Man what a trip! Some might say it was a nightmare but I think we’ll call it an adventure!  We are currently in Centerburg, OH. The drive from Seattle to Ohio was full of excitement and plenty of frustration. 4 hours after leaving Seattle our car overheated in Pendleton, Oregon. We Pulled over to let it cool off and when we

went to start it back up the battery was dead. Thank goodness for AAA! They towed us to a local mechanic in Pendleton, OR. It took way too long to get the car fixed! We ended up having to get a hotel for two nights while waiting on the car. We left Seattle on a Sunday and we were able to leave Pendleton on Tuesday morning (and only 4 hours into our long, long drive!). We made it to Boise Tuesday night and had a short visit with Clint Cullins and his awesome family!

Wednesday morning we pushed on to try and make up some ground. We were about 2 hours from Salt Lake City when our car overheated again. At this point we back tracked  30 miles to go see a mechanic in Burely, Idaho. We drove the car only at 40 mph to try and keep from overheating. We made it to a mechanic and he said everything looked good and was working as it should. He suggested the car was overheating with a combination of our heavy load, driving too fast and the high altitude we were at. So we got back on the road and pushed on to Salt Lake City driving only 55 mph (The speed limit in Idaho was 80 mph!).

Out in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the Utah wilderness our car overheated again. We pulled over to let it cool off. We waited 20 minutes or so and took off again slowing down to 50 mph. Again it over heated. We repeated this process several times and eventually we were driving 38 mph in a 80 mph zone. We contacted a Subaru dealership and made an appointment first thing the following morning. We limped the car and arrived at the Subaru dealership around 9pm Wednesday night. We pitched a tent in the dealership parking lot and crashed for the night!

The next morning the dealer technicians said we had a bad thermostat that needed to be replaced. Which was about a $400 dollar fix. Thursday morning around 1pm we were on our way again! We drove late into Thursday night and made it to Cheyenne, WY with no car issues. Friday morning we continued on and made it through most of Nebraska and then it happened again. The car overheated. We were about an hour from Omaha, NE. We scheduled an appointment  with another Subaru Dealership in Omaha for Saturday morning. Again we limped the car into town. This time it was 10 degrees and snowing so camping at the dealership wasn’t as tempting:) We got a hotel instead. The dealership said we probably have a bad head gasket and that is what was causing us to overheat. We decided we would rent a Uhaul truck and trailer and tow the our car back to Ohio and get a second opinion. To rent the uhaul it cost us $1500. We had 5 mechanics look at our car on our trip and they all had a different opinion. We took the Uhaul truck and still stopped to see some family and friends in Illinois and Indiana. Late sunday night around 1:30am we pulled into Ronnie’s parents house in Centerburg, OH.

As for the Subaru, it ended up being the head gaskets which cost $2500 dollars to fix.

All in all we were set back around $4000 dollars. Between extra hotels, car labor and parts, driving backwards at one point, the uhaul and the extra gas it cost to drive the uhaul it may be closer to $5000. That was basically most of the money we had. and we are only half way into our trip. It’s been hard to stay positive and focused on what we have set out to do. God never said it would be easy for us. And we figured if we can’t manage to fight through some car trouble we’ve had we would never last in mexico. Our faith was being tested and it will continue to be tested. It’s all God’s money anyway and why should we spend the time worrying about it. We trust God will provide and we still plan to be in Tijuana by April 3rd.

This coming weekend we are having a fundraiser at Ronnie’s home church in Centerburg, OH. All we can do is pray and trust the Lord will provide. We also ask if you could pray too!

You can donate on our website using a credit card, bank account or paypal. We could sure use the help!

Thanks again and we’ll keep you posted on what happens this weekend!