The Long Haul

It would have been a barn day for Carrie, but the truck threw us a curveball. We suspected a bad wheel bearing. You can drive on one of those until you suddenly can't (and your wheel flops off and rolls away without you). 

Carrie and I had a strategy session. 

If we dropped the truck off somewhere near Richmond, we'd have to go with a dealership or a shop we didn't know. Then we'd have to drive back and get it after moving in. Whatever we had packed in the back would be stuck in transit. On the plus side, it would be a shorter trip and less likely any calamity would befall us.

If we hauled the last bits of the desk to Charlottesville, we could unload and then go to By Word of Mouth auto which Carrie highly approved of. We figured the chances of us hitting a catastrophic fail were low especially since we picked up on it quickly, but there was always a chance something could go wrong.

We decided to pray and head to Charlottesville. We stayed off the Interstate and stuck with backroads. That way we'd be going slower and there would be far less cars around us in case anything went wrong. The route would actually be a shorter distance to travel, as well.

I didn't start Google Map directions until we were nearly in Richmond. We'd stopped to check the wheels and look for any signs of impending doom before committing ourselves.

All in all, the trip took about 3 hours with another quick stop. Almost twice as long as usual.

Carrie's shop was north of town, so it was another chunk of (thankfully) uneventful miles to get there.

After Carrie locked the truck and deposited the key, she noticed the hazard lights were still blinking! I found this far funnier than Carrie, but even she had to (sheepishly) admit there was some humor in it.

On Monday, the mechanic said they were still blinking when he showed up to work!

Carrie requested Tropical Smoothie Cafe for linner and then we went to Best Buy to get a mobile router for our new home (a Netgear Nighthawk hooked up to AT&T). It should allow us to have internet the day we move in, but we'll see how it works when it's called upon.

We browsed around a little bit afterward. This TV impressed me.

Look how thin it was! It was like a cellphone for a giant.

When we returned to Grandma and Grandpa's, it was time to release our frog. Sparky passed away earlier in the week, and Carrie didn't want Boom to be alone (It spared Grandma having to feed Boom flies, as well!). Shane and I have seen tadpoles at the pond, so it seemed as good a place as any.

Farewell, Boom. Watch out for ravenous fish if you go into the water.

Shane's been calling us once a day or so to keep in touch. We've kept him in the loop about most things, but A) he's 8 and B) he's living it large at Nana and Pop's. I'll switch it up and do some Shane adventure posts when I get pictures from Nana and Pop at some point.