After the Ordway concert on Mar 22, we returned to our van in the parking ramp to go home. Unfortunately, the van was not going anywhere – the gear shift would not engage the engine in any gear so we were stuck! Jim suspected the transmission had completely failed; I had better hopes. Over the next 24 hours, we we went from being stranded in St. Paul to signing a purchase agreement on a newer van, a 2005 Pontiac Montana.
SUNDAY
5:15 Ford Windstar is dead and stuck in a parking ramp – phone calls to Progressive begin to get it towed
5:50 we start making plans to get us all home (needing 2 cars since there were 6 of us)
6:15 Katie picks up me, Jamie and Natalie and we head home as a snowstorm starts ramping up. The tow truck arrives at about the same time to bring the vehicle with Jim, Gloria and Lauren to Edina. There is a serious question of whether the tow truck can get the van out of the ramp
7:00 We arrive home safely in spite of deteriorating driving conditions and the tow truck arrives in Bloomington about the same time; I head back out to pick up Jim and the bigger girls. Along the way, the roads get even worse and I spin out the car across 4 lanes of traffic on 494. I am amazed for days that I did not get hit or smash up the car.
8:00 ALL of us are safely home; we were supposed to go to Juliana’s for her birthday – this is postponed.
MONDAY
7:30 I am holding out hope that the van will be repaired so I don’t start thinking about a replacement right away but Jim advises otherwise – he turns out to be right
8:00 – 12:00 Jim starts figuring out how to donate to old van and get it removed from the auto repair shop. We talk about our budget ($5,000-$6,000) I start looking online for a replacement; he starts arranging financing through the credit union. We trade lots of texts, phone calls and emails
12:30 Juliana comes over for the world’s shortest birthday party
2:00 – 5:30 I take Katie to an appointment and look at my first choice of vehicles in Long Lake. I am ready to buy and the financing is arranged. It turns out to have serious problems I don’t want to take on but it confirms that I want this TYPE of van. I call Jim from the road. He calls ahead to another one I found in Chaska for me to look at. I look at it; drive it; LOVE it and sign on the dotted line. I make arrangements to pick it up the next day.
7:00 I take Gloria to an appointment and then go back to Edina to clean out our possessions from the old van, pay the diagnostic bill and leave the title for the donation pickup.
TUESDAY
12:00 I pick up the new van, with some last minute phone calls with the credit union on the way to the pickup; the dealer lets me have the van knowing that they have to hold our check for a day until the credit union overnights a check to us.
I am amazed at how this worked out and how I got what I had always wanted – another Montana. I had always missed the one I had that we had to sell. This one is newer and nicer and has some wonderful features. Even though it is 10 years old, it FEELS like a brand new car to me! After getting it home, we discover extra features I didn’t know about when I bought it.
These are the dark and kind of blurry photos I took of the Windstar before signing it away. We had this van for 6 years and only paid $4500 for it. I was kinda sad to say good-bye to it!
