The deal with my car

Driving up to Western Oregon University; my car packed to the gills, my brother by my side and a whole lot of car troubles.  We were making great time and were looking forward to lunch in Boise when we heard a terrible noise and my car decided it no longer wanted to move.  Stranded near Twin Falls, Idaho we were able to find a mechanic who was open on a Saturday and was able to tow us into town.

The diagnosis was that my AC compressor had seized up which shredded the serpentine belt.  A used compressor was nowhere to be found and a new one (around $1300) could only be located in Boise and would be available Monday.  Looking like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place I talked to my dad who asked to speak to the mechanic.  My dad suggested that they try a shorter belt that could bypass the AC compressor and allow me to get back on the road and into Oregon before my move-in time (which was Sunday at Noon).  The mechanic agreed to this and was able to locate a shorter belt.  After spending nearly 3 hours past closing time in his shop, and taking the nail out of my tire, the guys at Addison Car Care sent us back on the road.

We lost about 4 hours dealing with the breakdown, but I had a lot of support from back home, both in my nuclear family as well as in my BACA family.  We had only broken down for about 15 minutes when I started getting calls from BACA members in Idaho offering their assistance.  I don't know that 20 years ago I ever would have guessed that I could be nearly anywhere in the country and be mere miles from a BACA brother or sister.  But that's another post for another day.

Without further complications we made it into Salem, Oregon late and crashed hard.  The next morning we got some breakfast then headed out to Monmouth (about a 15 minute drive).  We drove to the few places we needed to go around campus, got all my stuff moved into my apartment, then headed out to run some errands and see the Oregon coast.  About 1 mile away from campus my car started acting funny.  I pulled over and popped the hood and was absolutely heartbroken to see that my new serpentine belt had walked off its track.  We got towed back to my apartment complex and tried to figure out what to do since no mechanic is open on a Sunday.  I tried to put it out of my mind so that I could focus on surprising my cousins, aunt and uncle.  Luckily the Boyacks live within walking distance from my apartment.

The actual surprise is a story to be revealed in another post, but for now I'll just say it was quite funny and long-lived.  Very kindly we were invited to stay for dinner, over which my car troubles were brought up, as was the fact that my cousin's husband Ray is a mechanic.  A fact that I had totally forgotten.  In exchange for babysitting Ray offered to take a look at my car.  After several trips to AutoZone and a more complicated issue than was originally thought, my car finally started running again!

I was so excited to finally be able to go grocery shopping and to get the few things I still needed.  The next day I went out and my car wouldn't start.  By this time I was beginning to get a bit frustrated and wondered if I'd be stuck in Oregon forever.  Luckily it was only a dead battery and after a quick jump start I was on the road!  Of course, just a few minutes onto the road and I got pulled over, but he let me off with just a warning. :)

Unfortunately, I'm still dealing with some weird electrical issues (one of which being that my headlight sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, which is why I got pulled over--it wasn't working at the time).  But my car is running more often than not and allowing me to get from point A to point B without too much trouble.  Lucky for me campus is small enough that I do pretty well without a car, and it gives me some much needed exercise as well!

I am here

Sometimes I feel like I need to pinch myself to assure myself that I'm not dreaming.  Or find one of those maps with the star marker that tells me definitively where I am.  I almost feel like I've been transported to another world.  Then I realize that it's not a dream; that this beautiful campus and beautiful city are a mere 800 miles away from home.  And despite feeling like a magical teleportation that brought me here, it was actually quite an ordeal.

Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or the deep fog that rolled in on our way here that made the move feel so otherworldly, but now that I'm here, settled, and my car is (finally) running pretty well, Western Oregon University is starting to feel like home.