"The Stang"

Yes...this is "she". Yes...that is "he" (in the driver's seat). This shot...taken just after Tony ran over a dead calf. I tried to warn him! Thankfully there was no "body" damage, but...plenty of damage to the right side muffler.

I wasn't going to write a whole post tonight...it's been nuts...nuttier than ever. My work is piling up and Tony's taken the entire fricken garage apart...it'll soon be spotless and insulated to boot. Oh the things we wives put up with...mind you...if I didn't like the car so much myself...it might be a different story.

So anyways.............the dreaded alarm blew it's whistle at 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning. We were out the door by 5:00 a.m., through the U.S. border by 6:00 a.m. and into Spokane by 11:30 a.m. We went from 3 degrees to 24 degrees...darkness to blinding morning sunrise....mountainess (sp?) roads to desert and flat, straight highway. My "beast" drove a cool 88 miles an hour without any problems...and yes...I was the driver. I don't get driven..........well....... *ahem*

We arrived in the most uncomfortable of neighborhoods. Mannequin's and dogs chained up barking and frothing as we drove by. Broken down cars and furniture littering front lawns. Shady looking guys driving by in pick-ups looking like they're ready to jump you (and not in a good way). Thankfully the seller of the car was in a decent looking home and the car was tucked away nicely in a huge garage out back. Almost instantly Tony knew that he picked the right one. I just stood back and watched him try to not keep from jumping up and down. In a calm coolness he checked her over from top to bottom, left to right and then in a moment where it was just he and I.....he said, "it's sold".

In the end, I think the seller knew that he had priced this car way too low for the quality. In the end, Tony knew he was getting better than he had expected and a car that was well worth more. In the end, I almost felt a little sorry for the seller. But in the end....he was happy with where the car was going and with the plans for it's future. And finally…in the end, Tony was thrilled!

Now the ride back…which Tony was seriously second questioning this whole idea and even had a crazy thought to get it towed….yes, it’s that nice of a car.

Anyways rather than push the car and drive it the full 700 kms (400+ miles) home in one day, especially as the engine was a rebuild and barely had 500 miles on it at that point...we decided to drive from Spokane to Bellevue that day...can we say "numb bum"!?...and then Bellevue to home, the next. Thankfully the ride was extremely flat and straight...
making it much easier on Tony who had to get to know the feel of this baby real quick. At one point we’re going along the I90, Tony in tow (I guess I was to be the designated “bug catcher” for the ride)…when we came up to a semi (actually we caught up to a few of them, since we stayed in the right lane for the most part). I knew Tony had to monitor his speed (55 miles for a while, 65 for another while, 75 for another while and then we start the whole process again….all to do with the new engine and the distance she was going) so I wasn’t sure where he was at at this point, but this guy was going just a little too slow for me. I decided to take a pass and watch what Tony decided to do….I passed and he tucked himself nice and close behind the rear of the trailer. Okay…fine. After about 10 miles I think the driver of the semi figured out we were together and kind of “fathered” us…don’t ask me how I knew…I just did.

So I’m driving along, when I see something lying on the road….it was big….and black. I thought “there’s no way that Tony’s going to spot this one tucked in behind that truck”, so I veered out as far as I could in the left lane….but he didn’t spot me. I thought…”oh shit”….either there’s going to be some damage to that fine specimen of a vehicle or….Tony’s going to have an accident. Well the semi rode over it….and then Tony rode over it…and we kept going…so “whew” no “major” incident (or so I thought). It turned out that it was a calf on the road and the Mustang suffered a crushed side muffler….not a huge deal but…it’ll have to be replaced…and they’re not going for pennies. The rest of the drive was without incident and actually incredibly smooth for Tony and the car. Although I’m not sure how I feel about all the whistles my husband has gotten from the “flag ladies” and other women who stop and stare….not to mention the men?!

We got to Bellevue at around 7:30, that’s 14 ½ hours (less 1 for auto transfer and a Subway lunch) of driving and arrived at the Hotel Sierra….which I will so totally recommend! $150 a night, they moved us up to a “suite” and the most comfortable king size bed in the world!!! Seriously, it was gorgeous!! And breakfast was included…not just one of those dry muffin and sugar glazed pastry kind….this was an omelette (sp?) of your choice, cereal, muffins, fresh fruit, yoghurt, juice, milk, hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, French toast and even Starbucks coffee!!!

Oh but on a side note….we decided to go to dinner after we arrived at the hotel and I had full intentions on hitting “P.F. Chang’s”. I’d only been once (in Boston) and was raving about it to Tony, so he was looking forward to some fried rice. We got there around 8:30 and were starving. Their mistake….handing us the “nutrition menu” along with the food menu. On average their dishes contained 4,000 mg (some most than 7,000) of sodium!!! That’s 7 days worth in one dish!!! That’s killer on the heart!!! Even worse for high blood pressure!! Sadly….we left and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory….they didn’t give us a “nutrition men” and I didn’t want to know.

The rest of the drive was slow and steady, Tony feeling way more comfortable in the car and me enjoying the last bit of sun.

We finally go to the border at around 12:45 and went directly to the Canadian crossing…mistake. The guard let us through, only to tell us that we had to go back into the U.S. (with the vehicle) as we hadn’t “exported” it yet. Thankfully we got a decent U.S. border guard and he did the paperwork in a jiffy….then back through the Canadian side, to fill out more paperwork and pay the 5% GST on the purchase price of the car.

We were homebound!

Hoping to be back in time to pick up Teddy (from school), we missed him but were there to pick up Aleks…..can I just tell you the smile on this kids face was amazing! Teddy’s response…”that’s sic” (new lingo for “awesome”, “sweet”, “amazing”).

And that’s it….everyone in the neighbourhood has come by and the garage has been stripped in order to be insulated and de-cluttered for the newest addition to our family.

Forgive me for any grammar/spelling errors….I know “D” was itching to read something here. ;o)