This weekend, I took a roadtrip with a friend to a nearby major city. I thought it was a 4ish hour drive but apparently it was more a 5ish hour drive. In any event, the drive up was smooth and event-less; I barely even felt the time pass even when I drove! I absolutely hate driving and I usually feel the tension from this dislike in my shoulders and neck etc...so I tend to feel every minute of most long drives.
The events of the trip was nice enough. Nothing super exciting until our ride back home. We got a very late start due to a a number of events but nothing to get upset about. So as is typical of this relationship, I started out the drive back (my friend hates driving even more than I do) and we are doing our thing. Cruise control, music and chatter. The conversation was just as good going back as it was coming. But for whatever reason, my throat was just dry and my water was not helping.at.all. So after fighting it for about 1/2 hr, I decide to stop on an exit with a McDonalds so I could get a $1 soft serve. We figured we'd change drivers and stretch while we were at it. We were a little under the half way mark from our destination and while I was fine driving another couple hundred miles, we were really trying to push it to get home in as little time as we could, i.e. not too many stops.
As we pull into the McDonalds, I lower the windows and of course slow down, preparing to park but this loud grating and knocking sound pierced our ears. We both look at each other frantically with the same question in our eyes..."what the hec is that?" A bit freaked out, I opt to not stop and park but push through the empty drive-through since there was a gas station on the next side of the parking lot and we quickly decided to not actually turn the car off until we were at the gas station. Side note: I feel gas stations should either just hire mechanics with an internal GPS as clerks or train their staff on basic car knowledge and have a GPS somewhere behind the counter. It is without a doubt the most common place to stop to ask questions, directions or of course, in this case, troubleshoot a car problem. Throughout the seemingly VERY long wait at the empty drive through window, the noise continues to assault our senses...and I say senses not ears because my desire for that ice cream cone went out the window when the windows were opened and we were greeted with the sound. I offered up a quick prayer out loud asking for favor with finding someone who could assist us with troubleshooting and we began throwing around ideas of what it could possibly be. My friend began and ended with oil. Interesting that she knows nothing about cars, so this wasn't a logical conclusion but more of a I-had-a-feeling conclusion. Not to mention, she mentioned oil/oil changes before we left home and looking back, this should have been sufficient "warning" for me to ensure she followed up with this idea before embarking on such a journey.
Nevertheless, a couple minutes later, we have our slushies and are parked in the gas station. The hood is popped and I leave for a second to go inside and use the restroom. While I am finding the restroom, I make light conversation with the store clerk asking about checking the oil while the car is hot. I get a noncommittal response but I remained light and somewhat engaging and he finally clarifies that I am probably thinking of the radiator but the oil would be fine. He then gives me a heads up to be careful inside the hood to not get burned since, in fact, the engine is hot. I use the restroom and go outside, giving him smile and a thanks. I check the oil, it is non-existant. The light blue hand towel that we used to wipe the 'thingy' barely had two brown spots so at that point, I was like "Ok, lets buy oil". I call off some random number for oil, which turns out to be accurate but a very low grade- no clue where that number came from but anyhoo, we go inside to purchase oil and gas and something to snack on. It is at this point, where we, well I begin to see more changes from the store clerk....
Considering the background took so long to develop, I'll finish the story in The Father's love, Part 2...
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