Hey Everyone,
Chris here about to apologize for the very long delay in this update. But let me tell you - the wait was totally not worth it.
So, as you may have guessed from the "dun dun dun" and the title of today's post that something was desperately wrong with the car. The AAA guy took us back to Gallup, New Mexico, 25 miles away, and dropped us off at the Pep Boys (an automotive chain) at 5 in the morning. Well, as you probably know - it wasn't open at Sunday at 5 in the morning. Luckily, there was a MacDonald's where Alexei proceeded to win two french fries and I a third. We waited there for as long as I could stand the disapproving glances of the manager, and then we decided, as Tak was already asleep at the table, to sleep in the car.
Now, you may think that New Mexico is always warm and sunny. It is not at 6 in the morning. It is COLD! So we wrapped ourselves in sleeping bags and drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
I awoke first, about half an hour before they opened and wandered around in the morning cold. While we were waiting another vehicle, filled with three gentlemen of similar ages, arrived as well by tow. And they had the same problem (or so I thought) as we did - a busted alternator, which we joked about in a friendly manner.
At last! The store was open, and we were served rather quickly. I told them the problem and the symptoms, and the clerk reluctantly agreed that it was probably an alternator. So we waited for about an hour, bleary-eyed as we were, and then another hour. Joking together at the various accessories available to be put on our car (Chevy stickers and Honda decals galore). When they were ready for me, I was told of bad news! My engine was seized. I then proceeded to question the fellow for more details, at which point he realized I was not car-illiterate, and stated that the crank shaft had seized, greatly to my dismay. The estimated cost of repair and labour was $2060, pre-tax. At this point I asked him if he would be okay with me leaving my car in the lot for a few days, to which he said No Problem. And I immediately called my insurance company, which, as it turns out, was closed on Sundays. At this point I was fairly distressed but not without ideas on how to solve our current predicament. For I have a tendency to always plan for the worst (happens to be useful most of the time) and had a vague idea of what we should do. We went for an early lunch (it was about 11 now) at Pizza Hut to discuss our predicament. We found out there were several hotels not a 5 minute walk from where we were, and that there were several rental car places in the town. Alexei was keeping up good spirits while Tak was his usual optimistic self. I think, for my benefit, more than any other reason. For my part, and remember, we were all fairly sleep-deprived at this point, I was pragmatic, if a little depressed. For I had grown rather fond of that Hyundai on this trip, especially after our excitement near Area 51.
That same day, Alexei and I went over to the Wal-Mart to do an equivalent exchange of Magic. As previously noted, Alexei and I went to David Copperfield's magic show, which Alexei paid for. So, I repaid him with an equivalent value of Magic Cards. And, throughout the time we were there they amused us to some extent. The rest of the day went by pretty quickly before we had made a plan.
On Monday Morning, Tak was to take the 8:15 train from Gallup to Albuquerque to rent a car from Avis. Alexei and I were to call around different machine shops asking for different estimates (though we did not have much hope - hence why were renting a car) then scrap dealers, and also my insurance company. Tak may decide to write about his trip on the train (which I am told was beautiful) but I shall write of our adventures in Gallup that day.
We woke up bright and early with Tak - 6:30am Mountain Time (actually - Gallup is very close to the time border, so our phones could not decide when we were - which made it confusing to decide when we should be somewhere). Tak left to the train station (thanks to a very nice lady at the hotel) and Alexei and I went back up to the room to make phone calls. First place I called was my insurance company - and surprise, Success! Apparently my policy does cover floods, much to my surprise. And the rental car will also be covered, but I will have to wait a few days for an appraiser to come to estimate the damages and see if they are reparable. This, thus, reduced my anxiety and gave us time to explore the town.
The town was just across the highway, along old Route 66, which Alexei was enthusiastic about, and we wandered around. We passed several used car lots, to which Alexei jokingly said we should buy a car, to which I stated never, though I was interested in a Yellow Chrysler something, for it was Yellow. We also passed by several trading posts, which as far as I can tell, are more elaborate pawn shops that cater mainly towards selling native artwork. These trading posts are quite interesting and are apparently almost entirely unique to the town of Gallup, NM. There was also a museum which we did not have much time in, that stated the history of the area. It also informed us, that Gallup has the highest concentration of Native peoples anywhere in the United States! This is exciting! Then it was time for lunch, as we had been wandering around for several hours, and we stopped in at one of the 101 best sports bars in the US as voted by ABC (I think). What was interesting, was on the menu, they had something called wet fries, which upon further exploration, turned out to be fries with gravy, and one must wonder, how long it will take before some clumsy clerk accidentally drops cheese it and thus American Poutine Will Be Born!
We found out that Tak's train had been delayed, so we thought that we had some extra time. So we decided to go to the Aztec movie theatre (the name seems to be an odd choice for a Navaho area) and sat down to watch Hotel Transylvania - when Tak called saying he was back in town. We sat through the movie because we had paid for it. It was not really worth it. If you have a child in your life - rent it with them and you may get a few laughs. That is all I can say for that movie.
We went back to the hotel and told Tak of our news, which he was glad to hear, even if it meant staying in town for another day or so. That night we went to the Golden Corral, which is a crazy amazing buffet, where I ate So Many Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Mushrooms, Corn, and other vegetables, which I was desperate for at this part of our trip. And Alexei was amazed, with child-like glee, at a chocolate waterfall, which fell to three different levels. Tak was nonplussed until he saw Alexei's reaction, at which point he joined in the fun. I refrained, being old and boring.
The next day went by slowly at the start. I was waiting for a call from my insurance company. Eventually, I got a call back stating 'nothing today, maybe tomorrow' - this was at 2pm. So we decided to do something, and went to Sky City.
Sky City is a native community that is built up on top of a mesa in the desert. It is highly rated as a tourist place to go, but is over an hour from where we were. So when we got there the last tour of the day had left, since it was off-season. We looked around at the museum and art gallery. It was interesting because they showed a timeline of parallel development between Europe and North America and also the blending of crops from North America to Europe and vice-versa. Example: tomatoes, potatoes, and maize were all native to North America, and dramatically changed European Cuisine forever. Surprisingly enough, we were there for two hours reading, and may have stayed longer but they were Closing Up around us, and didn't want to be stuck in Sky City. We drove back, had supper, and worried about the next day.
The next morning, the insurance agent answered as soon as I called, and said she still hadn't heard back from the estimator. At this point, we were growing rather concerned, as we were running out of time to get back to Montreal. I asked her then if I could just leave my keys with the garage, and leave the rest to her. To my surprise - she agreed, with the stipulation that if my car was reparable, I had to go get it. I eagerly agreed, and we were off!
I went rather quickly through those three days, and I failed to capture the friendliness, kindness, and nicety of that town. And, though we had never planned to stop there, I am glad we did. Would I take another three-day trip there? Probably not. But, if I was in the area, I definitely would stop there again for a day.
I am sorry also for the lack of pictures - Tak posesses the memory chip with them - at a later date I may update this post, or just make a post with a bunch of photos.
Happy Trails
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