Trifecta of Transportation Troubles, part 2

If you haven't read part 1 of our Trifecta of Transportation Troubles, you really need to... right now.

If you have...

So we limped all the way home with only one brief pit stop along the way. We finally made it back home EIGHT AND A HALF HOURS after originally leaving for our vacation.

Big Dude took Little Dude into the house to use the facilities while I quickly transferred everything from the car to the truck. We were determined to have this vacation!

We were home for less than 30 minutes before we peeled out of the driveway and headed back down the road much travelled.

Little Dude, redressed in pajamas and armed with a pillow, didn't take long to fall asleep. The soft road sounds had become his lullaby.

We did finally make it to our hotel... at 3am. And we made Oscar-worthy efforts to ignore the fatigue and stress in order to enjoy our vacation. Little Dude loved it. And that alone was worth the maddening drive.

When we returned home, my parents offered to lend us their car while ours was being repaired. So Tuesday morning, Little Dude and I piled into my mom's little red car and headed for school.

And the tire pressure warning light came on.

Now, Little Dude's school has a strict policy about being late, so I wasn't going to stop anywhere along the way. I drove him all the way to school and then met Big Dude back at home so he could air up the tires.

My parents had just moved back from Florida, so Big Dude figured the tires were low because they've been sitting in a garage unused. Besides, the tires were only a few months old.

My mom teased me about my poor luck with cars lately. I whined about my poor luck with cars lately. My husband just shook his head and called the dealership to find out how long it would take to get my car fixed.

Thursday morning we were still borrowing the little red car. Little Dude and I got ready to leave for school and... click...

The battery was dead.

Worried about getting Little Dude to school on time, I called the most reliable driver I knew... Big Dude. After all, he had shown an amazing amount of reliability during our recently fated vacation.

Big Dude ran home, picked us up. Took Little Dude to school. Took me to work. Jumped the car battery and took the little red car back to my parents.

My mom laughed at our poor luck with cars lately. I cried about my poor luck with cars lately. My husband vowed to get my car back that day.

Luckily, we did get our car back that evening. Thankfully, the transmission was still covered under warranty. However, we didn't get off scot free because our car needed a few other items done. It's not like a mechanic to let you have your car back without finding something to repair. But at least we were able to save money since they already had the engine pulled out for the free transmission replacement.

Doomed transmission. Flat tires. Dead battery. I'm pretty sure nobody will be lending me a car any time soon!