At this point is it obvious that I made it from Iowa to Portland Oregon, with Winston, Nana, Papa and all of my things!
The trip was eventful and full of driving (obviously).
I finished work around 11:00am on the 31st of May and off we went, driving through Iowa and about 300 miles through Nebraska. On June 1st we headed out early in the morning and made it the rest of the way through Nebraska, almost all the way through Wyoming. Then at mile post three I smelled smoke and saw a huge plume coming out the back end of my car, EEEK! We stopped and took a look at things, luckily the car still drove - just no power steering. As we got back on the highway Nana got out her GPS and we found that there was a Chevy dealership a mere two miles away! God was smiling on us, we were very blessed to be so close to a place that could help us so much!
After stopping at the dealership and making an appointment for the morning (Papa made the appointment, as I was a sobbing mess "my car, my car...") we drove another 2 miles to a hotel. The next morning we got up early and waited at the door of the dealership to open, come to find out the power steering line had come loose and the engine burned a hole in the line causing the fluid to hit the exhaust pipe which the caused smoke. It would be another day until we could get the line from Denver and repairs would cost $500, there was also no guarantee that the pump would work after the line had been run dry.
We opted to pay the pretty penny for a U-Haul truck and trailer, throwing my things in the truck and pulling my car with the trailer. We left Wyoming around 11:00am, drove through Utah, Idaho and Oregon, making it to Washington around 2:00AM. Exhausted but happy we collapsed in to bed, WE WERE HOME!
Along the way we did see some sights, including this list of license plates:
Iowa
Texas
North Dakota
Kansas
Nebraska
Indiana
Oklahoma
Illonios
Missouri
Florida
Arizona
Pennsylvania
California
Wisconsin
South Dakota
Colorado
North Carolina
Georgia
Utah
Idaho
Michigan
Washington
Tennesse
Ohio
Maine
Oregon
Arkansas
Mississippi
New Jersey
Canadian Provinces:
British Columbia
Ontario
Manatoba
Special Vehicles:
The OSCAR MAYER WIENER MOBILE!!!!!
That's thirty states, three provinces and ONE Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile, all in three days!
