The last several weeks have not been good for our vehicles. I posted about my son’s Equinox having a blown head gasket and  one or more cracked cylinder heads. (Not Been a Good Few Days) He finally got it back on November 19.

Now my car is down and waiting to be fixed. I had driven it to Topeka on Thursday December 4 to take some eggs to my Mom’s for some friends of hers. They get together to have lunch and play Scrabble or Dominoes or something. They wanted to buy some eggs since I had plenty. They were getting together on Friday. I felt the car slip a little on the highway. We had just had the transmission fluid flushed and refilled, and new spark plugs put in about two or three weeks ago. I thought that the slipping had to be the transmission. It didn’t act up any more, so Mom and I went to lunch and made one more stop at a store. The car really was acting up by then. The RPMS were really running high and it was not wanting to get into gear. I dropped Mom off at home and headed to our local mechanics shop in Denison. Thirty miles north. I had to nurse the car along, but made it safely. Our mechanic checked the fluid and said it was nicely burnt. The transmission is shot. He told me to take it home and not drive it until he got another transmission ordered. It is supposed to be in maybe Thursday November 11. I may get it back on Friday.

On top of all this we have been needing a newer, more powerful truck to pull the trailer with. Our old truck is a Ford F150. Hubby bought it new in 1994. We still lived in Topeka then, and weren’t yet married. After we were married he wanted to move back to the country where he grew up. That is where we live now. The F150 has been a good farm truck for the last 15-16 years. It has hauled horses to riding lessons and cattle to and from the market, and veterinarians. But, the last few years it has been pretty hard to pull a loaded trailer with it. You can feel it protesting. And it wants to drag back on hills. Not a good thing when you have live animals behind you. And hopefully no other vehicles!

So after telling our mechanic to fix the car, we went to Holton and looked at the local Ford dealer. We test drove a 2010 F250, and thought it was okay. Hubby didn’t really want a truck with too much miles on it already since we plan to have cattle for awhile. Although, since he is now 60, and I will be 59 soon, and cold weather settling in, that could change!  🙂 We looked at a 2015 F250 with an extended cab. One that has barely enough room to sit in the back. Not the bigger one with lots of leg room. I would have preferred that one, but after looking at the price tag, we thought no way. We did test drive the one with the extended cab and liked it. It has 4×4. It is a bit bigger than our old truck, but I like driving it. So we talked to the salesman and decided to get it. It had a hefty price tag too, but it was less than the one with the bigger cab. And they were offering several discounts, and we had another one for having Farm Bureau insurance.  If it lasts as long as the old truck, and is as good as that one, it will be worth it. We will keep the old one to beat around the farm in. And for an extra vehicle if one goes down. Hopefully after the car is fixed, it will last another 100,000 miles or so. I think we have spent enough on cars and trucks for a long, long time.

Stay Safe and God Bless!

❤