone to let Logger out while I was watching traffic pass by.

By 7:00, my car was completely cool. However, weekend traffic had picked up. 7:00 at night and traffic was getting worse!! I loathe cabin goers.

At 7:30, the brake lights had disappeared. I merged into traffic. I was instructed not to go over 50 mph. The speed limit is 70 mph. I got LOTS of dirty looks and probably a finger or two.

I made it home without having to pull over.

Richard installed a new fan motor in my aging Taurus today. It is back to running like a champ. 12 years old and 175,625 miles. Go Blue Velvet Go!