The stats:
10 days.
8 states. Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Nebraska, Iowa.
3,583 miles. (If you don't count the approximately 150 miles we put on the Windstar
)
I haven't worked out gas mileage yet, but it's typically around 26 mpg, and I don't expect that to be far off.
Sightings: Hundreds (literally) of Outbacks, 3 (nice) XT6's, at least 4 (rusty) Brats, and 0 (zero) SVX's. Mike's (eclique) SVX was having problems when we went through Denver, and we couldn't hook up.
The story: Friday night. 1 low beam was out. Aaaack! Trip to Auto Zone where I put in new 65W Super-whites at 25 bucks each. (I really like 'em.)
We left on Saturday morning, the 8th, at around 5a. and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It started turning shortly after entering Kansas and we had about three inches of snow by the time we stopped at the Greyhound (dog) museum in Abilene. It steadily got worse
after that - blizzard conditions - at times we could'nt see past the wipers. Interstate 70 was closed at Hayes, so that's where we napped. The SVX looked gross! The blizzard consisted as much of blowing dust as snow.
Called eclique at about 100 miles to Denver, but he was having problems with his SVX. A new harmonic balancer was acting rather unbalanced.
Washed the car at a car wash in a small mountain village before heading up the hill. It started (wet) snowing again. By the time we got to Steamboat my effort was completely wasted.
We are so blessed! (I mean that) Getting the gear out of the car after skiing all day Monday, I noticed that the car appeared to be "bleeding". A red trail went from the center of the car, all the way up to the road. If the lot hadn't been snow-covered, I would not have noticed. Frantic calls to various tow companies and repair shops ensued. Timberline towing would be out in the morning to take the car to (Sean) Doran's shop (who did work for the local Subaru dealer - which didn't have a repair shop) for $75 plus $1.50/mi. Okay, cool. But it seemed nobody in town had a rental. Finally, we located a '96 Windstar at the last place in the book - Economy rental - which also happened to be Grama's Towing. "Let's make a deal", he said. "Since you're renting my van, I'll tow you for $45 bucks." Yeah, I had to think real hard about that one.
When I talked to Sean I told him I thought it was only a seal. "Fer-r-r yer-r-r sake, I sher-r-r hope nawt", he said.
"Ulp", I thought.
Tuesday we called. "Well, ther-r-r-rs good news and bad news."
The good news was that it was a rear seal (better than the front). The bad news was that nobody had one outside of Denver. The cost? He figger-r-red at least $150, $200 top. We went skiing.
Wednesday - no seal (nice snow on the mountain though). We went skiing.
Thursday we were scheduled to leave for Salt Lake City. No seal. We went to Cook Chevrolet/Subaru who had ordered the seal. They called Denver. Oh, by golly. It was at Cook Chevrolet/Subaru - in Craig, Colorado, forty miles away. They didn't have a free driver so we volunteered. It started snowing - hard. Actually, the Windstar wasn't that bad, unless you have a history of bad-weather driving in a SVX. We delivered the part in about an hour and a half. Sean started to work immediately, and we went to a book store (the best place in the world to keep your mind off something important and beat tension).
Sean Doran, who bought his Snap-on Tools in Ireland, and moved them to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is now my very best friend.
Less than two hours from delivering the seal to him, he called to say the job was done. The cost, $112.00. We were elated, and on the road by 4:00p.
The rest of the trip was uneventful - if you can call the most beautiful drive that I've ever done uneventful. (Route 89 from Bear Lake, Idaho to Logan, Utah. - I'll have pictures later, when I download them.)
Subaru performed elegantly the whole trip. We are blessed indeed.