#7

Soon to be a usual scene...

That morning we decided to eat our free breakfast and make some time early so we could relax later.  We made a couple new "friends" and ended up talking "politics" and how AMAZING it apparently is to be able to drink in Canada when your 18.  Our buddy regaled us of all his "crazy" drunken cop adventures he had up in Winnipeg at the horse tracks... 

Fascinating

If it's cool, can I please just eat my cheerios?

Thanks

You're the man...

One of the places Dad really wanted to check out was the infamous Willie's Place truck stop.

We took a quick detour off our current path and found, what looked to be, a big saloon truck stop.

Only thing was... it felt like a ghost town.

All the doors were locked, only 1 u-haul truck sat on the driveway, and the sign in the window said "new owners". 

I guess Willie's Place didn't work out as much as Bill Mack and Sweet Cindy hyped it...

It was a Wally World let down... Dad walked around, looked in a couple windows, nothing.  He'd wanted to stop by there ever since he heard about it, they talk about it a lot on that station, and when he finally got too... Closed.

From there on nothing TOO amazing happened for the next while... we just drove.

Somewhere in Oklahoma the party began.

That's right, the car overheated!

Yay!!

At that point we used up most of the water we had along, all took turns taking a little bathroom break in the ditch,

yup, we're country

and then, fingers crossed, we were off!

We stopped at an EXTREMELY classy joint for lunch.

The servers were over weight, yelled at you from across the restaurant, waddled around with their chests out (trying to show their "assets"), and the regulars went behind the counter and served themselves.

As I said... classy.

The food was fantastic too!  I'm not sure how you can screw up a grilled cheese with fries and gravy but they sure did.

On route from there we found these treasures!

Papa Troll

Mama Troll

Angry Troll

I don't even know, we broke down 1 or 2 more times but managed to make it through Tornado Ally (I think that's what it's called) and up to Iowa to find a cozy hotel after a super long days drive.

The next morning began like the same, free hotel breakfast and terrible coffee, except this time we could feel we were gettin' back up to our winter "wonderland".

Quick stop for fuel, filled ALL the empty water bottles we had at this point, and hit the highway.  5 min later... over heated.

Filled it up.

5 min later...

Over heated.

Seriously?!  This may be a problem... do we need to stop at a shop?

We waited it out a bit then concluded the temp. change was so different from Mexico the thermostat may need to get used to it... once the car came close to overheating again I just slowed down until the thermostat figured it out and the gage dropped down.

Good?

Good.

The heat in the car?  Not so awesome but as long as we got home before night fall we should be fine.

We made it up until the roads got a little icy and the snow started blowing when I finally decided to let someone else drive.  I DID have to hit the road in the morning to go to Montreal with Becki... maybe I could take a couple hours off.

We pulled to the side and switched.  Before my Dad even had the seat adjusted there was a tap on the window... cop.

I wondered if we were in some random trouble but no, he was just checking to make sure we were safe and sound since it was icy and blowing snow.  Turns out this is a common theme for police down in the states.  If there's a storm, they cruise up and down the highways making sure to help out... it was amazing!

A little past Grand Forks same scenario, except THIS cop told us he'd be driving between there and the border so he'd keep an eye out.  And if anything was to happen, just call 911 and the nearest cop would come rescue us from the stupid car.

5 seconds later (please note, I'm not kidding, we literally pulled back on the highway and it would start flashing again) a semi truck pulled over.  He backed all the way down the highway towards us and then said he would stay behind watching until we got to the border.

A semi truck?
That's amazing!
Every time we pulled to the side of the road, he pulled to the side...

After many overheating stops we finally got to Pembina (small border town).  I could hardly walk with my frozen toes, couldn't feel my fingers, and my face was starting to freeze... the sun had long been down, the snow blowing, and even the little fuzzy blankets we bought in Fargo were barely keeping us warm.

With next to no options we had to do what we set out for... get that stupid car into Canada.
So, we hoped back in and headed out... this time a new truck driver offered to follow us across.

The border was surprisingly easy.  I got a little "Ma'am, you understand my concern about a car being in Mexico for 5 years... do you know EVERYTHING that is in that vehicle"

pause

pause

"Well no, I guess I'd have to say I don't"

blank stare

"Have a good night Ma'am"


Awesome!  Made it!
2 min into Canada car acted up again, at this point Mom couldn't handle it anymore and jumped in the the heated truck.  Dad and I were determined to get that car home but a couple miles in enough was enough, pulled onto a side road and left the car.

I honestly couldn't feel my finger tips when I was looking for the key in my purse.
Frozen.

It was amazing how there was someone behind us every time we pulled over... it really got me thinking the next couple of days...

It honestly felt like little guardian angels... but made me think of my relationship

"Ok Melissa, you keep doing what your doing... but I'm here.  Just so you know I've got your back, you're not alone in this and you can always bail out and let me help..." -God