The Fifth Wheelers: Break Down!

For months now we have been planning a long weekend in Idaho. Ken's Brother J and his family have lived in Meridian Idaho for years and his younger Sister E and her family have moved near there too. Ken spread the news of our trip and his younger Brother S and his wife came up for the weekend as well.

Friday went great, Ken worked that day and so I packed the car and Baby J and I picked Ken up when the work day was over and we drove happily north to Idaho. We stayed in Oakley with some great friends, the Nelsons. I don't know why they like us, but we sure like them. After a fun evening of chatting and a really bad night of sleep- thanks to the fact that Baby J woke up screaming every hour (I think he was scared of the different surroundings and possibly the lack of white noise)- we set off for the Boise area.

Things went great until we got off the freeway. We were about to turn left onto the street that lead to J&T's house when the engine stopped. I discovered that "Kate+Baby J+packed Car" was really hard for Ken to Push, so I jumped out and discovered that I could push and steer at the same time- I felt so good about my abilities, soon a young man came to help Ken push and we were able to get the car safely off to the side of the road.

Lots of people stopped to help and tell us what they thought, most of them were pretty sure it had to do with the fuel pump/filter/coil. We decided pretty quickly that we better get a tow truck. As we were the last to arrive at the Mini Reunion everyone we were coming to see were off having fun hiking to a waterfall- we were able to get a hold of them and they gave us the name of a Mechanic that they heard was reputable.

Baby J wasn't worried at all, he thought this was just another stop to stretch our legs and he quickly became friends with the plants and dirt that were so plentiful around him.

A kind helper drove the Baby and I to J&T's house, he was not an axe murderer as you can tell, because I am still alive. The Tow Truck came and took our car to the Auto Shop that we had been told about- but it was now 5:30pm on the Saturday before Memorial Day. The shop had closed at 5, Ken left the keys and a note in the drop box, and his Brother picked him up and brought him back to his house. And the waiting began.

Now I have to tell you about a Tender Mercy. Ken had actually taken Tuesday off, and our plan had always been to stay until Tuesday, so as long as the car could be fixed on Tuesday. we would be fine, no schedule workdays would be missed. I thought about this a few times over the weekend and was always amazed at how that had worked out.

We had tons of Fun, I won't detail it all here. But do not fear there will be posts with video and pictures coming soon.

Tuesday morning the Mechanics pulled the car into the shop and found that the fuel pump, filter and just about everything else looked fine. The problem- A Fuse- the #5 Master fuse to be exact. $8 part. $85 of labor. We were off and running. That is until I convinced Ken that we needed to stop in Burley at the Wal-Mart (for chocolate) and McDonald (for fat filled Hamburgers). Within a minute of resuming or trip the Check Engine light came on.

What do we do now? ARRGGHH. So we pull of at the Rupert Exit, and call my Uncle R (Owner and Operator of our normal Auto Shop). We were told that we would be fine driving the 300 miles home, and that we should not worry unless the light started to flash or we started to lose power. And we were fine. I took the Car into the shop Yesterday and the reason for the blown fuse and the check engine light were both discovered and fixed, we also got an oil change! YEAH!

So what does baby J think of all this?