Ode to Abner (and how we got home)

After a hard winter in Canada we have returned to Ohio!

Windsor to Toronto:

We left Windsor headed toward Toronto with a half a tank of gas and $7. About halfway between Windsor and Toronto (Woodstock maybe?) Abner the stationwagon began sputtering and smoking. We were not close enough to have it towed back to Toronto or to Ohio. After a couple hours of freaking out on the side of the highway in the freezing cold, we decided to have it towed to the nearest gas station and check the fluids. Used my check card to buy 2 quarts trans fluid and 3 quarts oil and $20 of gas even though i was pretty sure there was no money in my account. Fingers crossed, we jumped right back onto the road and made it back to Toronto... very slowly.

Stayed in Toronto for a few days to rest, admired the city, and went to open stage at ren cafe to play some originals we wrote, but list was full. Decided to wing it and try to drive Abner the station wagon back home to Ohio. Got paid too.

Toronto to Ohio:

Packed the car full to the brim. Bought extra oil and trans fluid, dozen doughnuts from Coffee Time. Made it all the way to the border: no car trouble! Got hasseled at the border about all the 'stuff' we had packed in there. Apparently we should have checked our laptops and stuff with customs? whatever. They eventually gave up and let us by. Into New York (yay!) transmission began slipping and started smoking (boo.) Began pouring it out just as fast as I poured it in, so we would drive for 15 min, then it would smoke, and we'd stop for a half hour to let the trans cool.

This carried on all through New York and Pennsylvania, and into Ohio. Finally, outside of Cleveland, we began to feel sick from the fumes, and it was breaking down about every 5 miles. To add to the situation, the engine cooling fan stopped working and it began to rain. We called a tow truck to get us the rest of the way to Crestline and much to our delight we made it under our towing limit by 2.4 miles! :)

Abner is past due for a retirement. Love that car, and Amber and I have a feeling it was just holding on for us. Kind of like it was running supernaturally. We put somewhere around 6000 miles (we think) on it since we recieved it for free. Well anyways, here's to Abner! Whether we were sleeping in the back, writing and drawing on all the interior with markers, hauling our guitars around, cussing and smacking the dash board because the dam thing stalled everytime a stop light turned green, or recklessly choosing to drive it for another 2000 miles on another crazy risky trip after claiming it was ready to be junked (over and over again). Goodbye Abner the stationwagon! You'll be missed!!