Life is Funny Sometimes.....

If you are on my Facbook page, or on any of the homeschool message boards I'm on....or even on my emailing list...You know that we are dealing with some extended family situations right now.

First of all, one of my cousins had surgery just before Memorial Day weekend. She wanted to have it at a hospital, and by a doctor, she trusted...so she went to a location at which she used to live and work. My parents went to be with her while she recovered, to care for her dog, etc.

On the Fourth of July, I flew there, to drive my mom back home. My cousin's recovery has been taking much longer than anticipated, so my mother has been alone at home, with no vehicle for her to drive. When she found out it would be at least two more weeks before my cousin could possibly go back home, my mom just felt a real need to have someone nearby to help her out, take her to her appointments, etc.

The beauty of homeschooling allows the kids and me to pack up our school stuff, and go spend a couple weeks with my mom, so I can be her chauffeur! ;)

When we got only about halfway, the van began giving me trouble!! It even died on me, at an intersection! Fortunately I was near a quick lube type place, so I pulled in there, and they did a quick diagnostic....Their meter wasn't compatible with our van, so really didn't tell them anything. They directed me to another location. On our way there, it nearly died again, and I found a Sears auto center....and they directed me to Firestone instead.

Firestone would run a full diagnostic on it, for the price of $99.00! (Yes, I'd been consulting with hubby all along, at the various locations, etc.) And it would be a couple hours before they were able to get to it, and complete the check....

Well, the kids and I hadn't eaten lunch yet, and we discovered a Chuck E Cheese right behind the Firestone place...so we went there to eat, and for the kids to "play" for awhile. It was the first time Steven remembered ever going to a Chuck E Cheese; he was kind of awestruck! ;) (I'll add some photos later)

After the diagnostic was run, and the technician drove it around for awhile, he really couldn't find any problems with it....The good news was, they decided not to charge us anything. I was  very, very thankful for that!!

We drove on for another 30 miles, maybe....by this time the kids were starting to get hungry again. And we were looking for a WalMart, because hubby told me to get a new gas cap, since from what he'd read online, it sounded like part of the problem could be the gas cap might not be sealing tightly.

As soon as I slowed down on the off ramp, the van acted up again....the "reduced engine power" light came on again, etc. I thought it would die in the intersection. We barely managed to get it into the WalMart parking lot! Wouldn't you know, they didn't have the gas cap I needed. They directed me to an Advanced Auto Parts store, next to the Taco Bell we had been looking for.

By this time, hubby decided he would just go ahead and come to where we were...driving straight from work.  So, the kids and I got the gas cap. The attendant there talked to the manager, then told me it was probably the TPS (throttle positioning sensor). So, we got supper from Taco Bell, and checked into a motel, and waited for my Knight in Shining Armor to arrive....which he did, about 11:30 pm.

(to be continued....) Pin It Now!