Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Woe, woe and thrice woe - Part the Second: What's that noise?

I am on the highway. It's about, oh, 8:15 a.m.. Travelling at 112 kms per hour, the maximum you can travel and not get stopped for speeding. Without coffee. But with lots of gas. HA!

Having avoided the Tim Horton's (oh how we love thee!) across the street from the gas station as it was too busy, I pull into the last gas station for about 100 kms, just outside of town for coffee and a bottle of water. This is the gas company that has the pumps nicely configured for debit/credit payments, but I don't need gas (snork), I just need coffee and a bottle of water.

On the road again, I taste the coffee. Gah. Should have stopped at Tim's.

Pull back on the highway... get up to speed and realize... at 100 kpm there is a shimmy. A decidedly shaky shimmy, the kind that will drive you mad after the first 15 mins and I've got a 7 hour drive ahead. I look over at the stuff on the seat and it is visibly vibrating. This is not good. For I am the Princess and The Pea. I have a very high threshold of pain but a very low tolerance for annoyance. I may go mad. Not to mention, just what kind of damage am I about to do to my almost-new tires? (Yes. t-I-r-e-s. Tyre is a city in Lebanon**. You know who I'm talkin' to, Duck.)

Also, it's getting foggier the further west I go. It was overcast when I left, which is good because driving on really sunny days is very tiring for the eyes, but the cloud cover is getting lower and lower... until eventually the fog was gets so thick I could barely see ahead of me and had to slow down to about 80 kph. (Long after this picture was taken. I'm not crazy enough to be taking pictures in pea soup fog.) At this rate, if a moose does amble onto the road, I won't see it until it's far too late.

So, to recap. Bad coffee, water, lots of gas (giggle), incredible fog and we're about 100 kms out of town when I realize that I can hear something over the sound of my stereo. It's an all-too-familiar noise... exhaust noise. I just had the frickin', frackin' exhaust repaired not two weeks ago! I turn down the stereo and sure enough, the exhaust is grumbling like a grumbly, grumbling thing. Prior to the last repair, it sounded like this for a couple of weeks then suddenly..... ROAR!!! something let go and the sound was so loud it was unbearable and the vibration was so great I could barely get the car to 50 kms per hour. How much faster will whatever's wrong deteriorate at highway speed? There is no way I'm going to be able to drive hundreds of kilometers for hours if it gets that loud again. Either the police will pull me over, I will lose my mind or the car will explode. None of these options appeal to me particularly.

But there is nothing for it but to soldier on.

It's now about 9:30 a.m. This is going swimmingly, don't you think?

Next up: Woe, woe and thrice woe - 1,344 kms to be exact - Part the Third - A decision

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh dear. Road trip woe and doom approaching.

July 30, 2008 at 9:57 a.m.  
Blogger owntwohands said...

Having driven my old 1980 Ford Fairmont six hours each way every two weeks or so for about two months, I definitely feel your pain. Yay for breakdowns/strange engine noises/exhaust busting in the middle of freaking nowhere. :(

July 30, 2008 at 3:23 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In Lebanon, Tyre is not called Tyre. Tires is when you have been standing up too much and need a nice sit down.
Debster

July 30, 2008 at 8:21 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry Dawn, you seem to be in the minority with your tires. T.Y.R.E.S. And with the shimmy thing - it's the whole lemons/lemonade thing. Bad coffee + car shimmy = passable cappucino.

July 30, 2008 at 10:22 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And just pinned your map btw, England is looking a bit crowded, is it possible for some of you to move to the continent before it sinks?

July 30, 2008 at 10:26 p.m.  
Blogger Rik said...

It could have been worse, you could have taken the bus

July 31, 2008 at 9:19 p.m.  
Blogger Rik said...

Pseudonymph: I don't have to move, I'm not in England. (when will people learn that England isn't the British Isles?)

July 31, 2008 at 9:20 p.m.  
Blogger WrathofDawn said...

Rik. Chill, dude. Have some leeks. There, now. Isn't that better?

We all understand that England isn't the entirety of the British Isles.

Now. Quick geography question for you. Is Newfoundland a part of the Canadian Maritime provinces and if not, why not?

So there.

August 1, 2008 at 12:18 a.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hmm, can't wait to see your follow-up to the road trip story and the Maritime question. lol

August 7, 2008 at 12:13 a.m.  
Blogger WrathofDawn said...

Part the Third will appear over the weekend. In between painting my basement stairwell (ladders and brushes and rags, oh my!) and attending the folk festival.

And when IS Rik going to answer my question?

August 8, 2008 at 12:08 a.m.  
Blogger merlinprincesse said...

I learned at primary school that there were 4 Maritime provinces... I think Quebec is not one of them but not sure... hehhehe... :))))

August 13, 2008 at 12:58 p.m.  

Post a Comment

<< Home