The Adventure North in Dora the Explorer

Friday, Day 6

At 7 AM on a Friday morning somewhere in Billings, Montana a van called Dora with a damaged heart, arrives at Brown’s Transmission for a transplant. If everything goes according to plan she will be ready to go early afternoon. I get a ride back to the motel to wait, where six anxious dogs await my return so they can eat breakfast. When I go to the lobby for coffee I hear another customer complaining about a dog barking (only 1?) in Room #114 – Woody of course. The customer said he went to the door and knocked but no one answered. Duh, I’m sure that just made it worse, but my lips are sealed. The desk clerk apologized to him but never contacted our room.

Waiting for Godot

I call the garage around 11:30 to get an update since check out time is 12:00 and I don’t want to pay for another night if Dora is ready. I’m told it will be about 2 PM. I call the front desk, first mistake. Can I possibly pay a late checkout fee to stay a couple more hours? Oh, No. That is not possible. “But my van is almost ready.” After debating back and forth the clerk finally agrees to extend our check out one hour until 1 PM, and if I need more time we will talk about it at 1.

1 o’clock comes and goes as I continue to wait for the call from Brown’s. In the meantime at 1:03 the desk clerk rings my room and I explain again that they are not quite finished with Dora. Her reply?  I must vacate immediately. Now I really am remembering Mexico and our two evictions in 3 days that we talked our way out of. I again said I would gladly pay a late charge. Nada, it’s all or nothing. Another night in full which is more because it is the weekend, or you must leave. But, I have nowhere to go with six dogs and our belongings; can we stay in the lobby? Okay, you have until 1:30 and not a minute longer. Geeze, I should have never called. Had I spoke to the housecleaning crew, they would have been okay to work around me, but hindsight is always great. By this time it is 1:25. Another call to Brown’s and I am told Brian is out test-driving Dora as we speak. Can he possibly swing by and pick us up before returning to the garage? No worries he will be there. At 1:30 sharp the housekeeper knocks on our door. Good Grief! I told him I was waiting on my ride and he relayed that to the front desk clerk. At 1:40 PM a van called Dora arrives in front of Room #114 completely healed! With Brian’s help we load up and head back to the garage. Goodbye Motel 6, you weren’t all that nice about the situation!

I wait in the lobby while the dogs stay in Dora during the inspection to be sure all is working, as it should. Brian made the final adjustments and at approximately 2:15 PM on a Friday afternoon Dora was ready to hit the road. I gave the cashier my debit card thinking $2,600 would surely be over my limit, but the charge went through without a problem. We are now free to be on our way. 

Brian came out, shook my hand and said: “I’ve worked on many vehicles that are passing through but this one is definitely one I will not forget.” At this point, he is even calling Dora and the dogs by name. J

Happy to be Mobile again

I’ve had mucho time to reflect on the situation and am thankful beyond words. Brown’s got Dora in right away when normally it would have been sometime early next week, And, what if her second gear had gone out too? Towing would have been $3/mile for over 100 miles. What if we had broken down on the Alaska Highway? It would have been twice as much money and time because of the remoteness. OMG, we are so grateful. The universe always aligns things to happen in the correct order. This event caused me to slow down and be grateful for the good life, and forget the monetary stuff. All I need to do is trust this to be true.

We pull into a gas station and the debit card is immediately denied for $65. Oh yes, it was the $2,500 limit that I just exceeded. I told the attendant this as I went to the ATM to get cash out of the magic machine. His comment was: “Brown’s Transmission? They are the best in this state.” I knew it. Thank you Shane for the time and effort you put into this referral. And than you Brian and crew for getting us back on the road to Seattle on a Friday afternoon. We might just make that Birthday Dinner after all.

 “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” -Helen Keller