Car Fun

So, this past week has been all about my car. We had a little trouble on the way back from Kentucky, and the fun just kept coming.

While we were driving around the hills of Kentucky on Friday, the engine started getting hot. We switched from A/C to heat, and the engine cooled back down, so that was the end of it. We thought...

On Saturday, shortly after getting on the highway, the engine started overheating again. We pulled over quickly and tried to get it cooled down. Luckily, there was coolant in the trunk and plenty of water in the car for the trip, so we were able to get the engine cooled by running the fan while the engine was off. But, by the time we got the engine cooled down, the battery was dead.

So, we called AAA. Once we told them that we had a 2 1/2 month-old in the car with us, they put us out as Priority. But it was very hot in the car. So, we got out and went up this little hill and sat under a tree. I had Jason put out some mats for Emmet to lie on, since the ground and growth was a little poky. So we started settling in, and I thought, hmm, is that poison ivy? But if it was poison ivy, I figured it was everywhere, and we were better off in the shade in poison ivy than in the sun in poison ivy. (None of us got poison ivy, thankfully. I'm going to have to brush up on my poisonous plants one of these days, though.)

So after we got Emmet cooled down a little bit, the tow truck arrived and very quickly got the car up on the lift. And then Jason managed to tell him we probably only needed a jump. =) And it worked. The engine stayed cool enough that we piled back in and got back on the road. Thank goodness for AAA!

The rest of the trip home was uneventful, so we thought that was the end of it. We were wrong...

When we got back in the car to go home from church on Sunday, the brake light was on. We were almost out of brake fluid! Jason managed to get us home safely by using the emergency brake to slow us down, regular brake to come to a stop, and then quickly shifting into Park. Luckily, most of our drive is on the highway, where you rarely need to brake on a Sunday afternoon. We did stop at Advance and got some more brake fluid to make it the rest of the way, and to get the car safely to the car shop.

So Monday we got the verdict - my brake lines were rusted through! I guess that can be expected on a 15 year old car, but it's not very fun. Jason is certainly able to replace brake lines (he's done it before!) but it's so hot out, and we didn't really want my car to be out of commission very long, so we had them go ahead and replace them.

We also had them look at my tires. We weren't sure if the car needed an alignment, or just new tires. Turned out it needed new tires. So Friday we got two new tires. Now my car doesn't pull violently to the right. And it doesn't shake anymore! I don't feel like my car is going to fall apart when I hit 65 mph! It's great!

So, that was our week. =) I told my coworkers about it, and one of them said, "wow, I guess you don't take your car on long road trips, do you? I mean, it's so old, you've got to be worried about safety!" I said, "It's our newest vehicle! We take it for every trip!" And that's Car Fun.