How lucky or not lucky am I ??

Story from the frozen north
If you happen to start your car, and it makes a cracking noise when you crank it over, that is a bad sign. If you also notice that the heater blows cold air on the hot air setting, warning sign! If it smokes all over the place and stinks you better take note. If you smell antifreeze shut her down!
I noticed all the warning signs and decided not to drive it home (this was Monday night, after work, with the kids at daycare and in the middle of a bad snowstorm). I called a buddy of mine who swung through town and took me home, while my mother was supposed to be getting the kids. She decided it was too dangerous and made Dad get the kids, that is how bad the storm was. I really, really hoped it was just a simple problem that could be solved with bars leaks and antifreeze or maybe a new muffler. NO SUCH LUCK.
I explained the symptoms to Dad when I finally got home (three hours later, in the storm) and we both didn’t smile. It sounded grim. We decided the next day when the storm broke we could try to get her home somehow. Poor little cute red van. However, the next day the storm cleared ok, but we didn’t have a vehicle to use to go after the van, and the roads were not clear until 3 pm. Oh well. That meant it had to wait until wednesday.
Wednesday we finally got over to my workplace to look at the van. Dad wore coveralls and I wore camo pants and my camo jacket (you can’t wear dress clothes to crawl around under cars). I brought my work clothes along hoping it was minor and Dad could drive her home while I went to work. NO SUCH LUCK.
We fired her up and nearly choked to death in the haze. We crawled under it looking for leaks and problems. We noticed the muffler had partly disconnected but that wasn’t the source of the acrid haze, which seemed to be coming from everywhere. We took the car to the auto shop and bought a gallon of antifreeze and bars leaks for the van.
After adding the bars leaks and antifreeze the smoke was a little less and we started out after warming her up good. We made it almost two miles when she boiled over. We pulled off into a parking area. We headed out for the auto shop, where we picked up two more gallons of antifreeze. We both didn’t say so but both wondered about the wisdom of this endevour…
We fired her up again. I was silently amazed that she started. Off we went in a blaze of glory cloud of haze heading homeward bound so we hoped.
We made another two miles when Dad decided we needed to stop. It wasn’t boiled over just yet….we gave her a chance to cool a little while we filled our hungry stomachs with cheap sandwiches and coffee. We didn’t talk much. We wondered some more.
We pulled out toward home, but before we could get home, we had to make it over the cass street bridge without killing the car or having it boil. I could hardly see my own car (that Dad was driving) through the smoke and exhaust. I had to leave a generous margin between us so that I could safely drive at all. Dad put the hammer down when he pulled away from the stop light and seemed to accelerate on a mission to make it over the bridge. I thought a small miracle occurred-we made it. We kept going and I really, really, hoped we could get to LaCrescent and that Dad would then shut her down. We had to stop one more time before LaCrescent. I couldn’t believe it. Well, then again, I could.
We made it through LaCrosse, and then managed to make it through the stoplights at LaCrescent. Just as I was thinking that the smoke was getting less severe, Dad signalled. We were pulling over again. GOOD CALL.
It so happens that Dad decided to pull into the shop and ask a few questions. The car killed for the last time just in front of the shop. She never started again….sigh. We called the wrecker.
I still think it is amazing. We made it 24 miles on a blown head gasket. Too bad we couldn’t make it another 21-since if we did, I wouldn’t have to pay the wrecker. But as it is, it’s a lucky thing that Dad accepts payment in donuts for his part in it. LUCKY ME.
After being forced to accept the sad fact that my red van, known as the red chili pepper, had earned a new name as Smoky Joe, and was destined for the car graveyard, we had to go car shopping. I need a car by tomorrow.
TOMORROW SHOULD BE ANOTHER ADVENTURE!
To be continued…