More fun with auto repairs

Before we left on our trip I did a bit of agonizing over whether or not I should replace the seven year old OEM battery in our car. I didn't do it because it was acting fine, but it turns out that was a mistake. On the Friday evening run from Sequoia N.P. to Pastor Pauls', the battery pretty much gave up. The first time we stopped for gas the car would barely start itself, so we never shut it off again until we parked at Pastor Pauls. The next morning the car started, but when we took it to an auto parts store to have the battery checked it tested poorly. A new battery and we were on our way. At least that repair wasn't totally unexpected.

Now we are noticing that the cooling system may be having issues. We've had the temperature gauge quite high a couple of times and then it suddenly drops. I'm thinking it's a sticky thermostat, but with our luck it could be worse. grrr.... I'm trying to decide if I should just have it replaced, or see if it continues to act up.

I shoulda' bought a new car for the trip!

Our family also sends a big THANK YOU! to Pastor Paul and his wife Ellen for a great visit. We had fun talking about things old and things new, got fed like royalty, and were able to have a couple of nice relaxing days (after we fixed the car, that is...).

We didn't remember to get a picture of our visit here until we were almost ready to leave. By this time Ellen had already left for work, so we are short one host:

I'm glad we had the chance to visit L.A., but no one in our family is planning to return any time soon. It would be a pretty big adjustment to move there from little ol' Borculo, but Pastor Paul claims it can be done!