You've only driven how far?

Shortly after hanging up the computer and almost ready for sleep the phone rings and Sayed the person I was supposed to pick up the car from first thing this morning calls to ask if I've found a car yet...  "Nope I replied", he said, "the car is ready and I have all the paperwork ready to go."  I thought about it for a while and called him back and agreed to the same terms we had before, we scheduled to pick up the car the next morning.  'Well that's the original plan I thought' a little uncertain as I had already accepted the cost of the rental car and was living comfortably in the security of a new car that I knew would run great and would be very comfortable.

 

We woke up early and had a great breakfast, finding more and more that cheaper hotels offer better service than expensive ones.  At Grand Niagra, $100 a night including tax and misc fees, we had a beautifull room overlooking the falls and for breakfast we opted for the $6.95 per person room service which included Eggs, Bacon or Sausage, Toast, Pancakes, and Juice, milk or coffee.  It was delivered on time and they threw in the table so we didn't have to find room on the in room table which was covered with stuff.  Also the hotel provided free wifi internet service.  They last Hyatt I stayed in wanted 12.95 per 24 hour period and the cheapest meal you could get taken to your room was $15.00 plus a service fee.

 

I digress.  Getting out of the Grand Niagra hotel we rushed over to pick up the car from Sayed, it only took a few minutes cause he had the paperwork ready and we were on our way, Kari leading in the rental with the GPS.  As soon as she jumped on the freeway I noticed a plume of black and blue smoke pooring out of my tailpipe when I gave the car gas.  I watched it for a while and realised that this car was a POS, the deal was done and now I've got 3300 miles to go in a busted car. 

 

After a few minutes of following Kari and going around in circles it was apparent that she was having problems with the GPS and pulled over to let me take over.  She handed me the GPS and we took off, after a minute I understood the problem the GPS was set to due north which makes understanding which direction you should turn nearly impossible.  After a few minutes on the freeway Kari calls me and says "You know the muffler is smoking a lot"  To which I replied, "it's not the muffler it's the engine I got screwed."  There was nothing to do but push on, the temperature was OK and it was obviously oil and gas that was blowing smoke out the pipe so as long as the temperature was holding and the A/C was blowing cold it would be comfortable trip, so PUSH ON.

 

On the way to Cleveland we stopped off at a grocery store and Advanced Auto Parts for some supplies.  I checked the oil, there was none on the dipstick so I poured in an entire large bottle of Lucas Oil Additive and 2 quarts of oil to bring it up and hopefully slow down the oil consumption.  This greatly reduced the amount of smoke as we left.

A little further down the road it's time for my 2nd fill up and my dad always taught me to keep a record so I knew how many miles we came, the gas mileage was around 21 MPG in a small 4cylinder, not good.  At this rate with only a 10 gallon tank we would have to stop every 150 miles or so for gas, which is probably fine cause I had to pour in another quart of oil.

 

Arriving at Cleveland we headed directly to the Hall of Fame, I had figured out how to fake the GPS a while ago and I basically had to turn it off let it charge and then use the battery for short burst with it unplugged to get directions in critical points.  The GPS makes navigating easy but this little probelm is an annoyance.

 

The rock and roll hall of fame was awesome, I've attached some pictures here:  http://cemseller.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AZuGLRo1atmK8&notag=1

 

As we left Cleveland our plan was to go down some smaller roads through Ohio's Amish country and check out the farms.  We got about 100 miles down that route to a small town called Wooster, OH and determined after stopping for gas and now getting a little less than 20 MPG and 2 more quarts of oil that we don't want to be driving down little country roads in the middle of the night, we got back on the highway and headed for Columbus.

 

Nearing Columbus I think to myself how all this half of the country looks the same, it's just all forest with pathways cut out for farms and roads, the more I see of everything East of Oklahoma the more I realise this.  What I also realised is that we were coming on Columbus OH, had been travelling all day and had only made about 300 miles of the 1286 miles you got left to go.  So I told her we really need to push on past Cincinnati, besides the car was actually doing ok, driving pretty well with traffic in this state between 65 and 75 miles per hour, slower than I normally drive but I like to keep to the locals indication of what law enforcement will put up with.

 

We stop again for gas and 2 quarts of oil and I notice that our mileage is diminishing a little bit each time.  It's going to be expensive to get all the way to AR but as long as we keep moving forward it will work out.  The night is beautifull, it's so dark out here, no light to interfere with the night sky and headlights cut through the night like a knife.  I am at a heightened sense of awareness through the lack of sleep, concern about the car, or just the idea that a deer could run out of the woods at any minute and the engine would be the least of our concerns.  I could drive all night.

 

We realise that we are going through Whiskey country and wonder where the Jack Daniels and Jim Beam plants are, Sprint WIFI at your service, this thing is awesome.  We look up Jack, that's too far out of the way but Jim Beam is right our of Louisville, and in Louisville is the Louisville slugger museum and just after that is Bowling Green.  That's where they make Corvettes.  Man we got some stops to make tomorrow on the way so we push right up to the border of Louisville and pull over to a Comfort in.  $70.00 a night, Free Breakfast (With waffles and hard boiled eggs mind you), clean sheets, in room coffee and a fridge.  That's what I'm talking about.