Saturday the 14th?

As you know, yesterday was Friday the 13th. I'm not one who puts much thought into superstitious dates like that, so I didn't give it much thought. However, perhaps I should have, as some idiot drunk driver smashed into B's parked car early this morning. Technically, it was already the 14th, but I'm pretty sure those Friday the 13th movies extended into Saturday the 14th sequels...anyway, I can't believe that happened! Poor B has some of the worst luck of anyone I know.

Here's a recap of what I know: I went to bed around 2:00 am and fell asleep soundly. The next thing I know, B is shaking me awake at about 5:00 am and telling me to get up because someone has smashed into her car and the police are here. I was completely out of it, but I crawled out of bed and threw on my jacket, a hat, and my boots. Sure enough, when I went outside, the police were there and her car had been smashed. So sad. The idiot hit it hard enough that her car actually moved and the bumper is cracked and pieces of the wheel well are all over the ground. We aren't sure if it's driveable, so B arranged for a tow later this afternoon. Boo, boo, boo.

In good news, our neighbors heard the crash and called the police immediately. In more good news, that same neighbor, or perhaps another neighbor (we don't know for sure) stopped the driver from fleeing, so the police were able to arrest him. The officer said the driver was drunk, and he also said he was uninsured. Of course the jackass was! Nice. A side note: Seriously people, don't drive if you don't have insurance. My friend Paige was recently involved in a similar accident involving an uninsured driver, but she wasn't as lucky, as no one stopped the driver who hit her and he got away. Grr - take responsibility for your actions people! Anyway, the officer said the court would require the jackass that hit B's car to pay restitution to either us or B's insurance, which is good (if the jackass ever pays). In bad news, we have to cover B's insurance deductible and go without a car for a while, but in the grand scheme of things, that's okay. Really, I'm just relieved the guy didn't come driving down the street an hour later, as he could have careened right into B as she left for work...a smashed car seems insignificant in comparison to that scenario!

So, even though the whole thing really sucks, and I'm sad for poor B, I also feel pretty decent about it too. It's great to know we have such fantastic neighbors, and it's great that B is okay. All in all, and based mostly on some ridiculous horror movies, that clearly wasn't the worst Friday the 13th/Saturday the 14th thing that could have happened. :)

Hope your Valentine's Day started off better than ours! Love to all!

Update on B's car

Beth's car made it to MN today! I met the truck driver at Morrie's Hyundai in Saint Louis Park, and there it was! Yay! I signed for it and then went inside to talk to the service folks. The guy there didn't know much about what was going on, but at least B was in their system.

Later on, B called them and they told her that they needed the broken parts...which I'm pretty sure are still in Montana. I hate Montana Import Group. I called them AGAIN and after a million "young lady"s, he said he would talk to his tech and have the parts sent to Morrie's. I sure hope he follows through, but I think we will be calling them everyday to make sure they do, as follow through doesn't seem to be there thing. An odd thing though - the guy at Montana Import Group said something about how they drove the car onto the truck...which means the parts are IN the car. WTF is wrong with those people? The parts are either in the car or they are not - figure it out and tell us and Morrie's. I'm not a mechanic - I don't even know where to look for those parts! Freakin' idiots!

Hopefully, Morrie's will just look at the car tomorrow and let us know if the parts are there or not. Otherwise, lord knows when the car will be fixed. Hyundai in general is not impressive, but I can't do much complaining until they fix the car, as I want that done soon. Sigh. Stay tuned!

National Park Road Trip - Day 10

Monday, August 11, 2008:

Today started off well, as Manda and I woke up, had waffles for breakfast again, went to Walmart to drop off our whitewater rafting film, and then found a good laundromat to wash all of our stuff from the trip. We entertained ourselves with Phase 10, and our clothes were finished before we knew it. Then it was off to lunch at a little place called The Garage. Not as good as Ted's Montana Grill, but we got to sit outside and the weather was perfect. A nice beginning to the day.

Earlier, we realized we had forgot to grab the sleeping bags to wash, so we went over to the car dealer and picked them up. Back to the laundromat and to more Phase 10. As we were finishing up the sleeping bags, we received a devastating phone call from the car dealer (Montana Import Group, so you know to avoid it if you ever wind up in Bozeman, unlikely I know): one of the parts was backordered, and it would MAYBE arrive by the end of the week. For some reason, the idiot, who consistently called me little lady and young lady, had no idea where the parts were. He also said that he couldn't tell they were backordered when he first ordered them. I call bullshit: I think he probably forgot to order them on Saturday, and then realized late on Monday that he better order them ASAP. That's when he discovered they were backordered, but since the jackass had made us stay in Bozeman all weekend, he figured he better make up a lie. My version of the story is backed up by Hyundai corporate, which says he should have known they were backordered as soon as he ordered them. Jackass. Seriously, avoid that place like the plague. Total incompetence. When I get settled, I'm honestly going to look into legal options, as the fuckers still made us pay for the overnight shipping costs for the parts we never received! What a joke!

So, at this point, we are pretty much screwed. I cannot stay any longer, as I need to get back and get ready for Alaska. Manda could stay behind and wait, but who knows when the parts really would arrive. The end of this week? The end of next week? God only knows. It doesn't help that Bozeman and basically all of Montana is a blackhole of nothingness. Insanity. We could only shell out so much money for a hotel, so we started to come up with new ideas.

Eventually, we settled on shipping the car home and finding a rental to drive home. Poor Beth was roped into helping us AGAIN, and she found a place that would eventually pick up the car and deliver it to a Hyundai dealer in the Twin Cities. That is not a cheap option, but we had no other choice at that point. I felt a little better once we figured out that solution...until I returned to the hotel and discovered that renting a car (at least one that would fit our stuff) would cost well over a thousand dollars. I completely lost it at that point. Shipping the car home cost about that much too, and I simply could not afford that much for a rental car, on top of the hotel as well, and the car we had to rent over the weekend. I was basically sitting at the computer sobbing, and Manda was on the phone trying to figure out other options. At one point, her husband was going to drive 12 hours one way to get us, and Beth volunteered to do the same thing. I also looked into flights, but they were quite expensive too.

Finally, we had some luck. Manda had called her insurance to make sure they would cover rental cars, and they said, yep, no problem, AND we have discounts at Hertz. So Manda pulled up Hertz.com and found us a Ford Explorer for WAY less (still not cheap, but less than $1200!). This time, I about cried for joy, and she booked the car. We finally had everything figured out, and we were going home the next day. Thank God - I was so ready to get the hell out of nowhere. Relaxing is great, but wow, holy desolate.

I also felt a bit worried that the universe was maybe trying to tell us something - maybe I'm not supposed to go to AK, maybe we were going to crash on the way home, etc. I'm not sure, but I do know that I'm still going to AK. If it's my time to go, I guess it's my time.

In bad news, poor Beth now has to wait for a semi to make it's way to Bozeman to pick up her car and return it to the Twin Cities. The company said it normally takes 3-5 days for pick up, but lord knows what will happen since the car is in Bozeman. Also, Hyundai won't order the parts for her car until they see it (even they noted the incompetence of Montana Import Group, saying that they kept receiving conflicting information about what parts were broken - morons). So, if the parts are still on backorder, God knows when B's car will be fixed. Good thing she can use mine while I'm in AK. Oh, to top it off, the idiots at Montana Import Group (I'm using the full name a lot so this will maybe show up when people google it) took out the two parts that are supposedly broken, so the car is missing those parts regardless...I do wish Hyundai would just order them for her, but we've tried to convince them and they seem firm in their position. Understandable given the idiocy at Montana Import Group and the high price of the parts, but still a bummer nonetheless. The car is completely inoperable right now - can't even start. Sad.

Hopefully, B's car will make it here quickly and the Hyundai dealer here can fix it rapidly. I think the universe owes that to me, B, and Manda, but we'll see. The universe doesn't seem to like me much right now, but maybe it will come through for those two. Fingers crossed!

PS: Kam, I'm thinking about you, your mom, and your family. I love you, and I'm here for you. My bad experience pales in comparison to what you are going through, and I recognize that. All my best, KTD!

National Park Road Trip - Day 8

Saturday, August 9, 2008:

I set the hotel alarm for 9:00, as I wanted to take advantage of breakfast and because the car dealer opened at 9:00 too. I went downstairs and made some waffles for Manda and me, and I also grabbed a bunch of other food. It all tasted delicious, and then I watched the Olympics as we waited for dealer to call. Finally, the call came, and with it the bad news: two things are broken (power steering belt tensioner and harmonic balancer), it's not driveable, and they can't get the parts until Tuesday. That's WITH overnight delivery. What kind of place is this? Seriously? But, since I figured this news was coming, I was quite okay with it. I promptly called the hotel desk and extended our stay until Tuesday.

In good news, everything but the shipping cost for the parts is covered under the car's warranty. I'm glad Beth bought a Hyundai (I'm not sure if I ever mentioned I was driving her car, but I'm pretty sure I have), as they seem to come with super long warranties. Whew! The hotel will cost enough as it is!

I then called the dealer back and asked if we could drive the car around Bozeman for the weekend, as I want to do laundry and see the cute little town. He checked with the technician, and it turns out that would be a very bad idea. Even just a little driving. Crazy. We are so damn lucky we made it here from YNP, honestly. Thank goodness!

So, I've spent today lounging around the hotel, watching more olympics, watching a movie, and blogging. I might go swimming later, and then I'll probably go to bed early again. Tomorrow, we are going to try to get shuttled to the airport, as I rented a car for Sunday-Tuesday. That way, we can go do our laundry (which will save me some time before my AK trip) and we can check out the sights in Bozeman and maybe Butte or something (if there are sights, who knows?). Basically, I've been relaxing, and it's been fantastic. I really, really, really needed some down time after the bar exam, and now a broken car is forcing me to take it. Life is funny that way.

So far, it's rained at the same time both days here, which I guess is normal. The weather seems to come off the mountains, and it whips up storms really quickly. The trees really whip in the wind, and I cannot imagine what a blizzard would be like here. Insanity! Also, there is a Walmart Super Center across the parking lot from us, so we can get anything we need without a car. Nice (even though I hate Walmart, I think I'm justified in shopping there this time).

Hopefully the car can be fixed by noon on Tuesday, and then we are off toward Minnesota. If everything goes well, I'll be home by Wednesday, which is when I would have been home if we had gone to Glacier. Odd, but again, that's life. On Saturday, it's off to Alaska with my dad...if I really do make it out of Bozeman! Fingers crossed for that!

PS: We brought way too much food on the trip - oh well, it was good to have choices and we never went hungry. :)

National Park Road Trip - Day 7

Friday, August 8, 2008:

I woke up pretty early on Friday to break camp and pack up the car. I wanted to get going ASAP, as the park service station opened at 8:00 and I knew we needed the car checked out, as we couldn't drive 1000+ miles with it making that sound. It seriously sounded awful. So, we eventually got everything packed up and headed over to the station. The fellas there took a cursory look at it and guessed it was the idler pulley, which has something to do with holding a belt in place. They said they wouldn't have the parts for days, and I said, "well, is it driveable? There is a Hyundai dealer 90+ miles away in Bozeman, MT." Manda piped in with, "and if we drive it and it breaks, will it hurt the car more?" The guy said, well, you can drive it, and it won't hurt the car, but once it breaks, the car will not function. Having very little choice, I said, okay, I'm going to aim for Bozeman. The fellas then said, make sure you drive through the park, as we can come tow you if you break down, and then they gave us a list of phone numbers and service stations in the area. That can never be a good sign!

We started off, frantically trying to call the dealers in Bozeman and Billings, MT and one in Idaho Falls. Right away, I could tell we were in trouble, as all the dealers said they didn't have the parts, and the one in Bozeman wasn't sure they could look at the car on Friday anyway. Undeterred (seriously, this place is the middle of nowhere, so we had no choice), we headed off to Bozeman. I knew our best chance of ever leaving WY/MT was a Hyundai dealer, and I was determined to make it.

It turned out that the drive to Bozeman was more than 100 miles, and it was through the park and then through treacherous mountain stretches. To exacerbate things, our cell phones only worked once we hit towns, and towns are about 25-30 miles apart. I had Manda reading every mile marker to make sure we knew where we were, and I set little goals along the way - if I can make it five more miles, I can walk into the nearest town, if we make it to within 50 miles of the city, AAA will tow us, etc. Additionally, I called Beth every time the phone worked to let her know where we were. It might have been the most stressful 100 miles I've EVER driven in my life. I held onto the wheel with both hands and basically prayed that if it stopped working, I would be able to control the car long enough so we could stop without crashing or driving off the side of the mountain. Finally, we came out of the wilderness and started approaching Bozeman. I don't know if I've ever been so relieved to see a "city" in my life (Bozeman is really more like a big town).

We called the dealer, and they told us to bring it in at 2:00 and that they would try to look at the car that day. We then started calling hotels and found a reasonably price room at the Comfort Inn where we could check in early. We went and checked in and hauled most of our personal stuff out of the car. We then took showers and brought the Santa Fe back to the dealer. We were then shuttled back to the hotel, where we waited for a phone call...and waited...and waited. Finally, at about 5:45, fifteen minutes before their closing time, Manda called them and they said they hadn't fully decided what it was yet - I think this means they hadn't looked at it yet. At that point, we called down to the desk and told them we would need to stay Saturday night too. In my gut, I figured we would be here until at least Monday, probably Tuesday, but we held out a little hope.

Manda ordered us dinner from Old Chicago, we watched the Olympic opening ceremony, took baths, and went to bed early. Despite the major upheaval, I felt really quite okay with the entire situation. I was just so thrilled that we made it to Bozeman, so I didn't care that much about being trapped here. Plus, our hotel room looks out onto the Rocky Mountains, so it's quite pretty. Safety is the most important thing, and we are both alive and okay!

On a sidenote, it's too bad I couldn't pay attention to the scenery on the drive here, as it was truly beautiful. Streams and rivers, mountains, you name it. Plus, we saw some whitewater rafters going down what looked like a very challenging river - they had helmets, which definitely says something. I wouldn't mind coming back to Montana again, at least this part. Maybe someday!