Okay Mom, here's the whole grand tale.
On Sunday Logan and I were heading home from our weekend trip to Portland, everything seemed to be in order but something went wrong. Clearly, the title wouldn't be "adventures" if we just went home and drank juice. The first bit of irrationally dumb obstacles we encountered was the fact that I-5 was closed from SR 500 to the onramp from I-205. What compounded the madness was that when we were kicked off of I-5 (which I actually didn't believe would happen, I was sure that it was a mistake and that they certainly wouldn't close I-5 on a Sunday... but they certainly would) we didn't know where to go to keep going north! So we called my dad and he told us where to go. Of course just before we got onto 205 we saw a sign that told us people who were trying to go north on I-5 could get there on I-205... why there weren't ANY signs like that on or near I-5 we couldn't guess.
We finally got going where we wanted to be going all along, north. We stopped at a rest area for coffee and the obvious. But when we started out the truck made terrible noises. It was kind of like a clunk, but not a normal clunk, it was like a clunk on steroids, with super powers trying to rip off our front axel... but only when we turned the wheel. Nothing was obviously wrong, which was extremely frustrating. So we called parents for advise and Logan looked under and around the truck but we couldn't figure out what the crap was wrong so we called for a tow.
The rest area was just about exit 54, nearly halfway home. Unfortunately, the closest tow company Logan's insurance found for us was in Longview. So after waiting for an hour or so the tow guy got there and took us back to around exit 36. Grrr... at least the tow guy was cool, Max went from barking at him when he first picked us up to standing on his lap trying to look out his window, it was funny. When we got to the Midas that we'd be told about by the insurance company it was closed, luckily they had a early drop off thing with envelopes to put your keys in so we put our key in and shoved it under the door (we couldn't find a mail slot). Then we called around to try and figure out how we were going to get home. After messing with the truck some more and just kind of sitting around in Longview we got a hold of my Mom. She came up and after some debate we finally decided to head north, she drove us to Centralia I think we got off around exit 82 (after getting stuck in heavy traffic due to an accident :P) and were met by one of Logan's buddies. We went to Fort Lewis and borrowed another buddy's car to drive home (relishing the heated seats :D ) On a good day it takes a bit more than 2 hours to get to Tacoma from Portland, on Sunday it took 9.
The next day Midas called and told us our transfer case was stuck in 4-wheel drive and we needed a new one. A new t case from the factory would run about $1,200 and labor would be about $200 on top of that. Fortunately the Midas guys (who were GREAT by the way) called around and found us one in Chehalis (just south of Centralia) for $450 and said if we could get it to them by around 3 they'd put it in for us same day! So Logan rented a car on post for cheap and we drove to the wreckers where the part was. We were running a bit late but were hoping we could pick the part up quick and get south by around 3:30. But no :P the wreckers said they would have it out by 5 (the Midas in Longview closed at 5:30) so we left grumbling and got ice cream. We finally did get it at 4:45 and got to Midas just before closing. On the way down I had a grand idea, I would stay the night in Portland if we could meet my parents somewhere and then perhaps have my Mom drive me up the next morning, which was when the best Midas employees ever said they'd put it in for us. The other option was Logan and I driving home to Tacoma and then back to Longview in the morning just so we could drive home again in two vehicles. So we called my folks and they said that'd be good.
So I slept over at my parents' house and in the morning we went to Midas and I got my truck all fixed and good and headed home. I only had one stop to make but it turned out to be a messy one. After getting lost and having to turn around at the next exit I dropped our old t-case off at the wreckers to get a deposit back. What I didn't realize when I got there was that they would take it out of the bed for me if I had only backed up to their gate. Instead I heaved it out of the truck and into the shop, the employees there had a chuckle and I just about covered myself in motor oil and dirt :P After leaving I decided I would stop by the Home Depot near our new house to get an application, I got all turned around again and THEN they told me they do all their hiring online. Fine, I'll apply online stupidheads.... Anyway, I was all flustered and annoyed because I'd gotten lost and I was covered in muck so I didn't write all this yesterday.
So there you go... more or less anyway... pretty long...
