greetings from the best western in cedar rapids
After postponing our trip home by a day to avoid bad weather in Iowa, we thought we could make it all the way back to Wisconsin in one shot. The Fates heard of our plans and laughed heartily and then They thought they'd play a nice little joke on us. About 30 miles south of Cedar Rapids we suddenly heard a loud rumbling, purring noise outside the car. "Stupid trucks," said Stuart. But there were no trucks near us. No, in fact, it was OUR CAR making the terrible, vibrating noise.
You know, usually when your muffler's about to go, you get a little warning. Your car gradually gets louder and when it's convenient, you take it in someplace and dump a bunch of money to get a couple pipes replaced. The time it happened to us all of a sudden of course had to be when we were on the road several hours away from home. We thought we could endure the noise of the engine for the rest of the trip, and we even thought we could endure the extra noise and cold of having the windows partway open (to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, dontcha know!), but when we stopped for dinner, Stu and I took a look under the car and saw that, lo, the entire exhaust system is hanging by the proverbial thread. We solicited advice. My parents' cell phone is off (they're at a family reunion); my brother recommended that we keep going but buy some wire at a gas station in case we have to re-attach the muffler (in a cozy bed of slush in the pitch-dark with two fussy kids in the back seat - no thanks!); Stu's dad thought we should sit tight until the thing is fixed. We're going with the last option. It seems the safest.
So here we are at the Best Western in Cedar Rapids, wishing we'd brought stuff for swimming (they have a pool), watching The Sound of Music on TV, and drinking leftover boxed wine from my birthday party. It could be worse, I suppose! But you know what? Tomorrow's my birthday, and I'd rather not spend it in the Midas Muffler waiting room! (I think we'll at least get take-out tomorrow night for dinner.)
You know, usually when your muffler's about to go, you get a little warning. Your car gradually gets louder and when it's convenient, you take it in someplace and dump a bunch of money to get a couple pipes replaced. The time it happened to us all of a sudden of course had to be when we were on the road several hours away from home. We thought we could endure the noise of the engine for the rest of the trip, and we even thought we could endure the extra noise and cold of having the windows partway open (to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, dontcha know!), but when we stopped for dinner, Stu and I took a look under the car and saw that, lo, the entire exhaust system is hanging by the proverbial thread. We solicited advice. My parents' cell phone is off (they're at a family reunion); my brother recommended that we keep going but buy some wire at a gas station in case we have to re-attach the muffler (in a cozy bed of slush in the pitch-dark with two fussy kids in the back seat - no thanks!); Stu's dad thought we should sit tight until the thing is fixed. We're going with the last option. It seems the safest.
So here we are at the Best Western in Cedar Rapids, wishing we'd brought stuff for swimming (they have a pool), watching The Sound of Music on TV, and drinking leftover boxed wine from my birthday party. It could be worse, I suppose! But you know what? Tomorrow's my birthday, and I'd rather not spend it in the Midas Muffler waiting room! (I think we'll at least get take-out tomorrow night for dinner.)
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