But first, a story. And man, is it a brutal one. We're laughing about it now, but let me tell you, our journey started out rough. I got off work at 5:00pm on Thursday and headed across town to drop off my car and meet John so we could get on the road. We were driving my sister-in-law's car up there and then flying home. Her car is a piece of spit and broke down before John ever left. So I met him at AutoZone to get a new battery installed. ($80.00)
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| The start of our journey to Virginia...a stop at the mechanic. |
I followed John out of the parking lot, battery now fixed, and realized that the brake lights were permanently on. We decided the car was unfit to drive across five states unless that was fixed (and weren't sure if it would be, even then.) At 6:00, after lots of frustration and disappointment, we dropped it off at our mechanic hoping that he could fix it on Friday morning so we could drive it up the that day.
It turns out he was able to fix it before he left work Thursday night! 30 minutes later and another $80 later, we were on the road and feelin' fine!
Look at us....so happy...so naive....
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| Llama cloud. |
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| Yay! We're actually driving north! |
About an hour into our drive (8:30pm) we stopped at a Cracker Barrel for some feel-good food. We deserved it after an afternoon of high stress. While we were waiting for our food John went to the car to check the fluids. The car has a minor oil leak and he wanted to make sure the levels were good. The oil well was completely dry and we had only driven about 50 miles since we left Orlando with the tank full. He poured in 3 quarts of oil and came back in to eat.
We talked about it and knew there was only one thing we could do, there was no turning back now, we'd have to make it work...
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| 9:15 PM....11 quarts of oil. |
We would have to buy up as much oil as we could and stop every 50 miles in our 900 mile journey to refill the tank. That's what we did. We bought that Mobil station out of every single quart they had and stopped every 50 miles to refill the tank.
Our journey was supposed to cost about $180- $200 total (for gas and such). But instead it ended up costing $500. Not the price his sister or my in-laws were expecting. The trip was supposed to take about 13 hours and it ended up taking 17, not what we were expecting. The car was supposed to only need a couple quarts of oil to get there, but instead took 24...not what the car was expecting.
But at 7:30 in the morning, when we stopped and saw the Virginia state line, it was all worth it. We had just a couple hours left and a few more oil stops until we were settled and could sleep a bit and enjoy time with family. I tell you, that Virginia sign never looked so good! It was an epic journey, a ridiculous journey, and one we'll look back on and laugh about forever...
Lol! Bummer! I've also experienced horror stories....but this is a great story. An epic one for sure....I love the picture with all of the bottles of oil. It made me smile and feel better about my Tuesday. So, I enjoyed part 1 and will wait for the rest of the story! Sorry the journey was long, but thankful that you made it and that you didn't have to drive the piece of spit back. ;)
ReplyDeletei personally think virginia is the most beautiful place in the US...ok...im partial...it's where im from ;-) but im excited yall enjoyed your trip...regardless of the mishaps, and i cant wait to read the rest <3
ReplyDeleteCraziness! You guys are such troopers. I would have cried and turned around saying "stupid car!" all the way home! I have a history of getting flat tires right before or during church trips. Not fun!
ReplyDeletelooks like fun...growing up my family played this dumb game about who could be in the state first...which meant everyone rolled down the window or reached up to the front of the car to see who could get their hand across state line...looking back I'm surprised we didn't wreck...lol...can't wait to see more photos!
ReplyDeleteOh dear! That is one crazy adventure! I am glad you guys made it, and that you didn't have to drive the car home.
ReplyDeletei remember reading your tweet about this!! i can't believe how much oil that took!! i'm sorry the cost got so much higher. i hate when you plan a cheap trip and it turns out so much more expensive. but i'm glad you had fun!
ReplyDeletei literally laughed out loud when i read,
"look at us....so happy...so naive....
llama cloud."
i don't know why, all i know is it is now on my bucket list to find a llama cloud.
Oh geez. Well I guess it makes a good story right?
ReplyDeletexo
Alexa
www.theshortandthesweetofit.com
Holy cow, ya'll are brave! I would have given up at the first site of the oil leak. Well, at least it was an 'adventure', right!? Looking forward to more on the trip!
ReplyDeleteOh wow!!!! Some crazy adventure you guys had there...but yes, I can just imagine how you felt seeing the VA sign....F.I.N.A.L.L.Y!!!! :)
ReplyDeleteWow definitely sounds like a rough start! But I'm glad you guys can laugh about it now :) Can't wait to see more pictures!
ReplyDelete<3 Belly B
Glad you got there safe :) What an adventure!
ReplyDeleteWow, what an adventure indeed! I really love to visit Virginia once ♥
ReplyDeleteOh goodness - that sounds so stressful! If it makes you feel any better, we're going through 3 weeks of situations like that! Glad you had a great time on your trip once you made it though!
ReplyDeletehahaha that cloud really DOES look like a lama! Weird!!
ReplyDeleteHa, "piece of spit!" That's a good one! Sounds like the car needs to retire in Virginia. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness what an adventure but its true all great travel storys are disasters when they are actually happening and so fun to look back on once they are over!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a lovely time :o)
Oh dear, at least you take lemons and make lemonade adventure!! Hope the rest of the trip went smoothyl!
ReplyDeletewowww that is a drama filled trip, i'm glad you made it!!!!
ReplyDeleteman, i'm thinking you'd have gotten by cheaper just renting a car.
ReplyDeletelove the llama cloud...
What a start to the trip! I'm looking forward to reading about the rest of your time in Virginia. Love the shot of the Lama cloud.
ReplyDeleteWow, life threw you some monkey wrenches on this trip! I think I would've turned around after the 3rd mishap :-) Glad to hear you guys made it to Virginia safe and sound - what a sweet sight that welcome sign must've been!
ReplyDeleteah! what a fiasco, but Virginia looks lovely, I've awlays wanted to go. hope you enjoy your trip belle!
ReplyDeleteOh no!! Ugh. Adult expenses are never fun. Glad you made it to my neck of the woods and had a good trip :)
ReplyDeleteAdult expenses are horrible, but that llama cloud makes up for most of those quarts of oil. Seriously. That is awesome. It's like the Inca trail...in Virginia.
ReplyDeleteawww! these are the kinds of things you'll look back at and laugh out when you think of this trip! sounds like you guys had quite the adventure to start off your trip!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness you poor things!!!! I have to choose to look back on things and laugh sometimes heehee. I am glad it was worth it and you had lovely time :)
ReplyDelete<3
p.s. I am looking for jobs now have graduated and was wondering if you had any tips please :) Thank you!
Omg sounds like it was a nightmare! At least you had a good time :)
ReplyDeleteyou drove through my home state of NC!!
ReplyDeleteanyways, that entire oil situation really, really, really sucks!!! i can't even imagine, my husband would NOT have handled that situation well, ha
and no, i'm not going to the gaga show, she only came to do ONE show in australia and it was a complete one off show that most of the tickets were prizes of raffles and fan competitions... there will definitely be a next time, and i'll be there!
LOL what an adventure!!!! Sounds like my family's car growing up. We drove down to DC once and it was overheating the ENTIRE time and we had to stop every 30 mins or so to check it fluids/let it cool off/etc. hahaha.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I was aware you were having some traveling stress" (via twitter!) but I had no idea.... Hehe, this does (& will for years to come) make a great story, though :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you made it to VA in one piece, and that you enjoyed your trip!! (..Off to read part II !)
What a story!! That is so crazy and funny (now) of course. I just told Josh (hubby) and he said they had to do the same thing for his bachelor party (drove from Erie to NYC, about 7-8 hours normally, took about 11) and they had to stop and keep adding transmission fluid. (guy's car ended up dying a few weeks later, hope that doesn't happen to your sister-in-law's!)
ReplyDeleteI have been trawling through your travel stories! Loved the pics (soooooo want to come to America even more now)! Can't believe the car took 24 bottles of oil, is that some kind of record? Kudos to you and John for sticking with it! My fiance and I once did a trip in his beat-up old Mini and we had to pull the ignition out because the car wouldn't start when we stopped - I had to hold the wires together for about an hour whilst receiving numerous electrical shocks. It was a dark day in that car, a very dark day!
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