Monday, February 11 - Tuesday, February 12
This trip has certainly been an adventure! Yesterday we woke up and set out on our way to Nashville, excited for the music scene and Opryland. For lunch we ate food we had in the car, and by 3:00 we were both dying for a coffee break. In case you didn't know, there are hardly ANY Starbucks of Dunkin Donuts as you drive through Tennessee... We were on the hunt for probably an hour before we spotted a sign for Dunkin Donuts. After we grabbed our caffeine, aka life-source, we noticed a squeaking noise coming from the rear of the car. It seemed to be coming from the rear wheels. And so we ran into car trouble :( Fortunately, we made it to Nashville and there was a dealership nearby. It was closed by the time we arrived, so we spent the night in watching movies and eating pizza. This morning we woke up early (a struggle for both of us--how do people function so early in the morning?!) and took the car to the dealership service center around 7:30, 8:00. After a tour in the service shop (and some dealership coffee made in a machine that was somewhat baffling) the mechanic showed us that my passenger-side trailing arm was smashed in, and though they couldn't guarantee that was causing the squeak, it definitely needed repair. The dealership had a shuttle service that took us to the mall while we waited about 2 hours (which worked out because I somehow managed to forget ALL my bathing suits and needed to buy a new one). The whole ordeal was frustrating in itself, but a big extra annoying because the Platinum Care Package I purchased when I bought my car didn't cover the repair, even though suspension problems were listed in the brochure. The mechanic said we must've hit something to cause the damage--but we never hit anything! What's really strange was that the car was fine for about 600 miles on this trip before the squeaking started, and it didn't start until AFTER we stopped the car and restarted it after our Dunkin Donuts detour. Has anyone ever had a similar problem--with the part or a care package? It makes me wonder why I bothered to buy a protection plan if it only covered mechanical errors--if a part is defective shouldn't they take care of it anyway?! But, I'm glad we took it to the dealership because it turned out they had to take care of a recall (which, ironically, ended up being for the same part--but a different issue). Anyway, all in all we were pretty fortunate--thank goodness it was only a part repair and not something that left us stranded on the side of the road. And actually, we only ended up missing about a half a day--we had the car back by noon! We spent less time than we hoped to in Nashville, but we still got to go see Gaylord Opryland!
We drove from the dealership to Opryland, which was pretty awesome! Of course the Grand Ole Opry isn't open on Tuesday, but we had lunch and spent some time in the hotel/resort. It's unlike anything I've ever seen! It reminded me a bit of Disney World because of the whole recreated-town feel, mixed with an airport (there was even a shoe-shine station). There were buildings, and even a river, inside the building! And gardens--plants were growing everywhere! We got lunch at Stax which is a build-your-own-burger joint. It was delicious--I didn't quite expect to enjoy it so much since I don't really like burgers (I got chicken with pepperjack cheese and guacamole). We also did a bit of souvenir shopping and enjoyed the architecture.
After we enjoyed our time in Nashville, we continued on to Memphis, grateful to have a non-squeaky car. I'm so grateful to be able to look BACK on our car troubles as and adventure and no longer be stuck in the middle of a problem. Here's to adventure and safe, working vehicles!
Gaylord Opryland
Cowboy Boots at the "Cowboys and Angels" Shop at Gaylord Opryland
The Grand Ole Opry
I'm glad the repair was, as car repairs go, a relatively simple one.
ReplyDeleteThe Grand Ole Opry isn't nearly as big as I thought it was. Is it a lot bigger in person?
Thanks, me too! And I'm not sure what idea of size this picture gives you, but I would say it's big. Unfortunately we didn't get to go in since it was closed--I took this after we drove by and I quick pulled over to snap a picture, so it's not the best angle to show how neat it looks or how big it is.
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