A Tale of Two Trucks

Yesterday (Wednesday) was one of those days that should have been really awful, but somehow turned out to be kind of fun because we got to spend it together.


Let me preface this story by saying that we (more like Greg) own two trucks. Don't be too impressed--one is an older (by older I mean 1978) brown beauty that Greg bought in college and will never part with. It's his baby, has seen us through some great times, and has far too many memories to ever let it go. (Like I used to drive my carpool in it when I was teaching at Payson Middle School. Those were good times...) Anyways, the other one is a newer truck that Greg uses for work.


Greg had some training he was attending in SLC this week and has also been doing some remodeling on my brother's rental apartment, so we drove the newer truck down and spent the first part of the week together in SLC. The older truck has been at Greg's uncle's shop in Springville for the past few weeks getting a new engine put in and was ready to be picked up. We picked up the truck Tuesday night, it was running like a champ, and all was well. I needed to be home Wednesday afternoon to coach soccer and take dinner to a friend in the neighborhood who broke her ankle. The plan was for Greg to come home later in the older truck and Garrett and I would drive the newer one home.


I left Greg's parents' house in SLC at about 1:00 PM Saturday and had been driving for about 5 minutes when the newer truck started seizing up and the steering locked. I put it in neutral and tried starting it several times before it fired up again and I drove a few more blocks when it happened again. I managed to get it into a parking lot and called Greg. It was going to take him awhile to get there, but thanks to some serious tender mercies, I just happened to be in the parking lot of a major shopping center with several of my favorite stores. SCORE! I put Garrett in his stroller and off we went to explore. (I just hate it when I'm forced into situations with nothing to do but shop.) :) We wandered around for about an hour before Greg was able to get there.


His plan was for me to drive the older truck home and follow him in the newer truck while he would try to baby it home and get it to the dealer. I was nervous about this plan for several reasons. It was about an hour and a half drive, the older truck is a manual transmission and I'm not great at driving a stick, and I was nervous about having Garrett on I-15 in a truck that wasn't running well. Greg reassured me that all would be well and if we needed to, we could just tow the newer truck home with the older truck and its brand new and improved engine. (I was less than thrilled with this option, but it was better than any of the alternatives.) I hopped in the older truck and hadn't even pulled out of the parking lot when it killed on me. I thought it was just my rusty stick-shift driving skills and kept trying to get it to start, but no luck. Greg pulled up beside me in the other truck and it quit running at about the same time. So there we were, two dead trucks blocking traffic in the middle of a busy parking lot!

We managed to get the newer truck started again and used it to push the old truck out of the way and into a parking stall. I'm sure we were quite a sight! (Don't worry--Garrett slept through the whole thing.) Props to the punk-looking/tatoo sporting/body piercing/underage smoking Gothic kids who stopped TWICE to make sure we were okay and see if there was anything they could do to help. (Talk about a lesson in judgment!) Double thanks to Greg's little bro Matt who dropped everything and came to our rescue. He let Greg borrow his car to go to Autozone and then took Garrett over to Burger King and even played outside with him on the playground. Garrett was in HEAVEN!

Courtesy of the good folks at the Daimler Chrysler Corporation and the extended warranty we are SO GLAD we bought, a tow truck showed up shortly to tow the newer truck to a dealer in SLC to get fixed. Meanwhile, Greg climbed under the older truck in the parking lot and put in a new starter. (Apparently there was some problem with the compression of the new engine and the old starter. Greg explained it to me in great mechanical detail, but that's about all I remember.) Sure enough, the thing fired right up as soon as he was done. Way to go, Greg! MAN OF THE YEAR! Is there anything this guy doesn't do???

We buckled Garrett's carseat in the middle of the old beast and headed on our way. I wish I could say our story stopped there, but the fun is just beginning! We were rolling down I-15 and just about to Layton when the truck started chugging and kind of lurching. We pulled off to the side of the freeway while Greg messed with it and finally got it started again. We got going again and got off the freeway and took the old Highway 89 home. The truck would run fine for a few minutes and then start the chugging/lurching routine again. Finally, the thing died and we came to a stop right in front of Low Book Sales in Layton. The lovely employees of the place all stood in the parking lot and stared at us while we tried to get it started again. Luckily, we were just about half a block away from an Autozone, so Greg ran over there for more parts while the Low Book Sales creeps continued to stare at me and Garrett. I kept thinking someone would come over to help or offer us a drink or make a lame joke about how we need a new car, but NOPE, they just watched us. NOTE TO SELF (and others): Never buy a car from Low Book Sales.

Anyways, Greg got back from Autozone, monkeyed with the truck some more, and finally got it started. We slowly chugged our way home--round about Tremonton (about half an hour) from our house, the thing started running like a dream and we made it home safely at 9:00 PM. (A mere 8 hours after my original departure!)

Despite the craziness, Greg and I found the whole situation quite humorous and would just look at each other and laugh every time something else would go wrong. At one point, Greg just looked at Garrett and said, "Well, who do you think should say the prayer this time?" Garrett was an ANGEL and was (and is) such a GOOD, GOOD BOY! He loved sitting in the front seat of the old truck (so safe, I know) and having a great view of the road while being stuck between his ma and pa. (He still thinks we're pretty cool, so we're going to capitalize on that all we can before he realizes the truth.)

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS night, and our need to stay off the freeway led us through some back roads and beautiful scenery we'd never seen before. Greg and I both commented to each other that although it wasn't necessarily an ideal way to do it, it gave us a break from our busy lives and gave us some time to spend together as family--just the three of us!

I'm happy to report that the old truck is running like the champ we know and love, and the new truck should be as good as new come Monday when we pick it up. YEEHAW! (Let me just mention one more time how grateful I am for that extended warranty...)