Surviving a GM Roadside Breakdown

How We Survived a GM Breakdown


Just to catch you up on what this ‘blog’ is about…it has been emailed to at least 10 people each day and forwarded many times….here we go!!
It all started with a good idea, a project car for my father-in-law and this is what happened over a course of 3 weeks….
Mike and I went to Bethany, IL to pick up a 1930 Model A Ford for Mike’s 84 y/o father. We made the trip from Illinois to Raymore MO with no problems. We left on Jan 16th, to take the car to Clarkdale, AZ. We are driving a 2006 Chevy Silverado DuraMax Diesel Dually and pulling a 28 ft car hauler. We planned on being gone about 10 days total, with drive time….this is what happened…so far. I had no idea this was going to be a story but here goes!!
Part 1 1/19/09
We are currently stranded in Clarendon TX population 4,000! Our truck broke down on Saturday night at 4:45 pm. We couldn't get anyone from AAA to tow the truck and trailer. They wanted us to leave the trailer (with the 1930 Model A) at the rest stop in TX!!! We finally got GM Roadside Assistance to help us. They sent a guy that could have been a twin for Larry the Cable Guy to pick us up. He towed both vehicles at the same time. He was a crack up.....I have stories to tell! We were like New Yorkers in Hicksville.
We are staying at a Best Western which is very nice until we can get our truck fixed. The Chevy dealership, of course, is closed until Monday morning. Who knows how long it will take them to fix it.
As of now we have no car so we have to walk where ever we go. We are next to a Sonic and a Pizza Hut. Sooooooooo needless to say with all that grease I can't leave the bathroom area for long.
I am just thankful that it happened to us and not someone else. We are on no time schedule so we will get to Arizona when we get there. (You might need to remind me of this after I am cooped up in this room for a few days!) K
Part 2 1/20/09
Okay, we spent two glorious nights at the Best Western, eating like scavenger crows. Mike got up early this morning and took the truck to the Chevy dealership. Lo and behold; it was a fuel filter. They changed it in a flash charged us $75+ and told us we were good to go!
Mike came back to the hotel and we packed like jack rabbits. We were on the road at 9:15. We decided to drive Albuquerque NM which was only about 5 hours down the road. We wanted to stay at the Sandia Casino & Resort. It sounded like a great idea.
We made it about 3 hours down the road and you guessed it we broke down again. We literally drove 7 miles on the highway on the shoulder going 10-15 mph. We found a garage that specialized in trucks. Yippee!! Once again we replaced the fuel filter for the 2nd time. We also bought an extra one to have just in case.... $161.00+ later we were on the road again. We drove to a really nasty truck stop to buy a gasoline can and fuel just in case Mike needed to change the fuel filter again. We had a nasty turkey sandwich from Subway. Is your stomach turning yet??? Mine is.
Down the road we go again. We made it 90 miles this time and the engine stopped again! Mike inched his way to the exit to pull off. He climbed out of the truck and removed the filter. Now I made the sound easy but believe me it wasn't. He ended up sitting in the motor compartment trying with all his might to get the filter off. He had one hell of a time getting it lose. By now the tools are flying and the cuss words are intense! I stayed hunkered down in the front seat crocheting without looking up! Finally after bruises, dirt, grease and grime we were on our way again!
We made it exactly 4 miles....4 miles... 4 %^&$# miles. We lost all power once again. Now mind you we are on the highway ( a very busy highway) just barely off the shoulder. We are a big load with the Dually and the car hauler, but semi's are blowing by us like bats out of hell. The truck is rocking back and forth. We gave up and called GM Roadside Assistance again. Our cell phones only work if you hold your head at a 30 degree angle while standing on one foot. We waited on the road for over 2 hours.

Now we are stranded at El Holiday Inn Express’o in Las Vegas NM.
We are el out of towners-o. We are booked for the night waiting for, you guessed it, Pizza Hut to deliver our dinner! That of course means I will be in the bathroom all day tomorrow. I don't think we will be leaving here anytime soon.
Sooooooooo how was your day?
Love K

Part 3 1/21/09
I forgot to tell you about our scenic tour guide/tow truck driver, Mr. Ortega. He showed us where they filmed the movie "No Place for Old Men". It was filmed in the small town of you guessed it Las Vegas, NM!! If I remember correctly that was a big shoot out movie....after staying there I can see why you would want to shoot each other!
I met some new "peeps" in the lobby of the El Holiday Inn-o. We watched the Inauguration in the lobby while munching on stale Danish rolls and Mexican Roast coffee. We absolutely dissed Michelle Obama's dress, loved the guy in the red fedora, but wondered where in the world Aretha Franklin got that hat! I missed her song because Pizza Hut kicked in and took revenge on me once again.
Mike returned to the hotel from the dealership with the truck. After spending an hour with the mechanic, it was determined that nothing was wrong with the truck that broke down on us 3 times the day before. It was as if Tinkerbell came down and waved a magic wand over the truck and ‘Poof!!’ everything was resolved. We packed our belongs, I waved farewell to my new “peeps” and off we went. We held our breath for the next 2 hours. Waiting for the mysterious CHECK ENGINE light to rear it ugly head!
We made it to Albuquerque to a beautiful casino/resort named Sandia. What a beautiful place! We had a great room and a wonderful bathtub. We got the room for $129.00 per night. We gambled for almost 5 hrs and still came out only $40.00 down. That is a success in my book. We looked so forward to having a great meal, I was having vegetable withdrawal. But we walked right by the steakhouse and opted for a frozen cheeseburger and soggy fries. What were we thinking?? It was the $5 special after all! Yucko!! I could hear my stomach rumbling..
Mike found the bar, he and Jack Daniels watched Illinois play basketball at the bar. I continued to test the slot machines. It was a great night. We got up this morning and headed out to the truck at 7:45 am. It was 21 degrees, we of course, had left our coats in the car.
We decided to drive to the next big town, Santa Fe NM. We went to the Wal-Mart there to buy peanut butter and bread in case we were stranded. I heard Julia Roberts lives there but she wasn't at the local Wal-Mart sooooo I will just take everyone’s word that she lives there.
We stopped a couple of times along the way so the truck wouldn't get hot. Whatever we did it worked. The truck just kept running. We started to feel a false sense of security. We stopped for lunch at a brand new casino in Gallup NM. We once again made poor choices for lunch. I had nachos....not good for traveling in close quarters. Oh be still my stomach….
Finally we made it across the state line into Arizona! Yippee! We did have the usual trouble with our Garmin GPS (named Jane, as in the Jeston's) she likes to take us on scenic tours. I believe she is programmed to giggle....sometimes I swear I hear her ever so slightly...
We drove through snow capped mountains. We saw many strange things on this trip, lots of Indians but no cowboys! We did see a guy in a pickup with a goat or ram in the bed. He had his hoofs on the toolbox and his head over the top of the cab. Now that was a first for me!
We finally made it to Mike's parents, in Clarkdale, AZ, around 5:30 p.m. We were tired and stressed (one of us was more stressed than the other). We tried to unload the Model A and of course it wouldn't start. OF COURSE IT WON'T START...were you expecting a happy ending?
I think from now on I will order a drink with dinner, maybe two. It looks like we will be here until Monday. I still don't know if we are going to buy a new truck or not. It is scary to think about driving back and it breaking down again....but it is scary to think about buying a new truck to......Tinkerbell where are you?? Love K

Part 4 1/26/09
It's Monday and Mike got up @ 5:45 a.m. he let me sleep until 6:00! We left Cottonwood AZ at 6:30 a.m.
We stopped in the lobby and got our free coffee and Mike stole a dozen donuts for the road. We were both ready to head home, to say the least. We had driven around the Cottonwood area for 5 days with no problems. Feeling secure, off we go with our stolen donuts. It was kind of neat driving through the mountains in the dark. We watched the sun come up. The clouds are really low to the ground when you are in the mountains. Everything looks different up there. We about 7000 ft up and 45 minutes into our trip when....you guessed it....the CHECH ENGINE light came on and the gas quit in the truck.
Once again we have no power to pull the truck and trailer. We called Roadside Assistance (which we now have on speed dial). They dispatched another heavy duty tow truck. Of course, we are now in the mountains, so they have to drive past us on the other side of the mountain, then back track to reach us. While we were waiting (Mike was dozing and I was crocheting) a state trooper came up and knocked on window. I just about crapped myself which I was needing to do desperately anyway! After making sure we were okay and not hauling illegal’s across the state-line. He was on his merry way.
The tow truck/tour guide finally arrived. Once again we were hitched to the back of a tow truck heading 50 miles to Flagstaff AZ. Now that might not sound like along time but please refer back to the previous paragraph (the part about me having to crap). It seemed longer to me than anyone else, trust me!
We arrived at the Chevy dealership in Flagstaff at 10:30. Yippee!! I clean restroom...I am once again a happy camper. We are now spending another day at the dealership on our tour of Chevy dealerships. This one is especially nice. It has a filthy floor, with matching filthy brown furniture. For our dining pleasure we have stale coffee and popcorn. Now mind you the popcorn maker hasn't been cleaned in 5 yrs at least. I hate to admit it but we were there so long even I tried the popcorn. You know what? It was good!!

We did make another new friend in our tow truck driver. He was fresh out of the Navy and a pretty neat guy. I wish I had gotten all of our drivers email address's so we could keep in touch. He assured us that if anyone could figure out what was wrong with our truck this place would take care of us. Guess what, they figured it out!! We have a bad fuel pressure valve. Of course they don't have one....so we are spending the night in Flagstaff.
We rented a Pontiac G6 so at least we aren't stranded in a hotel. We got a room at the Fairfield Inn. It is very nice here. We decided to explore the town and get something to eat at the local diner that the driver suggested. It was a 50"s place that has a problem with spelling....chicken and mashed potatos and penut butter cookies. Hey at least they spelled M&M cookies right!
We went to see the movie Grand Torino with Clint Eastwood. It was a great movie. Clint Eastwood reminded us of Mike's dad except for the bad language. Mike's dad doesn't swear or use racial slurs. It was a great movie. We came out of the movies and guess what is happening in warm sunny AZ? It is snowing and the streets are cover in ICE! Now obviously this is a town where people come to ski....I didn't know that. The rental car doesn't have a scrapper or snow brush...of course! There were cars everywhere, turned every which way. We of course declined the extra insurance on the rental car. Luckily we were able to get back to the hotel without a dent. Oh did I tell you the driveway to the hotel is now closed because of the ice???? We found another way into the parking lot via the back roads.
We are now in our room all warm and toasty. We don't know if the part will come in tomorrow or not. So the saga continues....
How is your week???
Love
K










Part 5 1/28/09
....and the wheels on the truck go round and round....
Tuesday we made it from Flagstaff AZ feeling pretty secure that our troubles were behind us. We made a couple of stops along the way. We stopped at my favorite casino out west, Rte 66. It is really cool inside with all the memories of the past. We made our donation and left, heading on to The Sandia Resort/Casino in Albuquerque. We also stayed there last Tuesday night. We had a nice time and a fabulous room. We even had a balcony (which is useless in the winter). I had another great bath in their wonderful soaking tub that was heaven!
We got up early and hit the road again at 9:00. We decided to go up through Denver and over to Kansas to avoid the ice storm in Oklahoma. (little did we know that it will be summer by the time we get back home and the ice in OK will be melted). We are really secure now in knowing that we will be back home soon. We stopped at a rest stop (nasty) and I cleared out the backseat so I could lay down and take a nap. I have been too busy worrying to relax and sleep the rest of our trip. Mike planned on going down the road a little way to a truck stop to get more fuel. I must have been tired because I was out like a light. I felt him pulling off the highway, assuming that we were at the gas station, I continued to nap. Imagine my surprise when I heard him on the phone with ...you guessed it GM Roadside Assistance. I bolted up in my seat and said, "you're kidding me"! Once again we had lost all power and the CHECK ENGINE light was glaring in our faces!!
You all know the routine by now....argue with GM about pulling the truck and trailer.....blah blah blah! Finally after the words started getting loud, angry and the cussing began, a tow truck was dispatched.
We were sitting in a parking lot behind a Shell station/Subway/restaurant. The initial call was made at 12:45 the tow truck arrived at 3:00. We were at least able to use the restrooms and get a drink. The Shell station was run by very angry women to say the least. It seemed as though we were imposing on them to try to pay for our food. Mike and I repacked our suitcases as we waited for our tow truck. If you are keeping track this is now our 4th tow in 10 days.
The tow truck arrives and we make a new friend, Frank. We will refer to him as ‘the sperm donor.’ He is a friendly, colorful mouthed guy, with 6 kids ranging from 20 to 4, divorced twice and a good Catholic. I'm not making this crap up I'm just reporting as I see it. We climb into his truck and drive 35-45 mph up through the mountains (although he doesn't know what mountains they are). We learn all about his life as we head to Trinidad CO. He has a 17 y/o much like Steven and a 4 y/o that can kick ass with all of his friends. He is in karate now trying to channel it to something positive. He really was a nice guy. He had a mirrored glass with the prayer "O Lord make me an instrument of your peace". That is how I knew he was Catholic, I remember singing that prayer in church.
We made it to the Quality Inn (definitely not name appropriately s/b Not So Quality Inn). But we are now next door to the Chevy dealership. We have saved gas money by being towed the last 50 miles, I guess I need to be thankful.
We had checked with Jane (Garmin/GPS) for hotels in the area. We called ahead and secured our stay with a credit card at the Quality Inn. Lo and behold across the street is a brand new Holiday Inn for $10 more a night. But we have checked in now and we are stuck. I walked over to the window to watch Mike and our new friend Frank unhook the car. Oh, how nice, an empty beer bottle in the window sill. I looked down at the a/c unit and it was filthy. I didn't even touch it to adjust the heat. I laid down on the bed to wait for Mike to come in. I thought I saw someone pass the window which is still has the curtains open. Sure enough someone was standing outside the window! Creepy. I got up and pulled the curtains shut. There was a guy out there cleaning up the grounds. At least I knew it wasn't my imagination. There is crap on the floor in here behind the furniture and it smells in here. I went on line to read the reviews of the hotel while I was waiting for Mike. Last weekend some guy stayed here and while he was eating dinner at The Country Kitchen in the hotel, someone went into his room and stole his $300.00 leather jacket! Crap! Get me out of here. The wireless Internet is like dial up it is so slow you don't even want to use it!
Our friend Frank, ‘the sperm donor,’ recommended a Mexican restaurant across the highway for great food. Mike took me over there even though he doesn't eat Mexican. He ate a peanut butter sandwich later that night. After we left our room, as a precaution we pushed on our room door to be sure it was locked. You guessed it.....it didn't lock. After slamming it shut a few times it finally latched. We got in the truck and drove very slowly about 2 blocks to eat. We had to get some gas and we decided to check out the Holiday Inn across the street. If we are here again tonight I guarantee it will be at the Holiday Inn not here! We decided we had better get more vittles because we could be in this town for a few days while they try to figure out what is wrong with the BEAST. I happened to notice when we left Wal-Mart that the CHECK ENGINE light was off! The truck is running like a top once again! Are you freaking kidding me??? Now the computer probably won't be able to read the code saying what the problem is with the truck.
Now mind you we have been trying to make the best of our situation and enjoy it like we are on vacation, but enough already! I haven't used the "F" word once during this whole thing but I can feel it forming in my mouth. I have a feeling we will be spending Super Bowl Sunday at the Holiday Inn.
So how's your freaking day?? Oh did I tell you we are also in ROAMING with our cell phones so don't call us. We can't retrieve messages either.....
Love K
Part 6 1/29/09
It is now Thursday afternoon 3 pm. We left as you remember on Monday of this week so that we wouldn't be stranded over the weekend in some Podunk town. We just checked into the Holiday Inn in Trinidad CO. I would like to tell you that we will just be here for a night but I don't think so.....
We were able to check out of the Not So Quality Inn across the street. We have been driving around town for the past 3 hrs hoping that our truck will be done. We have been to Beall's, Family Dollar, and Wal-Mart 2x. We have had lunch and we decided finally that it is too late to get started on the road. We decided to check into the Holiday Inn. We treated ourselves to a suite, instead of just a bedroom. Mike has a separate living room to watch t.v. all night. It is costing us $123.00+ per night. But I no longer care.

The Chevy dealership was kind enough to loan us a Volvo station wagon. It is missing the gas lid and the check engine light is on (yes, you read that right) but we are glad to have it. But the yellow writing on the windshield says it's a good buy for $11,999! Oh, did I mention how dirty it is? There are dog slobber marks on the windows.
I'll bet you are wondering what Trinidad, CO is known for...I checked on the Internet...Trinidad is well known for their work with trans gender surgery! I try not to use pronouns when describing people because I don't know if I am talking to a he or a she.
We dropped by the Chevy dealership to check on our truck. The GM head office is just totally convinced that we have bad gas.....now we know that isn't true but we play along. Whatever it takes, whatever it costs just get me out of here!! Of course, this is not covered by warranty.
They dropped the tank, guess what, it wasn't the fuel. It could be the fuel injectors/pump and some broken ceramic piece also. This could take 2-3 weeks to fix it.....Mike is on the phone with GM now. He is calm and collected. Right now that it is.... I don't know what we are going to do.
Mike has offered to fly me home but I am not going to leave him alone. Thick and thin....
That's where we are for now..... K

Part 7 1/30/09
Well, we have pretty much come to accept that we can't do anything about our situation. Chevy has been making all of the calls so far. Every dealership that we went to insisted that we had bought bad gas. Now I find that hard to believe. Mike had problems when he went to Illinois a few months ago. They replaced an injector at that time. I think the problems started then and slowly escalated to what we have now. Chevy insisted that we drop the gas tank so they could prove that we had bad fuel. We are tired by now and we just want to go home. We tell them to drop it, flush it, do whatever it takes to get us out of here! Well, guess what we were right. It wasn't the gas. It was indeed a warranty item. Now the real problem begins. The parts we need to fix are not available in this town. They have to be shipped from 3 different locations. Mike called GM and insisted that they fly them in so we can get home. They are not interested. I just can't imagine what it would be like to have a job and worry about how to get home.
To make a long story short, we are at their mercy. We are grateful that we are staying at a very nice hotel suite. Mike has taken over the living room and kitchenette, we share the bathroom and I let him sleep in my bedroom! When we look out the window we see a beautiful mountain range with snow capped tops. I feel like a trapped animal most of the time. I think about what it must be like to be in prison. Yikes!
Yesterday we stayed in the hotel all day. We did do laundry here at the hotel. $2.00 per load and soap is a $1.00 a box. But now we have plenty of clean clothes. We ate in the restaurant downstairs. That was our day! K

Today we went to Pueblo CO about 80 miles away. We have 2006 Hyundai that we are renting. It is clean at least! The Volvo we borrowed belong to Pedro the salesman at the dealership. We had to return it. It felt good to get away for the day. We had to go that far to find a Walgreen's to refill Mike's Rx for sleeping pills. We drove all the way over there only to find out there were no refills! He will have try to contact the doctor on Monday. It seems like nothing is coming easy for us right now.
I did get the chance to eat at a Black Eyed Pea restaurant in Pueblo. I used to love to eat there when they were in KC. We did some shopping just to keep busy. Mike looked for Hot Wheels and I looked for more stuff that I don't need. I did buy swimsuits for us. They have a great pool and hot tub here. We are the only ones here during the day it seems. Just what we both need another swim suit! Oh well!
Mike and I are planning a Super Bowl Party and you all are invited. We will be serving cookies, cheese & crackers, PBJ, and chips. If we are lucky we might even find a pizza place in town.....that would be way cool!
Be sure to bring your suits! No RSVP is necessary!
Wow only another week to go......wish you were here!
K








Part 9 2/1/09
Today is Sunday and we are still here in lovely Trinidad, CO. Mike and I showered this morning so we could get cleaned up to go to Wal-Mart. It wasn't very busy, I guess everyone is at the local Catholic church. This is such a depressed area it is hard to drive around and see the poverty that people live in. It makes me feel very grateful for the things I have.
We drove up in the mountains and through one of the parks today. They have a man made lake here that is probably very nice in the summer. We drove downtown to check out the hot spots. Most of the stores are out of business. Here, like everywhere in America, are a lot of nice banks. Why do we need so many banks? I noticed that the car dealerships around here don't even have brand new cars on the lots only used ones. We did find a steak house called Black Jack's we might try eating there one night. If we are here much longer we will have to file an income tax form!
Driving through the neighborhoods we saw many brightly colored homes. Lots of purple if not the whole house at least the trim. My greatest find today was the claw footed bathtub standing upright, painted blue inside with the Madonna in the front yard. I am not making this stuff up!
Mike has been having a great time "finding iron". To him it means a 'diamond in the rough', to me it means a rusty broken down heap of a car! I am afraid he will find something to put in the back of the car hauler before we get back home. Tomorrow is his 53rd birthday, what a great way to spend the day! I think we will be buying him a new Dually for his birthday present...if we ever get back home that is. Give a shout out for his birthday at mbarnes56@comcast.net.
We just found out that they are having a Super Bowl party downstairs after while. I am so excited...I don't know what to wear. Maybe one of my "free" casino t-shirts! I am sick of being in my p.j.s all the time.
I think tomorrow we might head back to New Mexico for the day. We will go casino hopping for his birthday.
Jennifer's birthday is Tuesday. I don't think I have ever been away from her on her birthday before. Happy Birthday Jelly Bean! I love you!
I think I have a bit of the blues today. It is like being in purgatory and not being able to get out....I just want to go home. I don't think I will ever go on vacation again!
We are making new friends with the hotel staff....so the saga continues...unitl later

Part 10 2/3/09
We are still in Trinidad, CO. I am dressed to go no where looking out my window at the mountains. I must admit it is pretty to look at. I can also see the Chevy dealership that has our truck. Unfortunately, nothing is being done on it. I have that Chevy has control over my life. I just can’t imagine what it would be like if we had to be at work. What if we didn’t have enough money to pay for food and lodging!! You wonder why GM is having problems! I am seriously considering buying a Toyota next time around. I hate that Mike wants another diesel truck. I think this problem started back in Illinois a few months back. Miles Chevrolet in Decatur, IL told him he had bought bad gas. They replaced one fuel injector at the time but did not pursue it further. I wonder if they had if we would even be in this situation today. I have a feeling each dealership is told to do as little as possible to save cost. Now look what it is costing! Enough whining!!
Yesterday was Mike’s birthday. We took off to Taos NM which is a 3 hour drive from here. We took a winding road through the mountains and took some great pictures. It is hard not to believe in God when you look at the mountains. It was strange because one side of the road was covered in snow but the other side was not. We saw antelope and buffalo along the way. It is kind of neat to see things that we don’t see in the Midwest. Mike was excited to see a carcass half eaten away in a dried up river bed.
It is desolate out along the highway and then you will see a house sitting all by itself. Lots of broken down cars, trucks, and tractors to name a few. They get lots of snow in the mountains and can’t get out for days! There is a law in New Mexico that if you can’t get to work because you are snowed in you can’t be fired! It looks like they have a ski resort in the area. Taos is a pretty neat city. It had lots of little shops. I stopped at one to buy a brightly colored frog to hang outside on my porch. Let’s just say I have good taste…it was $260.00 and it would break the minute the wind caught it. I found a beautiful Indian necklace too. Once again my good taste kicked in $1,195.00!! By the time I left it had been reduced to $695.00! I just kept walking!
Mike and I found a smoke free casino in Taos. We are like homing birds when it comes to finding casinos! We played for 3 hours and walked out making $37.00 which probably covered our gas! It was fun. We then hit the local Wal-Mart to find more Hot Wheels. Jackpot he found some ‘must haves’! We ate at the local Applebee’s, because all of the other places were Mexican. You know how Mike loves Mexican food. We drove back through the mountains as the sunset it was kind of neat.
I think we are going to break down (no pun intended) and try the steakhouse downtown tonight. Mike accidently found the movies today while running an errand. Did I tell that the crank to the trailer broke also?? He was able to get it welded so we can use it if we ever get to go home again. I think we will go see the movie Taken later. I can hardly wait to see the movie theaters!!
I know there is a reason why we are here…I think it will be revealed much later in our lives.
I will follow up later….I bet you will hate when this is over because you will miss my emails…..
Call GM everyone….tell them to get us home!!
K










Part 11 2/3/09
Part 11!! How can I still be writing? Why am I still here? I am soooooooo over Trinidad, CO!!! I want out of here now!! I am this side of a panic attack. If I wasn’t on Cymbalta for my depression, I would be crawling the walls. I even hate the Freaking mountains now. Mike finally got his sleeping pills refilled at Wal-Mart. Of course, that was a major deal too. The doctor’s office called in the Rx but Wal-Mart said they didn’t have it. Mike called them again today they said the doctor didn’t call it in. Sooooooooo we start all over again with calling the office, leaving a voice mail…waiting for a call back…..Oh wait a minute Wal-Mart did get the request but because Mike wasn’t in their system they did fill the Rx!!! When we went to get it we had to wait 45 mins just to pay for it….did the insurance pay their part…Nooooooooo it’s 2 freaking days too early!! So we paid $70.00 so Mike can sleep for 15 nights…..Grrrrrrrr!
We decided to try out the pool today. It was too cold….we tried the hot tub…it was too hot….back to the room….watch more t.v. We went downtown to eat dinner at Black Jack Steakhouse. Now that was an interesting place. It was very dark (probably for a good reason). I had to hold the menu up to the candle to read it. Mike and I split a filet, it was okay but not remarkable. There were lots of dead animals hanging on the walls staring at us while we ate. Mike was in such a bad mood after dealing with Wal-Mart before we got there that he wasn’t very good company. I told him if he complained about the food I was going to stab him with my fork. He was very quiet during dinner. I think we have both had enough!


We decided to skip the movie. I was sick after eating and had to leave the restaurant. On the way out I noticed the electrical wiring was really bad. They had a power strip hanging in midair with about ten things plugged in to it. I don’t think we will be back. What a crappy day. We aren’t even sitting in the same rooms now.
Mike noticed that our truck is still sitting outside the dealership….untouched for yet another day. I have a feeling we will be here through the weekend. I don’t know if I can do it or not. I hate feeling trapped like this…I just can’t believe someone from GM hasn’t try to help us. I think we should buy a Ford…screw GM!!
Cripes sakes….I’m starting to memorize the channels on this t.v.!!!
Come get us!!!!!!! Hurry before we lose our minds or decide to get sex change operations!!
Have a great day…I’m not even going to get dressed!
K

Part 12 2/5/09
Yesterday we decided to get out of the hotel for awhile. Mike had heard about a scenic hwy through the mountains. We went across the street to the Chevy dealership to check on the progress of the truck first. Yippee!! All the parts have arrived now. They began working on it at 11:00 yesterday, that is the good news, the bad news is that the mechanic working on it is a perfectionist. Now that is good and bad, 'perfectionist' in woman terms means SLOW! But hopefully if he is thorough it will be done right and get us all the way home this time. Mike was very hopefully but I am pessimistic. He thinks we will be out of here today. I got up this morning and all of his stuff is packed and ready to go. Mine is not. Cross your fingers that he is right.
We were so bored that we decided to tour the modular homes at the sales lot next door. I have always wanted to have one for a lake house. Last time I toured one of these they were called trailers! Imagine my surprise when I went inside. I was ready to move into the model!! It was fabulous! The upstairs was unfinished but had a floor through the whole room. I could imagine bunk beds up there and the grand kids roller skating and playing up there with all the freedom they needed. We made a new friend with the salesman. He was retired and he and his wife moved to Trinidad to live out their glory days! Why??? I asked. I think I offended him...I am good at that as you all know. He said they hunt, fish and hike in the woods and mountains. If he hikes, I'm Peter Freaking Pan!! Pretty soon Mike and I were looking at land parcels! You buy land in 35 acres or more out here! The price was $75,000 for 35 acres!! I swear if we could have found a lake or stream on the property we would have considered it!! To wake up to a view of the mountains and wild life every morning would be beautiful. Oh wait, we hate it here...and my family isn't here...I woke up from my dream and thanked our new friend, the salesman and bid him farewell.
Mike and I embarked on our scenic journey. It was an incredibly winding road so the speed was 35mph. Each turn gave us another amazing view.
Mike stopped the car, I took pictures to show all of you, the mountains....drive...wow...amazing...snap a picture...drive...repeat the last step. But after an hour of this journey...it was boring....no I don't want another picture of a freaking mountain....just get me out of here! Our friend the salesman and told us to be sure to stop for lunch at The Dog House. We drove and drove...no Dog House...Oh wait there it is...back up. You guessed it.....it was closed for the season!! Great....now I am starving. We stopped at the General Store which was guarded by a big ole lazy dog sleeping in front of the door. We walked in the store and didn't even wake up the owner who was asleep in a chair. Finally the ole guy woke up and we were able to get directions back to Trinidad w/o the scenic view.
Alas we are on the road again looking for food. We found several Mexican places and a Carl's Jr. since we don't eat fast food that was a no go. Oh my gosh could it be?? Yes, Yes! A Pizza Hut...memories of the beginning of our trip came rushing back....We stopped... we ate ...we were happy again!! Back on the road again to our home away from home...Exit 11....The Holiday Inn. Back into our p.j.'s...me in my room...Mike in his...another day under our belt!!
Please pray for us that we are on the road tonight. We will drive the entire way without stopping if the truck is fixed...or my story will continue as we meet another tow truck driver yet again!! I hope this is my last entry in this journal of life. K


Update
Truck still not ready today....looks like we will spending another night in downtown Trinidad, CO. Now we are shooting for tomorrow afternoon.....
shooting...hmmmmmmm...no..no..nevermind!!



The Last Part (I hope) 2/7/09
We picked up the truck on Friday afternoon at 1:30 CST, and hit the road. I think it is finally fixed. I don't think that Mike and I could really breathe easy until we hit the 3 hour mark. That is usually how far we get before we break down. We actually made it the entire way home without the aid of a tow truck! It was amazing. We pulled in our driveway at 1:35 a.m. Saturday morning. I felt like kissing the ground. We were exhausted but we were determined to get home. Mike drove the entire way, if fact today is the first time I have driven in 3 weeks.
If you ever wonder if you need a warranty on your cars let this be a lesson to you. The repairs at the last Chevy dealership were nearly $7000.00!! We paid the deductible of $100!! Of course, it can't make up for the time we were forced to stay in places we hadn't planned on our initial trip. All is well now... next we have to deal with filing a claim to get our reimbursement for trip interruption. I hope that won't be a pain...but from the past 3 weeks what do you want to bet I will have to get out a can of whoop ass before all is said and done!!
Oh, just to put a period on this little story...American Express had left 4 messages on the answering machine in the last week. Someone stole my credit card info while we were in Trinidad!! At least American Express caught them and put a stop to it right away. Of course I had to cancel my card and will have to wait for them to reissue a new one....
so what's in your wallet????
K


March 10, 2009
Re: Response from GM concerning trip interruption reimbursement
We have filed all of our receipts for monies spent on our unexpected stops due to engine problems. These receipts included, hotel, car rental, gas (when available) and food. Most of the time we didn’t even turn in a our food receipts because we eat PBJ’s in our room! The approximate total was around $3,100.00. Now that may sound like a lot of money but imagine what it would have cost if we had missed work or lost our jobs! We kept every receipt we followed all the rules for submitting the claim. As of today we were denied reimbursement of any kind.
Now as most of you know, we have time, we have financial independence, and we are pissed. What that now means is that if we have to hire our attorney to pursue GM for what we are due we are ready, willing and of course able. But if the attorneys are involved we will be dealing with a lot more than $3,100.00. If I were GM I would just pay the amount we are asking and make us once again happy GM owners. We currently own five GM cars and/or trucks!
I thought this blog would be ended by now. But I have a feeling this will go around the internet world until it is resolved. We feel like we have been very patient and loyal customers, we did not ask for anything we are not due. I will keep all of you informed on how this plays out. I hate to admit it but I even own GM stock because I believe that a company that large would always be a stand up company…
Until later….
K