Day 14: Home Sweet Home

After rising not so bright and early, we started getting ready to hit the road again. Around 11 am we were finally packed and ready to go. Everyone got hugs, even the pups and we got in the car, ready to go. Steven turned the key to start the car....WwwrrrrWWrrrrrWwrrrrr-click-click-click.......

Really?

Try it again...Wwwwrrrrr-clickity-clickity-clickity

Crap

Ok, pull the Mustang around and hook up the jumper cables. Steven's battery was original to the car and thus 6 years old! It was way passed its prime and had been giving us some issues in Colorado (because of the cold). Even with the jumper cables...Wwwrrrrr-clickity-clickity-crap. We tried scrapping off some of the corrosion from Steven terminals (there was a lot) until we saw sparks and the engine would try a little harder to start. We were revving the Mustang's engine, the Subaru would only laugh and clickity. ::Sigh:: we were not meant to head off at a reasonable hour. After a while of letting the Mustang run, trickle charging the Subaru, the Subaru finally turned over, success! We drove immediately to the Auto Zone down the road and purchased a new battery. Then we ran back to the Mississippi house to pick up the delicious Chain Breaker coffee that had finally arrived (as soon as we left the friggin driveway) and FINALLY headed off around 1 pm (much to the dogs dismay, Gunnar very reluctantly climbed into the car that morning).

We made very good progress though and made it to the North Carolina border in 7 hours. At that point the car started acting weird. It was as if it was losing power. Worried and nearly out of gas we stopped at a gas station to fill up and see what was the matter. It was at this point we heard a really loud slapping sound from the engine...this is generally not a sound you want to hear from the engine. We didn't know if it was a piston or not but we checked the oil and it was very low. Now, Subaru's burn oil anyways because of their turbo but not typically this much. We put about a one and a half quarts in the engine and it still didn't show up on the dipstick but the engine slap at least stopped. I took over for the last hour and a half of driving and eased the Subaru home. It was a good sport and made it the whole way.

We arrived last night around 11:20 pm, to a dark, sleeping home. I haven't seen the dogs so happy to get out of a car in a long time. The cat barely recognized us and the dogs, she sniffed all the pups, us and the baggage with a skeptical attitude.

It's good to be home but oh I will miss Colorado. The sky was bluer, the stars were brighter, the air... thinner and I dried out like a piece of live jerky. We reached heights that we had never reached on our own two feet and pushed our bodies for sheer enjoyment. The dogs were the happiest they had been in a while, bouncing like puppies again. The people are just generally easy going, we were able to bring our dogs in most stores, even ones that sold nothing but edible yummies. It wasn't as if they were a nuisance, but a welcome part of society. I can't wait to see those mountains in winter.

Things we learned along the way:

• Books on CD rock and will distract you on long days of driving
• Bring lots of lotion to Colorado
• A closed bottle of mouthwash will release its pressure and contents once opened in higher elevation
• Water takes longer to boil
• There are two sunrises and sunsets in the mountains
• We are itty bitty in the scheme of things
• Take the time to eat fried chicken at a park and people watch
• Don't trust a GPS
• The dogs are mountain goats
• The more expensive of a house you have, the more light switches you need

Thank you all for following our trek to the west and back. We had a fantastic time and we can't wait to do it again. We hope you're enjoyed reading about our adventures as much as we enjoyed having them.

-Liz