Need To Vent

No more roads trips for us!! I'd like to think we haven't done anything to generate bad karma, but maybe we have. Better just tell you the whole story....

Albert and I both have to attend continuing education each year to renew our professional licenses. My most local vet conference was in San Antonio last month and Albert's was in Austin this month. We decided that since we had to take time off anyway for the other one to go to CE, that we'd just take the family along on both trips. San Antonio is about a 5 hour drive from Dallas and Austin is about 4. Sounds like a good idea, right?

Well, watching two toddlers in a hotel turns out to be harder than it sounds. And it was musical beds between the hotel bed and the floor for all, all night long, so no one slept well. But it gets worse. While in San Antonio, we were involved in a car accident in the minivan. Everyone was completely fine, but Mom's car, sadly, was not. It was Saturday night and we both had to work Monday morning, so there was little choice but to have the car towed somewhere for the weekend, rent a car at the airport, and drive back to Dallas. Note to self: NEVER, EVER get involved in another car accident while out of town. Car repairs are always a hassle, but never more so than when you are 300 miles away!

It wasn't a total bust- the hotel we stayed at was neat and I would like to return sometime when the kids are just a little bigger. My conference was good. We got a ride back to the hotel after the accident from the responding police officer and Alex liked the Police Cruiser (Hope that's his only trip in the back of a police car!). The kids had fun at the Alamo and the San Antonio Children's Museum. And we got to see some good friends Tony & Dani and Yogi while we were in San Antonio.

It was a substantial accident, however, and they kept finding more damage as they went along, so pretty soon nearly four weeks had passed and we still didn't have our car back.

We had hoped to go pick up at the start of our Austin trip, but it still wasn't ready, so we decided to stop at the Inner Space Cavern on our way to Austin. As we were pulling into the parking lot, the low-engine oil pressure warning came on in Albert's car unexpectedly. The car was hot, so we decided to go through the Cavern and check it afterward. By the way, the Cavern was really neat. We had both been to Carlsbad Caverns , a much more noted cave, so we weren't expecting much from Inner Space. We were pleasantly surprised and both the boys really enjoyed the Cavern! It was much smaller than Carlsbad, but that turned out to be a plus because you got to be closer to the rock formations. Definitely a recommended stop if you're ever near Austin!

Inner Space Cavern

Okay, so to continue.... we returned to find a major oil leak and zero oil in the dipstick. Neither Albert nor I know that much about cars, but we do know that's a very bad thing. Seriously?? Freak oil leak?? Stranded (with the kids!) again?? So, a tow truck ride later, and we had another rental car. One rental car in Dallas, one minivan at a body shop in San Antonio, one rental car in Austin, and Albert's car at a Ford Dealer in Georgetown. Great. Albert's car got fixed the next day, but he had to miss half a day of his lectures to go trade back the rental car and pick it up.

We got word on Friday that the minivan would be done, so he skipped another half a day of lectures so we could drive down to pick it up. We drove 80 miles to get there, and arrived just a little bit early. They said our car was being detailed when we got there and it would be about 45 min until it was done. So we waited in the lobby, with two fidgety toddlers and nothing to entertain them with except a bowl of Dum-Dums and a coloring book. An hour later, a front-office lady came out and said our car was being worked on and there was nothing more she could tell us. Not long after that, a manager appeared and said, "Oh, well, turns out we are actually missing a part that cannot be obtained from anywhere in the State until around Wednesday, so your car won't be ready today." Seriously?? Do none of you morons talk to each other, or are you all liars, cause I can't think of any other explanation for making us drive 80 miles then wait an hour before you figured out there was no possible way the car would be done??

An hour later, we had a mostly-finished car (that we of course had to pay for in full) and a promise to pay for finishing the repairs in Dallas. And of course, like the rest of the two trips, there were even more kinks to come. 10 minutes down the road, the low tire pressure light came on in the minivan. We pulled over immediately and the tire pressures seemed to be fine- most likely a sensor error from the tire that they replaced- but how can you take the chance of having a blow-out on the highway with two kids in the car?? So in the dark, with four cranky Ramirez's, we drove a few miles on the access road and checked the tire pressure several times before deciding it had to be a sensor error and making it back to Austin way past the kids' bed times.

Another half-day wasted sitting at yet another car dealer trying to entertain the kids with next-to-nothing to find out for sure that it was a sensor error. Another repair to add to the body shop's tab.

Again, it wasn't a total bust. We got to see some friends (Phun Phil), visit Irfan & Karey's new house, see the Congress Street Bats, play at the Austin Children's Museum, and ride the train at Zilker Park.

Congress Street Bridge- a little cold waiting for sunset at this time of year,
but the sheer number of bats was amazing!

Yes, Embassy Suites, I let my almost-2 year old eat raspberries on your couch.
Isn't that why you picked that upholstery?

Zilker Park


Zilker Park


Zilker Park Train

Wish us luck with the rest of our car repairs. And please understand if we don't take anymore road trips anytime soon. As Alex said, "Mommy, next time I think if we go somewhere far away, we should fly on a plane." Yep, except you probably don't want to be on our plane. Just in case.