Stranded on 169 Southbound

This past weekend I went up to my parents' for a bridal shower...had a couple of really fun days up in the northland. I went hiking with the dogs, ate some good food, got to see a bunch of friends and of course, scored some awesome presents :)

Heading back today, however, was a different story. I drove the Durango (which Clint bought from my sister at Thanksgiving) because my lil' Honda's having some issues. Plus with the snow, etc. I felt safer driving the big 'un.

Well.

Nothing noteworthy for the first couple of hours - stopped for gas in Deerwood, got some Sour Patch Kids (which I promptly inhaled and am still nursing a raw tongue), sang along to the iPod, NBD.

Then I started noticing the RPMs were acting weird again...i.e., all of a sudden without me changing the gas the RPMs would race up to ~2,200 or slam down to ~1,700.

It wasn't bad, just annoying...but then when I slowed down for the light in Zimmerman, I noticed a "buzzing" noise in the engine. Got going again, and all hell broke loose. No matter if my foot was on the gas pedal or not, the RPMs were jumping all over the place - it got so bad I couldn't even go 60 without the car jerking.

I pulled over to the side - couldn't even find the hazard lights for about a minute (give me a break, it's a "new" car) - and called Clint, my mom, my 2 uncles and my sister. I might've been on the verge of a nervous breakdown. (Meanwhile, Zada - who played like a MAD WOMAN for 2 days - contentedly slept on, unaware, in the back.) Both uncles conferred - could either be an electrical problem, a transmission problem, both, or even more....one of the uncles lost me when he started spouting out a bunch of terms which I cannot recall at the moment but either way, it ain't lookin' good.

Good news, though - my mom had left ~30 mins before me, since she's babysitting my sister's kids tomorrow (MLK day) and I caught her while she was shopping at Arbor Lakes. She came back and brought her AAA card with her - of course Clint and I don't have that - and I got towed to some random place in Elk River. But not before we had to transfer all my shower gifts from the Durango to her CRV...which was full because we're also celebrating Amy's birthday so there was a cake, Mom's bag, a sewing machine (longer story), plus whatever else she has in there. Oh, and since the back was full, that meant Zada had to leave her comfy, king-sized snoozery and trade it for one cushion's worth of seat...

Mom then brought me here to my sister's house where they promptly had me open a bottle of vino. Now I'm patiently waiting for the pork chops to cook and I'm sure my dog is wondering why on earth she's stuck outside with no food.

Sigh. BREATHE.

IF our tub wasn't broken - of course the drain thingy doesn't work so it doesn't hold water - I'd zip right home after this and take a nice, long, hot bath. Of course, I have to use my mother's car in order to zip anywhere, since Clint has my car. Oh, how I LOVE when things don't go the way they're supposed to!!!