Whirl Wind Trip to OZ - More Esteem for Princess Five

Princess One called this week and told me that they had saved enough to purchase a better second car. They said we could purchase the car for Princess Five for $200. Later, they just told us to take it but I didn't feel good about just taking it as any running car has value. 
 
They don't use the second car much as Princess One is blessed to stay home with the kids and if she wants to go somewhere, the seats are all in the main car so she will just drop her hubby off at work and use the car for  the day.

They purchased the battery that Walmart suggested which was about half the size of the other three Suzuki Esteem batteries we own. They bought it in November but continually had to jump start the car. 

I had a friend tell me that her husband had decided to go hunting somewhere near Princess One's home so I asked if I could get a ride with him to pick up the car saving me a driver for 10 hours and the gas of a round trip for one car. I was thrilled to get a ride but it is such a busy time for me but you have to jump on these opportunities when you have them so I went ahead and took the ride. 
 
I didn't want to ride the 5+ hour drive in the dark much so I tried to just get there and leave but the car wouldn't start again and we couldn't push it out as it was locked in park even with the key on and foot on brake, we couldn't get it out of park. 

Thank heavens for Auto Zone being open on Sundays! I was able to leave my phone in trade for a portable charger unit. I left it on the car for a few minutes before trying it and it started after a second. They said the alternator needed replacing so I was worried to drive home. 

Prince One said that it makes a horrible noise like a plane taking off and they were told it was the catalytic converter. The guy at Auto Zone sold me some catalytic converter cleaner for $30 for a quart. You put it in at 1/4 tank and drive for 15 minutes and then fill the car with gas. I did that but was afraid to stop as the battery may not start the car so I filled up twice with gas while the car was running which caused me stress.  Just as an aside, I researched online and you can buy a gallon of lacquer thinner 100% and pour it into half a tank of gas and drive 100 miles and it is less than half the cost of the "cleaner" I bought and probably works the same.

A bit of a funny, Princes One is a large man. He is strong. He has broken 2 outside door handles on these cars. So, the drivers side door doesn't open from the outside. You have to open it from the inside, push it out and hope it doesn't close before you run around the car. I must have run around the car 20 times. It was SO frustrating! I finally took a handful of paper towels and stuffed them into the mechanism so the door couldn't close unless I was driving to save myself the headache! 

I have purchased handles before and the wrecking yard that purchased Princess Five's wreck and will probably get some business as we don't need a catalytic converter, it is actually the bearings in the rear axle passenger tire! I may need an alternator and I know they put one in the car that was wrecked 2 years back. We need a new a/c fan which it would have and the door handle. Also the battery from it was working great so I may be paying him back all the money he gave me for the salvage title! ha ha. 

I took the old battery back to Walmart and told them it was the wrong size and they looked it up and it is the only battery they sell for that car and it doesn't have enough cranking amps and the warranty is only for one year as it is a cheap low quality battery. The worker there said they get returns on it all the time and he would never buy one! I know Oriely's, Checker, and Auto Zone carry the right sized battery as  we have purchased them for the Esteems there before.

I was SO grateful to get home after 10 hours on the road and much of that in the dark with loud noises which made it hard to hear the audio book which keeps me a awake! 

The BEST part of my day was getting the sweetest "Hi Gamma" when Grand Princess woke up from her nap while I was there! She gave me the most wonderful snuggles which she doesn't usually give being an active toddler. 

Her brother was NOT a happy camper while I was there as he was hungry. I did get a few smiles out of him before he decided that I was not going to give him what he needed. He did on the flip side, give me what I needed. I got sweet hugs, cuddles and smiles from the best part of my world before having to head off down the road by myself not knowing if I would make it home without breaking down. There are many miles of nothing between our homes and I was stressed with the loud noises and not being able to turn the car off but I was able to make it home just after midnight so it was well worth going to save us having to schedule a time when I had two drivers! 

Of course while i was driving home, I looked down to see "111" on the odometer but by the time I grabbed the camera and snapped a picture, it was 112. At least you know it was 111 a second prior. To me, it was just such a reminder that all things will work out. 

Princess One collects "Wizard of Oz" items and she gave me back some that she decided she didn't want to keep while I was there so I could sell them to help pay medical bills and mission costs. I thought it was appropriate to my "whirlwind" trip. 

Hopefully the Esteem will be able to be fixed with low cost so we can have a car that Princess Five can drive and not worry if it will start or not. Then we can share the town car with someone who may be able to figure out why it only starts sometimes.

We are blessed and I am grateful I was able to see the babies and travel safely through the wilderness making it home safely.