Super 8: Go see it. 8/10 If you were to take Sandlot, The Goonies, Jurassic Park & E.T. and mix them in a blender… you’d have Super 8. You should go see it. Use those $9 Fandango tickets you bought yesterday (actually the deal is still going!) Anyone else like this movie?

Super 8: Go see it. 8/10

If you were to take Sandlot, The Goonies, Jurassic Park & E.T. and mix them in a blender… you’d have Super 8. You should go see it.

Use those $9 Fandango tickets you bought yesterday (actually the deal is still going!)

Anyone else like this movie?

April Visits Washington! - Third Trip (May ‘10) - Video Montage

April got an internship out here in Seattle for the summer. I decided to fly out to Indiana (one-way) so that we could both drive her car out to Washington. This montage chronicles the majority of our adventure; including dealing with the epic loss of her 2001 Ford Focus only 7 hours into our trip.

Welcome to Iowa’s “Antique City!” April and I had been cruising right along on our journey out to Seattle with over 550 miles (7 hours) under the wheels of her 2001 Ford Focus when we decided to stop for gas for the second time. We took the very next exit we saw and pulled into a gas station/McDonalds combo. Long story short, after grabbing a quick bite to eat we were about to fill up the gas tank and continue on our way. We only had 3 more hours of driving before we would have arrived in Souix Falls, South Dakota (where we had booked a hotel earlier in the day). When we got back into the car and attempted to start it; only to hear the most awful grinding/banging sound (like a can of soup rattling inside of the engine) coming from underneath the hood. The car wouldn’t start. Period. We went back into the gas station. A local mechanic was called down to inspect the noise and give us his opinion. His first words upon arriving to the scene and having April attempt to start the car so that he could hear the sound for himself were, “Woah, I wasn’t expecting it to sound like that…” Definitely not the kind of response we were hoping to hear. Welcome to Walnut, Iowa. Luckily for us the gas station was conveniently located next to a Super 8 motel where we were able to get a room. We canceled the reservation in Souix Falls, SD (after being on the phone with Priceline.com’s customer relations reps for over an hour). We called our families and let them know that we were safe and sound but that the car was having some serious issues. April and I put the car into neutral and huffed and puffed while we pushed/steered it into the Super 8’s parking lot. With all of her belongings in the car, we just felt much safer about moving it there. This morning we called the most referenced mechanic in all of Walnut. His name is Louie. He was here within five minutes of calling him. We let him hear the awful noises coming from the engine whenever we’d try to start the car and his conclusion was that there was no real inspection needed: the engine is completely dead. He thinks one of the valves inside must have broken off somehow and that it’s banging around inside hitting some pistons. Both April and I have absolutely no car expertise. After a few phone calls back home, April’s uncle and grandfather have now decided to drive her mother’s Ford Taurus out to us to act as a replacement vehicle for the summer while April’s out in Seattle. It makes no sense to replace the engine in her Focus and instead of trying to find, decide and buy a car in one day… it makes more sense to do things this way. All I can keep thinking about is how grateful I am that we’re alive, safe and healthy. I’m working on some homework while we wait for the heroes of the day to get here. I think we’re gonna stay the night in Walnut again tonight and hit the road early in tomorrow morning. We still have 1,663 miles left in our journey to the Evergreen State! We’ll be fine. This has been quite the interesting little experience. I’ve definitely taken every chance I’ve gotten to document this in video form. Expect some of the footage to make it into my Montage #3 in the very near future. :)

Welcome to Iowa’s “Antique City!”

April and I had been cruising right along on our journey out to Seattle with over 550 miles (7 hours) under the wheels of her 2001 Ford Focus when we decided to stop for gas for the second time. We took the very next exit we saw and pulled into a gas station/McDonalds combo.

Long story short, after grabbing a quick bite to eat we were about to fill up the gas tank and continue on our way. We only had 3 more hours of driving before we would have arrived in Souix Falls, South Dakota (where we had booked a hotel earlier in the day). When we got back into the car and attempted to start it; only to hear the most awful grinding/banging sound (like a can of soup rattling inside of the engine) coming from underneath the hood. The car wouldn’t start. Period.

We went back into the gas station. A local mechanic was called down to inspect the noise and give us his opinion. His first words upon arriving to the scene and having April attempt to start the car so that he could hear the sound for himself were, “Woah, I wasn’t expecting it to sound like that…” Definitely not the kind of response we were hoping to hear.

Welcome to Walnut, Iowa.

Luckily for us the gas station was conveniently located next to a Super 8 motel where we were able to get a room. We canceled the reservation in Souix Falls, SD (after being on the phone with Priceline.com’s customer relations reps for over an hour). We called our families and let them know that we were safe and sound but that the car was having some serious issues. April and I put the car into neutral and huffed and puffed while we pushed/steered it into the Super 8’s parking lot. With all of her belongings in the car, we just felt much safer about moving it there.

This morning we called the most referenced mechanic in all of Walnut. His name is Louie. He was here within five minutes of calling him. We let him hear the awful noises coming from the engine whenever we’d try to start the car and his conclusion was that there was no real inspection needed: the engine is completely dead. He thinks one of the valves inside must have broken off somehow and that it’s banging around inside hitting some pistons. Both April and I have absolutely no car expertise.

After a few phone calls back home, April’s uncle and grandfather have now decided to drive her mother’s Ford Taurus out to us to act as a replacement vehicle for the summer while April’s out in Seattle. It makes no sense to replace the engine in her Focus and instead of trying to find, decide and buy a car in one day… it makes more sense to do things this way.

All I can keep thinking about is how grateful I am that we’re alive, safe and healthy. I’m working on some homework while we wait for the heroes of the day to get here. I think we’re gonna stay the night in Walnut again tonight and hit the road early in tomorrow morning. We still have 1,663 miles left in our journey to the Evergreen State! We’ll be fine. This has been quite the interesting little experience. I’ve definitely taken every chance I’ve gotten to document this in video form. Expect some of the footage to make it into my Montage #3 in the very near future. :)