Hello my lovely reader. What a week it has been. Most of the US is caught in a cold snap. I managed to get us into the coldest southern part of it. Kicked myself that I’d made it south out of snow just to make it into the cold part instead of languishing in the warmth for even a little bit.
Texas is so big and the western part of it is very much desert, so I guess it kind of makes sense that I’m doing more driving than exploring. It’s not my favorite way of going, especially when we break down on the side of the road.
Yeah, that totally happened. along the I10,…. It was a cold start morning, and when I checked there was a drip off a part I’d never looked at or realized existed. I googled it while doing laundry and found out it was the oil cooler. Any being smarter than I would’ve probably stayed in the same area instead of heading down the interstate into the middle of no where.
After driving for maybe a couple hours, the engine did a little sputter, the oil gauge shut off, and all power left Matilda. I hit the emergency lights, gliding us to the side of the road.
We were lucky there was cell service. I called Manny who said she may just have overheated and to wait a good hour and if she doesn’t start then, crack the injectors. I also spoke to Peaches who was still clearly unhappy with me and not very helpful at all. My mom gave me her triple A card but it’s for a passenger car and not my oversized Matilda. I posted on Rainbow mechanics forum and called the nearby mechanics. These had no time for at least a few days. So we sat and waited. I did check the oil which looked dark, like usual, steamy though which I thought “yeah she overheated, but it’s also cold out so a bit of steaming wouldn’t be unusual.” The bottom of the oil dipstick had some gunkiness on it. I examined it closely to look for sparkles on it, which I’m assuming would be indicative of a cracked engine, though neither reese nor Manny felt inclined to reveal the logisitics probably because it wasn’t applicable. I put just a bit more oil in remembering the leakage and stuff and things. Coolant seemed topped to the brim so there was no need to add.
Blessed upon blessed, Manny was right! She started! We drove slow and steady to Ozona (15 miles) and stopped at the Napa for a new oil filter and fresh oil. I asked about the oil cooler but obvs they didn’t have that just sitting on their shelf for Matilda.
And so we headed on a bit further. Once darkness fell, so did the temperature and with the humidity it immediately froze onto the windshield. I had to pull over and put hot water bowls under the windshield and use an old card to scrape the windshield. Times as such I wish I carried all the useless shit like ice scraper even though I try to avoid the ice and snow so much.
We stayed the night at a truck stop. We didn’t go as far as we wanted. San Antonio seemed the first place to not be below freezing, but we didn’t drive through there until yesterday late afternoon. We made no money sitting in the truck stop, but we stayed warm and entertained ourselves.
If it wasn’t for Ted and Vicky and Raquell, we would’ve been sad and frozen in place. They donated to our paypal! I feel like we’ve been adopted by Vicky and Ted and couldn’t feel more lucky to have such sweet and kind people giving us support and love! And Raquell! The angel of mysterious kindness.
There seems to be a lot going on and I’m just flailing my arms going “i don’t know what I’m doing!” But I’m trying. I’m trying to feel like I’m making a difference…. or belong…. or at the least am me..
I guess I am doing that. All in all…. But it’s not always comfortable. I just went to the front of the Walmart to use the outlet and grind my coffee beans. It is so cold there’s icicles keeping the hood shut. The rainbow puddles aren’t coming out from under us, so YAY!
I updated the amazon wishlist to include the oil cooler and have it be sent to our winter Nola address. I also opened the list to be able to send other things to said address especially as I feel like I’m incapable of making it a complete list. flailing as per usual.
The kids are listening to Eragon. Galixy just said that she likes this story much better than the Wizard of Oz, which seemed to be her favorite. Though I think it’s simply her aging into the listening. She cried so hard when one of the characters died.
Honestly, I was thinking so much about all the things to include in here, but currently I’m just feeling the flail. The coffee is brewing, dishes need doing, I doubt we’ll be driving today with the cold cold. But it’s only another 8hr drive to get to Nola which could easily take us 3-6 days. Tomorrow the weather shall be returning to nice. Considering pagan traditions of Imbolc it’s said that winter will not last that much longer.
That brings me to whether you subscribe to believing in things or not won’t matter much to the amalgamation of everything. The fact that things have been observed to correlate means one might divulge possible future correlations. Whether that’s a relevant comment currently, unsure, but its something that’s been coming up repeatedly, conversely or in thoughts and abstract.
I keep checking the weather app hoping it lightens considerably….. but that’s just wishful thinking.
Tomorrow the sun shall shine and that’s what I live for I guess. My last Bus plant, the aloe I got from Dot, is looking very unhappy. The pepper plants certainly froze and died and then spilt all the roots and dirts on the floor. Now the pot has tomatoes in it. Like a vine of bought tomatos, not a fresh plant…..
As soon as I finish and upload this, I’m sure I’ll recall the things I missed to write about.
At least I’ve never pretended to be anything but a mess…..
Hope you smile!
Matilda the Bugus 