The back to NY saga.....

092, originally uploaded by megan bauer.

This photo has nothing to do w/ my trying to get back to NY story, but I have tons of Thanksgiving photos to post....so I thought I better add one. This was from Thanksgiving Day.

We decided to head back to Bville on Saturday morn instead of our original plans to leave on Sunday morn. It was a super short trip this time, only 6 full days so we were hoping to stay until Sunday. But as luck would have it, the Midwest was supposed to get a "big snow storm" on Sunday, so we decided we better make a go for it. Now....bear in mind this "big snow storm" was for an advertised 1/2 to 1 inch of snow. I'm not kidding. It was the big story on the news "first accumulating snow fall!!!" "Use precautions", etc....St. Louisans are snow weenies. But, hey, I'm with them which is why I'm currently hibernating in my house and won't come out (unless absolutely necessary...groceries, school, work) until April. Sorry, back to the story. So, we're leaving Saturday morn. Goal time: 6 AM. Actual departure time: 9 AM. Close enough. All was well until we hit the middle of nowhere, Putnamville, Indiana. I'm driving and I notice the temperature gauge rising...the warning light comes on...and I'm all "Houston, we have a problem." No exits in sight. We kept driving and suddenly my car starts this super annoying warning beep "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP BEEP" Who knew cars did such a thing??? We figured the car meant business and since the temperature gauge was now over H we started discussing what we would do when the car started on fire. "You grab the baby." "Boys, take off your seat belt and get ready to jump." Finally, an exit. Welcome to Putnamville, IN. Absolute nothing in sight, but one hole in the wall gas station. I call a tow/auto service station that the (very friendly) gas attendant gives me. They tell me that they closed at noon (it was 1 pm), but they would see if they could find someone to give us a tow and look at the car. This is the best part: because 5 people and a tow truck driver can't fit in a tow truck. The man tows us (I'm not kidding) while we remained in the mini van. He promised to go slow and on back roads....but he did not, I repeat, DID NOT go slow. (he did go over hilly back roads, though). So, we cruised over hilly back roads at crazy speeds reclined 45 degrees on our back. The driver told us this is not only illegal, but also dangerous (you don't say...). In the middle of praying, Eddie and I couldn't stop laughing. The story has a happy ending. The auto service game looked at the car and found a broken pipe that he was able to repair and after 2 hours and 150.00(including tow!) we were on our way and made it home at 230 AM. Could have been much worse: it could have been Sunday or later in the day on Saturday and we wouldn't have been able to get a hold of the auto service guy. It could have been freezing or snowing, because I stood outside w/ the boys for 1.5 hours while he fixed our car. They might not have had the part. It could have taken longer to fix. They could have charged us WAY more to fix it. The engine could have started on fire or burned up. It could have been WAY worse.