Unexpected Purchase
This Christmas vacation has been more surprising than most. The biggest surprise is that we bought a car, a 2007 Kia Optima, to replace our 10-year-old minivan. The rest of the details are more ordinary, except for the great variety in the weather.
Our vacation schedule was determined by Riverlark. Instead of heading directly to Arcadia, Michigan, from Valparaiso University, she headed to Milan, Michigan, for a KANAR (Knights and Nobles and Rogues) event. She stayed at the house of a KANAR friend named Scott. Stormy weather cut the KANAR event short, so she spent most of that time at Scott's place playing board games, such as Arkham Horror.
The rest of us were to meet Riverlark at Flint, Michigan on the morning of Tuesday, December 23. We left Savage, Michigan, at 8pm Monday and drove through the night. We rendezvoused with Riverlark at 6:30am at a Hollywood Diner that was not yet open, so we had breakfast with Riverlark at an Elias Brothers Big Boy Restaurant in Birch Run. We did not get to meet Scott, aw.
We spent the rest of that day with my mother in Caseville, Michigan. That was one of the oddities, because in past years we visited my mother after Christmas. But Caseville was not far from Flint.
The next morning, Christmas Eve, we started out toward Arcadia, hoping to outrace the forecasted arrival of rain and snow. Xelona and I took the newer minivan and the dogs, and Frostmuffin and Riverlark took the older minivan, which Riverlark used at college. The older minivan lost its power steering at Midland, so they stopped at a Sears Auto Center for repairs. Xelona and I had lost sight of them back at Bay City, so we did not hear of their stop until they phoned us while we were at Clare, an hour ahead. RIverlark also took advantage of their stop to finish some Christmas shopping. They arrived at Arcadia two hours after us.
The rain had started at Midland for us, the snow started at Clare, and got heavy at Cadillac. We decided to avoid the smaller county roads we usually took and stick to the state routes. Thus, we approached the Danke's house from the direction of Stanton Hill, north of the Herring Lakes. That hill is steep and it had just gotten a coat of fresh, wet snow. I slipped up the hill in second gear and somehow triggered a brake warning light on the dashboard. Thus, after Christmas on December 26 we took that minivan to the local Williams Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership to get its brake system check. It turns out the rear brake cylinders had been leaking onto the brake pads and ruined them. We had noticed the brakes were weaker than expected. That repair was expensive but took only a day.
However, the dealership was having a year-end sale. We looked at the cars while dropping off the minivan for repairs and took Riverlark with us when we picked it up. Last month, we had finished paying off the car loan on our 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan, the one in for brake repairs. We had planned to save up cash for a year to buy a replacement for our 1998 Dodge Caravan next year, but the 1998 minivan's power steering failure reminded Frostmuffin that it was on its last legs. She decided to advance our plans to buy a more reliable and more economical car, so long as we could get a good sale price. Thus, we traded in the 1998 minivan for a 2007 Kia Optima LX. They wanted $15000, Blue Book price is $11350 (thank you, Tempestborne for looking up the value for us after a cell phone call), and we paid $13500.
Back to Christmas. Frostmuffin's sister's family was also visiting for Christmas, so I got to see how much my oldest two nephews have grown. Frostmuffin and Riverlark sang at Trinity Lutheran Church for Christmas Eve worship service: Frostmuffin is a permanent member of that church's choir and knew the Christmas hymns already. Riverlark is following in her mother's footsteps musically.
We arrived at the Danke's house with over a foot of snow on the ground, and more snow fell on Christmas. I got some good exercise digging a path between the house and the bunkhouse where Frostmuffin and I have been sleeping. Yet on Friday and Saturday, it rained and melted the snow down to only four inches. Sunday the snow returned accompanied by high winds. Today has been quiet with the sun peeking through the clouds. Michigan has fast weather changes, but this week is rather extreme.
I gave Frostmuffin the boardgame Pandemic for Christmas, so we have played that, along with the frequent pinochle games her parents play. I got books and socks and an oven mitt for Christmas.
Tuesday we will head down to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to visit Frostmuffin's brother Hans and his family. Next on Wednesday we will visit Renee Alper down in Ohio.
Our vacation schedule was determined by Riverlark. Instead of heading directly to Arcadia, Michigan, from Valparaiso University, she headed to Milan, Michigan, for a KANAR (Knights and Nobles and Rogues) event. She stayed at the house of a KANAR friend named Scott. Stormy weather cut the KANAR event short, so she spent most of that time at Scott's place playing board games, such as Arkham Horror.
The rest of us were to meet Riverlark at Flint, Michigan on the morning of Tuesday, December 23. We left Savage, Michigan, at 8pm Monday and drove through the night. We rendezvoused with Riverlark at 6:30am at a Hollywood Diner that was not yet open, so we had breakfast with Riverlark at an Elias Brothers Big Boy Restaurant in Birch Run. We did not get to meet Scott, aw.
We spent the rest of that day with my mother in Caseville, Michigan. That was one of the oddities, because in past years we visited my mother after Christmas. But Caseville was not far from Flint.
The next morning, Christmas Eve, we started out toward Arcadia, hoping to outrace the forecasted arrival of rain and snow. Xelona and I took the newer minivan and the dogs, and Frostmuffin and Riverlark took the older minivan, which Riverlark used at college. The older minivan lost its power steering at Midland, so they stopped at a Sears Auto Center for repairs. Xelona and I had lost sight of them back at Bay City, so we did not hear of their stop until they phoned us while we were at Clare, an hour ahead. RIverlark also took advantage of their stop to finish some Christmas shopping. They arrived at Arcadia two hours after us.
The rain had started at Midland for us, the snow started at Clare, and got heavy at Cadillac. We decided to avoid the smaller county roads we usually took and stick to the state routes. Thus, we approached the Danke's house from the direction of Stanton Hill, north of the Herring Lakes. That hill is steep and it had just gotten a coat of fresh, wet snow. I slipped up the hill in second gear and somehow triggered a brake warning light on the dashboard. Thus, after Christmas on December 26 we took that minivan to the local Williams Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership to get its brake system check. It turns out the rear brake cylinders had been leaking onto the brake pads and ruined them. We had noticed the brakes were weaker than expected. That repair was expensive but took only a day.
However, the dealership was having a year-end sale. We looked at the cars while dropping off the minivan for repairs and took Riverlark with us when we picked it up. Last month, we had finished paying off the car loan on our 2003 Dodge Grand Caravan, the one in for brake repairs. We had planned to save up cash for a year to buy a replacement for our 1998 Dodge Caravan next year, but the 1998 minivan's power steering failure reminded Frostmuffin that it was on its last legs. She decided to advance our plans to buy a more reliable and more economical car, so long as we could get a good sale price. Thus, we traded in the 1998 minivan for a 2007 Kia Optima LX. They wanted $15000, Blue Book price is $11350 (thank you, Tempestborne for looking up the value for us after a cell phone call), and we paid $13500.
Back to Christmas. Frostmuffin's sister's family was also visiting for Christmas, so I got to see how much my oldest two nephews have grown. Frostmuffin and Riverlark sang at Trinity Lutheran Church for Christmas Eve worship service: Frostmuffin is a permanent member of that church's choir and knew the Christmas hymns already. Riverlark is following in her mother's footsteps musically.
We arrived at the Danke's house with over a foot of snow on the ground, and more snow fell on Christmas. I got some good exercise digging a path between the house and the bunkhouse where Frostmuffin and I have been sleeping. Yet on Friday and Saturday, it rained and melted the snow down to only four inches. Sunday the snow returned accompanied by high winds. Today has been quiet with the sun peeking through the clouds. Michigan has fast weather changes, but this week is rather extreme.
I gave Frostmuffin the boardgame Pandemic for Christmas, so we have played that, along with the frequent pinochle games her parents play. I got books and socks and an oven mitt for Christmas.
Tuesday we will head down to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to visit Frostmuffin's brother Hans and his family. Next on Wednesday we will visit Renee Alper down in Ohio.