This is the song that never ends….

Yes it goes on and on my friends. Some people, started singing it not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing it forever just because (big breath) this is the song that never ends….

I don’t know why the theme from Lamb Chop just popped into my head, but it did. It also perfectly describes how I feel about my car right now.

We made it home safe and sound. Later on, I will post about the actual time I spent in Phoenix, which was great.

We picked up the rental car at about 8:30 on Tues morning. Skies were bright, I was in a good mood because I was finally going home. We decided one way or another, we were going home, even if it meant driving the rental all the way to Salt Lake and coming back later for my car. We left sometime after 9. We have both been converted to the mini-van. The rental was a brand new Toyota Sienna minivan, and it was amazing. There was so much space and seating and it was just wow. We decided when baby #3 is on the way (or when I decide to shoot my car, whichever comes first), we will definitely shop around for a minivan. Alann even said he didn’t mind driving it (which is good, since technically, I never drove it. At least if Hertz asks…) The dogs were comfy, for the most part, on the floor. There was some serious “trunk” space back behind the third row. It was nice and deep, and the seats went flat with the floor when they were stowed. The middle row could either fold out of the way or be removed altogether. One of the doors was power. I’m not totally sold on whether that is necessary or not. Maybe once we have kids we will decide. But the windows in the sliding doors rolled down like a regular car. (Ok, maybe I just haven’t been in a minivan in a long time, but all this seemed new and awesome to me.) The only thing we really wished for was a separate hatch opening on the rear gate (ya know, the window opens on its own). I loved the way the important buttons, like lighting, were accessible to the passenger as well as the driver. And there was a little pop-down mirror so you could watch the kids or dogs in our case. Obviously, it was designed with a family in mind.

Anyway, the trip went pretty well. We made it to Page around 1:30 or so. We went to the mechanics shop and he said “another hour or so” so we went to a park and got some ice cream and relaxed and walked the dogs. We went to Walmart and tried in vain to vacuum out some of the dog hair. We went back around 3:30 and he said “another hour”. He promised we would leave yesterday. He said they would stay late if they had to. Their part truck was late that morning, so it put them all behind. We finally got the car at 5. After I had an infuriating conversation with Hertz (why do they only employ idiots?), we just decided to forget about returning it before they closed and just drop the rental in their drop box and deal with it some other time. She kept telling me the same information, and NOT answering my question. So we finally picked up my car at 5 and went over to the Hertz to make the switch of all the stuff back to my car. We couldn’t get Tanner’s crate in my car. It fit on the way down, but not this time. Totally irritating. We spent about an hour transferring stuff, then found a Burger King and got some dinner. On the road again at 6:30, we made an uneventful drive and got home around 12:30. The dogs enjoyed the break at the park, but I really just wanted to go home. Oh and Nicki almost chewed through her leash. I’m mad at her about that. That leash is only a year old and they are expensive because we buy the maximum weight ones so we don’t have to worry about which one is Tanner’s and which one is Nicki’s.

The stupid cat was glad to see us. She wouldn’t leave me alone. Though I think she also just really wanted to go outside. So maybe she didn’t miss us. Last night she woke me up but didn’t seem to want anything, just to be annoying. Tanner and Jersey had a yelling match just as we were going to bed. She kept attacking him and he kept growling at her and barking at her. I don’t know what was going on. I just wanted sleep. By now it was 1:30. I get cranky that late at night. So when the cat woke me up at 4:15, I was not a happy camper. I put the dogs out so that she would come running to the front door, then I locked all of them out of the bedroom and slept until the alarm went off.

So why is my car the song that never ends? We unpacked just enough for me to go to work this morning- removed the cargo carrier and all that jazz. I was talking to one of my coworkers this morning, when another coworker came up and said “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your tire is flat.” Sure ‘nuff, it’s flat. Oh well. At least we made it home. So this weekend, I’ll be the proud new owner of two new snow tires (because I’m tired of waiting for stuff to go wrong. I’ll just replace both the bad ones).

As for Hertz- it started out good enough. The girl was helpful and agreed to stay later than she should have so we could get the car. When we returned it in Phoenix, the agent there was able to get us the rate that she had quoted us and reserved the car for us again on Monday, then we pushed it back to Tuesday. But, he didn’t put the return as Page, he put it as Phoenix. There is a big difference in price apparently. Today, I called to find out what they were going to charge us, and the girl started giving me lip about the return place. You know what, this isn’t my fault or problem. I told him where we would return it. You people need to make the quoted price match the actual price. The girl tried calling the guy in Phoenix, and then told me that she couldn’t get a hold of him and they must be closed and it would have to wait until Monday. I asked why it was closed and she said “oh they must close for the weekend.” I said “But it’s Weds!!” And she said “oh, um, I’ll keep calling.” Resolution: they screwed up and aren’t going to charge us the long-distance rate, but the quoted rate. At least one thing is going ok.

All in all, I'm tired of the stupid car and when this trip becomes another (bad) memory, I will be only too happy.

On a happier note, everyone says my belly "popped" this weekend and I now officially look pregnant. Even Alann noticed.